Meeting of the Parliament 24 March 2026 [Draft]
I rise to make my final speech in the chamber. I chose to speak in this debate, on this subject, for a number of reasons. First, the member in charge proved to be a very conscientious and determined member in getting the bill through. I was reminded that he is the only member to take forward a member’s bill in this Parliament to have come to a Conservative group meeting to discuss the bill. I was leader at the time, and I remember watching him walk out the door and thinking that he got a far easier ride from my colleagues at that group meeting than I often did in the same room. That proved that Daniel Johnson was determined to get as much support for the bill as possible at every point.
Another reason for speaking in this debate is the campaigners, who have already been mentioned. Beth Morrison and Kate Sanger have my utmost respect and admiration for what they have done to get the bill to this stage and for the work that they have done for more than a decade to reach this point. I know that Peter, Calum, Beth and Kate are in the public gallery today to watch the bill reach this point and get passed into law. They should be extremely proud of the work that they have done. [Applause.]
I will make two final points as to why I thought that this was the right topic to finish on. First, I will mention the non-Government bills unit. I took a bill through the Parliament to stage 1. It was unsuccessful, but I saw up close the skill, dedication and commitment of that unit—something that I had not witnessed before, as I had not been involved. I believe that that team needs to be nurtured and celebrated in the next session of the Parliament, because it is a great asset to those of us who are lucky enough to take a bill through various stages.
The Restraint and Seclusion in Schools (Scotland) Bill came to the Education, Children and Young People Committee—a committee that I have been very proud to convene over the past 18 months. I have enjoyed my time as convener; I am not sure that my fellow members enjoyed it quite as much as I did. I know that I stretched the limits of the convener’s role at times, but I always did it in the best interests of trying to get to the root of some of the issues.
Willie Rennie quoted an email that we got from Beth Morrison this week. When we are thinking about the bill, which will undoubtedly pass at stage 3 today, I am sure unanimously, we might consider what she said in her email:
“Calum can’t advocate for himself due to his complex disability, but he can express this truth: the children aren’t naughty, they are scared.”
Children should not be scared in Scotland, and they should certainly not be scared in an educational setting. If passing the bill prevents just one more child from being scared at school, we will have done our job today.
In the time that I have available, I will make a couple of offers of thanks. The first is to the staff who have been with me through my time in Parliament—some of whom have been with me the entire time since I was first elected in 2016 and others who have come more recently. The work that I have done as an individual member, as a party spokesperson, as a party leader and as a convener has been assisted by their tremendous efforts.
I also want to say thanks to my wife, Krystle, and our two boys, Alistair and James, who will see a bit more of me in the coming weeks and months and who have been a great support to me, as has my wider family.
A final speech by me in a consensual debate would not be quite the same if I did not add in just a hint of controversy. I do not think that I have hidden—certainly not well—that I have grown increasingly frustrated with the mechanisms of the Parliament, because I do not think that we are doing enough. Today is an exception—I think that we will pass an important bill—but, other days, I come in here and I am frustrated. I am frustrated that we have politicians who cannot speak for four minutes without having the lectern up and reading from a script, daring not to deviate by taking an intervention. When people look at that from the outside, they do not see politicians who are upping their game; they see people who are reading a script that could have been delivered by anyone. From the back benches, we hear softball questions that are supposed to be spontaneous in response to an answer from a minister, and then the answer to that scripted question is also scripted. We can and should do far better than that. In the seventh session of the Parliament, more people will be looking to see an improvement, and I hope that we see that. We have an opportunity in the Parliament that is not offered to many. If we up our game, that will improve how this institution is viewed from the outside.
To have the chance to serve is a huge privilege. For me, that began 19 years ago, when I was first elected as a councillor. I have since been an MSP and an MP, and I now conclude my time in the Scottish Parliament. To those who gave me that opportunity, I say thank you. To the people of Moray and the Highlands and Islands, who, 19 years ago, put their trust in a young farm labourer to represent them, which has been a huge honour and privilege for me, I simply say thank you.