Hansard

It is my pleasure to support the motion that has been moved by the First Minister and to recognise the historic event that we are witnessing today. We are a young Parliament, but we are in the process every day of creating a new history and tradition for our Parliament. When the Parliament was constituted, four years ago, my dear colleague Winnie Ewing opened the Parliament with grace and style. Soon after, she was able to hand over to an individual of wise guidance and wise leadership, who has served the Parliament extremely well over the past four years.

It is no easy task to establish the foundations of a new Parliament—politically or in terms of the brickwork. However, the political foundations that have been laid for the Parliament have been characterised by the dignified way in which Sir David has undertaken his responsibilities. He has chaired our proceedings and, as the First Minister said, he has been an ambassador on our behalf and a welcome host to the many international dignitaries who have come to see the emergence of this new institution. He has also established some important principles in the tradition of the Parliament. If I have heard him speaking more often about any one subject in the Parliament, it has been about his desire to see the Parliament's committee system thrive, develop and become ever more influential. Our committee system has distinguished the Parliament from other institutions with which people may be more familiar.

Sir David has been instrumental in defending and protecting Parliament and the rights of Parliament. On occasion, members on the Opposition benches might have liked him to give the Executive an even harder time, procedurally, than he has given it. However, at all times he has acted with fairness and dignity in his work. Sir David and I share a specific objective. He has had a duty, over the past four years, to keep the Parliament under control and to keep the Scottish National Party group within it under control. Occasionally, I have been challenged by the latter task during the past two and half years and I have sympathised with Sir David's challenge when he has occasionally wrestled with that task.

The First Minister referred to the long political career that Sir David has had in Scotland. He entered politics via the 1965 Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles by-election, which he won decisively. However, that by-election led to the expulsion from the SNP of an eccentric character called Anthony J C Kerr, who disobeyed the party leadership and decided to stand against Sir David, despite the fact—if memory serves me right—that we were establishing an anti-Tory pact at the time. Some traditions of Scottish politics have not changed much.

It is with the greatest of pleasure that I associate the Scottish National Party with the First Minister's remarks and with the motion. I am not confident that Sir David Steel will be retiring. I cannot imagine that that will be the case. He goes on from his responsibilities as Presiding Officer to act as the Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. He will occupy a different seat in this building from the one that he currently occupies, but in that and his future activities he has the good wishes of everyone on this side of the Parliament. [Applause.]