Hansard

Sir David Steel will be pleased and reassured to know that, following debate and discussion at our group meeting on Tuesday evening, the Liberal Democrat group agreed to support the motion.

Although, on taking office as Presiding Officer, Sir David donned the mantle of political neutrality—which we certainly believe that he has maintained—I make no apology for saying that, as a Liberal Democrat, I speak to the motion with warmth and particular personal pleasure.

David Steel led my party in the first three general elections in which I fought and was leader of my party when I entered the House of Commons in 1983. I was subsequently his chief whip—indeed, I was the last chief whip of the Liberal Party and the first chief whip of the newly merged party. We fought many election campaigns together and, as Jack McConnell has reminded us, in 1989, when we joined together in this building in the Scottish constitutional convention, David Steel and Harry Ewing became the honorary joint presidents of the convention. Further, we campaigned, along with many others here, in the successful campaign for a yes-yes vote in the historic 1997 referendum.

Reference has also been made to Judy Steel, and it is important to acknowledge the contribution that she has made, not only over the past few years, but over many years. I well recall the night when Nicol Stephen won the Kincardine and Deeside by-election. After the announcement of the result, a camera went outside the count in Stonehaven where there were a lot of rejoicing Liberal Democrats. David Dimbleby asked, "Who is that woman jumping up and down?" and David Steel replied, "That's no woman; that's my wife." Judy has been a stalwart support and we owe her a debt of gratitude as well.

My father recalls visiting one of his clients in the Borders, the late Andrew Haddon, a stalwart Liberal, who said that the local party had just selected a lad to fight the forthcoming election. He said that he thought that he was good and might go far—and indeed he has. Sir David represented his constituents in Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles and, subsequently, Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale with outstanding distinction. One of the great battles of the earliest part of his career was the attempt to save the Waverley line from the Beeching axe and I am sure that he will be among the first to receive an invitation to be present when the first stretch of new track is laid for the new Borders railway.

There have been some key themes to David Steel's political career during the past 40 years. Those themes have brought consistency coupled with pragmatism and drive, allied to good humour and courage.

An integral characteristic of all great Scots is internationalism. That is a perspective that David Steel shares and has demonstrated throughout his political career. No doubt, that perspective was fostered during his upbringing in Africa, a continent to which he has devoted much time and commitment.

Sir David's commitment to fighting racism and his leading involvement in the anti-apartheid campaign were inspiring to many, and not without political risk. It took a great deal of courage to take that campaign to the Borders of Scotland—that great rugby-loving region—during the 1969-70 South African rugby team tour. However, the stance that Sir David and others took undoubtedly helped to pave the way for the dramatic events that took place in South Africa in the early 1990s.

Sir David's political philosophy has not prevented him from working with others across the narrow party divides—indeed, it may have encouraged him to do so. He has never been narrowly party-focused and has always had a liberal ability to see and value other people's points of view.

The final theme of Sir David's career that I will mention—and the most appropriate, given the context—is that, in keeping with many Liberal leaders, he has always been a staunch proponent of Scottish home rule. He rightly recognised the need for there to be a Scottish Parliament and the tremendous value that would derive from Scots taking greater control of the issues that affect our daily lives. Indeed, I think that Sir David drafted the Scottish Liberal Party's evidence to the Kilbrandon committee in the late 1960s. That commitment, allied to a willingness to work with others and an understanding of the international context within which a devolved Scotland must operate must make it all the more satisfying for him to have been the Presiding Officer of the first Scottish Parliament since 1707. Knowing how much Sir David cherishes this hard-fought-for Parliament has meant that we have had confidence that the rights of the Parliament—and the fundamental role of holding the Executive to account—have been well safeguarded over these past four years.

It would be misleading to suggest that we are gathered here to bid you a final farewell from this place. As David McLetchie and John Swinney have already pointed out, you go out one door but will return in a few weeks' time—six feet above contradiction, though we have never dared to contradict you much down here—as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. As the motion indicates, the role of our first Presiding Officer has indeed been an historic one. Presiding Officer, it is with gratitude and warmth that we congratulate you on the dignified and distinguished way in which you have discharged your duties. [Applause.]