World Pipe Band Championships
The final item of business is a members' business debate on motion S3M-4701, in the name of Stuart McMillan, on the world pipe band championships. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament congratulates Simon Fraser University of Vancouver, Canada on winning the World Pipe Band Championships; notes the success of the event, held at Glasgow Green, which attracted over 40,000 spectators and bands from 16 countries; further notes that Strathclyde Police Pipe Band was the highest-placed Scottish band, finishing an excellent fourth overall out of over 200 bands, and considers that its future success will be jeopardised if planned cuts to Strathclyde Police Pipe Band are implemented.
I thank all members from the Scottish National Party and the Conservative and Labour parties who supported the motion and therefore allowed me to bring this members' business debate to the chamber. It is a bit disappointing that no Liberal Democrat member felt the need to back an element of Scottish cultural heritage. Indeed, no Liberal Democrat member is in the chamber for the debate. Unfortunately, we will not hear what the Liberal Democrats think of Scottish culture.
The motion congratulates the pipe band of Simon Fraser University in Canada on winning this year's world pipe band championships. To win the top prize in any competition requires hard work and dedication. I am a piper, so I appreciate the band's achievements. It is good that a pipe band from another country can win the world championships, because that demonstrates the internationalism of piping, but I look forward to the title returning home in the near future.
The motion also mentions the Strathclyde Police pipe band and considers its future. I have the utmost respect and admiration for the pipers and drummers of the pipe band and for the band's history.
I stress that I fully support the hierarchy of Strathclyde Police and the force's initiative to get more officers on the streets and away from their desks. It is imperative that as many police officers as possible are on the streets and that the increased police presence should be visible to the public. Constituents have told me that they have noticed a higher police presence on the streets. I wanted to get that on the record.
The Strathclyde Police pipe band formed in 1883 as the burgh of Govan pipe band. It became the city of Glasgow pipe band in 1912 and then Strathclyde Police pipe band in 1975, after reorganisation. As the Strathclyde Police pipe band, the band has won 12 world championship titles—most recently in 1991—including six in a row from 1981 to 1986. When I was growing up and learning the chanter and the pipes, I remember that every year the question was who would come second in the championships, because the Strathclyde Police pipe band was so good and always won.
This summer, the band finished in fourth place at the world pipe band championships. Indeed, it finished in fourth place in all five majors: the Scottish pipe band championships, the British pipe band championships, the European pipe band championships, the Cowal pipe band championships at the Highland gathering and the world pipe band championships. After all the championships, the band was ranked as the fourth best band in the world—I repeat, the fourth best band in the world. That is a marvellous achievement by anyone's standards, but the band is also ranked as the best Scottish and British band. As members will easily understand, we are talking about a group of individuals who perform and compete on the world stage at the highest level.
The band's results in 2008 were slightly lower than its results this year and its achievements this year have been all the more remarkable given the internal pressures that have been placed on it as a result of reorganisation within the force. The band is based in A division in Glasgow. Band members are on different shifts, which means that they have less time to practise together. Numerous grievance procedures have been lodged against the divisional commander—of course I will not comment on those. The band has been forced to scale back its community activities and allegations have been levelled at it, such as that its members spend too much time practising together and not enough time out on the streets doing police work. As members can imagine, that has not been a barrel of laughs for the players in this world-class band. Their achievements this year are therefore even more admirable and astonishing.
I do not have time to go into much detail on all the points that I have mentioned, but I will delve into a couple of them. Of the 40 band members, only 13—less than a third—are serving police officers, so it is disingenuous of opponents of the band to claim that all 40 members should spend more time on the streets. Of the 13 serving police officers, three played in their own time 100 per cent of the time; the other 10 played when their police duties allowed. The serving officers operate at a ratio of 86 per cent of time spent on the street to 14 per cent spent on piping activities.
The pipe band is more than just its title. Its members are musical and cultural ambassadors. They have a community policing role when they are out on the streets. They also act as a recruiting tool. I have been informed that the band's existence has been the deciding factor for people who were considering which police force to join. There can be a greater return for Strathclyde Police on investment in the band than some people perceive to be the case.
Members might have noticed that there are very few people in the public gallery. I have been told that some band members wanted to come to hear the debate but were fearful that there would be recriminations if they supported the motion. I have spoken off the record to a number of police officers, and almost to an officer they whole-heartedly support the band and realise what it contributes.
Why is the future of a Scottish institution being threatened in the year of homecoming? How embarrassing is that for the police and for Scotland? What does it say to the rest of the world about how public bodies value Scottish culture and identity? The band can be compared to Chelsea Football Club. Chelsea is not the best club in the world—neither is Strathclyde Police—but it is not far from it. Nobody in their right mind would disband Chelsea, so why disband the Strathclyde Police pipe band? I have said that to a few people and they accept the point.
Papers released for this week's Strathclyde police authority meeting highlight the costs of the band. I have information to dispute some of the figures in those papers. It is stated that the band earned £5,000 last year, but I have been told that it earned £23,000. There is no denying that costs for the band have decreased dramatically. It is not possible to run any pipe band on a just-in-time inventory system—that is not feasible at all—so the senior management should just accept the point.
The College of Piping ran a campaign earlier this year and handed a petition with more than 3,000 signatures to the chief constable. The piping world is watching. I have written to Chief Constable House on a number of occasions asking to meet him to explain the importance of the resource that he has at his disposal. Unfortunately, to date, he has rejected every request. I make the offer once again.
I fully understand that the minister will say that he cannot intervene because the issue concerns operational matters. I respect that position and cannot disagree with it, but I hope that he will undertake to raise the matter with the chief constable from a cultural perspective, so that the Scottish Government is not embarrassed by the actions of a public body.
I look forward to hearing other members' speeches and the minister's response.
I congratulate Stuart McMillan on securing the debate on a motion that I was pleased to sign when he lodged it in August.
I, too, congratulate the Simon Fraser University pipe band from Vancouver on winning this year's world pipe band championships and the Strathclyde Police pipe band on being the highest-placed home band. I pay tribute to the organisers of that major event, which has become an important part of our tourism events in Scotland and injects a significant amount of money into Glasgow and the wider Scottish economy.
I hope that my Scottish Register of Tartans Bill ensured that Scotland is regarded as the centre of tartan. As we have heard, piping is also an intrinsic and emotive part of Scotland's heritage. It is right that we host the world championships and do all that we can to encourage piping here and abroad.
There are a number of first-class pipe bands in my region, including Kirkwall City pipe band, Thurso pipe band, Wick pipe band, Mull and Iona pipe band, Campbeltown pipe band and, of course, the Oban pipe band, which is led by Angus MacColl, who is himself a world champion.
In 2007, I lodged a motion—not dissimilar to Stuart McMillan's—that commended the success of the Inveraray and District pipe band from my native Argyll and Bute. Despite being reformed only in 2005 after a break of 70 years, the band has achieved amazing success under the leadership of renowned soloist piper and pipe major Stuart Liddell—whose grandfather was the famous Ronnie McCallum, the piper to the Argylls—and the excellent band manager, who is also the bank manager, Jim McMillan.
I cannot praise enough Stuart Liddell, Jim McMillan, Robert Stewart, Dougie Campbell, Steve McWhirter, Kate Paton and all the other organisers and members of the band. Within two years, competing at novice juvenile level, the band had won four major championships and become world champion and champions of champions. In 2008, competing at juvenile grade, it repeated that outstanding success. This season, the band, which is currently competing at grade 2, has won all five major championships: the Scottish championships at Dumbarton, the British championships at Banbridge, the European championships at Greenock, the Cowal championships at Dunoon and the world championships in Glasgow. The overall winner of those world championships is commended in the motion that we are debating.
Inveraray and District pipe band has religiously backed the Strathclyde Police pipe band in everything it has done—and I think everybody else should, too. I wish Inveraray pipe band every success at grade 1—it will be at that level next year—and I am sure that it will once again reap a large harvest of competition successes. It is good to know that the junior pipe band is following in its footsteps: the junior band also did well, at the first attempt, in the European and world championships this year. It is run by Robert Stewart, who I have already mentioned.
Robert Stewart, Stuart Liddell and others give piping and drumming lessons in Inveraray primary school. The students are asked to contribute £2.50 per session, which is hardly a large amount for half an hour's one-to-one teaching by top pipers and drummers. The money goes towards equipment and clothing. The results of that tuition have been quite stupendous. I ask the minister to study Inveraray's example and to contemplate what might happen if there were such regular teaching of piping and drumming at more schools.
The success of Inveraray and District pipe band has given a huge lift to the area. The band was cheered all the way through the streets of Inveraray; it gives people pride and a sense of elation—especially at this time of credit crunch and financial doldrums. The effect of success on the youngsters at other local primary schools such as Dalmally has been that they have thrown away their Game Boys to take up the pipes and drums so that they, too, will be able to march with pride and discipline and play the rousing music that is so much a tradition of the Highlands, and indeed all Scotland.
Incidentally, Inveraray won shinty's Macaulay cup, so it has been a very good year for them.
The motion refers to
"planned cuts to Strathclyde Police Pipe Band".
I recognise the strongly felt concerns of members and supporters of that band. We all recognise the pressure on police board expenditure, but I hope that the leadership of Strathclyde Police will take note of what is said in the chamber today and do all in its power to ensure that the excellence that has been built up in one of the oldest and most prestigious pipe bands in the world is preserved for future generations.
I, too, congratulate Stuart McMillan on securing the debate—and for playing the pipes. I admit that I am not a piper myself, but I have a personal interest in the debate, as both my husband and my son play.
There is a great deal of uncertainty about the origin of the bagpipes. I have looked into it, and it seems that they have existed in one form or another for as long as records have existed. In Scotland, they are thought to date back to about 100 AD. Over the centuries, they have inspired Scottish warriors and terrified their enemies.
After Culloden, the pipes were outlawed and much of the music was lost, because the tunes were not written down. The ban was lifted in the 1800s. Although they are not unique to Scotland, bagpipes are now synonymous with our country and our culture. The Scottish bagpipes are unique, however, in having three drones and for being used for military music by Scottish regiments.
As Stuart McMillan outlined, the pipes are popular among people in occupations such as the police. As he said, Strathclyde Police's band is world renowned, and came fourth in the world championships in Glasgow this year. It has won on previous occasions. Stuart McMillan made an excellent case for supporting the band, so I take this opportunity to join him in his call for a rethink of the planned cuts. We can all understand how the pipe band seems like an easy place to make budget savings but, as Stuart did, I argue that what the band offers in publicity, profile and heritage—not only for Strathclyde Police but for all the Scottish forces—far outweighs the small cost.
I, too, lodged a motion about the world championships, and I attended the event at Glasgow green. I congratulate all the bands that participated in that excellent event. The lord provost, Bob Winter, remarked that Glasgow was proud to be hosting the event once again, and that it has become a cultural highlight of the council's calendar. It was particularly significant this year, as Glasgow became a UNESCO city of music—under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization—and the championships were tied in with that. I have one small suggestion about the venue of Glasgow Green, which is that more random seating placed throughout the park would improve the experience for some visitors.
The highlight of my day was cheering for North Lanarkshire schools pipe band which, just five years after its formation, finished second in the novice juvenile section of the world championships. That talented group of young high school musicians faced off competition from 22 other bands across two heats, and were just pipped at the post by George Watson's College. I have to admit that my son Vann is a piper in the band, but he was not quite at competition level on the day of the world championships, so he was not in the competition. However, he did play in the final Highland games of the season at Pitlochry, where the North Lanarkshire schools pipe band came first.
I come back to a point that Jamie McGrigor made about school bands. The North Lanarkshire schools pipe band was formed in partnership with the world-renowned House of Edgar Shotts and Dykehead pipe band and its pipe major, Robert Mathieson. The band rehearses on Wednesdays and Fridays at Coatbridge high school. Band members wear their own Spirit of North Lanarkshire tartan and they get personal tuition bi-weekly from Pipe Major Ross Cowan and support from the head of instrumental teaching, Jim Park. Councillor Jim McCabe, who is the leader of North Lanarkshire Council, also takes a personal interest in the band. He is proud of their achievements and was responsible for the establishment of the band. He ensures that funding is available for the kind of tutoring that Jamie McGrigor mentioned.
However, my son and other young people in Monklands might not have developed an interest in piping in the first place if it were not for the Airdrie Bagpipe Learning Centre in my colleague Karen Whitefield's constituency. It was set up by Pipe Major Jim Maitland, who is in his late 70s and teaches the pipes for no personal monetary gain but for the love of piping. Unfortunately, it has proved to be impossible to access any assistance to support the learning centre. Funding for it would help to buy much-needed equipment for youngsters who do not have the resources to buy it.
I want to use the debate not only to support Stuart McMillan's position on Strathclyde Police pipe band, which is at the top level of piping, but to make a plea for supporting investment in grass-roots piping organisations such as Airdrie Bagpipe Learning Centre, because they feed in to the upper echelons. These volunteer organisations help youngsters in working-class areas, such as my constituency, to gain a love of the pipes from an early age, and give older learners a similar opportunity. I commend those organisations: they should be supported. I again congratulate Stuart McMillan on securing the debate and I hope that it makes a difference to the future success of Strathclyde Police pipe band.
I, too, congratulate Stuart McMillan on securing this members' business debate. On my way back from Aileen Campbell's wedding in the summer, I visited Stirling Castle, where I got chatting to some Canadian tourists—a father and son. The father told me that the son had just won the world pipe band championships. It turns out that he was a piper with the Simon Fraser University pipe band of Vancouver. I congratulated him and remember telling him that I knew how good the band must be to have beaten Strathclyde Police pipe band, which had come fourth. I knew that because only a couple of months before I had been lucky enough, along with Stuart McMillan and the minister, to hear the Strathclyde Police pipe band play live at a reception in the wonderful College of Piping in Glasgow. I did not realise, as I chatted to the Canadian tourists, that a couple of months later I would be discussing both bands in a debate in Parliament.
As all the previous speakers have said, the bagpipes are a wonderful advert for Scotland. They are so distinctively Scottish and yet, as we have heard, they are played all over the world. To curtail the activities of the world-renowned Strathclyde Police pipe band will do nothing to continue to promote that positive image; worse than that, preventing one of the most popular pipe bands from entering the country, never mind the championships, as the UK Border Agency did this summer, is positively detrimental to it.
The Pakistani pipe band, also known as the Patiala pipe band, has been performing in the championships for the past four years. The championships are a truly global event with pipe bands from Canada, Australia, America and many other countries competing. The Pakistani pipe band brought its own unique flavour to the competition as the only Indian subcontinent pipe band that was involved. In previous years, the band has won many trophies and awards during the championships—often as much for the vibrant and distinctive dress of its members as for its performances. Anyone who attends the championships can see that these guys are often the centre of attention; children and adults from all backgrounds queue up to have their photograph taken with the pipe band from Pakistan.
The inclusion of the Patiala pipe band is a great advert for multicultural Scotland and goes a long way in showing that we truly are one nation, many cultures. The band's presence also provides a great morale boost to the local Pakistani community, who put on dinners and events to honour its participation in the championships. In fact, the last time the band came to Scotland, our very dear friend the late Bashir Ahmad MSP hosted them in Parliament.
Glasgow has a proud link with Pakistan, as many people will know—the city is twinned with Lahore. That arrangement has been beneficial for both cities. Exchanges have taken place in the medical field, in academia and in trade and business. All that has been jeopardised by an inexplicable move by the UK Border Agency, which has still to provide an adequate explanation for why the Pakistani pipe band was refused entry this year, given that it had competed in the previous four championships.
The issue is not one that provides an opportunity to score party-political points. Many members will know that it was a Labour councillor in Glasgow, Hanzala Malik, who like me was one of the first to express disgust at the UKBA's decision. It is worth noting that not just the pipe band but more than 30 members of Lahore Chamber of Commerce were refused entry. As the First Minister highlighted yesterday, serious discussions must be held with the UKBA about its approach to entry to Scotland—our country. There have been far too many cases in which the potential has existed for Scotland's interests to be damaged as a result of inexplicable decisions by the UKBA.
I have three hopes for next year's championships. First, I hope that we will be able to welcome the return of the Patiala pipe band from Pakistan. Secondly, I hope that the Simon Fraser University pipe band does very well next year, although perhaps not quite as well as it did this year. My final hope is that the wonderful Strathclyde Police pipe band—I encourage anyone who has not heard it play to do so, because it is incredible—is given the support that it needs to ensure that it continues to be a first-class ambassador for Glasgow, for Strathclyde, for Strathclyde Police and for Scotland, and that that support enables it to take its place where it belongs, not just as the top-rated Scottish band, but as world champion.
I congratulate Stuart McMillan on bringing the debate to Parliament. I congratulate, too, the previous speakers, who have brought their keenness for piping to the fore. It is regrettable that no Lib Dem representative is present—I find it surprising that a group of people who are fond of blowing their own trumpet have not chosen to talk about piping—but it has been a good and useful debate.
I had the great pleasure to attend the world pipe band championships in August. I had a thoroughly enjoyable day. As Elaine Smith has indicated, Glasgow green is a wonderful location. To her suggestion that more seating should be provided, I would add a request for drier underfoot conditions—although the conditions were not the fault of Glasgow City Council. Bob Winter, the lord provost, played a pivotal role in making the championships successful, and I pay tribute to him for that. He and I have had some unusual musical experiences together. We enjoyed the pipe band event together and last night we were at the MOBO awards, which I will simply say were very different indeed from the pipe band championships.
The world pipe band championships are truly international. I echo the points that Anne McLaughlin made about the pipe band from Pakistan. It was immensely regrettable that the UK Border Agency acted in the way that it did. Along with Councillor Malik, I was active in trying to have its decision reversed. Even though the diversity of the event was diminished as a result, diversity was nonetheless in evidence, and not just because the Simon Fraser University pipe band won. The president of the organisation is from Northern Ireland, and the chair is a Scot who lives in England and has been active there. At every level—we are not talking simply about the top level of pipe bands, although that is clearly what the world championships are about—the pipe bands come from a wide range of places.
The championships are truly an international event; they are also truly a community event. Elaine Smith's point about the community nature of piping and the need to invest in local organisations is well taken. Jamie McGrigor quite rightly drew attention to the successes in Inverary, which has reinvented a strong pipe band tradition and made it work; it is now all pervading, particularly in the schools.
It is impossible to take away from Simon Fraser University its wonderful success. For its pipe band to win the grade 1 competition again is truly remarkable. I have had the pleasure of visiting the university. It is a fine educational institution that is passionately pro-Scottish. The fact that its pipe band has taken the trophy back to Canada simply proves the point. However, I agree that if we are to find a Scottish band that is capable of taking the grade 1 championship, we must look to Strathclyde Police pipe band, which I will discuss in a moment.
To repatriate the issue from internationalism to Scotland, piping is an important part of our national identity. It is central to who we are and is embedded in our culture. On the weekend of the world championships, there were around 40,000 spectators in Glasgow, which is a massive number. The worldwide audience was made up not just of those who were able to travel because, for the first time, the championships were streamed on the web, where they attracted an enormous audience in Scotland and elsewhere.
The Government believes that Scotland's traditional arts require and deserve investment. The traditional arts working group, which has been examining ways to support all areas of traditional arts and culture, will soon bring its recommendations to me. The outcome of its deliberations will contribute to the work that is being undertaken to take forward the creative Scotland idea. Piping and many other traditional arts will be among the concerns of creative Scotland.
I move from the generality to the particular issue that Stuart McMillan has raised. Strathclyde Police pipe band is one of the most lauded pipe bands in our national history. As he said, it finished fourth in the world championships and it has consistently produced world-beating performances. It won the world championships every year from 1981 to 1986.
As Anne McLaughlin pointed out, I was fortunate to meet members of Strathclyde Police pipe band and to be treated to a performance by them during a visit to the College of Piping in Glasgow earlier this year. I was struck not only by the quality of the playing, which was first class, but by the great camaraderie among the band's members.
The minister talks a great deal about pipers and piping, but does he agree that the drummers, including the snare drummers, are an important element of such bands and that they should not be forgotten?
I plead guilty to not mentioning drumming or snare drumming, which are a vital part of pipe bands. I am sure that when Mr McGrigor hits his drum, everybody listens.
I want to make a point about the family of piping. The camaraderie in Strathclyde Police pipe band reflects the feeling in the whole piping community that everybody is in it together.
I make a personal plea. Tomorrow night, a concert is being held at the College of Piping. The concert has been organised by a distant relative of my wife, Alina Simpson, who has started a campaign to bring back the remains of John Archie MacAskill, who was a significant piper during the first world war. He emigrated to Perth, Australia, and fell on hard times. The campaign is well worth supporting for two reasons. It commemorates a great piper in a family of great pipers. Dr John MacAskill, who was a world-beating piper, played at my wedding. His photograph is in the College of Piping—a room is named after him. The campaign celebrates a great family of pipers, but it also proves the point about the family of pipers. Pipers feel strongly that such a great piper should be honoured and that his remains should return to Scotland. I commend the concert to members. If any member wishes to attend it, pay for a ticket and make a contribution, they will have my personal thanks as well as the thanks of those who are organising it. I know that members of Strathclyde Police pipe band will be there. Members of that band have proved themselves to be important members of the family of pipers and important exemplars for piping.
As Stuart McMillan said, I am in no position to interfere operationally with the work of Strathclyde Police, and I will not do so. However, I have been in touch with Strathclyde Police, as Mr McMillan raised the matter with me some time ago, and I have its assurance that the pipe band will not be disbanded. It will continue to be supported by the chief constable and the wider police service. I accept that operational matters always come first, and it is clear that members of Strathclyde Police pipe band are police officers. As serving police officers, their job is to contribute to and proactively develop policing services. However, that has always been the case. I believe that diminishing the band and its ability would diminish the whole of Scottish culture and the whole of piping.
I know that I have run out of time because the Presiding Officer is leaning forward. You are right to bring my speech to an end. I commend Mr McMillan, members who have spoken in the debate and Strathclyde Police pipe band. I look for that band to continue, to grow, and to win the world championships again. We will then have another debate in which we will celebrate that win.
Meeting closed at 17:34.