Plenary, 15 Dec 2004
Meeting date: Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Official Report
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Time for Reflection
The first item of business this afternoon is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is the Very Rev Graham Forbes, provost of St Mary's Episcopal cathedral in Edinburgh.
The Very Rev Graham Forbes (Provost, St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh):
I well remember many moons ago sitting in Langholm police station when I was Her Majesty's inspector of constabulary. The phone rang on the sergeant's desk. Here, I thought, was a chance to check out how the cops reacted to a 999 call. The emergency was light years away from "The Bill" or "Taggart". A cow was cheerfully making its way towards the high street, and Langholm's traffic—all three cars—had ground to a halt.
The arrival of the police car caused the cow to speculate on the future of its existence, and it was last seen heading across the fields and for the hills. Problem solved. The locals laughed, and life returned to normal, leaving the poor farmer to go off in search of his lost cow. The inevitable then happened as a police constable who was desperate to impress chirped up, "Sir, you'll be more used to lost sheep."
About 30 minutes later, we stopped about 5 miles short of Lockerbie. Here, above that quiet town that hit the headlines 16 years ago next Tuesday, most of the wreckage and bodies from Pan Am flight 103 had reached their final resting place. A small outbuilding in the churchyard had been beautifully and simply renovated and was the memorial to the victims. The thick, leather-bound book of remembrance contained on separate pages in alphabetical order just the name, age and country of origin of each victim. I had some time for reflection. I stood there. "Thy kingdom come," I prayed.
In less than an hour, I had gone from one Border town where a cow going on walkabout was a major event to another Border town where international terrorism had struck. For me, Wednesday 21 December 1988 still looms large. I chair the body that the Parliament funds to investigate alleged miscarriages of justice. I assure members that Mr Al-Megrahi's application, like all other applications that we receive, will be investigated thoroughly and impartially, without fear or favour.
For you, our Parliament, during this time for reflection, we pause to remember what happened at Lockerbie in December 1988 and what is happening at Warminster today as the Black Watch holds its memorial service for the soldiers killed in Iraq, holding in our thoughts those families in which life will not return to normal. We live in one world, where a small Borders town or a Scottish regiment make us for a moment look beyond this day's important parliamentary business.
We look beyond for a moment and pray, "Thy kingdom come."