New Lanark
We now come to the final item of business, which is a members' business debate on motion S1M-2529, in the name of Karen Gillon, on New Lanark.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament recognises the significant contribution that New Lanark has made to the social, cultural and educational fabric of Scotland; congratulates the New Lanark Conservation Trust on the excellent work that it has done in restoring the village to its natural beauty, and congratulates UNESCO on granting the village full World Heritage Status.
I am proud to represent Clydesdale, which is one of the most beautiful and diverse parts of Scotland and which has a wealth of history, culture and experience. In many ways, it is a microcosm of Scotland, both urban and rural, and New Lanark is the jewel in its crown. That is why I am delighted that my first members' business debate is on New Lanark. I am grateful to the members from all parties who have signed the motion and to those who have stayed behind tonight—of all nights—for the debate.
I welcome to the public gallery representatives of the trustees and staff of the New Lanark Conservation Trust, many of whom have worked on the project for more than 20 years. They were tremendously proud when, last Friday, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization rightly granted the village world heritage status. In particular, I pay tribute to the work of Harry Smith, the chairman of trustees, and Jim Arnold, the director, who have been with the project since its inception and who had the vision and belief to see it through to its wonderful conclusion.
World heritage sites are diverse and include some of the most beautiful and historically significant sites in the world—the pyramids, the Taj Mahal and the great wall of China, to name but a few. New Lanark is special and unique and deserves to be added to that illustrious list.
New Lanark was born out of a spirit of enterprise allied to a vision of a better, fairer future for all. Robert Owen was a man of vision; he was way before his time. In Owen, enterprise was allied to a passionate belief that the key factor to a better and fairer society was education. In an age characterised by cruel mill managers and "dark satanic mills" Owen recognised that the most important assets of the company were its work force and their families. He introduced decent homes, fair wages, free health care and co-operative shops. He took children out of the cotton mills and put them into the classroom.
The first infant school in the world was established in the village. Evening classes were provided for the adults too. The work force had access to the arts, music, nature study, history and geography, as well as the traditional reading, writing and arithmetic, which gave the most comprehensive of educations. Owen's work had a significant impact not just in New Lanark, but throughout the world. It inspired progressive education, factory reform, humane working practices, co-operation and garden cities.
The New Lanark cotton mills continued in production until 1968. The closure of the mills created a crisis and the village came close to at least partial demolition. In 1974, the New Lanark Conservation Trust was formed. It was committed to the restoration of New Lanark as a living, working community and an excellent example of an industrial settlement. Today, that dream has been realised. The housing has been restored and the village has a resident population of 180, who live in beautiful sandstone tenements.
The mill buildings, school and the Institute for the Formation of Character building are all now back to their former glory. New Lanark is a successful tourist attraction with an award winning visitor centre and an excellent hotel. It welcomes about 400,000 visitors every year from all over the world, including the Scottish Parliament Education, Culture and Sport Committee in September. I am sure that anyone who has made the journey to New Lanark could not help but be impressed, not just by the stunning natural beauty of the Falls of Clyde and the village nestling below, but by the truly world-class facilities that are on offer.
The granting of world heritage status to the village is not before time. In it, New Lanark gains universal cultural acclamation and access to an international network of sites. I know that our late First Minister, Donald Dewar, was passionately committed to New Lanark and a regular visitor to the village. He would be proud at the recognition that it has now been given. New Lanark is a worthy addition to the world heritage list. It is the first such industrial site in Scotland, and it will represent Scotland well.
Scotland's heritage is diverse. It may include castles and stately homes, but our social and industrial heritage is just as important. It shapes who we are. It is right that the social and industrial heritage that is so much part of our traditions is recognised alongside the more traditional visions of heritage. That is what New Lanark encompasses.
What are the challenges and opportunities for New Lanark—and indeed for the Parliament—now? Clydesdale has an opportunity to build on New Lanark's success and to secure further economic and social regeneration. We must further develop our infrastructure and the tourism industry to ensure that the 400,000 people who visit New Lanark explore the other hidden treasures that can be found throughout Clydesdale. We must sustain the positive partnership that exists between the local councils, the Scottish Executive and other bodies so as to develop the village further.
Developments such as that at New Lanark will cost money, and it will continue to cost money to sustain the village and further develop its successes. We must work together to ensure that the money is in place.
The Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport and the Parliament have an opportunity to think outside the box. Why are educational visits to national museums and galleries and to Historic Scotland sites free, yet schools must pay to take children to New Lanark, which is a vital part of our social culture and heritage? Given New Lanark's unique position as Scotland's only industrial world heritage site, will the minister consider making provision for free educational visits to New Lanark as a positive investment by the Scottish Executive in future generations' educational development?
New Lanark is not just about the past—about history and heritage: it is a vision of socialist planning and co-operation that is as relevant today as it was in the 1800s. In the words of Robert Owen on new year's day 1816:
"What ideas individuals may attach to the term ‘millennium' I know not; but I know that society may be formed so as to exist without crime, without poverty, with health greatly improved, with little, if any misery, and with intelligence and happiness increased a hundredfold; and no obstacle whatsoever intervenes at this moment except ignorance to prevent such a state of society from becoming universal".
Those words are as relevant today as they were when they were spoken. They articulate a vision of society that I share and to which all of us must aspire. That vision can be achieved with unity of purpose, commitment and hard work—the same unity of purpose, commitment and hard work that have secured world heritage status for New Lanark.
Forgive me as I croak my way through this speech—my voice has almost gone.
I congratulate Karen Gillon on securing this debate and those involved with New Lanark on securing world heritage status for the village. I started to visit New Lanark when I lived in Clydesdale, in the 1980s. I have seen the village develop so much since then that I feel that I know it very well. I am particularly fond of New Lanark not least because, in the 1987 general election, when I was the SNP candidate in Clydesdale, we won the village of New Lanark—we did not win many villages in that election. I hope that New Lanark has remained faithful to all sorts of causes, including that of the SNP.
This is an achievement of world significance—and we should always welcome world-class performance by people in Scotland. Jim Arnold and Harry Smith deserve world recognition for the passion and vision that they have shown and for the fact that they have not given up. There must have been many times when, in the face of enormous difficulties and obstacles, they felt like doing so. However, they went on and recreated something of great significance.
I want to share with members the story of one day that I spent in New Lanark, as I have come to think of it as a rather special day. Karen Gillon said that, this September, the Education, Culture and Sport Committee visited New Lanark. We did. We were there on 11 September. That afternoon, we undertook a tour of New Lanark with Jim Arnold and Harry Smith. It was not the first time that I had been round the village, but it was a fascinating afternoon.
In New Lanark, mobile phone reception is not very good, but we were standing outside the hotel when Cathy Peattie's mobile phone went off and her daughter told her that something extraordinary had happened in New York. After hearing the basic details from Cathy, we went inside, spoke to a number of people and went upstairs to our rooms, where we watched television for 20 or 30 minutes. I then drove to Edinburgh, where I had to attend a meeting, listening to the radio all the way. After the meeting I returned to New Lanark.
When I think about that day now, I recognise that it was a day of huge contrasts. It was a day when we saw the worst that human beings can do one to another and a place that epitomises the best that human beings can do one to another. In New Lanark there is a vision of human beings helping one another and interacting with kindness—that is a good word—and generosity. As Jim Arnold knows, in New Lanark a number of Gaelic speakers evicted from the Highlands were able to find employment and—in the real and best sense of the word—betterment of their condition.
In my mind, 11 September, a day on which we will all remember where we were, is intertwined with a vision of a better society—a vision of a better Scotland and how that can be achieved. I shall go back to New Lanark again and again—not just because of that recognition, but because I love the place. Now, however, every visit will have a deeper meaning for me. I suspect that that is true for many members of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee.
I commend the motion to the chamber and commend those who are working in New Lanark. If people have not been there, they should go there now.
I congratulate Karen Gillon on her motion. I also congratulate the New Lanark Conservation Trust. It gives me great pleasure to see the work that has been done in New Lanark village, which was undoubtedly vital to UNESCO's decision.
New Lanark village works on a number of levels. It contributes towards the social, cultural and educational fabric of Scotland. The village, which was founded in 1785 as a new industrial settlement by David Dale, first came to prominence under Robert Owen, who created imposing mill buildings and spacious and well-designed houses for his workers. The cotton mills remained in production until after 1968, after which a massive programme of restoration and conservation was carried out by the trust, which is an independent charity that was founded in 1974.
The village is Scotland's largest visitor attraction in terms of acreage and plays host to 400,000 visitors a year. On an educational level, the village offers group visits for schoolchildren—I was one such child—providing them with an opportunity to see for themselves the living conditions of the early 19th century. One can visit the mill house, Robert Owen's house and the village store. I am particularly interested in some of the new businesses that have been set up. I recall once purchasing the most beautiful hand-knitted garment. If I were now as I was then, I would have modelled it today but, unfortunately, it no longer fits me. Schoolchildren and visitors can be educated on a range of subjects as diverse as marketing to industrial archaeology.
Since 1972, UNESCO has compiled an annual list of the most precious cultural places on earth. Its thinking is that we all share a common heritage and that the international community should bear the responsibility for protecting those sites. New Lanark was added to UNESCO's world heritage site list in 2001. A relative of mine worked for UNESCO, so I was interested in the UNESCO perspective even before then.
Thirty-one new sites have been added to the list of 721 sites of outstanding universal value in 124 countries from Austria to Uzbekistan. Of those 721, 24 are in the UK. Alongside the village of New Lanark are the Derwent valley mills and the Dorset and East Devon coast.
I welcome the opportunity to congratulate those who have worked so hard on making New Lanark village the success that it is today. The UNESCO award is well deserved and I am sure that it will serve to add continuing success to New Lanark village.
Karen Gillon, who is the constituency member for New Lanark, is to be congratulated on securing this debate and on an excellent speech.
I am particularly pleased that this debate, on New Lanark—rather than this afternoon's previous business—is our last debate in 2001. The advent of democratic Parliaments such as the Scottish Parliament, is not a chance event. They spring from democratic movements and from winning the battle of ideas.
Change for the better in Scotland—just as in the rest of Britain—never happened simply by chance. Change for the better has always been based on choices made by working families. As our country aspires to, and reaches, new heights of prosperity, progress and peace—as always, the lion's share of credit for that goes to the working people, who do the work, raise the kids and dream the dreams—let us remember that we cannot take our future for granted. Let us also remember how we got here.
When we listen to the calls for change and work to make them real, we can hear the echoes back through time and through places—and particularly through places such as New Lanark. When we come to write the history of the origins of the Scottish Parliament, I trust that we will accord a proper place to the historical significance of the New Lanark site for the Labour movement in Scotland and throughout the globe. As Mike Russell said, New Lanark reminds us of the bonds of solidarity and of the respect for the rights and the dignity of humankind—particularly those of working people and their families—that is to be found at the core of all progressive movements. It is in solidarity that we all move forward.
We know that we still have a road to travel, but we should not forget the distance that we have come. Before today's debate, I read Robert Owen's evidence to the committee that Peel established to look at factory conditions. Owen was a dangerous man. He was dangerous enough to suggest that factory work should perhaps be restricted to children over the age of 10. He suggested that youngsters between 10 and 18 should not be forced to work more than 10 hours a day.
At that House of Commons committee, Owen was asked:
"If you do not employ children under 10, what would you do with them?"
He answered:
"Instruct them, and give them exercise".
His interlocutor continued:
"Would not there be a danger of their acquiring, by that time, vicious habits, for want of regular occupation?"
Undaunted, Owen replied:
"My own experience leads me to say, that I found quite the reverse, that their habits have been good in proportion to the extent of their instruction."
The buildings at the New Lanark site stand as silent but active witnesses to the work and insistent demands of our forebears, who demanded that the many should have democratic control over their own destinies. Our forebears rejected the notion that workers and their families are simply components for the better use of production lines.
Karen Gillon has shown how New Lanark stands as an eloquent tribute to solidarity. Although it can be invidious to mention the contributions of individuals when we are talking about movements, I commend the individuals whom Karen commended and want to mention three others. Claudine Rozenberg from Bearsden, which is in my constituency, has made a significant contribution to the international links that are a necessary part of the work of New Lanark today. Those links are reminders of the wider context of the New Lanark site, not least because they recognise the connections with the visionary ingenuity of the architect, Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, and the Royal Saltworks at Chaux, which also constitute a UNESCO site.
Claudine Rozenberg quickly enlisted the support of Sam Galbraith, who was my predecessor. Sam Galbraith and Donald Dewar—both of whom graced this chamber and its proceedings—were firm and longstanding supporters of New Lanark. Over many years, Donald Dewar visited the village. As one of his last acts, he was delighted to sign the UNESCO nomination document. My children remember the First Minister giving a perhaps too long tutorial on the historical significance of the site. It can sometimes be a bit difficult for a child who is but three years old to grasp.
We need to continue the support because A-listed buildings are expensive. The commercial activities of the village provide welcome funding, but the trust needs continuing support for the long-term maintenance of the village buildings. More important, the trust needs security and stability in its finances, so I endorse the comments that Karen Gillon made. Historic Scotland, South Lanarkshire Council and Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire all provide assistance, but continuing support beyond the current financial year needs to be considered. I ask the minister to use his good offices to help secure from funders future funding streams for a unique site that holds a special place in the affections of many. As far as it can, the Executive should help ensure that the trust is able to take up the many invitations it receives and will continue to receive.
I, too, congratulate Karen Gillon on securing this debate and on the efforts that she has made for New Lanark over many years. Mike Russell mentioned that we can all remember where we were on 11 September. I can remember where I was when the Manchester United plane crash was announced, where I was when the Cuban missile crisis took the right turn, and where I was when President Kennedy was shot. I will for ever remember being in New Lanark on 11 September.
I was born and brought up in Rothesay, in which there were once mills that had connections with David Dale. Virtually nothing of the mills is left except the names Mill Street and Ladeside Street. When one compares that with what has been achieved in New Lanark, it is obvious that New Lanark is something special that is well worth being a world heritage site.
The architecture of New Lanark is especially impressive because of its unity. When people go down into the valley, they come across a wee village on its own that has been maintained in such a way that they would never know that it was once in the destroyed state shown in photographs in Historic Scotland's document on world heritage site status for the village.
The architects have shown us what to do with mill buildings. In the Borders, mills are being restored individually—although there is nothing on a similar scale to New Lanark, or with similar unity. The example of New Lanark should teach us how to preserve other buildings across Scotland. I am thinking, for example, of the wonderful Gourock ropeworks building, which should be restored in a similar way to that shown in the Historic Scotland document.
New Lanark is part of our industrial history and heritage. I commend its visitor centre. People who go there will see the looms, the water power systems and so on. It is an educational and historical gem—not only because of the buildings but because of the extracts of Owen's work that are displayed in the school. It is really uplifting. It is an example of utopianism; it is the history of the Co-operative movement; and it is in beautiful countryside. It has everything to commend it and it is well worth its world heritage site status. The story of the conservation trust is inspiring. I hope that we can learn from it. We congratulate those involved and thank them for their hospitality to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee.
When I read the Historic Scotland document the other night, I noticed Donald Dewar's signature at the end. As others have said, Donald Dewar would have been proud of what has happened. I congratulate the New Lanark Conservation Trust and I congratulate Karen Gillon on drawing Parliament's attention to it.
I add my congratulations to those of other colleagues to Karen Gillon on securing this debate and congratulate all those who have achieved this great success for New Lanark. We can all be immensely proud of it.
We want to celebrate the importance of New Lanark, partly as the history of ordinary working people and partly as the story of a man who threw down a dangerous challenge—saying that it is possible to treat ordinary working-class people with respect, put them in an environment that is safe and healthy, and still be able to conduct business properly. We want to celebrate New Lanark's success and what it represents in the past, but we also want to celebrate the hope that it offers for the future.
I want to add the congratulations of the Co-operative group of MSPs to those that have already been made. Members may be aware that, every year, New Lanark hosts international Co-operative day. We are all involved in that and very emotionally attached to it. It is always a family day and a day of great celebration. It is an important day in the Co-operative calendar because it reflects the significance of local co-operation as part of an international movement—a movement that goes beyond country and geography and that speaks to the good in us all.
I urge the Executive to look at the way in which New Lanark's success has been secured and to consider the work that was done to get us to this stage. There may be lessons to be learned and other opportunities in other areas of Scotland's heritage. In particular, there may be opportunities to celebrate the collective working-class experience of people in Scotland. There must be other ways in which that can be preserved and celebrated.
The Executive should also consider the more general lessons of New Lanark, looking at ways in which its ideas can be developed in other policy areas—for example in relation to economic regeneration. What co-operation shows more clearly than anything else is the strength that is released to improve communities when we allow people to work co-operatively within those communities to generate change. I certainly feel that co-operation speaks as a reproach to those who would tell us that we are all interested only in ourselves and that the only way that things can be done is through the deregulation of the economy. In fact, things can very much be done the other way.
As I said, co-operation speaks to the best in all of us. I believe that we have to mark the success of New Lanark not only by recognising the pioneering past that it represents but by seeing it as something that will allow us to focus our minds on how the co-operative model may be translated into other aspects of our work, so that the energy that was released in New Lanark can be released elsewhere—in housing or in other aspects of our society. The co-operative model is often not taken seriously, but it gives us great hope for the future.
I add my congratulations to the people of New Lanark and wish them all the best in celebrating this great achievement.
I, too, congratulate Karen Gillon on securing today's debate. Like many members, I was a regular visit to New Lanark long before I contemplated being a member of the Scottish Parliament. There is a great deal that our new Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport can take from the site. We have heard from various members how the site reflects social history and about its status as a conservation project. People have made the site interesting.
In the past, too many of our attractions in Scotland have simply expected people to turn up and be interested per se in what was presented. One of the great tributes to the New Lanark complex is the way in which it has held out its hand to the visitor and developed services that are friendly towards families and children. Brian Fitzpatrick alluded to three-year-olds. When New Lanark saw that children in particular were more demanding, it developed themed rides through the complex. It has opened up a hotel, which the committee visited. When I worked for BT, I was aware that New Lanark encouraged companies to come and use the facilities for away days and conferences—an important market. At the same time, the project has managed to preserve its integrity.
No one could say that New Lanark has been commercialised through Hollywoodisation. The integrity of the project has been retained. At the same time the site is user friendly. That is a tremendous factor in its success.
People live at New Lanark. It is not a simple museum site. It is not like Beamish in Northumberland, which is a very popular museum. I never like to disappoint Mike Russell, but when I visited New Lanark in late May I found that there were some Conservative voters, which shows that New Lanark has always been a forward-looking place.
Will the member give way?
I think that it would be inappropriate to give their names and addresses.
I am sure that there are so few of them that it would not be a problem. Remember that New Lanark has a great tradition of having days when people dress up and pretend to be things. Perhaps Mr Mundell visited on the very unlikely "dress up and pretend to be a Conservative" day.
I do not think so. They seemed real people to me.
It is very important that real people live in New Lanark. The development of the hotel at the site is also important. New Lanark does not look to the past, but to the future. It is particularly relevant to our tourism industry that it has gone out of its way to be user friendly. That is something that we should promote in Scotland.
I, too, want to congratulate Karen Gillon on securing this debate. The way in which she made her speech made it clear that she has a strong sense of local pride. I enjoyed the other speeches as well.
As far as I am aware, this is the first time that the Scottish Parliament has debated our built heritage. It is appropriate that we mark that. Scotland has a rich and diverse cultural heritage that bears testimony to thousands of years of human endeavour. It conveys a range of values to society. It has an intrinsic worth and is vital to an understanding of our history. It also provides a sense of place and national identity and is an important social, economic, educational and recreational resource. It enriches the lives of all the people of Scotland.
The jewels in the crown of Scotland's cultural heritage are Scotland's world heritage sites. Until last week there were three: the incredible monuments of neolithic Orkney, Edinburgh's old and new towns and St Kilda, listed for its natural heritage value. Now we have New Lanark—the first industrial site in our country. UNESCO describes world heritage sites as places or sites of
"exceptional universal value, which deserve protection for the benefit of humanity."
New Lanark is a pioneering cotton-spinning village of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The cotton-spinning mills were powered by water from the Clyde and, next to them, tenement housing was built for the work force. The village has a superb natural setting and is of considerable architectural, technological and historic importance.
New Lanark is most famously associated with Robert Owen, the social reformer, pioneer and entrepreneur. Historic Scotland published an excellent document for the bid to gain world heritage status. It is a very marketable glossy document that extols the virtues of New Lanark:
"The Village Store at New Lanark, founded by Owen in the early 19th century and still a shop today, pioneered a fair trading system, which brought benefits to the community and its users. Profits from the store paid the teachers' salaries. It is regarded by the International Co-operative alliance as the seed-bed of the co-operative movement."
Johann Lamont referred to that as well.
Under Owen's enlightened management, New Lanark became famous as a model community. Owen's publications drew on his experiences at New Lanark. In 1813 he published "A New View of Society" in which he argued that character was formed by circumstances, such as the environment in which an individual was educated and raised, and consequently could be shaped. As I think Karen Gillon said, his ideals were considerably ahead of their time, but they inspired progressive education, factory reform, humane and safe working practices and conditions, international co-operation and even garden cities. New Lanark was a test bed for his rational social system.
I visited New Lanark, not for the first time, last week and noted the buildings there, including the splendidly named Institute for the Formation of Character, but also the school, the store and the counting house. All of them survive to this day and are a testament to Owen. In fact, there are 27 listed buildings on the site and one scheduled monument.
Because of what Owen did, New Lanark is a powerful reminder that the creation of wealth need not involve the exploitation of those who are involved in its production. The village offered a cultural response to the challenges that were presented by industrial society and was the test bed for ideas that sought to reform and reshape humanity—but that would not have secured world heritage site status had it not been for the major restoration programme of the past 25 years or so. In that respect, it is appropriate to pay tribute, as others have done, to the New Lanark Conservation Trust, which was set up 27 years ago.
More than £30 million of public funds have been invested in New Lanark, a significant proportion of which has been devoted to training projects. More than 2,000 people have received employment training, in particular in the building trades, through the restoration work. Those conservation skills can be and are being applied to the repair of historic buildings throughout Lanarkshire.
New Lanark has also received grants for a variety of capital projects, with major contributions from Historic Scotland which, as an executive agency of the Scottish Executive education department, is responsible for the built heritage of our country. Other funding bodies, such as the heritage lottery fund, have been involved. Most recently, the New Lanark Mill Hotel, formerly mill number one, and Owen's school have benefited from that funding. Discussions are taking place with the three bodies that currently provide New Lanark with annual revenue funding—South Lanarkshire Council, Historic Scotland and Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire—about the way in which future funding can best be directed.
New Lanark is now a major tourist attraction, with more than 400,000 visitors every year. I would be surprised if that figure did not increase considerably in the light of the award of its new status. The trust encourages visitors to explore the village and visit a variety of its facilities and exhibitions, including the new millennium experience, which utilises innovative audiovisual technology to present Owen's ideas in a way that entertains, informs and inspires. Surveys have repeatedly shown that historic buildings are a major attraction for visitors to Scotland, which is why New Lanark is so important.
I take this opportunity to congratulate the New Lanark Conservation Trust—it is good to see representatives of the trust in the gallery this afternoon—because world heritage status was not a foregone conclusion. The nomination was first made in 1986, but was deferred until UNESCO had formed a view on industrial sites. It was renominated last year, with the booklet to which I have referred, and by the late Donald Dewar. The final decision was taken as recently as last Friday at the world heritage committee of UNESCO in Helsinki.
World heritage status brings with it neither formal extra controls over the affected area nor any additional resources—the designation is more of an accolade—but world heritage status will reinforce and extend the international significance of New Lanark. Without a doubt, the increased awareness will help to promote tourism and the local economy. The inscription of New Lanark as a world heritage site demonstrates, with our three existing sites, the wealth of Scotland's heritage and our commitment to safeguarding it on behalf of our fellow citizens and the wider world.
Karen Gillon legitimately raised the question of admission charges for educational visits. I wrote to Harry Smith of the New Lanark Conservation Trust on that issue just yesterday. I did not concede the case that he made, but said that the matter will be kept under review. I did that because the decision on admission charges was taken for the national institutions only.
A national audit of Scottish museums, in which New Lanark Conservation Trust is participating, is being carried out by the Scottish Museums Council. I believe that that will provide an opportunity to look at policy on charging for educational visits. I will keep that situation under review because I believe that New Lanark is important as an educational site. That is an issue to which we will return.
The designation of New Lanark as a world heritage site confers upon it a status that I believe not even its architect could have foreseen. However, without Robert Owen there would not be a New Lanark. It should be a source of pride to all Scots that his labours of 200 years ago are now prominently marked on the world stage.
That concludes the debate on New Lanark. To members, to staff, to our guests from New Lanark in the gallery: a happy Christmas.
Meeting closed at 16:31.