We return to this Parliament in a Scotland that has changed for ever. The vote last Thursday on our nation’s future was an extraordinary expression of civic democracy the like of which we have never seen, with a turnout of 85 per cent on a registered vote of 97 per cent.
More than 3.6 million people in Scotland made their mark on a piece of paper and, in so doing, ensured that their voice was heard. Scotland has demonstrated once more our commitment to ensuring that constitutional change comes through the democratic process.
The referendum campaign has been remarkable. It has been inspirational not just for us in Scotland but for people throughout the world, who have fixed their eyes on us.
Like you, I have been truly humbled by the clear wish of so many of our fellow Scots to be involved, many for the first time. How often have we heard people say that they would not bother voting because it would not make a difference? Not this time.
Let us be clear about the scale of this unprecedented level of involvement and what it means for all of us. There are challenges for politicians, for political parties and for the institutions in Scotland.
It is now for us to embrace and nurture the desire for political expression. It cannot and must not be business as usual. People have come off their settees and out of their homes to go into the streets and public meetings, and then into polling stations. They are not going back.
It is for the political parties to make their own decisions about how they involve young people, those who live in our most deprived communities and women in the future. However, like other institutions in Scotland, the Parliament must also respond, and I pledge to you and to our fellow citizens my determination to do so.
When you elected me as Presiding Officer, I made it clear that we needed to reform the Parliament. In July 2011, I said:
“We need to find new ways of working in this Chamber, in our committees and in all of our other activities”.
Progress has been made. Our working week has changed, topical questions have been introduced and, for the past two years, I have been taking the Parliament to towns and cities throughout Scotland as part of our Parliament days. The Parliament’s doors have been thrown wide open through the revamped festival of politics and the great tapestry and Andy Warhol exhibitions. Of the people who viewed the exhibitions, 55 per cent were visiting the Parliament for the first time.
However, we have more to do. I have plans already in place to hold a conference in the spring for young women of school age. Two weeks ago, I asked the Parliament’s officials to draw up a programme to expand the Parliament days into our most deprived communities. Our committees also need to continue to assess their own programmes to consider when they meet, where they meet and who is invited to speak to them. I know that I can count on your support to do more.
As politicians, we have our own heroes—the people who inspired us to get involved in politics in the first place. My inspiration as a teenager was Senator Robert Kennedy, brother of President John F Kennedy. In 1966, Robert Kennedy travelled to South Africa, at the height of apartheid and when Nelson Mandela was in prison. He made a speech to young people that is often referred to as the ripples of hope speech. I return to that speech time and time again to remind myself why I am involved in politics. I will share a couple of paragraphs that strike me as particularly relevant to us, but it is a speech of its time, so the references to men naturally these days refer to all of us. He said:
“The first element of this individual liberty is the freedom of speech; the right to express and communicate ideas … above all, the right to affirm one’s membership and allegiance to the body politic—to society—to the men with whom we share our land, our heritage, and our children’s future.
Hand-in-hand with freedom of speech goes the power to be heard—to share in the decisions of government which shape men’s lives. Everything that makes men’s lives worthwhile—family, work, education, a place to rear one’s children and a place to rest one’s head—all this depends on the decisions of government … Therefore, the essential humanity of man can be protected and preserved only where the government must answer—not just to the wealthy; not just to those of a particular religion, not just to those of a particular race; but to all of the people.”
Colleagues, it is now our duty to ensure that all those who have expressed their wish for the power to be heard are heard in this Parliament and by this Parliament. We now have a huge opportunity and many challenges. Let us face them together.
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Referendum Statement