1 SPEECH TO UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO BY THE RT HON TRICIA MARWICK MSP PRESIDING OFFICER OF THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT SCOTLAND S JOURNEY TO AND BEYOND THE REFERENDUM ON INDEPENDENCE ON SEPTEMBER 18 TH 2014, SCOTLAND DID AN AMAZING THING. WE SURPRISED OURSELVES. I WANT TO TALK THIS EVENING ABOUT THE ROAD TO THE REFERENDUM ON SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE AND THE JOURNEY WE CONTINUE ON. BUT FIRSTLY CAN I TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO THANK EVERYONE HERE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO FOR HELPING TO PUT THIS EVENT ON THIS EVENING. I AM VERY GRATEFUL TO YOU ALL. I D ALSO LIKE TO THANK CARMEN BELLO GIMENO FOR ALL HER STERLING HELP WITH OUR VISIT. THANK YOU, CARMEN. AND OF COURSE TO SARAH NOLAN WHO WILL FACILITATE THE DISCUSSION TO FOLLOW. CAN I THANK IAN SOLOMON AND DEREK DOUGLAS FOR BEING SO GENEROUS WITH THEIR TIME EARLIER TODAY AND PASSING ON ALL THEIR KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE. WE WILL
2 GRATEFULLY TAKE THAT LEARNING BACK WITH US TO THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT. FINALLY, WELCOME TO YOU ALL HERE THIS EVENING AND MY THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO COME ALONG. IT S VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. I HOPE YOU WILL FIND THIS SPEECH AND THE TALK TO FOLLOW INFORMATIVE, WORTHWHILE AND ENGAGING. IT MIGHT BE USEFUL HOWEVER TO START BY EXPLAINING SOME CONTEXT AS TO WHY I AM HERE AND ALSO THE CAPACITY IN WHICH I SPEAK. I AM HERE IN CHICAGO IN APRIL, WITH A DELEGATION OF MEMBERS OF THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT. HUGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE FROM CHICAGO, THE MID-WEST AND ACROSS AMERICA CLAIM SCOTTISH HERITAGE. WE ARE PROUD OF THAT AND WE VALUE THAT. SINCE I ARRIVED YESTERDAY HOWEVER I HAVE BEEN EVEN MADE MORE ACUTELY AWARE OF THE EFFORTS BEING MADE TO REPRESENT SCOTLAND, HERE IN CHICAGO. I LIKE WHAT I HAVE HEARD. THERE IS A GREAT FOCUS TO INVOLVE AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE AND TO RECOGNISE AND JOIN OUR DIVERSE AND EXTENDED SCOTTISH FAMILY.
3 AND THAT DOESN T MEAN YOU HAVE TO HAVE A DIRECT BLOOD- LINE TO A SCOTTISH PERSON, OR FEEL THAT YOU HAVE TO SIGN UP TO JOIN SOME SORT OF EXCLUSIVE CLUB. IF YOU ARE PROUD OF THE VALUES SCOTLAND REPRESENTS; IF YOU LIKE OUR ANCIENT HERITAGE OR APPRECIATE OUR MODERN CULTURE; OR EVEN IF YOU JUST LIKE TO CONSUME ONE OF OUR BEST KNOWN EXPORTS THEN YOU HAVE A LINK WITH SCOTLAND AND SHOULD BE PART OF THAT EXTENDED SCOTTISH FAMILY. THAT S WHAT SCOTS DID, WHEN WE SPREAD OUT ACROSS THE WORLD, OVER THE PAST CENTURIES. WE EMBRACED CULTURES THAT EMBRACED US AND IN DOING SO, WE ALSO PROMOTED THE BEST OF OUR OWN CULTURE. AND THERE WAS NOWHERE WE DID THAT MORE THAN HERE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. AND THAT IS WHY WE TRY TO CELEBRATE THIS WITH AS MANY PEOPLE AS WE CAN IN THE UNITED STATES, EVERY YEAR, IN APRIL. I VE MENTIONED APRIL TWICE NOW. WHY APRIL YOU MAY ASK?
4 WELL, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE NOT AWARE ALREADY, IN 1998, IN A RESOLUTION OF THE US SENATE, THEY RECOGNISED THE IMPORTANCE OF AMERICANS OF SCOTTISH DESCENT. THEY ALSO RECOGNISED THE ROLE PLAYED IN THE FORMATION OF YOUR COUNTRY BY OUR DECLARATION OF ARBROATH. THAT HISTORIC DECLARATION WAS WRITTEN ON THE 6 TH APRIL, 1320. NEARLY 700 YEARS LATER, YOU GAVE TO US A REASON FOR AN ANNUAL SHINDIG. YOU RECOGNISED EVERY 6 TH APRIL AS TARTAN DAY - A SPECIAL DAY ON WHICH WE CAN ALL COME TOGETHER ONCE A YEAR AND CELEBRATE ALL THINGS SCOTTISH. AND AS SCOTS, WE WERE DELIGHTED WITH THAT. BUT AS AN EVER RESTLESS NATION AND THIS RESTLESS NATION THEME I WILL BE RETURNING TO - WE FEEL THAT ONE DAY IS CLEARLY NOT ENOUGH. SO IN RECENT TIMES WE NOW DESCEND UPON THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA EACH YEAR DURING APRIL FOR A MORE THAN A DAY AND WE HAVE CONVENIENTLY NAMED THIS AS SCOTLAND WEEK.
5 AND I M ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED TO BE HERE IN CHICAGO MY FIRST EVER VISIT AND I AGREE WITH DORIS DAY, THE WINDY CITY IS MIGHTY PRETTY. THIS IS AS PART OF OUR SCOTLAND WEEK ACTIVITIES AND I AM HERE REPRESENTING THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT IN PARTICULAR. I AM CALLED THE PRESIDING OFFICER OF THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT A ROLE YOU WOULD MORE CLOSELY ASSOCIATE WITH THE TERM SPEAKER. IN THAT SENSE I AM CLOSER IN AMERICAN TERMS TO THE ROLE OF YOUR OWN 61ST SPEAKER IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MR JOHN BOEHNER. (PRON: BAY-NER). HOWEVER THERE IS ONE BIG DIFFERENCE AND IT S NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY SO-CALLED FISCAL CLIFFS, I PROMISE YOU. THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT MY ROLE IS POLITICALLY IMPARTIAL. WHEN I WAS ELECTED BY MY FELLOW MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT, IN A SECRET BALLOT IN MAY 2011, IT WAS ON THE UNDERSTANDING THAT I REPRESENT THE VIEWS OF ALL MEMBERS ACROSS THE PARLIAMENT. AFTER MY ELECTION AS SPEAKER I STOOD DOWN FROM THE POLITICAL PARTY THAT HELPED TO ELECT ME IN MY CONSTITUENCY, OR CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, AS YOU WOULD CALL IT HERE.
6 SO I AM IN ESSENCE NON-POLITICAL. HOWEVER, AS YOU MAY KNOW SCOTLAND HAS NOT BEEN WITHOUT ITS SHARE OF FRONT LINE POLITICS OF LATE. IN FACT, WE HAVE BEEN AT OUR MOST FEVERISH. AND IT S FAIR TO SAY THAT MY JOB, AS OUR PARLIAMENT S CHIEF REFEREE IN THE RING SINCE 2011, HAS NOT BEEN AN EASY ONE! IT IS HOWEVER A WONDERFUL JOB AND IT LEAVES ME IN A UNIQUE POSITION TO COMMENT BROADLY ON SOME OF THE AMAZING EXPERIENCES SCOTLAND HAS WITNESSED IN RECENT TIMES. I UNDERSTOOD THAT WHATEVER THE OUTCOME OF THE REFERENDUM ON 18 TH SEPTEMBER LAST YEAR, I WOULD HAVE A PARLIAMENT THAT WAS SPLIT AND THAT WOULD NEED TO BE HELD TOGETHER FOR EVERYONE S GOOD, WHATEVER THE RESULT. THAT, OF COURSE, IS NOT TO SAY THAT IT WASN T WITHOUT ITS DIFFICULTIES. IT IS HOWEVER REALLY IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT OUR RECENT POLITICAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL JOURNEY HAS BEEN CONDUCTED ENTIRELY THROUGH THE BALLOT BOX.
7 THAT MAKES SCOTLAND ALMOST UNIQUE AND, I THINK, THE ENVY OF OTHER COUNTRIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD WRESTLING WITH DIFFICULT POLITICAL ISSUES NOT DISSIMILAR TO OUR OWN. I ALSO THINK THERE IS PERHAPS A HISTORICALLY DEMOCRATIC TRAIT, BUILT-IN TO THE CHARACTER OF MOST SCOTS, WHICH HAS HELPED TO GUIDE US DURING THE RECENT TIMES. IT S THE SAME DEMOCRATIC TRADITION THAT SPREAD FROM SCOTLAND TO THE UNITED STATES ALL THOSE CENTURIES AGO TOO. AND WE ALL KNOW THAT SCOTS HAD QUITE AN INFLUENCE AROUND THE FORMATIVE YEARS OF THIS COUNTRY, EVIDENCED IF YOU NEED IT, BY THE SCOTTISH SIGNATURES ATTRIBUTED TO YOUR DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IN 1776. THE DECISION MADE IN THE REFERENDUM IN 2014 WAS, HOWEVER, JUST ONE OF MANY DECISIONS THAT THE SCOTTISH PEOPLE HAVE HAD TO MAKE OVER OUR LONG AND ANCIENT HISTORY. WE CAN TRACE THIS BACK MANY CENTURIES AND IT PROBABLY STARTED WITH IN THE 9 TH CENTURY WITH KENNETH MCALPIN.
8 HE WAS ARGUABLY THE FIRST PERSON TO WRESTLE WITH SCOTTISH CONSTITUTIONAL MATTERS BRINGING TOGETHER OUR THEN WARRING TRIBES UNDER HIS UNIFIED KINGSHIP. HE WAS THE REFEREE OF THOSE TIMES! AS YOUR SENATE WISELY ACKNOWLEDGED AND I HAVE ALREADY MENTIONED, THE DECLARATION OF ARBROATH IS ALSO SEEN BY MANY AS THE FOUNDING DOCUMENT OF THE SCOTTISH NATION. IN 1320, A TIME MUCH DIFFERENT FROM OUR PRESENT DAYS, IT ASSERTED TO HIS HOLINESS THE POPE, THE RIGHT OF SCOTLAND TO EXIST AS AN INDEPENDENT AND SOVEREIGN STATE. FAST FORWARD 300 YEARS THOUGH AND THINGS WOULD START TO CHANGE. ENGLAND, LEFT WITHOUT AN HEIR TO THE THRONE AFTER THE DEATH OF QUEEN ELIZABETH I, TURNED TO A KING OF SCOTLAND FOR SUCCESSION. ALMOST 100 YEARS LATER THE ACT OF UNION IN 1707 THEN BROUGHT TOGETHER THE PARLIAMENTS OF SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. AND I THINK THAT S ANOTHER KEY STAGING POINT IN THE JOURNEY I AM DESCRIBING TONIGHT.
9 PRETTY MUCH SINCE 1707, DEBATE AND OPINIONS HAVE EBBED AND FLOWED THROUGH THE CENTURIES ON WHETHER SCOTLAND WOULD BE BETTER AS PART OF A UNITED KINGDOM, AS IT WAS NOW, OR WHETHER IT SHOULD AGAIN BE A SEPARATE NATION. IF WE JUMP FORWARD IN TIME TO THE END OF THE 19 TH CENTURY AND THE START OF THE 20 TH CENTURY, WE CAN BRING THE DEBATE INTO MORE TANGIBLE HISTORIC TIMES. THIS IS CRITICALLY A TIME WHERE POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT OF THE MANY, RATHER THAN JUST THE PRIVILEGED FEW, WOULD BEGIN TO PLAY A LARGER ROLE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. IN 1893, KEIR HARDIE, A SCOT FROM LANARKSHIRE, FOUNDED THE INDEPENDENT LABOUR PARTY. THIS WOULD LEAD TO THE FORMATION OF THE LABOUR PARTY ACROSS THE REST OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THEY WOULD PLAY A KEY ROLE IN TIMES TO FOLLOW. AND BETWEEN 1889 AND 1914 THE UK PARLIAMENT, OR WESTMINSTER AS WE SOMETIMES TERM IT, DEBATED SCOTTISH HOME RULE 15 TIMES AND INTRODUCED FOUR BILLS ON THE SUBJECT.
10 IN FACT IN 1913 A HOME RULE BILL PASSED ITS SECOND READING AND WAS ONLY JUST DEFEATED AT THE FINAL VOTE. HOWEVER, WITH THE START OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR IN 1914, ATTENTIONS UNDERSTANDABLY TURNED AWAY FROM DOMESTIC POLITICS AND HOME RULE WAS OFF THE AGENDA. THERE WAS HOWEVER A FLOURISH AGAIN IN THE 1930S. THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY WAS FORMED IN 1934 WITH A COMMITMENT TO HOME RULE. AND VERY SIGNIFICANTLY THERE WAS THE SCOTTISH COVENANT. THE COVENANT WAS A NON-POLITICAL PARTY CAMPAIGN FOR HOME RULE, WHICH GAINED OVER 2 MILLION SIGNATURES IN SCOTLAND. AGAIN HOWEVER, THE SPECTRE OF WAR WAS UPON US AND BY 1939 THE FOCUS WAS OF COURSE ON THE SECOND WORLD WAR. IT WOULD REALLY NOT BE UNTIL A FEW DECADES LATER IN THE 1960S, AS SCOTLAND WORKED ITS WAY OUT OF ITS POST-WWII AUSTERITY, THAT CHANGE WAS FREELY BEING DISCUSSED ONCE MORE. THIS CULMINATED IN 1977 WHEN A SCOTLAND BILL WAS INTRODUCED TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS THIS BILL SOUGHT TO ESTABLISH WHAT WAS THEN CALLED A SCOTTISH ASSEMBLY.
11 DURING WESTMINSTER S CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL A VITAL AMENDMENT WAS TABLED BY A LABOUR MP GEORGE CUNNINGHAM WHICH MADE A KEY CONDITION. THAT CONDITION STATED THAT MORE THAN 40% OF THE TOTAL ELECTORATE HAD TO VOTE YES TO ALLOW A SCOTTISH ASSEMBLY TO BE SET UP. AN ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE HURDLE TO OVERCOME. THE REFERENDUM TOOK PLACE ON 1 MARCH 1979. THERE WAS A SMALL MAJORITY IN FAVOUR OF YES, BUT THE OUTCOME FELL SHORT OF THAT REQUIRED 40% SET OUT BY THE CUNNINGHAM AMENDMENT, AND AS SUCH, A SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT WAS AGAIN NOT DELIVERED. IN THE LATE 1980S A SCOTTISH CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION WAS ESTABLISHED. THIS WAS A CROSS-PARTY CAMPAIGN FOR CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE AND HELPED TO KEEP ALIVE THE CAMPAIGN FOR A SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF THE 1990S. AND SO WE MOVE FUNDAMENTALLY TO MAY 1997.
12 AFTER A GAME CHANGING ELECTION, THE LABOUR PARTY FINALLY MOVED INTO GOVERNMENT, AFTER 18 YEARS OF SUCCESSIVE CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENTS UNDER MARGARET THATCHER AND JOHN MAJOR. DEVOLUTION OF POWER TO SCOTLAND WAS A CENTRAL MANIFESTO COMMITMENT. ON 11 SEPTEMBER 1997 A REFERENDUM WAS HELD. IN TOTAL, 74.3% OF THOSE WHO VOTED SUPPORTED THE CREATION OF A SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT. A FIGURE OF 63.5% SUPPORTED A FURTHER QUESTION ON THE BALLOT PAPER, WHICH ASKED VOTERS TO AGREE A PROPOSAL GIVING THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT LIMITED TAX-VARYING POWERS. A SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT HAD FINALLY BEEN DELIVERED. NOW, I APPRECIATE THAT S A VERY QUICK CANTER THROUGH 700 YEARS OF SCOTLAND S POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND LATELY DEMOCRATIC HISTORY! HOWEVER I WANTED TO ILLUSTRATE HOW SCOTLAND HAS HAD SUCH A LONG AND VARIED CONSTITUTIONAL JOURNEY ALREADY. IF I CAN TURN NOW TO MORE MODERN TIMES AND THE NEW CHALLENGES PRESENTED TO US.
13 I WAS IMMENSELY PROUD TO BE ELECTED TO THAT RENEWED SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT IN MAY 1999. THE FIRST SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT SINCE 1707. I M JUST AS PROUD THAT THROUGH A NUMBER OF ELECTIONS SINCE, I VE MANAGED TO STAY THERE! BUT AS YOU WILL KNOW NOW FROM THE ABBREVIATED HISTORY I SET OUT, POLITICS IN SCOTLAND SOMETIMES DON T CONVENIENTLY SETTLE FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME. IN FACT, FOLLOWING A STABLE COALITION GOVERNMENT ARRANGEMENT BETWEEN OUR LABOUR AND LIBERAL DEMOCRAT PARTIES FOR 8 YEARS, SOME WOULD SAY SCOTTISH POLITICS DEALT US ANOTHER SURPRISE, WHEN THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY WON THE 2007 ELECTION, HOLDING POWER IN THE PARLIAMENT BY JUST ONE REPRESENTATIVE. THEY WOULD FORM A MINORITY GOVERNMENT FOR THE NEXT 4 YEARS AND BUILD ON THOSE TIMES BY WINNING AN OUTRIGHT MAJORITY THE FIRST IN OUR PARLIAMENT S HISTORY IN 2011. AS THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY, OR SNP FOR SHORT, NOW HELD A MAJORITY THEY BROUGHT FORWARD PROPOSALS FROM THEIR MANIFESTO TO HOLD A REFERENDUM ON INDEPENDENCE FOR SCOTLAND. AN AGREEMENT WAS REACHED BETWEEN THE SCOTTISH AND UK GOVERNMENTS TO HOLD A REFERENDUM.
14 AND, IN MY OPINION, IT IS TO THE GREAT CREDIT OF ALL INVOLVED THAT THEY MANAGED TO NEGOTIATE THIS WITH GREAT MATURITY IN A PROCESS WE NOW COLLECTIVELY TERM THE EDINBURGH AGREEMENT. AND SO A DATE WAS SET - THE 18 TH SEPTEMBER 2014. A VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD QUESTION WAS AGREED TO. VOTERS WERE TO SIMPLY CONSIDER A YES OR NO ON A BALLOT PAPER ASKING "SHOULD SCOTLAND BE AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY?". THIS DEBATE HAD ALREADY BEEN THUNDERING ACROSS SCOTLAND FOR A YEAR OR MORE, BEFORE SEPTEMBER 2014. IN THAT BUILD-UP YOU COULD WATCH AND LISTEN TO PEOPLE ACROSS SCOTLAND DEBATE AT BUS STOPS, BARS, HAIR SALONS AND HOMES. EXPERTISE WAS FORMED IN THE MOST UNLIKELY OF PLACES AND SOMETIMES BY THOSE WHO HAD NOT BEEN THE SLIGHTEST BIT INTERESTED OR ENGAGED BEFORE IN MAINSTREAM POLITICS. WE ALL NOW TALKED ABOUT WHAT WE THOUGHT OF SCOTLAND S FUTURE ROLE IN EUROPE OR ABOUT THE TYPE OF CURRENCY WE SHOULD HAVE.
15 WE DISCUSSED THEORETICAL POSITIONS ON OUR ARMED FORCES AND THE NEED, OR OTHERWISE, FOR A NUCLEAR DETERRENT BASED WITHIN SCOTLAND. PEOPLE REALLY DEBATED THESE ISSUES AND MANY OTHERS. I TRULY BELIEVE THAT OUR ELECTORATE WAS ONE OF THE MOST INFORMED WE HAVE EVER HAD, INCLUDING OUR 16 AND 17 YEARS OLD WHO WERE BEING ALLOWED TO VOTE FOR THE FIRST TIME. AND THEN, THE REST OF THE WORLD STARTED TO CATCH UP. IN THOSE CRUCIAL WEEKS BEFORE THE VOTE, MANY EYES TURNED TO SCOTLAND. WITH AN INTENSE GLOBAL GLARE UPON US I WAS PROUD TO SEE THE MEDIA VILLAGE WE HAD CREATED ON OUR GROUNDS, WITH THE PARLIAMENT BUILDING AS ITS ICONIC BACKDROP, USED BY SO MANY TO DEBATE THE FUTURE DIRECTION OF OUR COUNTRY. AFTER ALL THE VOTES WERE COUNTED THE NO CAMPAIGN HAD WON, WITH 2,001,926 (55.3 PER CENT) VOTING AGAINST INDEPENDENCE AND 1,617,989 (44.7 PER CENT) VOTING IN FAVOUR. I GIVE YOU THOSE FIGURES IN FULL BECAUSE EVERY VOTE COUNTED.
16 STAGGERINGLY, THE TURNOUT OF 84.6% WAS THE HIGHEST RECORDED FOR AN ELECTION OR REFERENDUM IN THE UNITED KINGDOM SINCE THE INTRODUCTION OF UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE. IN AN ENTIRE COUNTRY OF JUST OVER 5 MILLION PEOPLE, OVER 3.6 MILLION PEOPLE OF AN ELIGIBLE AGE VOTED. MASS NUMBERS OF PEOPLE TURNED UP AT POLLING BOOTHS ACROSS OUR COUNTRY, MADE THEIR MARK ON A SINGLE QUESTION BALLOT PAPER AND ENSURED THEIR VOICE WAS HEARD. WHATEVER YOUR VIEW AND WHATEVER SIDE YOU VOTED ON, ONE THING WAS UNIVERSALLY RECOGNISED - THE REFERENDUM CAMPAIGN HAD BROUGHT ABOUT A RENEWAL OF CIVIC DEMOCRACY IN SCOTLAND. TO PUT THIS IN CONTEXT I THINK THE RECENT MAYORAL RACE IN CHICAGO MANAGED A TURNOUT OF AROUND 40%. I M LOOKING FORWARD TO MEETING HIM TOMORROW MORNING, SO I M SURE HE CAN KEEP ME RIGHT ON THE FINAL FIGURES. OUR OWN UK GENERAL ELECTIONS IN MAY COULD REACH THE MID-60 PER CENTS AND THAT S IN ONE OF THE MOST HOTLY CONTESTED ELECTIONS IN THE UK FOR DECADES, IF NOT EVEN LONGER.
17 YOUR OWN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, THE BIGGEST FOLLOWED AND FINANCED ELECTIONS IN THE WORLD, HAVE TURNOUTS IN THE 50 PER CENTS AND HAVEN T VENTURED INTO THE 60 PER CENTS SINCE YOUR ICONIC VOTES OF THE 1960S. I SAY THIS NOT AS ANY BOAST FOR SCOTLAND. I SAY THIS BECAUSE IT PRESENTS US WITH NEW CHALLENGES. GOOD CHALLENGES, I THINK. THE TURNOUT OF NEARLY 85% IS EVEN STARKER IF YOU CONSIDER THAT BY THE TIME THE POLLS HAD OPENED ON 18 SEPTEMBER, 97% OF THE POPULATION OF SCOTLAND HAD ALREADY REGISTERED TO VOTE. SO WHAT HAPPENED, HOW DID THE PEOPLE OF SCOTLAND BECOME SO ENGAGED? WHY HAD SO MANY WHO HAD NEVER VOTED BEFORE, REGISTER AND THEN TURN UP? AND HOW CAN WE POSSIBLY MAINTAIN THAT LEVEL OF INTEREST IN OUR POLITICS? THESE ARE QUESTIONS I RAISE AS I HOPE TO HEAR MORE ON THAT FROM YOU, IN THE DISCUSSION TO FOLLOW. BEFORE THAT, LET ME OFFER SOME OF MY OWN THOUGHTS.
18 I THINK THE MAIN LESSON TO BE DRAWN FROM THE REFERENDUM DEBATE WAS THAT IT MATTERED. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A GENERATION EVERYONE S VOTE WAS IMPORTANT. FOR TOO LONG POLITICAL PARTIES WERE VIEWED AS ALL THE SAME AND MY VOTE WON'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE. THIS TIME IT DID. PEOPLE WHO HADN T THOUGHT THEY MATTERED BEFORE, NOW DID. IN THE FIRST WORDS UTTERED IN OUR PARLIAMENTARY CHAMBER AFTER THE VOTE, I SPOKE OF THE CHALLENGES NOW AHEAD FOR POLITICIANS, FOR POLITICAL PARTIES AND FOR THE INSTITUTIONS IN SCOTLAND. AS SCOTLAND S PARLIAMENT WE ARE AN INSTITUTION THAT HAS TO LEAD AND AN INSTITUTION THAT HAS TO SET A POSITIVE EXAMPLE TO OTHERS. WE HAVE ALREADY STARTED A PROGRAMME TO EXPAND OUR ENGAGEMENT INTO THE URBAN COMMUNITIES THAT WERE ENERGISED AS NEVER BEFORE. WE ARE TAKING EVIDENCE AND LEARNING THE LESSONS FROM THE 16 AND 17 YEAR OLDS, WHO VOTED FOR THE FIRST TIME.
19 AND JUST BEFORE I LEFT FOR SCOTLAND WEEK I WAS THRILLED TO HOST YOUNG WOMEN FROM SECONDARY SCHOOLS ACROSS ALL PARTS OF SCOTLAND, FOR OUR FIRST EVER INSPIRING YOUNG WOMEN CONFERENCE IN THE PARLIAMENT. THEY SHOULD BE A KEY PART OF THE FUTURE GENERATION THAT WILL SHAPE OUR NEW POLITICS AND THEY MATTER GREATLY TO ME. AND WE WILL DO MORE. FOR THE POLITICAL PARTIES THERE HAVE BEEN TWO FURTHER CHALLENGES AFTER THE REFERENDUM. ONE, FURTHER CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE HAD BEEN PROMISED BY THE PRO-UNION SIDE DURING THE CAMPAIGN. AND TWO, THE FACT THAT SO MANY PEOPLE HAD BEEN ENGAGED POLITICALLY FOR THE FIRST TIME. HOW COULD THE PARTIES REACT TO VOTERS WHO WERE SIMPLY NOT GOING TO GO QUIETLY BACK INTO THEIR HOMES AGAIN? THE UK GOVERNMENT SET UP WHAT BECAME KNOWN AS THE SMITH COMMISSION UNDER THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE MUCH RESPECTED LORD SMITH AND HAD REPRESENTATIVES FROM ALL THE MAIN POLITICAL PARTIES.
20 THERE WAS AGREEMENT ON FURTHER POWERS TO BE DEVOLVED AND THE MAIN UK PARTIES PROMISED THAT, AFTER THE GENERAL ELECTION WE ARE NOW IN THE MIDST OF, LEGISLATION WOULD BE INTRODUCED WHICH WOULD DELIVER THOSE POWERS. THE ANTI-UNION PARTIES, THE SNP AND THE GREENS, HAVE SINCE SEEN A HUGE INCREASE IN PARTY MEMBERSHIP SINCE THE REFERENDUM. WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE UK ELECTION CAMPAIGN. I DON T MAKE PREDICTIONS BUT ON A UK BASIS THE POLLS ARE VERY CLOSE BETWEEN LABOUR AND THE CONSERVATIVE PARTIES. IN SCOTLAND THE POLLS SEEM CONSISTENT IN SAYING THE SNP ARE ON COURSE TO WIN A VERY LARGE MAJORITY OF SEATS, DIRECTLY FLIPPING VOTING PATTERNS OF THE PAST, WHICH PREDOMINATELY FAVOUR THE LABOUR PARTY IN SCOTLAND. SO, AS THOSE ELECTIONS ROLL EVER CLOSER AND AS THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT LOOKS AT ADDITIONAL AND SUBSTANTIAL NEW POWERS, I THINK IT IS SAFE TO SAFE THAT SCOTLAND S CONSTITUTIONAL JOURNEY IS FAR FROM FINISHED.
21 IT HAS BEEN THE MOST AMAZING PRIVILEGE AS THE SPEAKER OF THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT TO HAVE HAD A RINGSIDE SEAT AT WHAT EVERYONE AGREES HAS BEEN THE MOST EXCITING TIME IN OUR RECENT POLITICAL HISTORY. I HOPE I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GIVE YOU A FLAVOUR OF THAT TONIGHT AND I THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION. (3,327 WORDS)