Patricia Ferguson MP: speeches

Speeches

• 24 Jun 2025 · War Memorials · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. I, too, thank my hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward) for securing this important debate. In preparing for this debate, it occurred to me that war memorials are significant in a variety of ways. The first and most personal is their importance to the families of those who died in war. My great-uncle Philip Ferguson served in the 75th Squadron of the RAF Volunteer Reserve. Philip was one of 13 children, but a combination of age and reserved occupations meant that he was the only one to serve in the second world war. Unfortunately, on 22 January 1943, Philip’s plane was shot down over the channel. For a time, he was officially listed as missing, but it quickly became clear that he had been killed. Clearly, his body was never recovered, so there was no funeral, and until the national memorial at Runnymede was established in 1953, there was no official record of his service and death. To the family, it is important that his name is recorded, and I very much look forward to visiting Runnymede to see the memorial for myself. Memorials are also important to communities. In 2010, after a considerable amount of lobbying and hard work, a memorial was created and dedicated at Knightswood Cross in my Glasgow West constituency. Terence McCourt, himself a Parachute Regiment veteran and a charity fundraiser, was recently recognised with the award of an MBE, in part for his efforts to secure that memorial. It is the rallying point for all the commemorations that take place in the area, most of them also organised by Terence, but outwith those days, it is always good to see people sitting on its benches, admiring the flowers and perhaps reflecting on their own family’s service. The third way in which memorials are important is in giving communities a sense of place. I served for some time as a Member of the Scottish Parliament, and my constituency contained part of an area now so ably served by my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North (Martin Rhodes). The area in question was, until the 1960s, the location of a great many tenemental properties. One particularly short street was called Lyon Street, and the 1901 census tells us that there were a dozen tenement buildings housing around 1,500 people. It really does beggar belief. Sometimes, according to the census, families of eight or nine took in lodgers to help to pay the rent. From that street, 211 men volunteered to fight in world war one. They served in every Scottish regiment: the Cameronians, the Highland Light Infantry, the Black Watch, the Royal Scots Fusiliers and the Seaforth Highlanders. Forty-five never came home, 27 were wounded and two were missing in action. Immediately after the first world war, Lyon Street was recognised as the most decorated street in Britain. Unfortunately, nothing now remains of Lyon Street—it does not exist any longer, and even the plaque commemorating the fallen has long since disappeared. When I was the local MSP, I tried hard to locate it, but it seems to have been lost forever. However, the site is now home to St Joseph’s primary school, and the pupils and staff arranged their own memorial and honour the fallen every year. I mention Lyon Street because researching the story made me realise that this part of Glasgow has changed completely since the world war. Lyon Street has gone and the overcrowded tenements have gone, but the memory of those men, and the place that was their home, is still alive—not least thanks to the pupils of St Joseph’s, who although separated from the first world war by more than 100 years, understand the importance of remembering.

• 13 Jun 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend makes a valid point. The point of my amendment, as I will come on to, is that we need to ensure as much scrutiny as possible in this regard. From what I have outlined, this is clearly an exceptionally important post, which carries great responsibility and significant power; indeed, it seems the postholder will require the judgment of Solomon to be able to fulfil their role. It is therefore surprising that, as the Bill stands, there is no requirement for pre-appointment scrutiny by the relevant Select Committee, despite the profile of the post and the controversy it will inevitably attract. Considering that such pre-appointment scrutiny is required for the chair of the Competition and Markets Authority, the chair of the BBC, the chair of the Charity Commission, the Information Commissioner, the chair of the Care Quality Commission, the health service commissioner for England, the chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission and the chair of the UK Statistics Authority, the omission of such scrutiny in this case is clearly a serious oversight, which my amendment seeks to remedy by ensuring that the correct Select Committee has the power of scrutiny. In my view, we need to guard the rights and privileges of Parliament jealously. We must ensure that Parliament is involved in the scrutiny of this legislation going forward as much as we possibly can. The Bill itself requires this to be as rigorous and transparent as is possible. No matter what side of the debate we are on, it is important to ensure that the Bill is as strong and as good as it possibly can be; we owe it to the people who send us here—the people who have been writing to us in such great numbers. My amendment seeks to strengthen the Bill in respect of the voluntary assisted dying commissioner.

• 6 May 2025 · Poverty: Glasgow North East · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Butler. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North East (Maureen Burke) on securing this important debate and on being such a doughty champion for her constituents. Poverty is experienced by many communities across Glasgow, as we have heard, and my constituency of Glasgow West is no exception. In 2022-23, 19.3% of all people in Glasgow were income-deprived, compared with 12.1% in Scotland across the board. In Glasgow in 2023, 41.1% of secondary pupils were registered for free school meals. The figure for Scotland is just 13.2%. The Drumchapel/Anniesland ward in my constituency has the greatest depth of poverty in Glasgow. That is a lot of statistics, but as my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North East says, there is a family or an individual behind every single one. Earlier this year, I held a child poverty taskforce event. The submission from that has been fed into the Government’s taskforce. It was attended by many organisations that work with children and families in Glasgow West. The stories they told and the evidence they offered were truly shocking. One participant, a volunteer with a youth club, reflected on her experience of taking a group of children on a day out and giving each child £5 to buy lunch. One child asked if he could forgo lunch and give the money to his mum so that she could buy bread and milk for the family. As you will gather, I find that story horrific, but that is the reality for many children who are all too aware of the financial pressures that their parents are facing. In effect, it takes away their ability to enjoy their childhood and be children. As we have heard, since 2013-14 the funding received by Glasgow city council has reduced significantly, putting severe pressure on services across the city. Hopefully, the record settlement that this Government has passed to the Scottish Government will allow them to address what is now chronic underfunding. Over recent years, I have been disappointed that the SNP administration in Glasgow has not seemed to feel it either necessary or required that it should challenge its colleagues in the Scottish Government at Holyrood about that funding situation, because it should not have been allowed to continue. We have heard a lot about the mortality rate in Glasgow. I will not rehearse that; I will just say that we have known for a very long time that health inequalities, housing conditions, educational opportunities and poverty are all connected. A lifetime ago, I worked in the health service, and we were proud of but challenged by the Black report, which drew attention to all those facts. We have known about them since 1980, and have had the opportunity to do something about them over the years. We made some progress under the Blair Government, and we began to look at poverty, particularly child poverty, in the early days of the Scottish Parliament, but we need to do much more. All these issues are connected. If one part of that jigsaw is in the wrong place, the life chances and life opportunities of all those families and young people are badly affected. I close by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North East again. She was absolutely right to be challenging about what we all have to do, what all Governments have to do and what all local authorities have to do. It is only by working together that we will begin to make a difference for the people who rely on us to do that.

• 1 May 2025 · Parkinson’s Awareness Month · Hansard source

  More

  I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) on securing this important debate at the end of Parkinson’s Awareness Month. I would like to begin by paying tribute to my old friend and former colleague Margo MacDonald, SNP Member of this House briefly in the 1970s and Member of the Scottish Parliament for the SNP and as an independent from 1999 until her death in 2014. Anyone who knew Margo will remember that she was a force of nature and that anything she did was done with her typical determination, wit and good humour. I credit Margo with my limited understanding of Parkinson’s and its variability, because for all the time she was in the Scottish Parliament she had Parkinson’s, but it did not stop her being one of the most effective communicators and advocates for her constituency. In my constituency, some 222 people are believed to be living with Parkinson’s as we speak. I want to thank those who care for them—professionals, family members and volunteers alike—for their hard work and commitment. As we have heard, there is no cure for Parkinson’s, and current treatment can manage only some of the symptoms. It can be a frightening disease, and one that can lead to depression and despair. In Scotland alone there are approximately 30 new diagnoses every week. In 2024, Parkinson’s UK in Scotland produced an excellent report called “Scotland Can’t Wait”. In the report, Parkison’s UK in Scotland highlighted the many challenges that people with Parkinson’s currently face and the problems that will arise if the challenge of the increasing number of people being diagnosed is not addressed. The report drew on experience and robust data and makes some very important points. It highlights that investing in professional staff who can offer the kind of specialist treatment that people with Parkinson’s need would be an important step forward. Existing staff are already stretched, and if action is not taken soon they will be pushed to breaking point. Ensuring that people get the appropriate medication when it is needed, whether they are in hospital or at home, is also vital. Crucially, the mental health impacts of Parkinson’s need to be addressed, including Parkinson’s dementia, which can be frightening for patients and their families. A recent freedom of information request revealed that since the year 2020, less than half a million pounds was spent by the Scottish Government on research into Parkinson’s disease. By my calculations, that is something like £34 per person suffering from the disease in Scotland. That seems to me to be a woeful amount of money. I recognise that the effort to find a cure for Parkinson’s will inevitably have to be a global exercise, and one that this Government, I am sure, will want to play a large part in. But everyone has to get their act together and up their game, including the Scottish Government. At the end of the day, we want to find a preventive approach to Parkinson’s, but a cure along the way would be helpful too. Parkinson’s UK in Scotland called its report “Scotland Can’t Wait”, and rightly so. The 30 people diagnosed every week cannot wait, and the 222 people in Glasgow West certainly cannot either. It is time for Governments on both sides of the border to act and work with Parkinson’s UK and Parkinson’s UK in Scotland to ensure that we do better for people with Parkinson’s for their families and the staff who support them. Parkinson’s UK has shown us the way; it is now time that we follow it.

• 27 Mar 2025 · Prevention of Drug Deaths · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve with you in the chair, Dr Murrison. I congratulate the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) on securing a debate on this important subject. I associate myself with the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for West Dunbartonshire (Douglas McAllister) about Christina McKelvie. I served in the Scottish Parliament with Christina for some 10 years, and she was, perhaps ironically, a real lover of life and a force for good. I will focus on the Scottish Affairs Committee’s ongoing inquiry into the operation of the safer drug consumption facility in Glasgow, which is the first of its kind in the UK. My contribution will be entirely factual, as I do not want to prejudice the inquiry in any way, or to pre-empt any decisions the Committee may make. It is an important issue and relevant to this debate. To give some context to the rationale for the safer drug consumption room: Scotland has the highest number of drug deaths in Europe by some margin. The data tell us that some 1,172 people died in 2023 alone, which was up by 121 on the previous year. Much of the action that can be taken to address this problem comes under the powers of the Scottish Government, but that, of course, does not include issues arising from the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The Scottish Government have introduced a variety of measures, but I am speaking specifically about the safer drug consumption space. There are now some 200 such facilities in 12 countries around the globe, and the Scottish Parliament’s information centre explains that: “Several long-term evaluations indicate that attendees of SDCFs engage safer injecting practices and reduce public injecting, leading to significant declines in HIV and Hepatitis C transmission and fewer ambulance callouts for overdoses.” The idea of such a facility in Glasgow was first raised more than 10 years ago, but a variety of issues, including the reluctance of the then Lord Advocate, meant that the pilot facility opened in Glasgow only in January 2025, following considerable public engagement and after the current Lord Advocate provided a statement of prosecution policy. Although the possession of drugs remains a criminal offence, the Lord Advocate has indicated that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute users of the facility for simple possession offences, subject to certain limitations. I stress that this applies only to the facility. Last month the Scottish Affairs Committee visited the Thistle, as the Glasgow facility is known, and we saw for ourselves what was on offer. Users have access to a shower and can receive treatment for wounds and other health issues associated with their addiction. Discrete spaces where users can inject are also available, and staff can offer clean needles. Users bring their own drugs, but staff can give advice when they become aware that a particularly strong or pure drug might be in circulation, so that users are aware of potential dangers. Clients can choose to stay at the centre for a time after injecting. So far, two overdoses have occurred on the premises, but they were dealt with either on site or in other locations, and both individuals made a recovery. Staff can also signpost clients to other services. Since the Thistle opened in January, there have been over 140 unique service users, more than 1,000 visits, more than 700 injecting episodes managed on site, and the prevention of some 700 to 800 items of drug-related litter in public spaces in the vicinity of the centre. Eighty per cent of the clients are male. The Thistle is a pilot scheme and will be carefully reviewed and analysed over the next three years to ascertain whether it has helped to reduce bloodborne viruses and other drug-related harms and death. It has become clear to the Committee that the staff working at the Thistle are dedicated, committed, welcoming and non-judgmental. I encourage Members to look out for our report when it is published.

• 17 Mar 2025 · Women’s Changed State Pension Age: Compensation · Hansard source

  More

  It is, as always, a pleasure to work under your chairmanship Sir Edward. I am pleased that the Petitions Committee has brought this debate to the House, especially given that as many as 160,000 signatures have been recorded, with some 266 of them from my own constituency. I thank all those who have written to me and all those who have campaigned and fought so hard over the years to try to bring the issue of WASPI women to a successful conclusion. I should probably make a declaration—not one that is required by procedure, but one that is relevant to this debate. I am a WASPI woman, one of over 4,000 in my constituency. Clearly I am still working, and in a fairly privileged position as a Member of the House, but I have watched the various increases in the state pension qualifying age with great interest over the years. I understand why it is necessary to equalise the pension age for men and women, but it is important to see that in context. In 1995, Parliament legislated to increase the pension age for women from 60 to 65 and bring it in line with the retirement age for men. That was meant to happen in stages between April 2010 and 2020, but in 2011, new legislation accelerated the timetable, meaning that women’s state pension age reached 65 by November 2018. The same legislation brought forward the increase in the overall state pension age to 66, which happened between December 2018 and October 2020 for both men and women. Many women of my age felt as though the qualifying age was becoming more and more distant the closer we got to our 60s. As we know, many women did not receive notification of the changes in the qualifying age, and many others did not receive it timeously enough to allow them to make adjustments and changes. The ombudsman considered the case of the WASPI women and concluded that there had been maladministration between 2005 and 2006, with a 28-month delay before beginning a direct mail exercise to notify affected women. Personally, I do not know whether I ever got a letter about the raising of the state pension age. I tend to keep that kind of thing, but I do not have such a letter. I do remember a friend telling me about it. I went on to the website and looked at the online calculator, and I found out that I would get my pension at 66, but not everyone has the opportunity to do that. Not everyone has access to the internet, and not everyone is literate enough with IT to be able to make those calculations. As the ombudsman said, such women lost opportunities to make informed decisions about their finances, which diminished their sense of personal autonomy and financial control. It seems to me that when an ombudsman records such findings and suggests a course of action, we should follow it, but the ombudsman clearly had an idea about the thinking within government—and I mean government in the generic sense, as the report predates this Government. I say that because the ombudsman concluded that it should lay the report before Parliament, and hoped that parliamentarians would implement its findings. That is what I hoped and expected would happen, and I cannot say how disappointed I am that it did not. But I say gently to the Minister that it is not too late to put it right. I mentioned earlier that I am in a privileged position, and I am: I am privileged to have been sent here to represent my constituents, and I will continue to use that privilege to support and fight for WASPI women until such time as the ombudsman’s recommendations are implemented.

• 27 Feb 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  The visit to Scotland by the Prime Minister within 48 hours of the general election was widely welcomed. That priority for Scotland stands in stark contrast with the actions of the Leader of the Opposition, who after 116 days in post has still not ventured north of the border, leaving Scots confused as to whether they should be dismayed or relieved. Will the Leader of the House allocate time for a debate to discuss which party in this House truly stands up for Scotland and for the Union?

• 17 Jan 2025 · Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  I agree that this will make it simpler. I think back to a number of conversations I heard or had on the doorstep on the issue. I thought I had begun to get my head around the situation, but I then heard colleagues who were knocking doors with me trying to explain it to citizens on the doorstep, and it became clear to me that perhaps I had not explained it properly to them. We all have a role to play, and anything we can do to make this process more obvious, more accessible and simpler will be very helpful. I know from last year’s general election, Deputy Presiding Officer—sorry, Madam Deputy Speaker; old habits die hard—how important postal and proxy votes are to voters in my communities of Glasgow West, which had the largest number of registered postal voters in the city of Glasgow. As I said earlier, that perhaps reflects the ageing demographic in parts of my constituency. Voters should never be hindered in casting their vote by an overly complicated system, and this Bill is a major step forward in reducing that complexity. It is vital that every eligible voter has easy access to the democratic process, and this Bill will help to achieve that. I was first elected in 1999 to another Parliament, and over the years I have worked with many returning officers and seen for myself the work that they and their staff do, year in, year out. Even when there are not elections on, they are preparing, and ensuring that electoral registers are up to date and the processes for postal and proxy votes are in place. I thank all the returning officers I have worked with over the years and their staff for everything they do to make the process as efficient as possible. Hopefully, today, with the help of my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh North and Leith and her Bill, we will help them to make that process even better.

• 17 Jan 2025 · Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  It was said earlier that the fact that last year’s general election occurred during the Scottish school holidays meant that, in the chaos and confusion that happens in most households preparing to go on holiday, voting fell off the agenda for a lot of people who had perhaps thought about applying for a postal vote but not got around to doing it. Does my hon. Friend agree that, were another election like that to be called, the opportunity to do that chore by post might make a difference to a lot of people?

• 17 Jan 2025 · Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. That is something I am particularly aware of in my constituency, which—as I will talk more about later on—has an ageing demographic. The online service is vital. The option to apply by post is available for UK parliamentary elections and for police and fire commissioner elections in England and Wales. Voters in England can also use the service to apply for postal or proxy votes in local elections, but voters in Scotland and Wales currently have more limited options, as a paper form is still required for absent voting applications for a devolved Parliament or local election. The Bill will remove that restriction for voters in Scotland and Wales, and will also make the conduct of elections possibly cheaper and certainly more manageable for electoral administrators. In Scotland, we use three different voting systems, which in and of itself can be complicating for voters. We ask them to vote by first past the post for elections to this place; we ask them to vote using the additional member system for elections to the Scottish Parliament; and we ask them to vote by single transferable vote for local authority elections. In spite of the fact that some of those methods have been in place since 1999, I have encountered voters over the piece who still find that confusing, so anything we can do to take away any complexity or complication from the process of voting must be very welcome. The Bill is also respectful of the devolution settlement —something that is very important to me as a former Minister for Parliament in the Scottish Government. This Bill seeks to give the power to enact those parts of the system that are devolved to the Scottish and Welsh Governments, but importantly, it also allows enough time for the process to be introduced in time for the next round of Scottish and Welsh parliamentary elections in 2026.

• 17 Jan 2025 · Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention—I was rather spoilt for choice. I absolutely agree: young people will think that. Young people are particularly used to signing up online and think that once they have done something online, it is probably there in perpetuity. In most cases, they are correct; in this, they are not. The Bill will help to resolve that issue. I mentioned that we are going to have Scottish Parliament and Welsh parliamentary elections in 2026, but in Scotland, those elections will be quickly followed by local authority elections in 2027, so it is very important that the Bill is enacted in time for those elections to use this new system. This is a crucial step towards ensuring a consistent and straightforward voting process for people in Scotland and Wales.

• 17 Jan 2025 · Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh North and Leith (Tracy Gilbert) for bringing forward this important piece of Member’s legislation. Having taken a Members’ Bill through the Scottish Parliament a number of years ago, I know how daunting and time-consuming the process is, so I am very grateful to all colleagues who have tabled Bills, allowing us to debate so many important subjects. With turnout at elections dropping across the country, it is important that we as legislators do everything we can to encourage and facilitate voters. We all have a role to play, whether that is speaking to young people in our constituencies about the importance of their vote and their democratic rights being respected, or bringing forward legislation that makes the process easier for all. We have to take those responsibilities seriously—in fact, to grasp them with both hands. Postal and proxy votes are a vital component of our elections, as they make voting possible for voters who are perhaps ill or on holiday, or whose working hours make it difficult to get to a polling station. As we have heard, since October 2023, the online absent voter application service has been available to voters who wish to vote by post and wish to apply online. The option to apply using a paper form is, of course, still available to anyone who wishes to use it.

• 12 Nov 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  The point is that the birthrights the right hon. Gentleman describes are available to all of us, whereas the birthrights we are talking about are restricted to very few people, some of whom have inherited them from a point that is literally in the history books and is so far back, and the contribution is so archaic now, that it really means nothing. We have to be realistic about this, and that is why we are looking at the hereditary peers first.

• 12 Nov 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  I am grateful to the right hon. Member for taking the intervention. I struggle to understand what the Conservative party’s line is on the Bill. It would appear that he disagrees with a number of his colleagues. At the end of the day, how will Conservative Members vote?

• 12 Nov 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  rose—

• 28 Oct 2024 · Remembrance and Veterans · Hansard source

  More

  As we approach this time of remembrance, is it fitting that the national Parliament of the UK reflects on the sacrifice made by so many men and women to ensure that we have the right to be here, in this place, and that our democratic values prevail. Indeed, I understand that the first world war claimed 19 of our predecessors, while the second world war claimed 23. While we think of the contribution of our veterans, it is wise to take a moment to think about non-combatants, who are also often the victims of war. On 13 March 1941, Bankhead primary school in my constituency was hit by a Luftwaffe bomb. Fortunately, the school had been evacuated, but it was serving as a civil defence station, and 40 people were killed. The reason for the strike was never fully explained; it could have been a remnant of the Clydebank blitz, with one of the Luftwaffe pilots dropping bombs to lighten the load for the way home, or it could have been because of the nearby railway marshalling yards in Yoker. We will never know, but the fact is that 40 civilians died. Some years ago, Terrence McCourt, a local Knightswood man, began a campaign for a war memorial to be erected in his area. Terrence’s campaign was successful, and a small but very beautiful garden of remembrance was established in my Glasgow West constituency. Regular events take place there to remember important dates such as Armistice Day, VJ Day and VE Day. On Remembrance Sunday, many of us will stand in Glasgow’s George Square to watch the march of veterans and current servicemen and women, as well as of representatives of the emergency and uniformed services. Sadly but inevitably, the number of veterans diminishes every year, so it is more important than ever that their memory is not allowed to fade. Unfortunately, neither world war was the war to end all wars—the events of the past century are sadly testament to that. As parliamentarians, we must be dedicated to the eradication of conflict through peaceful and democratic means. That is a worthy objective to which I hope we all subscribe, but it is one that remains in peril in this increasingly dangerous conflict-torn world. For the sake of this generation, and generations yet unborn, we must redouble our efforts to support diplomatic and peaceful means of resolving even the most seemingly intractable situations. After all, we cannot make peace by talking only to our friends. As Gandhi put it, an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.

• 14 Oct 2024 · Points of Order · Hansard source

  More

  Further to those points of order, Mr Speaker. Like my colleagues the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell) and the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone), I served with Alec Salmond in the Scottish Parliament from 1999. Alec did not always stay when we did; sometimes he came back here, but he inevitably came back to Scotland, and he became Scotland’s First Minister. Of course, even before that, as a Scot interested in politics, I was aware of Alec and of his great strength and courage. I seem to remember that at one point he was not a member of the SNP, and it is always difficult to rebel against your own party, so all credit to him for doing so then over a point of principle. I was interested in the point made by the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale about the Lobby. I have heard stories from new Labour MPs who were encouraged to think about the way Scotland would be after independence— but for a different reason. It was suggested to them that Scotland would always vote in a Labour Government if we were to be independent, which just goes to show how astute—and, I suppose, pragmatic—Alec was as a politician. He was a great performer in whichever Chamber he was in, and he was always worth listening to. Obviously, my politics and his were very different, but I shared platforms with him on a number of occasions, and it was always interesting and an education to listen to what he had to say. My thoughts and prayers go to Moira, of course, and to Gail and the wider family, as well as to all those who knew and loved him.