Queen reminds Scots politicians of ‘Privilege and responsibility’
SCOTLAND’S politicians should keep in step with the public as they set about building the countrys future, the Queen hinted today.
The message came at the ceremonial opening of the Scottish Parliament, now under minority control of the SNP.
First Minister, Alex Salmond of the SNP, told the ceremony he believed in an independent Scotland but acknowledged other politicians took a different view.
I welcome that debate and the national conversation to follow, he said.
The challenge for all of us is to have that conversation with dignity, with respect, and with substance.
After the formal ceremony, MSPs set out with 1,200 guests for a traditional riding procession up Edinburghs Royal Mile, followed by a programme of open-air entertainment.
In her address at the opening ceremony the Queen told MSPs how the mood of the Parliament had changed over the years, from one with perhaps unrealistic expectations in 1999.
Members of the Scottish Parliament, a few weeks ago you were elected by the Scottish people to serve the Scottish people, she said.
This is both a privilege and a great responsibility.
She went on: Today, in true Scottish style, you will walk with the people and party with the people.
As you move into your third parliamentary session and a new form of politics, I am confident that the Scottish people will be at the heart of the business of this session as you keep on walking with them and together build a better and more sustainable future for this great land.
The ceremony to inaugurate the third session of the Scottish Parliament the others began in 1999 and 2003 made constitutional history, The SNP won last months Holyrood elections with 47 seats out of 129, enough to form a minority administration.
Crowds lined Edinburghs Royal Mile to watch the ancient crown of Scotland, dating back to 1540, being taken in procession to the Parliament building from Edinburgh Castle.
The ceremony at the Parliament was accompanied by the full panoply of state ceremonial with trumpet fanfares, heralds, and a programme of music.
Invited guests included actor Sir Sean Connery, in dark green tartan trews and matching jacket, and other SNP supporters including Kwik-Fit founder Sir Tom Farmer and Stagecoach tycoon Brian Souter.
When the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh arrived at Holyrood they were greeted by Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson and party leaders.
In his speech at the opening ceremony, Mr Fergusson told our Queen of Scots how his church minister father dropped his sermon notes as he was about to preach to the Royal Family at Crathie church near Balmoral in 1962.
No one dared get up to hand them back to him and he preached on as if nothing had happened, but that moment has stayed firmly with me, said Mr Fergusson, who went on to tell the MSPs and guests that todays event was a PPP people, Parliament and the palace coming together to mark this third parliamentary session.
The Queen told Mr Fergusson she remembered his fathers mishap.
I recall commenting to the Duke of Edinburgh how commendably brief his sermon had been after he had dropped his notes, she said.
The Queen was wearing a white silk dress with a green and red floral design by designer Stewart Parvin, a lime green fine wool coat, and a pink hat with green trim by designer Philip Somerville.
She went on to tell the MSPs and guests: I have noted on previous occasions the affection my family has long had for the people of Scotland and I have therefore been pleased to be with you at each stage of your parliamentary life.
She described how she had found the first parliament in 1999 to be full of hope and vision and perhaps what might now with hindsight seem unrealistic expectations.
The second parliament in 2003 won world acclaim for it public engagement, showing the pioneering spirit of the Scots to be alive and well.
And so today the Scottish Parliament confidently moves into its third parliamentary session and places a firm focus on the future while drawing confidence and strength from your illustrious past, she went on.
The Queen went on to tell of Scotlands proud history, of how modern Scotland was respected worldwide, and of Scots renowned for their energy, flair and determination.
Today is a day about the people of Scotland, an opportunity for them to glimpse not just their local and historical achievements but the success of the nation as a whole, and to be encouraged that their contributions really count, she said.
Mr Salmond thanked the Queen for her wise reflection on the development of the Parliament.
In turn we in this chamber acknowledge your own vital role as Queen of Scots in guiding the tenor of our deliberations, he said.
He went on: This Parliament exists, and always will, to serve the people and to provide national leadership which reflects their hopes, addresses their fears and raises their aspirations.
Mr Salmond said Scotland was a country in transition and faced some pivotal choices in the years ahead.
But we do so from a position of strength, he said.
Scotland is not confused, nor are we a people ill at ease.
Rather, after two sessions of a renewed democratic tradition, we are a country weighing our options for our future.
We do so positively, and with the highest ideals.
He told the Queen: Your Majesty, it will not have escaped your notice that I am the first SNP First Minister that this Parliament has elected.
I believe in the restoration of an independent Scotland.
Others in this chamber take a different view.
I welcome that debate and the national conversation to follow.
The challenge for all of us is to have that conversation with dignity, with respect, and with substance.
Mr Salmond said similar conversations were taking place in Belfast, Cardiff and perhaps even in London.
Across Europe there were different visions of government in an interdependent world, and across the world a new order was struggling to be born, based on the rule of law and the need to tackle mass poverty and global warming.
These changes in governance are not to be feared but rather to be embraced, said Mr Salmond.
It is after all the essence of democracy that what has always been so, need not always be so.
He told the opening ceremony: Our role is to turn this Parliament into the crucible for national debate, a forum for the nation the place where the spectrum of ideas are debated and tested and broad concepts are honed to specific Scottish needs.
The minority government that resulted from the election had breathed new life into Scotlands political debate, Mr Salmond went on.
I am confident that this national Parliament will govern in the national interest as we address the immediate concerns of our people.
This is a Parliament of minorities.
Every party, including my government, is required to persuade, to reflect, and to respond.
The people of Scotland have delivered a Parliament which demands collective leadership.
That is exactly what they shall get.
He told the Queen that many MSPs were today wearing the white rose of Scotland, described by poet Hugh McDiarmid as the rose which smells sharp and sweet and breaks the heart.
Against the backcloth this week of further tragedy in Iraq, it is a reminder that our national story has its full share of grief and pain, as well as triumph and exhilaration, he said.
But through it all, hope remains and dreams do not die, he said.
MSPs later headed across the road to Holyrood House, the Queens official residence, for a formal reception.
The politicians were all presented to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in a room in the palace.
Mr Salmond was first up and chatted briefly with the Royal pair, although his wife Moira, who attended the ceremony in Parliament, was not present.
Senior Nationalist Andrew Welsh led the other politicians and their guests as they filed through.
Tory leader Annabel Goldie chatted briefly with the Queen, as did Labour chief Jack McConnell, the former First Minister, who was there with son Mark.
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