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Annabel Goldie: MSP for the West of Scotland, Deputy Leader of
the Scottish Conservative Party, convener of the Justice 2
Committee, Kirk elder and a member of the Salvation Army West
Scotland Advisory Board. A heavy load but one she seems to relish.
She says that she gets a great deal of pleasure out of her role as
deputy leader, helped enormously by the fact that "David McLetchie
and I are good pals, we get on well together". As you might expect
from a solicitor she also enjoys engaging in party political debate
and found campaigning for her party in the run up to the General
Election "exhilarating": there was "a certain sense of liberation"
in campaigning for other people, rather than for your own
livelihood. She feels that there is a very cordial relationship
between the Scottish Conservative Party and their UK level
counterparts, with a "natural warmth and rapport" visible when they
all get together.
Acknowledging that the Conservatives were against devolution
(though adding that their opposition to it meant that a vital and
informed debate took place), she says that the party were always
prepared to accept the will of Scotland and once that happened they
drew a line in the sand and put their efforts into "contributing to
the Parliament being a sensible place of governance". She
personally decided to stand for the Scottish Parliament because "it
was very clear to me that there was going to be a lopsided
representation of view in this Parliament if people of my political
standpoint were not prepared to come forward to seek election".
She has never regretted giving up her position as a full-time
lawyer because she believes that her presence with her colleagues
is valuable as they are prepared to challenge and question the
dominating "political preponderance" in the Parliament. She has
also recovered from the shock of the high level of visibility that
comes with being an MSP. MSPs are "a very local type of elected
politician", which means that they are seen on trains and standing
at stations and running through streets to get to those stations.
She thinks that this is healthy (being amongst the people you
represent, not just the running), and, while it can sometimes be
quite abrasive to be confronted with someone's views, Annabel says
that it forces her to think about why it is she holds her opinions.
Because of this she is convinced about the importance of political
principle, which she feels allows the Conservatives to have a
consistency of approach to the issues that they face, unlike other
parties which "seem to act in a much more reactive fashion" to the
current issue of the day.
Sceptical about the value of legislation, she doesn't believe
that passing an Act of the Scottish Parliament will necessarily
create a solution; instead, it generally just regulates certain
unacceptable situations. She thinks legislation should only be used
as a last resort, because whether it is brought in to stop
something from happening, or to create a platform from which things
can then happen, "it is all based on the foundation that something
is failing in society". She cites the example of lack of discipline
in schools and the fact that a member of staff is assaulted every
twelve minutes in a school. A solution would be to find out what is
driving the behaviour of disruptive pupils; to find out if it is
their family background, or the abuse of drugs and alcohol, or the
negative influence of certain cultural idols. Once the problems
have been identified, her approach would then be to get into the
school and find out what needs to be done to help teachers reaffirm
their authority: "I doubt that would need legislation".
Drug abuse in Scotland deeply troubles Annabel. If there was one
legislative decision that she would like to prioritise it would be
the reclassification of cannabis from a category B to a category C
drug, which she believes was "one of the most irresponsible and
reprehensible decisions" of the Labour government at Westminster.
She says that it was "utter folly" of the government to make that
decision without having all the research information available
about the grave prejudicial effects it has on the human system and
"already the unwelcome consequences of that decision are being writ
large".
At a Scottish level, she thinks that the Executive's policy is
weak and requires a complete rethink. Annabel believes that we need
to take a step right back to the stage where young people are
tempted into experimenting with drugs; she thinks the Executive are
sending out confusing messages to young people because they are too
concerned about appearing cool. The Conservatives believe that
young people want information about drugs that is currently missing
- on health issues and the illegality of drugs, as well as looking
for guidance on the subject and the comfort of boundaries. They
also clash with the Executive over how rehabilitation is provided;
there is a gap between when an addict comes to the point of saying
'I need help' and when they get that help, because there does not
appear to be a public register of health facilities, so no-one
knows what is available in their area.
Her third concern is the role of the methadone programme in
Scotland. The Conservatives are not against methadone per
se, recognising that it may be the only option that will take
an individual out of a chaotic lifestyle of heroin addiction into a
more orderly routine. But they are "deeply opposed" to its long
term use. Annabel believes that methadone should only ever be used
as a bridge to lead an addict to abstinence. She adds that research
done at Glasgow University highlighted that the majority of people
who have been put on methadone programmes would actually have
preferred to be helped towards abstinence and she thinks it "is
folly to disregard that", because methadone is more addictive than
heroin. She praises the work done by the Maxie Richards Foundation
in helping addicts work towards abstinence and thinks the Executive
should open its eyes to this kind of treatment.
Annabel enjoys her role as an MSP, and her regrets she says are
no different from anyone else: could she do more? She says that
this is a pin that constantly pricks her but finds it comforting
that her faith transcends all the activities she engages in and is
an integral part of all that she does. She sees herself as a
"fragile Christian operator", but thinks that might be a good thing
if it means that she questions herself about how she is squaring up
to her faith and to her church commitments every day: "I think
that's a hair shirt I wear on a daily basis. It will keep on
scratching me".
As for the church, she thinks the first thing it needs to do is
say in a loud and clear voice what its Christian teaching is, and
then carry out its obligations to its diverse flock without causing
division, hurt, hostility and anger. "Everything has to be done
with love and grace and that is something that I am sure the
churches are mindful of, and it is perhaps something that adherents
to individual churches have to be mindful of too".
Annabel's faith and politics are equally evident in her choice
of desert island partners. Asked whom she would like to have with
her if she was stranded on a desert island of the west coast of
Scotland, she responded with: "The west coast? Noah. I would
certainly be grateful to him for his proven skills". Her other
chosen companion would be Winston Churchill; it is one of her big
regrets that she never knew the war time leader. Despite being
dogged at times by deep depression and being at a stage in his life
when many commentators today would have written him off as being
past it, he was "the political salvation of this country". So with
Noah looking after her physical needs and Winston providing her
mental stimulation, she feels life would be made that little more
comfortable by a teapot, which would provide a point of sit down
fellowship and some warm sustenance. However, she thinks that at
least one of her companions might not be terribly enthusiastic at
the prospect of a cup of tea, but she charitably says that she
might be able to come up with a little hooch for it.