Download PDF (48k)
When Margo MacDonald was young she wanted to be the world's best
journalist, but journalism is only one of the fields in which she
has had a respected career. Her mother, raising the family on her
own, encouraged Margo to get a steadier profession under her belt,
and she went off to train as a PE teacher. It was here that she
became involved in student politics. She laughs, "I don't know when
exactly I became involved in politics, but the reason was not
because I was in pursuit of world peace: it was because I was in
pursuit of free tickets for the dancing ... I was just a glamour
puss".
When she talks about the context and the time that she joined
the SNP, however, her more altruistic inspirations and motivations
emerge. "I think I'm a child of my time because at the age I was -
particularly my twenties - the world was definitely emerging from
the second world war, and the freedom movements and liberation
movements for change were happening all over the world. There was a
general mood in the air that things were changing and people were
changing, and I think the Scottish movement for independence was
part of that."
Closer to home though, being married with two young children,
she became aware of political issues like taxation and
unemployment, and "the thing that got me particularly was why
should basic messages cost more in Scotland than they did in
England." So she joined the SNP and became active, almost
inadvertently: "I made the mistake of volunteering to be the
assistant temporary unpaid part-time minute taker and, before you
know it, I'm a candidate."
Her work in broadcasting and the school gym pervade her
politics. The communication skills she developed have been
invaluable - "I think clearly about how to present something - I
try to do it concisely". And when asked what issues are closest to
her heart, the first thing she says is, "sport and exercise and
their place in the curriculum of schools." She wants to see
specialist PE teachers in primary schools, a much better
appreciation of the difference a qualified, trained and
enthusiastic teacher can make. In secondary schools, they must be
able to teach a wide range of physical activity, to really inspire
and encourage all young people. Links between schools and the
community must be made and invested in. Politicians will have
to accept this won't come cheap but in the long run the money will
be saved in the NHS and in industry with less days being lost to
ill-health. It must be inculcated across society that "doing some
type of exercise for some period of every day is just the same as
brushing your teeth." She also wants to see pensioners getting free
access to sports centres along with their bus pass, "so they can go
to their line dancing or whatever."
Margo has championed the use of management zones for
prostitution and she explains why: "It's an unsavoury, sad business
that we're dealing with, but you've got to make it tolerable for
people who are affected by it in one way or another if you can.
You've got a duty of care to them … public opinion, roughly
speaking, says prostitution should be legalised and controlled,
there should be systems, brothels that can be inspected and
controlled."
Management zones have been proven to work she argues. In a pilot
in Edinburgh, not a single case of HIV was transmitted. This
approach offers women the best protection as they are plugged into
support networks. As she says, "you can't support prostitutes when
you can't reach them." She is angry towards what she calls,
"misguided efforts of women who think of themselves of being
radical feminists who see it as incumbent on themselves that they
should campaign to abolish prostitution. They have made things more
dangerous for prostitutes, have introduced even more hypocrisy into
how prostitution is managed…I can't be bothered with these so
called radical feminists who say that all women who sell sex are
exploited." They had the ear of the last Government and the current
one, and for this reason she doesn't believe the change of policy
that she is advocating will become a reality.
The day after this interview took place she unveiled her
intention to launch a Members Bill on "end of life choices". Her
visit to the Netherlands for a BBC documentary changed her
thinking
on this issue and convinced her that incorporating palliative care
with the choice to bring your life to an end if it is intolerable
can be the "last act of caring that a doctor might do". She hopes
the consultation will be out at the end of November and there are a
lot of areas that she wants to see raised and resolved through this
process. "We need a debate on how to enact these choices in law … I
hope to clear up the legalities, but a person has got the right to
end their life and they've got the right to have assistance if
needed to do this, from either a qualified and recognised -
probably registered - doctor. Not all doctors will want to do this
for many reasons, mainly reasons of faith, and they have every
right to opt out."
When she says that there are many things that she can do as an
Independent that she couldn't do as a member of a party, this is
probably one of them. "It's great being an Independent. It's not an
arrogance, it's a humility, it's ok to say I don't know. When
you're in a party, you're expected to know everything, and only
know what your party thinks you should know, and that doesn't suit
me at all." There are times that her vote is needed and that can
put her in a strong position, she would like to see more
Independents, but thinks it's probably unlikely as "the big parties
don't want that to happen."
Beyond and within these issues, Margo has a strong sense of
justice. "I think I would like to feel that, having been around
politics for the time that I have been around, that when I go (and
there is nothing more gone than a retired politician), I would like
to feel that I had maybe helped redistribute some of the wealth and
power in society, make the world a less ill-divided place."
She likes people to be outspoken, although she warns "count to 10
before you do it!" She likes that Cardinal Keith O'Brien "sounds
off" and goes on, "I like the way that Alan Macdonald when he was
Moderator was absolutely adamantly anti-nuclear and demonstrated
and all the rest of it. I happen to think that religion and
politics do mix, and if you want to see the spokesman on behalf of
the churches as just another pressure group then okay, but I think
they've got every right to do that."
There is no hesitation when asked about her passions in life
outside of politics. She reels them off, "Hibs, country music, my
husband, my grandchildren, my children, certain television
programmes." She makes no apologies for listing more than one
passion as she reflects thoughtfully, "There is so much I haven't
done or haven't seen."