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Hugh O'Donnell has had a "portfolio career to date" including
the civil service, teaching, supermarket management and then, at
the age of 40, put himself through University whilst working for
Quarriers. Having originally joined the SDP and subsequently
the Liberal Democrats when the merger took place, he says he was
passive in terms of his political engagement for many years.
His family got fed up of him shouting at the television and
challenged him to "go and do something" and from starting to
deliver leaflets, it grew "like topsy" from there.
"Being here and doing the job that I currently do is
essentially serendipity. There was no great cunning plan to
become a politician: the opportunities in my neck of the woods to
become a Liberal politician were few and far between; until fairly
recently it has been predominantly a Labour fiefdom."
When the legislation for the Scottish Parliament was enacted
that situation changed and he helped get Donald Gorrie elected as a
list MSP for central Scotland and went on to work for him in the
Parliament. He has been working at the Parliament since 1999,
being selected and subsequently elected for the Lib Dems following
Gorrie's retirement in 2007. Describing himself
as starting life as a "wee naff" from the East End of Glasgow, he
believes that the diverse backgrounds of his fellow MSPs really
benefits the Parliament bringing "at least some understanding of
some of challenges that people face. There are 129 of us and
we are as diverse a group of people as any. There are almost
no career politicians, those who have fallen out of the Oxbridge
sausage factory and straight into candidacy. We literally
have doctors, bakers, candlestick makers…"
His political affiliation suits his worldview, he explains, "I'm
liberal by instinct" and "for the most part, I like the approach,
the individual approach and the balance between individual
responsibility, collective responsibility and society."
Working as an MSP has given him huge opportunities to pursue his
own interests within that, although at times he struggles with the
frustrations of the job; "getting a tangible outcome is quite
challenging" and he's not used to that. However, he
keeps in his mind what his PA said to him: "your outcome is
ensuring that the process and the system of governance that we have
doesn't disadvantage people and if it does you're there to make
sure, as much as it is possible to do, that disadvantage is kept to
minimum."
This may lead you to believe that his role is more audit and
oversight than it really is. Hugh has pursued his deep
concern for the rights of women and minority groups for many years.
"Wherever you are in life there are always different opportunities
to bring your philosophical or ideological view to bear on things;
a little bit more justice, a little bit more equality." But
why? "I just don't like injustice. It jars with
me". This moral basis and instinct can be traced to his Roman
Catholic upbringing and has manifested itself in his work in the
field of disability rights. When he worked for Quarriers, a
lot of his work was about widening the potential for social
participation: "a lot of the people that I was working with there
had been in institutions for long and weary… and shunted from
pillar to post."
Driven in part by these experiences, Hugh has recently launched
a member's Bill on proposals for a Scottish Autism Strategy to try
and tackle the "postcode lottery of effectiveness in terms of the
service delivery… a bit like the curate's egg, it's good in some
parts and in other parts it's awful." There is no national
approach, and that is what he seeks to change through his
Bill. There aren't even reliable statistics on how many
people in Scotland have autism, although it could be as many as
50-60,000 and Scotland remains the only part of the UK where there
is "no plan or strategy at a national level." The approach he
has taken in the proposed Bill is simple for a number of reasons;
as a backbencher he didn't feel it was appropriate for to tell the
Government what should be in its strategy, "I'm simply trying to
get them to have a strategy" and when preparing the Bill he was
"acutely aware of the economic times in which we live and that
lumbering either a central government or local authorities or
health boards with a hugely expensive piece of legislation would
not be welcomed" What he has put forward rather, is merely a
first step and as such he will be "really disappointed if the
Government don't support it because they have spoken long and
eloquently about how much they are doing for people with
autism. Let's see them consolidate that by supporting my
proposal."
Sitting on the Parliament's Equal Opportunities Committee has
enabled him to put disability rights and other concerns on the
agenda, citing the recent report on the sexualised goods aimed at
children as an example of this. However, there is a
frustration on his part about constraints that the Committee faces
as the equalities legislation is reserved to Westminster: "why that
was done I'm not quite sure and it causes some conflict in areas
where we would perhaps like to go. It gives me particular
angst in relation to Dungavel because what is happening there
doesn't sit well with the general Scottish philosophy of how people
should be treated, never mind a Liberal Democrats'
philosophy." He goes further, "the UKBA [the UK Border
Agency] really doesn't want to talk to MSPs and that's a shame,
that's a shame."
Another area where he has rubbed up against tensions between
reserved and devolved matters is in his work in Gaza where he has
been involved in delivering humanitarian aid to the people
there. "We've had some rumblings from Westminster about some
of our involvement in Gaza and quite frankly, too bad, I'm not
remotely interested. I'm more interested in doing what I can
for those people and for the people in that area, than I am about
playing party politics between Westminster and the devolved
administration." There is "limited scope" for the Scottish
Parliament to get involved internationally, he says, provided it is
done on a humanitarian basis and, without it becoming a "political
football", he would like to see the Scottish Parliament explore and
engage more in this area. Recently he went to Gaza, "on
the basis of "we've got humanitarian aid here" for a population
that is under siege because they took a democratic decision to
elect a Government which subsequently nobody else liked."
He's keen to insist that he's not saying that Hamas are a good
organisation but that he is outraged at the "collective punishment
of an entire population" and argues that putting "one and a half
million people in what is effectively a big prison" will not "solve
the problems in the middle east".
Internationally, Hugh has also been involved in work through the
Westminster Foundation in helping emerging countries grow as
democracies; recently delivering training to Macedonian MPs and in
2001 was one of 8 Scots chosen by the United Nations to supervise
the first ever free elections in the former Yugoslavian province of
Kosovo. This passion for democracy and his fierce
concern for equality is evident when asked about the churches role
in politics. "Churches and religious organisations have as
much right to have their voices, opinions and concerns aired and
listened to as any other sector and if that is done in a
constructive, proactive way all the better. I'm not
comfortable with anyone branding another sector of society as not
appropriate to further their own agenda. But I'm prepared to
listen and hear, and do hear on a fairly regular basis from members
of different congregations and different religions". In the
coming months he expects to hear in increasing numbers from
religious people in relation to Margo MacDonald's End of Life
Assistance Bill but offers to save them an email by saying, "I
didn't sign the proposal and I won't support the Bill."
Outside of politics, Hugh likes to spend time on his "little
Greek island", and spends his Sundays at the Greek Orthodox Church
in Glasgow and "desperately trying to learn Greek properly".
However, a wee insight into his personality emerges when he
explains that he has even been involved in politics in Greece,
"helping get the town council elected".