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Three weeks after being elected as an MSP, Ross Finnie found
himself in government, and was one of only two ministers who served
in government for the whole of the first 8 years of the Scottish
Parliament. When asked in the early days if it had been a
steep learning curve, he replied, "No… it's been a learning
perpendicular!" He also, uniquely, kept the same position during
these 8 years, as Minister for Rural Development (and latterly
Environmental Affairs), being responsible for the first ever
agriculture strategy and first ever marine strategy covering
fishing and conservation of the seas. These are among the
things he cites as his main achievements during this time,
alongside the creation of Scottish Water and the passing of the
Land Reform Bill. More generally he was proud to be part of a
government that was about being more accessible and engaged with
the individuals for whom he had policy responsibility.
He has been interested and involved in politics since his school
days, serving as a councillor for 22 years and standing for
Westminster twice before being elected as an MSP. Since May
he has found himself in a new political role, being a backbench
MSP, and, as he described it, "a constructive critic of
Government". So why didn't the Lib Dems want to stay in power
and form a coalition with the new largest party, the SNP?
Finnie believes that what a country needs is stability in
government, and that that stability could not have been delivered
with two parties who have such different views on constitutional
arrangements.
"I don't define my nationality by boundaries - I define my
nationality by my Scottish history, my Scottish culture, my
Scottish background, my Scottish education, my Scottish legal
system, my Scottish religion - these are the things that define my
nationality and liberals don't believe in nationalism per se, so it
is a pretty fundamental difference between the two parties."
So what are the issues that are closest to his heart? As
you might expect, liberty and particularly individual liberty is
absolutely fundamental to him as a Liberal Democrat. "It is
about communities, it is about the individuals, it's about
individual progress, it's about freedoms - I'm a staunch liberal so
for me it is about individual liberty. In poverty there is no
liberty, in ill health there is no liberty, so these things are
pretty fundamental to me."
Focussing on individuals comes across very strongly and his
passion for individual liberty is also, he believes, the key to
unlocking the huge inequality gaps in Scotland. He's
obviously disturbed and perplexed as to why investment and good
intentions from different politicians have not been successful
enough in closing inequality gaps and ending deprivation.
"I'm not sure we have taken those policies intended to close the
health inequalities, intended to close financial inequalities, to
close deprivation gaps, that we've really made the connection with
what is it that is actually part of the individuals problem.
We need to do more to recognise that if we get the solution to the
individual right then we are more likely to get the solution to the
wider community."
He is keen to emphasise the separation of religion and politics
and explains that this focus on liberty and the policy options that
result come from his philosophical underpinning derived from his
political party and is separate, but not incompatible with his
theological underpinning that comes from his religion. To
illustrate this he shares how he was invited to speak at an event
under the title, "The political Jesus"; his assessment was, "of
course Christ was not a politician and should never be thought of
as such".
So what role does he think the churches should play in
politics? "I liked the title, Church and Nation.[1] I didn't just enjoy my 5 or 6 years on that
committee I also thought it was a nice way of expressing the view
that the church has a different role to play but it has an integral
and important part to play in the health and well-being of the
nation. Clearly it has to stand well back from party politics
but it should be both an inspiration and a critic of what goes on
in society."
Turning again to his ministerial role at Rural Affairs he
stresses how important it is that people across Scotland understand
and appreciate what a valuable natural resource our rural areas
are. At the moment it is undervalued, not because people want
to undervalue it but because, "we have allowed a couple of
generations to come through with no appreciation of what it does
and what it contributes, what it means to the fabric of Scottish
society… In today's highly commercialised society particularly in
the procurement of food, where we dive into a supermarket, we
shovel things off the shelf into our shopping basket, we've no idea
of where it came from, how it got there and what's in it."
The question that gets the most animated response is about human
rights and civil liberties. He is extremely concerned that
civil rights and civil liberties are rather alarmingly being
"salami sliced" and stresses that there is a need to be constantly
vigilant and alert both domestically and internationally. We
must address why people are becoming disaffected and susceptible to
turning their backs on civil liberties rather than spending day
upon day having this false debate on locking people up under
suspicion of terrorism - a proposal that, he says, has not been
supported by "one shred of evidence!"
Increasingly, Finnie thinks the UK's approach to international
security is all wrong and thinks all sorts of questions need to be
asked to find ways to refocus foreign policy on trying to address
increasing inequalities internationally. This is obviously an
area that he is increasingly interested in and focusing energy on
but at this point there is one thing he is absolutely certain of,
"if we are going to improve the state of peace and order in the
world we don't achieve it by breaking down civil liberties in our
own countries."
From a passionate response about politics I ask what is his
biggest passion outside politics. His wife of course he
replies! And his two children, who have been very supportive
of his "quite eccentric engagement in politics". He is also
very keen on sport and can still be found in winter getting
thoroughly wet watching his local rugby club.
Another refreshing response to the final question follows.
What is the best piece of advice that you could pass on to someone
else? "Always think of others - don't think of
yourself". He says "we can all get very caught up in our own
agendas, caught up in what we believe is terribly important", but
it's a big world out there with lots of talent and diversity.
As a younger politician at school he was much taken by that
oft-used quote in John F Kennedy's inaugural speech in 1960: "Think
not of what America can do for you but what you can do for
America." This sentiment can be applied to many a situation
he concludes.
[1] Ross Finnie was a member of the
Church of Scotland's Church and Nation Committee for 5 years.