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"I remember a huge stooshie at home when I was fairly young
because there was talk of emigrating to Australia… and I remember a
big fight in the house because my father was refusing to even
consider it because of the racist immigration policies that
Australia had at that time."
Growing up in the west of Scotland in a family of natural Labour
supporters, with roots on her paternal grandmother's side in the
Communist Party, a young Linda Fabiani developed an awareness of
inequality and injustice, both at home and abroad, from a very
early age. Some of Linda's early political memories involve issues
of race and civil rights with notable influences including Martin
Luther King, (she was "totally blown away by him - I thought he was
absolutely amazing") and Nelson Mandela; but at home she grew up
learning from her father's strong sense of fairness and what was
right and wrong in the world. "So it was very issue-based
rather than party political based, and I think from that
frustration, I grew up interested in things like anti-apartheid,
getting rid of nuclear weapons, and I came to the conclusion that
the only way I felt that Scotland could really deal with these
things was as an independent nation, as it wasn't really going to
happen as part of the United Kingdom." Despite quickly coming
to this decision, the decision to join the SNP was not a natural
progression for Linda, who only eventually became involved in the
SNP towards the late 1980s, joining in 1990: "when Mr Salmond
became leader I liked what he and his supporters had as a vision
for the future so that was when I joined."
It is clear that Linda has a passion for justice, fairness and
sees the best way of achieving this in Scottish independence. She
currently convenes the Scotland Bill Committee, which has been
considering the UK Government's recommendations for reconfiguring
the allocation of powers between the UK and Scottish Parliaments in
the Scotland Bill, currently being considered by the House of
Lords. However, "all of a sudden we now have this issue of
David Cameron coming out about the [independence] referendum and
all the talk, and here's this Scotland Bill, and it's almost as if
it doesn't exist. I haven't had a response yet as Convener from the
UK Government to the report that we sent them in December. … I
would suggest that a lot of people in politics at the moment in the
opposition parties are all over the place on it. I think I'll
be writing very soon and saying 'Scuse me! We've still got this
report that we sent to you - you promised us respect and that you'd
respond to it!' I mean, is it just to be ditched? What's going
on?" Sure enough, shortly after this interview was conducted,
Linda did write to Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore,
who replied to say that the UK Government was still considering the
Committee's report. However, Linda is frustrated that the
process that the Committee had been following has been "rather
overtaken by events": "there's all this talk about the two-question
referendum or single question referendum, and I thought, if you
just agreed to everything that was in our report from the Scotland
Bill Committee and agreed the principle of that level of powers for
the Parliament as we had in our report, it would then just be a
yes-no question, because the issue of devo-plus and devo max would
be out the way."
She sees parallels with the political discussions about
devolution in the 1970s, where "Sir Alec Douglas-Home was saying
vote no, vote no, vote no and then we'll make sure that you get
more powers and it'll be fine… you'll get better by voting no, and
then look what happened in '79, the ballot was rigged and here we
are 30 years later, and we've still got people saying to us vote
no, vote no, and you'll get better. You'd think we are daft -
once is enough guys!"
However, Linda's experience of independence referenda is not
confined only questions about the place of Scotland within the
UK. One of her most interesting early experiences as an MSP
("the naivety of first being elected!") saw her being a UN Observer
at the East Timor independence referendum. She fell into the
opportunity by chance after appearing on a radio show as the only
Scottish politician amongst other UK representatives discussing the
UK's intervention in Kosovo. "I was getting slammed by the others
because Alex Salmond had come out with some grave concerns. … I was
getting quite angry, and I said that what I couldn't stand was the
self-righteousness and hypocrisy that was being spouted about this;
after all, people were being massacred in East Timor with weapons
that had been purchased from the UK and its allies." Her
comments were noticed by the East Timor support group which was
based at that time in Glasgow University, and the opportunity to
attend as a UN Observer arose from a meeting with that group.
"It was a scary experience as well, not for me personally, I
never felt at risk - if anything was going to happen to any of the
foreigners it was going to be random absolutely not deliberate -
but oh my, to see it first-hand and to feel the terror on behalf of
others about what could happen was quite an experience that's never
left me. When the foreigners left, there were massacres
because the referendum had been won by the people. I think my last
memory of that trip was the absolute guilt of being able to get on
a plane and leave, and there were people trying to get into the UN
compound, mums throwing their children over the barbed wire to try
and get them into the compound to be safe- it was just horrendous.
That was my first experience of political terror I suppose." But
Linda has returned on several occasions, and she is positive about
the way in which the political situation is developing: "things are
moving on it that country; they're making their own decisions and
at least they're free."
Linda has also built more personal links with a family she met
when she first went out, and whom her and her partner, Duncan, have
now become very close to. Although she has no children of her
own, "we've made very strong links with a family in Timor that we
now consider our own, and that's maintained - we've been back, my
partner and I, and they're part of the family now. The lads come
over and stay with us and get their education. I just consider them
my sons. I've got two lads as far as I'm concerned. They're
great."
Winning the East Kilbride seat for the SNP in May was a great
achievement for Linda, who had previously been elected to the
Parliament as a list MSP, but in the 2011 election she unseated
Labour's Andy Kerr, the incumbent MSP for East Kilbride since the
first election to the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
Although she is therefore no newcomer, she is by no means jaded.
She considers the "greatest achievement of the re-establishment of
the Parliament is just having the forum for people to have their
voices heard." She speaks with warmth and genuine enthusiasm
about going into schools in her constituency, where "I just feel
joy that the people that I'm talking to really have no memory,
especially the wee ones, of not having the Parliament here, it's so
normal to them. They turn up at the Parliament or they meet
MSPs or they speak to people that work in the Parliament, and I
like the confidence that that brings."
Very keen on the civic engagement that the Parliament brings,
Linda very much respects the rights of faith groups to bring their
contribution to the table; that is an "absolute right".
However, she is a firm believer in the separation of church and
state, and admits to sometimes feeling "a wee bit frustrated that
sometimes I feel like some churches put across a view that they
speak for everyone who adheres to their faith and that's quite
clearly not the case, so I think that can be a frustration, but
it's not a huge issue. But, you know, if people wish their church
to put across what they deem to be a collective view, they have
that right, as long as no-one has been potentially hurt by that or
nor is it offensive."
One issue on which Linda and the churches would find common
ground is the issue of fair trade. This is something she is
personally very passionate about, being very involved in the
Strathaven Fair Trade group which saw the town become the first in
Scotland to achieve Fair Trade Town status. She is also positive
about the steps that the Scottish Parliament has taken,
particularly in consumables, in terms of providing fair trade
produce around the Parliament. However, she is pragmatic about the
challenges of achieving Fair Trade status and what it actually
means: "I believe that a lot can be said about fair trade and
we can label things and actually sometimes we have to look behind
that, and we have to look behind the rhetoric… I am not convinced
that once fair trade status is achieved that it is always properly
maintained. I'm not beginning to know all the answers here,
but I'm just flagging up some issues. I have concerns about the
drive for fair trade nation status. I'm all for it as a principle,
of course I am, and I think it would be wonderful, but I think
there's an awful lot that is still not quite fair. I think in
terms of procurement, yes it's wonderful the way it has expanded in
terms of consumables and I would never knock that: I think it's
great. But when you look at the bigger picture, when you look at
things like the NHS procurement of some of the medical equipment,
basic things like cotton, for sheets, when you look at some of the
government procurement issues, fair trade is not there. … When I
look at Wales having achieved it so quickly, I don't think it's
something we should necessarily try and emulate. … I don't want to
suddenly wake up one morning and be told that Scotland has achieved
Fair Trade Nation status if some of these bigger issues haven't
been tackled… So yes, I'm a huge supporter, but let's be
serious about it."
Election years, Linda points out, are even more hectic than the
average year, and whilst Linda is extremely appreciative of the
opportunities she has as an MSP to enjoy cultural and social
events, the downside is that she finds it hard to fit in time to
see her nearest and dearest. She has set herself a New Year's
Resolution to try and rectify this, though; being strict about
allocating time in her diary during Parliamentary recess to do
things with family and friends who she doesn't have the chance to
see ordinarily. Day to day, however, her main relaxation is
reading, and she particularly loves her Kindle. Having a choice of
books at her fingertips, and with no distractions from incoming
emails is perfect for Linda.
Reflecting on the best piece of advice that she has received,
Linda refers to a character from Charles Kingsley's "The
Waterbabies", which has stuck in her memory ever since she read it
at a very young age; Mrs Do As You Would Be Done By. Our
readers may recognise this as the Golden Rule, treating others as
you would wish to be treated. For Linda, although she says it
is "a bit of a cliché", it has something which has remained etched
on her memory, as "I think you get back what you give out
largely."