The Kirkgate Lecture 2012

The Kirkgate Lecture this year was given by Lord Steel of Aikwood and the transcript can be found here.

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Burgh Halls, Linlithgow, 25 September 2012

Opening Remarks by Rev Dr Stewart Gillan

Good evening and welcome, on a dark and stormy night, to this year’s Kirkgate Lecture, the second in the new series, building on the St Michael’s lecture as was, in this splendidly refurbished civic setting, with its symbolic address. It is an open Kirkgate, inviting dialogue and debate.

I wish to thank our local sponsor, whose wonderful and anonymous generosity has enabled us to host the lecture at no cost to those who wish to hear it, and to engage with its author in discussion. That said, there will be an opportunity to make a donation following the Lecture.

Organised by the Kirk Session of St Michael’s, the lecture exists for the exploration of moral questions in the exercise of power in the 21^st century, with reference to the role of civil society. A tall order! To meet it, we thought it better to look to invite – not philosophers, theologians or historians – but speakers who have held, or continue to hold, power of one kind or another – people who have wrestled with these questions in that kind of locus. Which brings me to our speaker this year.

Introduction of Speaker: Lord David Steel of Aikwood

How do you introduce someone who needs no introduction – here on his family’s old stamping ground, a stone’s throw from that crown of thorns spire. I am helped by David Torrance’s biography of Lord Steel – published four days ago. The subtitle – ‘Rising hope to elder statesman’ – is taken from something Michael Foot said in debate in the House of Commons in 1979:

‘He … the boy David … the leader of the Liberal Party – and I say this with the utmost affection – has passed from rising hope to elder statesman without any intervening period whatsoever.’

It brought the house down. Not to mention the Callaghan government. An overnight sensation at 38, after 13 years in the house!

A son of the manse, David Steel was born in Kirkcaldy, his father serving as Minister in Buckhaven. He took his primary schooling in Nairobi, his MA and LLB at Edinburgh University, and was elected to the House of Commons in 1965 – at 26, its youngest member. He represented his Borders constituency, with boundary changes, for the next 32 years, through 8 general elections – including a close call in 1970, following his sponsorship of a bill to reform the law on abortion, and his opposition to a Springbok rugby tour – this having been Chair of the British Anti Apartheid Movement from 1966-69.  

He became leader of the Liberal Party in 1976, and led it, months later, into the not uncontroversial Lib-Lab Pact with James Callaghan’s Labour government. Here he is in his first speech to the Liberal Party conference following his election as its leader: ‘I want the Liberal Party to be the fulcrum and centre of the next election argument … If that is to happen we must not give the impression of being afraid to soil our hands with the responsibilities of sharing power.’ This in 1976! Committed to liberal values as a strong force in British politics, he led the Liberal Party into a merger with the Social Democratic Party in 1988, forming the Liberal Democrats.

He was knighted in 1990 and elevated to the House of Lords in 1997. A strong advocate of devolution, he became the first Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, retiring in 2003.

He is an author – including two books with his better half, Lady Steel, holder of 10 honorary doctorates, and restorer of Aikwood Tower in the Ettrick Forest, a labour of love that has garnered some five architectural awards. 

We were delighted when he accepted the invitation to give the lecture this year. Will you please welcome Lord Steel in the usual way.

The text of Lord Steel's lecture can be viewed here.

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open and print any PDF documents.  Click on the Acrobat Reader icon to download this free program