‘Parliament has radically altered life’

It is “unthinkable” that Scotland would be without its own parliament, 20 years on from the devolution vote, a former Holyrood presiding officer said.

Sir Alex Fergusson is one of five MSPS who have been elected to the role in the Scottish Parliament.

The creation of the devolved parliament has “radically altered” life in Scotland, he said.

Since it was set up MSPS have passed landmark legislation, introducing free personal care for the elderly, making Scotland the first part of the UK to ban smoking in public places and abolishing fees for Scottish students at universities north of the Border.

“We now have almost a full generation of young people who have never known life without a Scottish Parliament, and I think the thought of a Scotland without its own parliament is an unthinkable one,” he said

“It has become, and did become in a very short space of time, totally established within Scottish life and I think that is one of the things that is 0 Sir Alex Fergusson hailed the Scottish Parliament so notable about a brand new parliament quickly becoming part of life in Scotland.”

The former Conservative MSP, who was knighted after standing down from Holyrood in 2016, spoke out two decades after Scots voted Yes to devolution.

In a ballot held on September 11 1997, 74.3 per cent backed the creation of the new body, while almost two thirds (63.5 per cent) said it should have limited tax raising powers - with MSPS then allowed to alter the basic rate of income tax by up to 3p. Now Holyrood has far greater powers over income tax, with members responsible for setting the rates and bands that apply north of the Border.