Rhubarb

St Edward’s

The Scottish Referendum

Cameron Buchanan

(C, 1960-1965) MSP

In an interview with St Edward’s English

Teacher and fellow Scot, Ewan Gault,

Cameron gives us a close insight into his

political life:

Was there anything about your

time at St Edward’s that you felt

prepared you for your life in the

worlds of business and politics?

I was interested in politics and in the sixth

form went to a current affairs society, but

I would not say that it exactly prepared

me for it, but the School gave me a good

all-round education.

The last year in Scottish politics has

been incredibly exciting. Did you

have any interesting experiences

during the referendum campaign?

Millions. I had to deal with some abuse,

which I think I handled well. As I speak

a number of languages I had great fun

appearing on a range of TV channels,

which was most amusing. A few years ago

I had a brain tumour, so I cannot really

canvas on the doorsteps. Instead I spoke

to people in cafés.

Most commentators felt that the

referendum has energised the

electorate in Scotland and raised

interest in political debate to an

extent that has not been witnessed

in the UK for decades. Do you

think there are any lessons that

the parties inWestminster can

learn from this process?

I think the first lesson we learned is the

value of enthusiastic participation from 16

and 17 year olds. During the referendum

campaign they were well-informed and

did not simply vote the way their parents

had done. Those that appeared on

televised debates were very impressive.

During the political debates they were

highly engaged and less aggressive

than older voters. There was a lot of

aggression during the campaign, mainly

from the yes side, with people saying that

they felt that they were dominated by

England. While there was lots of abuse,

not much of it was physical.

In your introductory article, you talk

about the possibility of winning the

battle but losing the war with regards

to the referendum.Are there any

specific circumstances that you feel

could enable the SNP to demand

another referendum?

No one wants a neverendum, as the

Canadians call it, because people will get

bored of them continually calling for a

referendum, but whatever we offer the

SNP it can never be enough. They are a one

policy party and they remain focused on

their goal of achieving independence. Many

of them have not accepted that they were

defeated in September’s referendum and

indeed you still see

Yes

stickers and posters

all over the country.

You entered politics later in life than

many of today’s much maligned career

politicians …

I stood for the Conservatives in 1999 and

was initially interested in standing for the

European parliament, then I stood in the

Scottish elections and I was third on the

list and someone died, so I was selected

rather than elected under the proportional

representation system.

Do you think it’s important for a

politician to have had a separate career

before entering the political arena?

Absolutely. I think it is terribly important that

you do not just have people who have been

researchers. You need a balanced parliament.

Parliaments need to reflect people as a whole,

the community as a whole.

The whole Scottish Parliament is

dominated at the moment by the Scottish

National Party and everyone will be

familiar with the recent referendum. I took

a very active part in this, dealing mostly

with the international media as I was able

to use my language skills to speak on

French, Swiss, Canadian, US, German and

Spanish television/radio. I even made the

front page of the

New York Times

waving a

Union Jack handkerchief that I happened

to have in my pocket, after we realised we

had won the vote.

The parliament is run by committees

and I am on a Local Government

Regeneration Committee and the

Standards, Procedures and Appointments

Committee. I am the Local Government

spokesman of a 15-strong Conservative

Group out of 129 seats in all. In fact,

the Local Government Regeneration

Committee has proved very interesting

because we are dealing with legislation

on air guns, taxi fares and the licensing

of black and mini cabs, and the re-

organisation of Community Councils (in

England – Parish Councils). Standards and

Procedures is about the disciplining of

Councillors and the procedures as to how

the parliament works.

As everybody realises, we have

just gained new powers and there is a

challenge here for all parties to behave

responsibly and show that we are

capable of enacting them. It is going to be

extremely complicated, particularly tax

matters. However we are all going to have

to deal with these matters and prepare for

the General Election in May 2015.

The Conservatives had a very good

referendum campaign and are currently

on an upward curve (though not as much

as the Scottish National Party, who have

not really accepted the result of the

Referendum). I think we have won the

battle but if we are not careful we will lose

the war.

If one is going into politics I must say

this is probably the most fascinating time

to enter it and although I consider myself

a relatively new entrant it is a hugely

enjoyable challenge.

Cameron Buchanan MSP

f e a t u r e s