The settled will of the Scottish People

Last night Ruth and I were at a reception at the parliament on Edinburgh organised by the Equality Network. The cause was marriage equality and the event was sponsored by an MSP from each political party, and all of the four opposition party leaders issued a joint statement of support ( the SNP as the government party preparing the legislation could not join for legislative reasons).
Each of the sponsoring MSP's gave a short speech. I was particularly moved by Jackson Carlaw's words of support, in which he talked about a family member of his affected by the current inequality, and Patrick Harvie, as ascerbic and to the point as ever.

Others spoke of their feelings about equal marriage including Rabbi Mark Soleman and Tim Hopkins, who reminded the assembled throng that the majority which led to the setting up of the Scottish Parliament and which was said to be the 'settled will of the Scottish people' was less than the percentage of people in Scotland in favour of equal marriage....

I enjoyed chatting to others and MSP's there to show their support, including Mary Scanlon and Jackson Carlaw from the Conservatives, Jackie Ballie from Labour, and Linda Fabiani from the SNP. A big thank you to all who worked so hard to organise what was the largest parliamentary reception in the history of the Scottish Parliament.