Church of Scotland (Lord High Commissioner) Bill

Lord Bruce of Bennachie Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 19th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bruce of Bennachie (LD)]

My Lords, it is a privilege to take part in this debate and to hear so many personal experiences, views and opinions from both sides of the divide and from outside of the divide. It is a historic moment, but is coming way too late.

I first met Elish Angiolini, as she was then, in 2000, when she was procurator fiscal for Grampian and the Highlands and Islands, and was living in my constituency. It was after that that she set up the victim liaison scheme. As a teenager, she had been a witness in a case, and was treated in such a cavalier and dismissive way by all the bigwigs in the establishment that she felt victims needed some kind of support, and so she set up that scheme, which, I understand, continues. She has obviously had a meteoric career—worked for and earned, all the way through—and she was respected by everyone, with very few words of criticism. If there have been any, it is because she has had the honesty to challenge something, as you would expect, because she is a professional.

My noble and learned friend Lord Wallace and others have talked about history, and we referred to the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829. I wonder if I might indulge the House with a little more history. Going back to the 17th and 18th centuries, we should remember that, in effect, we had a long-running war of Protestant succession. We had the civil war. We then had James II—James VII of Scotland—trying to turn the country back to Catholicism and being expelled from the country. We then had the Glorious Revolution and the Act of 1689, and William and Mary. That, apparently, secured the Protestant succession—except that in 1715 there was an attempt to do something about it, and another attempt in 1745. Over many years, the attempt to reverse the Reformation—which was later and probably more fundamental in Scotland—generated very hostile attitudes between the Protestants and the Catholics, and laid the foundations for this discrimination.

I found an interesting aspect of history from the aftermath of Culloden, the last war on British soil. A lot of people think that that was a war between the Scots and the English, but it was not; it was a civil war, mostly between Protestants and Catholics, and there were more Scots on the side of the King than there were on the side of the prince. But that is not the way it is remembered and told.

Flora MacDonald helped Bonnie Prince Charlie to escape; she took him “over the sea to Skye”—by the way, it was from Benbecula to Skye, not the other way. It is assumed that she was a young Jacobite, but she was not: she was a Protestant, from South Uist. After Flora MacDonald was arrested, she said that she did it only because she was concerned for his safety and would have done it for anybody. She then married, emigrated to the colonies, to America, and established farms and plantations. Then the revolution happened; she and her husband sided with the King, which is not the obvious action of a young Jacobite, because she was not one. Unfortunately for them, they were on the losing side; the King lost and they were dispossessed of all their properties. Initially, they moved to Nova Scotia, but the compensation was not sufficient to sustain them, so they moved back to Skye, where she spent the rest of her days. The story is instructive to show that this is one of these moments of history which is not fully reported and understood, and definitely not always objectively digested. The point is that that created a legacy which has lasted so long.

I have no doubt that, in 1829, people were not ready for this. It is absolutely the case that we should have been ready for it long before now, but the fact remains that it is only because the King appointed Lady Elish Angiolini that we have this legislation now. I am delighted it is happening and I hope we get it through as quickly as possible. However, I agree with the noble Lord, Lord True, and others, that, if there are any other bits and pieces of discrimination against anybody for their religious beliefs that have not been dealt with, we need to deal with them. I hope the Government will find the space and time to do so.

We on these Benches support and welcome the Bill. I agree with everybody who has said that Lady Elish will be a magnificent Lord High Commissioner. She has all the experience, grace, charm and intelligence to make the most of it. It will be a great General Assembly. As it is so historic, it will probably be nearly as memorable as the one that my noble and learned friend was involved in. We are united in this. It should have happened long ago. Let it happen, and let it happen quickly.