The Scottish Liberal Democrats: 07/04/2016 Party Election Broadcasts: Scottish Liberal Democrats


The Scottish Liberal Democrats: 07/04/2016

Similar Content

Browse content similar to The Scottish Liberal Democrats: 07/04/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

I'm Willie Rennie, I'm leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

0:00:020:00:05

I was born and brought up in a small village called

0:00:050:00:07

Strathmiglo, in the north of Fife. Beautiful part of the world.

0:00:070:00:10

We lived above the family shop

0:00:100:00:12

with my three sisters and my mum and dad.

0:00:120:00:14

My mother, she was secretary of the Community Association.

0:00:140:00:17

She got involved in Meals On Wheels,

0:00:170:00:19

and helping out people who were perhaps struggling in the village.

0:00:190:00:22

Caring in the community was something that was

0:00:220:00:25

imbued into our family.

0:00:250:00:27

My father was the local grocer.

0:00:270:00:30

We were part and parcel of the community. We got involved.

0:00:300:00:32

Hard work was something that I knew was really important to do

0:00:320:00:36

in your life. If you wanted to get on, you had to graft.

0:00:360:00:39

That was the kind of life that I grew up in.

0:00:390:00:42

And it's certainly affected me now in the way that I view the world.

0:00:420:00:46

I think my decision to get into politics grew in me over time.

0:00:460:00:49

I was brought up through the miners' strike,

0:00:490:00:51

but also the emergence of the SDP-Liberal Alliance.

0:00:510:00:55

The ambition to break the mould of British politics really appealed to me.

0:00:550:00:59

The people who have inspired me in politics

0:00:590:01:02

are people like Charles Kennedy and David Steel.

0:01:020:01:05

They're kind of the essence of decent people

0:01:050:01:07

who have got compassion in their heart,

0:01:070:01:09

that really want to shake up the world

0:01:090:01:12

and change things for the better.

0:01:120:01:14

To me, liberalism means a combination of that

0:01:140:01:18

economic discipline, hard work so that people can get up and get on,

0:01:180:01:22

but also compassion.

0:01:220:01:24

That sense of social justice that means that everybody

0:01:240:01:27

gets a chance to achieve, no matter what their background.

0:01:270:01:30

I've got two active boys. One's at college, one's still at school.

0:01:300:01:34

The younger boy, he loves rock climbing,

0:01:340:01:36

swimming, the Scouts, biking.

0:01:360:01:38

The most important topic in British politics today is education.

0:01:380:01:43

Everybody deserves a chance.

0:01:430:01:45

So investing in early years education to help kids who are struggling,

0:01:450:01:50

I think that's the way to change the way the country works.

0:01:500:01:53

Liberalism, at its heart, is about fairness,

0:01:530:01:57

is about looking to the long-term,

0:01:570:01:59

looking beyond our shores to help other people in other

0:01:590:02:02

parts of the world, and pushing power right back down into communities

0:02:020:02:06

so it can reflect the wide and varied country that we live in.

0:02:060:02:10

That is the essence of liberal democracy.

0:02:100:02:14

My message to people in Scotland is this -

0:02:140:02:16

if you want to get up and get on,

0:02:160:02:18

to care for the people next door, across the world or in the future,

0:02:180:02:22

if you want that combination of

0:02:220:02:24

economic discipline and social justice,

0:02:240:02:27

if you're an aspirational Scot

0:02:270:02:29

with a social conscience,

0:02:290:02:31

then back the Liberal Democrats.

0:02:310:02:33

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS