Ruth’s Holyrood statement on Manchester attack

23 May 2017

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has made a statement to the Scottish Parliament following the Manchester terror attack.

She joined other party leaders at Holyrood in condemning the attack, and paying tribute to the victims, emergency services and people of the city.

The full text of the statement is below:

Presiding Officer, let me first associate myself and my party with every word of the First Minister’s statement.

We extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to all the families of those murdered last night.

Our prayers, too, are with those who, as we speak, are being treated in hospital. Many of them with injuries which are life threatening.

Today the terrible personal cost of last night’s outrage is becoming clear – as the names of those who died begin to emerge.

We know that many of those affected are young – children, teenagers and young people experiencing the thrill of a night out.

A carefree evening. Ripped apart by terror.

Leaving behind parents, family, friends – asking why someone they don’t know, and with whom they had no quarrel, decided last night to target their daughter, their grandson, their sister.

We simply cannot imagine their pain today.

Nor can we contemplate how someone could deliberately choose to target innocent children and young people.

It simply feels beyond our comprehension. There are no words.

But as the Prime Minister said earlier today – and as the First Minister has too  – we must try to find them.

We must repeat – that we will not be beaten by the twisted ideology of terrorism.

We must repeat – that we will not ourselves descend into hatred or rage.

We will repeat and repeat and repeat that we stand tall. We stand together. We respond to every act of terror that strikes our nation by shouting from the rooftops that our values, our freedoms cannot and will not be diminished.

Values shared by people of all religions in this country, and of none.

The values of tolerance, openness and respect for one another.

Values of common humanity, bravery and generosity.

Which saw hundreds of police, paramedics, doctors and nurses work through the night to respond to a situation they could never have conceived.

Of householders and taxi drivers opening their homes and offering lifts to help those affected.

And let us all in this Parliament extend our solidarity with the people of Manchester.

Who, like the people of Paris, of London, of Brussels, of Nice have responded with courage and decency in the face of cowardice and evil.

Manchester will now be added to the grim roll call of those cities across Europe to have been affected by this terrorism.

And like those other cities, it will first cry, then grieve, and then continue with spirit unbroken – showing that terrorism will never ever win.

First Minister, we are informed today that the terrorist threat level across the UK remains at severe. What further reassurances can you give people that our exceptional police, defence and security personnel are doing all they can to keep us safe?