Thank you, convener, and good morning, members. The proposal for the group came about initially after a meeting on 25 February that was held in the Parliament and sponsored by me and chaired by the then Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Rev John Chalmers. About 50 people from a wide range of different faith groups attended the meeting. Following that meeting, I had hoped to move things on more quickly, but various things intervened, including the general election, a change of moderator at the Church of Scotland and the summer recess. It therefore took me a wee while to get to the point where I could submit my application to the committee.
One of the main things that were discussed in February was the general issue of intolerance, mainly intolerance towards people of religious faith but also intolerance towards others. We had a very wide range of speakers at the meeting, including people from the American and Canadian embassies, and people from different faith groups, who told us about their particular experiences of intolerance towards faith.
I think that the refugee crisis has highlighted the issue of religious intolerance, and we all know what has been happening in places such as Syria. I believe that it is very important that we promote tolerance among people of all faiths and none. Indeed, anyone is welcome to join the proposed cross-party group, whether they have a faith or not. What we hope to do is foster discussion among everyone to ensure that there is tolerance in future.
The committee will see the list of proposed members, but it is not finite, because we would welcome people of other faiths and none, as I said. Members might have noticed that although a couple of the organisations on the list are linked with the Roman Catholic Church, it is not down as a member. However, I have a statement from the Rev Thomas Boyle, who is the assistant general secretary of the Bishops Conference of Scotland, in which he says:
“In addressing the Congress of the United States of America Pope Francis said: ‘A delicate balance is required to combat violence perpetrated in the name of a religion, an ideology or an economic system, while also safeguarding religious freedom, intellectual freedom and individual freedoms.’ Dialogue helps to overcome any form of extremism and inspired by Pope Francis’ words we welcome the establishment of the Cross Party Group on Religious Freedom. We look forward to co-operating with the Group and supporting it in its work.”
The groups linked with the Catholic Church will be formal members.
As I say, I hope that the group will encompass many more people as it moves forward, if you approve it. I have one final point. I am a member of the committee, but on this occasion I will not take part in the discussion on formal approval of the group and I will leave it in the hands of my committee colleagues to make that decision.