JOHN Pitcairn Mackintosh, who represented East Lothian in the House of Commons between 1966 and his early death in 1978, was widely regarded as one of the most innovative and insightful thinkers in British political history.

It was Mackintosh’s leadership, ably assisted by East Lothian Labour Party, that helped lead Scottish Labour towards support for a devolved Parliament and eventually to its delivery in 1999.

His words are carved into Parliament: “People in Scotland want a degree of government for themselves. It is not beyond the wit of man to devise the institutions to meet these demands.”

The annual memorial lecture has been a fitting way of preserving his legacy. As a member of the lecture committee since 2007, I have been very proud of the quality of speakers we have welcomed over the years.

This year’s lecture was due to take place (virtually) today (Friday) with Sir Keir Starmer but has unfortunately had to be postponed for the moment. He plans to talk about the next phase of devolution and how it can work for Scotland and the rest of the UK. This is an important and timely debate.

It is important to highlight that the constitutional question need not be binary – either the break-up of the UK offered by the SNP or the outdated centralisation of the Tories – but can instead focus on how we maximise the benefits of both devolution and Scotland’s important role within the UK.

The pandemic has shown how powerful devolution is, with Scotland controlling our public health response but still part of the economic response such as ‘furlough’ made possible by the resources of the whole UK.

This ‘best of both worlds’ argument was at the heart of the pro-UK, pro-devolution message in 2014 and I believe it still broadly reflects the view of the majority here in East Lothian.