Since I was a boy I have cherished the freedom of the hills, from the Boys Brigade through to my rather eccentric hill-race pursuits in recent years.

From the summit the world looks a small place, as huge cities turn to specks. It's a small place where we need to join in partnership, not look for division and difference.

I have always been angered by a society that crushes ambition and ability and fails to support the vulnerable. That's why I'm a liberal and always have been.

A liberal Scotland is one where people can get on no matter what their background; where local people can determine what's right for their area not some bureaucrat of a minister in Holyrood or Whitehall; where we make long-term decisions for our future, not quick fixes for an easy vote today; and where we are internationalists, prepared to share and work in partnership with those outwith our borders.

To help achieve that liberal Scotland, we need governance that enables the right decisions to be made as close to the people they affect as possible, while retaining the benefits of wider partnership and the sharing of opportunities and risks.

I've never been comfortable with the Union in its current form. It's out-dated and over centralised - but that's the government structure, not the people of the United Kingdom.

For over a century Liberals have worked towards home rule for Scotland. Our track record of delivery is strong, too, as architects of the Parliament. But we want to go further - to a home rule where Scotland raises the money it spends so that it can determine its own destiny while sharing that risk and opportunity within the UK family. It's a Scotland that I believe many thousands in Scotland would want and with their support we can deliver it.