Scottish Conservative MSP Jackson Carlaw will tell MSPs of his “harrowing memories” of the Brighton bombing as he marks the 40th anniversary of the attack on the Conservative Party Conference.
Mr Carlaw was amongst Conservative Party activists at the 1984 conference which was hit by an IRA bomb.
The blast tore apart the Brighton Grand Hotel, where the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and members of her cabinet had been staying, with five people killed in the explosion and another 34 injured.
Donald MacLean, president of the Scottish Conservatives at the time, was one of those severely injured in the bombing, which took place on October 12 1984, with his wife Muriel amongst the dead.
Mr Jackson, who will speak about the attack in a members’ business debate at Holyrood on Wednesday, described the bombing as being an attempt by the IRA to “wipe out” the democratically elected government of the United Kingdom.
READ MORE: The story behind the bomb that almost killed Mrs Thatcher
Speaking ahead of the debate, Mr Carlaw said: “Regardless of their politics, I’m sure MSPs of all parties will want to stand in solidarity against this senseless act of violence.
“When the IRA planted a bomb in the Grand Hotel, they intended to wipe out the democratically elected government of the United Kingdom, which is simply unacceptable.”
He added: “I have carried the harrowing memories of that night with me for 40 years, as have all those who were there.
“I particularly recall the courage and determination of then-leader Margaret Thatcher in the aftermath.”
Mr Carlaw, the MSP for Eastwood, continued: “The pain of knowing we had lost one of our own – in Muriel MacLean – bludgeoned into me that night a deep seated and lifelong determination that terrorism must never succeed.
“It must be resisted and must always be defeated, wherever and whenever it strikes.”
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