The extraordinary story of the General

I was in the Edinburgh City Chambers this morning, meeting officials of the  Electoral Commission , including the UK Director Bob Posner,  in my role as the minister in the Scottish Government with responsibility for elections. 

I have no fewer than three  bills to take forward over the next year and a half  on electoral matters and we had a very productive and detailed  exchange of views about those as well as discussing the difficulties that EU nationals had in voting a fortnight ago, a matter into which the Commission will be investigating .  We will certainly support such an inquiry. 

I glimpsed this statue on the way in to the Chambers  and paused on the way out to take a picture.   I didn't recognise the name of General Maczek but when I looked him up later I was bowled over by his story, and in particular the fact that he was forced to work as a barman in Edinburgh after World War II, in which he had distinguished himself as a master tactician and been a key figure in the Allied liberation of France as a result of his leadership of the Polish 1st Armoured Division. 

He died in Edinburgh too, at the age of 102.   An amazing, difficult but in the end vindicated life.   

And a wonderful statue too.