“TOO much power still lies in too few hands,” Richard Leonard told the Queen on the 20th anniversary of the Scottish Parliament this weekend. 

The Scottish Labour leader used his address at the official celebrations to emphasise that there was still “unfinished business.”

Breaking with the convention of party leaders’ speeches at such events being non-partisan and conciliatory, he warned: “And over the last decade the rich have got richer as the poor have got poorer.

“We passed laws to end homelessness, but all around we see lengthening waiting lists for housing and the return of rough sleeping.

“We brought Scotland’s biggest private hospital into the National Health Service, but we have yet to eliminate the private-profit motive and the shareholder dividend from every corner of our public health service.”

SNP First Minister Nicola Sturgeon emphasised how the parties in Holyrood had worked together over the years.

“The 290 Acts this Parliament has passed have varied in their impact,” she said.

“But from land reform in the first parliament to equal marriage in the last to the Social Security Act in this, they have all made Scotland a better place.

“As a result, this Parliament is firmly established as the centre of this nation’s public life. We have become the democratic institution which people look to, to reflect their priorities, values, hopes and dreams.”

The Queen, who attended the event at Holyrood with Prince Charles, said it was her “sincere hope that this Parliament, and all those who come to serve in it, will use the power of this chamber to celebrate those invisible pillars of our communities.”

Scottish Green Party co-convener Patrick Harvie used his own address to recall how the Scottish Parliament had led the way in repealing the anti-gay Section 28 provisions.

“We saw Parliament take on an issue which was harming us, face down prejudice and assert our equal place in Scottish society,” he said.

“Since that time a marginalised community has grown in confidence, thanks to a Parliament which to this day has never once voted against our equality and human rights.”

Liberal Democrat MSP Tavish Scott, who announced this week that he will resign his Shetland seat in July after 20 years, said: “Scotland is an immeasurably stronger place today. Let this Parliament flourish and those who serve next enjoy the spirit of discussion, the argument and, yes, the downright row.”