Murray remembers 9/11 victims during visit to New York for Tartan Week
Scottish Secretary Ian Murray has paid tribute to the victims of the 9/11 attacks and laid a floral wreath to honour them during a visit to New York.
In the US for the annual Tartan Week celebration, Mr Murray visited Ground Zero with survivor Lolita Jackson as he pledged the UK’s “solidarity” with the American people.
As Mr Murray and Ms Jackson stood in reflection, a piper from the Edinburgh Military Tattoo played a lament at the memorial.
“The 9/11 memorial stands as a powerful reminder of those who lost their lives and as a testimony to the resilience of this great city,” the Scottish Secretary said ahead of the visit.
“Being accompanied today by survivor Lolita Jackson brings home the personal story of those who lived through that day.
“The ties that unite our nations will never be undone and we will always stand in solidarity with the American people by honouring those whose lives were lost.”
Ms Jackson, the executive director of sustainable cities at Sustainable Development Capital, spoke of how her life and the lives of hundreds of others were saved by a former British soldier.
“I survived both the 1993 bombing as well as 9/11 in 2001, and my life was saved by Rick Rescorla, the director of security for my firm, Morgan Stanley, who was a former British Army paratrooper,” she said.
“He guided hundreds of us to safety at the sacrifice of his own life – he learned the lessons from the bombing in 1993 and subsequently applied them to our evacuation procedures to ensure we knew what to do if the time ever came again.
“His sacrifice is the ultimate example of the ties that bind the US and the UK.”
Ms Jackson, who spent 15 years working in the office of two New York mayors, has also spoken of her love of Scotland.
In a 2021 interview with Holyrood magazine ahead of the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow, she said: “I just love the warmth of the Scottish people.
“Every time I come into (Edinburgh) Waverley (station) and I take the train, I almost want to tear up.
“I see the flags – I just have a heart for Scotland.”
