Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | A new hymn sheet

It started with a song. In a strong voice, above the protestations of Scottish parliament officials, Colin Fox, Socialist MSP for the Lothians, launched into A Man's a Man For a' That, Robert Burns' great paean to egalitarianism.

It is the Scottish parliament's unofficial anthem but the words were sung in rebellion, before a chamber that held its breath, learning that Holyrood has changed and new political forces are at work in Scotland.