TUESDAY 22 MARCH 6 – 8pm
CRAIGROYSTON COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL
SOCIAL JUSTICE QUESTION TIME
Tag: social justice
Creating a fairer Scotland
How do we build a more equal society?
People across Scotland are being asked to take part in a national discussion about how the country can be a fairer and more equal place to live.
Over the past eight years Scotland has had a rising employment rate, improved educational outcomes and people living healthier lives – now the Scottish Government wants to mobilise the nation to help tackle the scourge of intergenerational poverty and create fairer opportunities for all.
To reach more people and build on the community-led discussions of the Referendum and General Election, widespread, direct involvement of communities will take place the length and breadth of Scotland.
People will be invited to set out their vision of a fairer Scotland and suggest practical solutions, based on local and personal experience.
Capturing the voices of those with direct experience of poverty and exclusion will be vital. Voluntary organisations and public sectors, charities, councils, large and small businesses, trade unions will also play a pivotal role.
Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil launched the national discussion – which will take place over the summer and into autumn – in Kirkshaws Neighbourhood Centre in Coatbridge earlier today.
Mr Neil said: “Tackling inequality, along with building a prosperous and competitive economy, is at the heart of the Scottish Government’s commitment to creating a better country for all. The two go hand in hand.
“The Scottish Government’s vision is for a Scotland where people are healthier, happier and treated with respect, and where opportunities, wealth and power are spread more equally. We want to discuss issues like childcare, fair work and health and hear what people believe could be done to create a better Scotland.
“It is important that we are an open and accessible government. We want to tap into conversations many people and communities are already having throughout Scotland, rather than consult on whether or not people agree with a range of ready-made proposals.
“We recognise that it will take time to achieve our shared vision of a fair, equal and socially just Scotland. We are not looking for quick fixes or temporary measures but long lasting change that can benefit the whole nation.”
Conversations will take place across the country and online, including a series of events over the summer and autumn where people can discuss the issues that mean most to them. An action plan, with people and their priorities at its heart, will be published in the new year with milestones to the next Parliament and beyond to help us achieve our goals.
Sir Harry Burns, former Chief Medical Officer and now Professor of Global Public Health at Strathclyde University, said: “The Government has recognised that the days of doing things to communities are past. Instead, the new approach, outlined in ‘Creating a Fairer Scotland’ is about doing things with communities.
“By meeting and listening to the marginalised and excluded people of Scotland, they will hear in raw detail what it’s like to live with fear of violence, hunger, cold and addiction. If communities are genuinely involved in shaping solutions to their own problems, those solutions will be enduring and effective.”
Peter Kelly, Director of The Poverty Alliance, said: “Today’s launch holds out the potential for a new approach to the problems of social injustice in Scotland. For once, we are not being asked to comment on plans that have already been made, or to pass judgement on some blueprint after it has been developed. By entering into genuine dialogue with people across Scotland we can begin to develop lasting solutions together.”
Tressa Burke, Chief Executive of the Glasgow Disability Alliance, said: “Our 2500 disabled members are delighted that the Scottish Government is leading by example and building on the energy of the referendum by beginning powerful dialogues and relationships with communities across Scotland. This matters because disabled peoples’ lives are blighted by poverty, exclusion and inequality on a daily basis. By working together, we are confident that we can come up with necessary steps and actions to tackle barriers and achieve a fairer and more equal life for disabled people and for all Scotland’s people.”
How YOU can join the conversation:
- Send an email to fairer@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
- On Twitter at: @scotgovfairer
- On Facebook at: www.facebook.com/fairer.scot
- Responses can also be sent by post to: FREEPOST FAIRER SCOTLAND”
- Public discussion events will also take place in communities across the country over the next few months. Details will be made available through www.fairer.scot
Opponents must put differences aside to tackle poverty
Whatever the result of Thursday’s vote, Scotland will still have deep social problems to address and campaigners are urging both sides in the referendum debate to unite to tackle poverty.
As the referendum campaign enters its final few days the Poverty Alliance has called on all sides to maintain the passion and commitment that has been shown through the campaign and to turn it to finding lasting solutions to poverty and inequality in Scotland.
Throughout the referendum campaign issues of poverty and social justice have been central to the debates. Whether on issues of food poverty, low pay, unemployment or child poverty, all sides have stated that they are committed to making real change to create a more socially just Scotland.
On 19 September politicians and activists from both campaigns must begin to find ways of working together to bring people together and tackle poverty.
The referendum has shown that not only is there an appetite for social change, but that more people than ever want their voices to be heard. With more than 100,000 people registering to vote in the last month alone, we need to find ways to ensure that the democratic impulse that many people have experienced for the first time is sustained and turned into genuine grassroots democratic politics, regardless of the outcome of the referendum.
Whatever changes over the coming months and years we are calling now for all political leaders to commit to ensuring that the voices of those who are living in poverty, those who have been the subject of so much debate during the campaign, are genuinely involved and actively shape the new Scotland that will emerge.
A little over three weeks after the referendum the Poverty Alliance will be coordinating Challenge Poverty Week, which will take place from the 12 -18 October.
This will be a week of debates and action designed to show what has been done to tackle poverty. It will be one of the first opportunities after the referendum for campaigners to come together to show what they intend to do to address poverty now. We hope campaigners from both sides will get involved in Challenge Poverty Week and show the same enthusiasm for tackling poverty as they have for our constitutional future.
Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance, said: “This is an exciting time in Scottish politics and many people will consider the referendum to be the most important election of their lives.
“It is fantastic to see so many people registered to vote and I hope turnout will be high on the day.
“Poverty and social justice has been at the centre of the debate on independence and it been heartening to see so much debate about the type of Scotland we want to live.
“In 2012-13, 16 per cent of people in Scotland were living in poverty, more than 800,000. People on both sides of the debate have agreed that this is unacceptable and that we need to re-think our approach to tackling the problem, whether it is low benefit levels, unemployment or low pay. What the campaigns disagree on is how we best achieve this.
“It has become increasingly clear that the results will be close and it is important that people on both sides of the debate believe their voices will be heard regardless of the result. In particular we must ensure that the voices of those who are rarely heard, those people living in poverty, are taken seriously after the result of the referendum is known.
“Both campaigns must be prepared to set aside their differences and work together for a better Scotland, one where the blight of poverty is effectively tackled.”
We Will Be Free – next Friday!
I have attached (above) a copy of a leaflet publicising ‘We Will Be Free’, a new play by Townsend Theatre Productions, about the Tolpuddle Martyrs and their fight for justice (see blurb on back page). It’s being hosted by North Edinburgh Arts next Friday (25 October) as part of our Power to the People Autumn programme. Tickets are only £3 for local folk with good neighbour cards (free from the arts centre).
This is Townsend Theatre Productions second visit to North Edinburgh. Last year, they brought us ‘The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’ which they performed brilliantly.
Hope to see you at the performance!
Lynn McCabe
