A week is certainly a long time in
politics.
I was on the radio last week
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b0195lv1
Good Morning Scotland – 2hr12mins into the show) talking about the question of
Scottish independence (an issue I should say the Church of Scotland has not and
will not be taking sides on!).
My main points
were:
- This is an issue that is beyond politics and concerns the whole Scottish people, so it cannot be left to politicians alone, nor should we be focussing on process questions as the important ones.
- We should be asking what kind of society do we want to live in? What is the vision that we want as a kind of society for all the people of Scotland to live in relationship with all its neighbours, both near and far.
- Will change or status quo make any difference to the really important thinks, such as child poverty.
- In the debate, politicians need to be informed by the reality of people’s lives on the streets, otherwise it will be an impoverished process. It will be enriched by involving all of Scotland’s people in a debate about the values that we want, and how we can reduce gross inequality.
I would be very interested to hear
from blog readers what their take of last week’s events has
been.
I'd hope that the debate over the coming years focuses very much on what is the common good for Scots (and indeed others in the UK) and only then how that is best achieved within an overall constitutional settlement. A good dose of humility would also be an excellent thing: we're engaging with complex issues and whilst we may have our 'best guess' at how to solve them, certainty is not going to be achievable.
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