" In a gentle way you can shake the world" Gandhi
Last
weekend was a maelstrom of mixed emotions and experiences. On Friday I formed
part of a panel in Dunfermline to discuss Scotland a year on. We discussed
everything from local to international politics and it was a fascinating
evening. The YES signs were out and we revisited the days a year ago when we
were so full of hope and also inevitably discussed the possibility of another
referendum. The discussion was an almost painful mix of grief and hope.
Again
on Saturday, Leith hosted a great afternoon spent looking forward over what we
have learned and what we can do now and in the future.
We agreed
that Scotland a year on is changed but also that in spite of our renewed
confidence as a nation, the challenges for many of our most vulnerable haven't
changed -in fact since the re-election of a Tory government it has got worse.
That was so obvious to me the next day as I
collected for the food-banks in Edinburgh, outside the Scottish parliament. In
Edinburgh a rich city, in a rich United Kingdom we collected for food in the
streets for our poor and hungry. We need things that can be cooked quickly as
fuel costs money too - and even food that needs no cooking as some who seek
help have no fuel at all. Not only do we collect food but recently we collected
for school uniforms and sanitary towels. Yes that's right. Let's pause for a
moment to think of how it feels to be unable to afford sanitary protection as a
woman or not be able to buy your child's school uniform. This reality not only
robs people of their dignity but of the joy of being a parent too. I'm ashamed to stand by and watch this
happen.
We
rightly question the UK's attitude to refugees but if we look at how we treat
our own vulnerable we really shouldn't be surprised. Welfare changes, punitive
assessments with an approach that suggests guilty until proven innocent,
benefit sanctions all combine to appear to treat our most vulnerable as an
undeserving group not worthy of our compassion. I am ashamed to stand by and watch this happen.
Our
doctors and teachers are now trained to look out for signs of malnutrition in
our population in one of the richest nations on the earth. Just this week a
court agreed the cause of one man's suicide was a direct result of his benefit
being stopped. His case is not isolated. It's just the one that hit the courts.
I am ashamed to stand by and watch this
happen.
Like many
I not only want to understand how to achieve a fairer, more equal healthier
Scotland in the future but also what we can do now to do our best work towards
it.
So I
developed this short plan for my talks last week which I think can help now.
Some of it we are already trying to tackle and some of it is huge given our
current constitutional settlement like reducing inequality but not all of it is
and so i believe we can all play our own part
1. Be bold with the powers ( new
and old ) we have to show the difference we can make eg with new welfare
powers. We need to do things differently in health and social care and
respond to the national conversations on a healthier and fairer Scotland
with our thoughts and proposals. Although its a meagre 14% of the welfare bill
we will have devolved with the Scotland bill, within that we can and must shape
a different approach that treats people with respect and dignity.
2. We must continue to build our
confidence as a nation setting out our own stall eg for refugees and on human
rights. The road to a different Scotland is a psychological journey too, we
need to build a positive narrative along the way and ensure the experience is
of a confident Scotland unafraid to
plow it's own furrow.
3. We must increase our gender
equality; this will improve and increase women's role in society, reduce
domestic violence and build confidence and resilience. Our greatest untapped
potential is our women and others who are treated unfairly in our culture;
Scotland has a bright future if all our citizens can thrive and realise their
full potential.
4. Build a healthier Scotland with a focus on wellness ( see more in theWEL;
reduce inequality where we can, build affordable homes for people,give all
people access to meaningful work, give our population access to real food not
just processed food loaded with sugar and do all we can to get our people to be
active and get access to this beautiful land of ours.
5. Support communities to connect
and care; we need to live our lives with care and purpose. Our fastest growing
long term condition is loneliness. The impact of this on our health is
equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Our lives disconnect us and we are
social animals. We have prised independence above connection, we have more and
more single households and we are now seeing the impact on our health and
services too. Let's invest instead in ways to connect in our communities.
Approaches like community gardens and community choirs are showing the benefits
for people, so what else might we do that includes our most isolated and
vulnerable?
6. And finally my suggestion is
that we build a mindful Scotland in our schools and across institutions to help
us improve our attention and resilience, as well as improving awareness of ourselves and others. Through
mindfulness we will build compassion and empathy in our population too.
Let's
work do our part and ensure we live now in a better Scotland, more ready to
take the bold steps to realise our full potential as a nation.
No comments:
Post a Comment