Politics is all about managing conflict

The recent election results in England are a sign of the political tectonic plates (aka the two-party system) shifting.

Of course, thanks to the advent of the Scottish Parliament, here in Scotland we’ve had multi-party politics for over two decades – the 2003-07 parliament had seven parties represented. The 2007-11 SNP minority administration (itself another huge political change) governed well in an informal relationship largely with the Tories, but sometimes by reaching agreements with the Greens. The present SNP administration, again a minority, got its most recent budget through talking to all of the parties in the parliament, seeking to find common ground amid their differences.

Conflict is part of life. What matters is not conflict but how we manage conflict. A healthy democracy is built on voices who disagree. We learn more from disagreement than we do by only hearing the voices we agree with. Avoiding conflict adds nothing to political decision making. Politics is about managing conflict. But these days politics has become about manufactured conflict. The “othering” of minority groups for political ends, the stigmatising of folk on the edge of society, the suggestion diversity is the source of our problems, instead of the place where new understanding can be discovered, the weaponising of falsehoods by dressing up lies as “free speech”. These things are the daily tools of certain factions in the political community at home and abroad and they are destroying our democracy.

We have an election in Scotland in almost exactly a year. As a small contribution to a different type of political debate, here’s some of what I, as someone working in homelessness prevention, would like to see at the heart of all the party manifestos. Ideas which seek to bring us together rather than drive us apart.

The Scottish Parliament brings multi-party politics to Scotland, says Ewan Aitken

Delivering on the Housing to 2024 strategy – a warm affordable home in a strong safe community is the basis of a public health approach to homeless prevention – reducing insecurity and keeping people healthy and flourishing; Deliver on the new homelessness prevention duties for public bodies – funding these properly and using them to change the culture around how folk get support when they are struggling; Reintroduce the community capacity builder programme to empower local communities to do things for themselves. It had great results across the country previously.

Expand the community link worker programme to every GP surgery in Scotland – it really works, folk get the support they need and GPs get freed up to do what they do best; Investing significantly in youth work across statutory services, the third sector and schools – it’s how strong trusted relationships are really built. Developing services like mentoring and digital literacy supports young people to make wise choices; Build an inclusive economy by supporting social enterprises and have a real focus on “business with purpose” – like the BCorp500 programme in Edinburgh – to help business be part of building strong communities.

Not everyone will agree with me but that’s okay. I am happy for folk to challenge my thoughts if it’s done respectfully and with the ambition of finding common ground. Why? Because the ground which has been gained out of exploring difference is far more fertile than the arid spaces of echo chambers and false narratives promoted for selfish ends.

Ewan Aitken is chief executive of Cyrenians