We need to make our politics a kinder place - Ewan Aitken
In May 1999 I stood for election to the City of Edinburgh Council. Being Scotland, it rained on election day. It was a nerve-racking time and worries about turnout being impacted by the weather did not help.
But in the end, I was duly elected to represent what was then the single member ward of Restalrig. I was privileged to be re-elected twice more before stepping down after 13 years on the council.
In 1999 the council and Scottish Parliament counts were both in Meadowbank Stadium, so I was able to be present for the first election of MSPs to the new Scottish Parliament including several Scottish Labour colleagues and Robin Harper of the Scottish Green Party, elected as the first ever Green Parliamentarian in history.
Politics in Scotland was changing and the mood among those of us elected that day right across the political spectrum was of hope and opportunity.
I would struggle to use those words now about our politics. Global chaos aside, 27 years later, standing for election now would be a daunting prospect.
The toxicity of social media, the lack of nuance and listening in public discourse, the viciousness of populist rhetoric choosing to blame immigrants for problems which are nothing to do with them, the prevalence of the idea that disagreeing with someone makes you a legitimate target for personal abuse do not make elected life an attractive option.
There is an undercurrent of fundamentalism polluting our politics; “if you disagree with me, I will judge you as a bad person and claim the right to abuse or threaten you personally”.
Coupled with the misnomer that conflates “disagreeing” with “not listening” when they are very different, it makes decision making even more difficult and that’s before added burden of the very heavy economic and social price of the political choice of austerity.
And yet, I still meet young people who want to get involved and make a difference. There’s a group of young people in Cyrenians who have lived experience of homelessness whom we now support to take their experiences to politicians and challenging them to listen and debate.
And to their credit many of the politicians they meet do listen from right across the political spectrum. They don’t always agree but the discussions are respectful and informed.
More importantly, it brings voices seldom heard into the places where politics happens and decisions are made. I see the change it brings in them but also the change their views bring to the decision makers they meet. But the impact of their views - and their enthusiasm - will be lost if how we do our politics does not change.
The upcoming election is unlikely to change the present state of our political debate. But once it’s over, our political priorities should include changing how we do our politics. In particular, how we support those whose voices are rarely heard. Including them thoughtfully, listening and learning from their lived experience could fundamentally change how we do politics.
The young people we support want to be involved in bringing change to their country. It’s on us all to create a kind of politics where different views can be heard respectfully and where our decision makers can operate without fear of abuse and personal attacks - even when we disagree with them.