Creating a just country
Phil Lucas asks: can Scotland lead the way?
In 2015 British Quakers committed themselves to give priority to working with others to identify and address the root causes of inequalities in our society. With increasing powers devolved to Holyrood, are some Quakers right in believing Scotland can show the rest of the United Kingdom the way?
Following a successful symposium hosted by Quakers in Scotland in October 2016, attended by some 200 people, a seminar for invited participants took place in Edinburgh on 22 April. In addition to Quakers with an interest or expertise in tax and justice matters, the seminar was attended by representatives of Christian Aid, Positive Money, the Iona Community, Oxfam, the Citizen’s Basic Income Network, Community Climate Action, and others. John Mason, a Scottish National Party member of the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh, and a former member of the finance and economy committee at Holyrood, was also in attendance.
Michael Keating, professor of politics at Aberdeen University and director of the Centre for Constitutional Change at Edinburgh University, addressed the seminar. He began by raising the question: ‘What is the purpose of Scotland having new constitutional powers?’ – suggesting we need first to define what sort of society we want, and then explore what powers we need to deliver it.
Michael challenged the currently normative view that social inequality is the price of economic growth, that rich people need higher salaries, and that poor people need lower wages to work harder. He quoted evidence from academic research that it is not the case that unequal societies do better and increasing taxation does not necessarily harm the economy. Small countries can do well when there are high levels of social investment.
We spent much of the day, which like the October symposium was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, in two discussion groups. Three areas of interest emerged from these groups, which Scottish Quakers will take forward in our future work.
- The need to change the narrative. It is positive to promote the concept that tax is a good thing. It is our subscription to a good society, which unites the state and the citizen. Tax needs to be taken out of its separate box and firmly linked to social policy, the benefits it brings to a good society. We need to promote growth as not just growth in formal economic activity, but growth in welfare, community, environment, land ownership, gender justice, care and so on.
- A citizen’s basic income. Annie Miller, an Edinburgh-based economist (and Quaker) who took part in the seminar, has been working on the idea of a basic income for many years and is publishing a book on the subject this summer. This was of great interest to participants and a concept we wish to explore further.
- Better education about economics. Steps need to be taken to improve education in economics for all of us, as well as for academic students of the subject. We all need to have enough understanding to contribute to the debate. Taxation is a neglected area in academic economic studies, where radical challenges to current normative practices are rare. We were informed of places where such challenges are beginning to be made.
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