Taking a non-partisan look at Scottish politics and society

Author of How Scotland Works, Andrew Conway, tells how he came to put pen to paper

Why did you write this book?

Like many, I was curious about what happened to bring about the financial crisis of 2008. That led to an interest in economics which in turn led to politics. The referendums of 2014 and 2016 and elections in recent years caused me to take a closer look at Scotland and its society in particular. I then began to share what I was learning via blogs, Twitter and Facebook and found others were interested in a less combative, non-partisan discussion. That led me to write the book.

What do you hope people will gain from reading it?

It can be read as a bundle of facts and figures, what you might call an almanac, but that is not the main purpose. The aim is to explain important concepts clearly, either avoiding jargon or demystifying it so that, for example, next time you hear about GDP growth on the news it means more to you than just an abstract percentage.

Facts and figures are of little value by themselves. To make sense of them you have to put them in a context and that has to involve your morals and some idea of the kind of society you want to live in. If you don’t know about the current state of your country and something of its history, how can you know what should be conserved and what requires change?

But don’t many people feel they haven’t got the power to effect change?

That is true, and it’s a good part of the explanation behind lack of voter turnout. In general elections for MPS, about a third of people who can vote, do not vote, and in elections for MSPS and councillors almost half of the electorate do not vote. In the May 2014 election for MEPS to represent Scotland in the EU parliament, two thirds of eligible voters didn’t vote. Yet later that same year, the independence referendum

0 Five in six people voted in the independence referendum

saw more than five out of every six people cast a vote. The 2016 Brexit referendum also saw elevated levels of turnout across the UK. People are encouraged to vote if they feel that a real change may result.

What do you think people ought to consider before voting?

We elect our MPS and MSPS to represent us in parliament, but they are not delegates who will express our views in parliament. That would be impossible because tens of thousands of constituents have varied and irreconcilable views. Instead we should ask the following of them: Are they trustworthy? Do they hold to clear policy positions? Are they ones you could tolerate, even if you disagree? How bound are they to their party, especially if local needs conflict with central policy? Did anything surprise you in writing the book?

Many things! For one thing, I was surprised to learn that Scottish household incomes have risen in real terms, that is, adjusted for inflation, by 40 per cent or more since the mid- 1990s. Inequality did increase in the run up to the 2008 financial crisis, but it then reduced by a similar amount in its aftermath. Also, I was not expecting to find that Scotland

is on a par with the south east of England (excluding London) in having some of the lowest poverty rates and highest income levels in the UK. In contrast, after housing costs, London has the highest levels of absolute poverty in the UK. This is not to say that we need not be concerned about the poverty and inequality in Scotland, but that the picture is more mixed and nuanced than I’d understood from much of the public rhetoric.

And how do you view the burning questions of Brexit and independence?

Like many, I was initially surprised at the Brexit result itself and also that it failed to boost support for independence.

But, when you scratch beneath the surface of the strong Scottish vote for Remain, you find that Scottish views are not so different from those elsewhere in the UK.

The reputable Scottish Social Attitudes survey found 9 per cent of people want the number of immigrants increased, 27 per cent want it to remain the same and 62 per cent would like to see a decrease. That survey also found a rising majority in favour of reducing the influence of the EU on Scotland.

People are encouraged to vote if they feel that a real change may result

● How Scotland Works: A citizen’s guide by Andrew Conway is out now, published by Luath Press at £12.99.