White paper no knight in shining armour

This feels like mass hysteria week. Tuesday will see the launch of the Scottish Government’s White Paper on independence. There have been many other ‘weeks’ this autumn – from Living Wage Week and Challenge Poverty Week to Dementia Awareness Week. During each of these week-long events, public discussion has taken place, ideas have been rethought, and some of the most vulnerable people in our communities have had a chance to voice their concerns before any policies proposals have taken shape. Not so, with the White Paper on independence. This week, after enduring a long wait with secrecy, we have all been expectant about whether our issues and our particular vested interests will be recognized and acknowledged because this ‘blueprint’ has been crafted behind closed doors. It is wrapped carefully in the shining armour of media priming. Once it is out, it will commit a whole batch of politicians to a pre-agreed line. There will be no real opportunity to change the debate, offer new perspectives and bring people and their communities together to decide their own country’s blueprint. This is a done deal.

There will be no real opportunity to change the debate, offer new perspectives and bring people and their communities together to decide their own country’s blueprint.

Officials have been touting this as a model for other countries exploring their options for nationhood to follow – a shining example for the world. Can this be the case? The authors of the White Paper will say they have listened, but to whom? And the future direction for Scotland must be about more than listening. Where are the opportunities for challenge by the people and their communities whose lives the propositions in this paper will directly affect? SNP activists will now need to stay committed to the propositions in this paper or lose face. Your only option is to say yay or nay to the whole gamut. Is this paper going to make a difference to people and their communities, and really engage them in determining their own future? If not, then what’s the point?