Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe

LAND OF THE UNFREE? SCOTLAND UNDER THE SNP
https://archives.battleofideas.org.uk/2021/session/land-of-the-unfree-scotland-under-the-snp/

‘We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation’, Voltaire was alleged to have said in recognition the Scottish Enlightenment’s unique contribution to the world. But what would he think if he were alive today, after almost 15 years of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in power?

The SNP claims to be building a country with ‘kindness, compassion, fairness, equality and enterprise at its heart’, to quote the party’s recent election manifesto. Yes, higher education is free of charge for Scottish students in Scotland. Prescriptions are free, too, and the rules on social-care financing are more generous.

But during the SNP’s time in office, Scotland has also led the way on attacks on core liberties. Football supporters faced imprisonment for singing the wrong songs, alcohol now attracts a minimum price and the SNP attempted to give every child a state guardian or ‘named person’ to oversee their journey to adulthood.

The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, which came into force in April, has been widely criticised for its potential to restrict free speech. Meanwhile the SNP has formed a coalition with the Scottish Greens and one of the new government’s plans is to introduce gender self-identification and to redefine ‘woman’ to include some men. The plan has attracted widespread criticism across the political spectrum, from conservatives to feminists.

These attacks on freedom go beyond government diktat. In September 2020, Edinburgh University changed the name of one of its buildings, David Hume Tower, because the eighteenth-century philosopher’s ‘comments on matters of race, though not uncommon at the time, rightly cause distress today’. Meanwhile, Scottish academics have come under attack. Edinburgh University lecturer Neil Thin was accused, wrongly, of holding racist and sexist views. A student at Abertay University, Lisa Keogh, was suspended for saying that women have vaginas.

Mel Gibson’s film Braveheart famously has William Wallace declare that ‘they’ll never take our freedom!’ So why has Scotland’s government been doing just that? How do calls for independence sit with restrictions on individual ‘self-determination’? Is the SNP helping to set a wider tone of illiberalism?

SPEAKERS
Marion Calder
co-director, For Women Scotland

Dr Stuart Waiton
senior lecturer, sociology and criminology, Abertay University; author, Scared of the Kids: curfews crime and the regulation of young people

CHAIR
Alastair Donald
co-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; convenor, Living Freedom; author, Letter on Liberty: The Scottish Question

Land of the unfree? Scotland under the SNP

Listen to recordings of our discussions and debates. Our aim is to expand the boundaries of public debate, to break out of today's echo chambers and challenge orthodoxies.