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Over the last few months, much has been said in the press about
Wendy Alexander's leadership style so we met up with the new Leader
of Labour in the Scottish Parliament to chat about the substance
behind the acres of column inches.
In a recent speech to the Scottish Council Foundation, Alexander
was quoted as saying that she 'knows the sort of country she wants
to bequeath to her children.' But what would that country
look like? "I want to see a healthier, fairer, happier
country"; a country that is more neighbourly, aspirational,
ambitious and compassionate. From here she goes straight on
to describe some of the greatest scars on our society: our health
record; unreasonable levels of poverty; and - an issue that
permeates our discussions - how we care for the most vulnerable in
our society. Immediately it's clear that she's a thinker,
that she is scandalised by injustice and that she is committed to
the challenge ahead of the Parliament to formulate policies to
tackle these issues. What also emerges here is a tension that
remains unresolved throughout the interview; what role can the
Labour Party in opposition play in tackling these issues?
The Church and the Labour Party have been at the heart of
Wendy's Alexander's life from early on, the daughter of the manse
and card carrying member from her teens, and in Wendy's eyes there
is obviously a common mission at the heart of both
institutions. "It's clear that churches should be at the
heart of the lives of the community in which they operate - indeed
the life of the world. There is no bible that you read that
is about keeping your hands clean from the difficult and
challenging issues of your time or your corner of the earth - It's
right for churches, in fact probably a duty for church people, to
be involved in the issues of the day and the governance of their
society and try and witness to their faith in their communities and
that includes the political sphere."
So what role can the churches play in the political
sphere? Wendy is aware of the many contributions that
churches make, citing their work on poverty alleviation,
homelessness and welcoming immigrants: "these are ways in which the
churches have challenged the prejudices too often peddled in some
sections of the media".
Asked about the contribution her own beliefs have made to her
political approach, she gives a one word answer - "perspective".
She elaborates: "one of the greatest challenges for all modern
politicians is the 24/7 news media - the demands to "feed the media
beast" - There is no time to reflect and we're all the poorer for
that. There is little in politics that speaks to that part of
Christianity which is about the number of times that you watch
people withdraw to think about the issues of the day and then
re-engage, and it seems to me that almost all politicians when they
look back on their time in politics they regret the fact that they
didn't have more time for reflection."
Turning to the Labour Party, why did Wendy stand for the
leadership? Because "the time was right … there was an
opportunity for change". Change will begin at home for the
Labour Party with Wendy at the helm wanting to 'reform, renew and
reconnect.' She is committed to changing the Labour Party in
Scotland, "how we are seen, how we behave, how we conduct our
politics, what our policies are".
What are the key issues that Labour wants to connect with?
Apparently they are the same issues that the Scottish people are
interested in; not constitutional or institutional change but
better services, better homes and more "in touch" politicians;
fundamentally, building a Scotland where nobody gets left
behind.
Tackling the issue of multi-generational economic inactivity is
an area that she admits has proved a far more difficult problem
than "we" had thought. It's an area where Labour have
learnt a lot from voluntary organisations, how they can get
alongside people to affirm their self esteem, grow their skills and
help them think about what sort of contribution they want to
make. Starting young is also vital; it is "just not
possible to say we want the best start in life but not starting
till you're 5 - when all the evidence says that what happens when
you are under five is as probably as crucial in shaping life
chances as anything that happens thereafter."
Building a Scotland that grows cohesively is a major challenge
that Wendy identifies. She urges that we must each
individually think about the ways that we are good neighbours to
each other and particularly to immigrants who are making Scotland
their home: "do we individually, one on one, take responsibility
for getting to know people who have newly arrived in our country
and mix with them socially and outwith the workplace?"
What is the role for politicians in this area? Here she
turns to the education system and the need for a more personalised
education. This should not be the preserve of children in
private schools but she would like to see a truly world class
education system individually catering to the needs of every
child. We should in future be aiming for a significant
number of children to be getting one-on-one support throughout
their primary years.
As a young person the most important thing she learned from her
parents is that what's important is not what you achieve in life
but who you are as a person. Today there
are "too many young people who grow up believing that your worth is
measured by what you have rather than who you are … The challenge
for us is how do we create a different set of role models for the
next generation. This links to a vital whole debate
around the nature of childhood and what we value in our
society."
With time for only one more question, what is the best piece of
advice that Alexander would offer others? At this point she quotes
Richard Holloway - "make time to watch the clouds go by".
Some caricatures of Wendy have suggested that her head is in an
intellectual cloud that is removed from peoples lives, but here she
defends thoughtful and reflective practices in the best interests
of people: "It is in these moments that people connect with their
own spirituality and think about how do I be the sort of human
being that I want to be at this time, in this place, in this
situation, and that is not an easy thing to do in anybody's busy
life these days."