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John Mason joined the SNP later in life, after working for the
United Mission to Nepal for three years. Living in a small
but fiercely independent country with big neighbours changed his
view of Scotland and he became more nationalistic. Having
colleagues from Holland and Denmark also convinced him of the
viability and advantages of going it alone. On his return, he
joined the SNP, not expecting to become very involved, but after a
bit of time he found himself standing as a councillor and has had
that role for the last ten years.
He is now moving on to a new challenge following his stunning
triumph in the Glasgow East by-election in July. The area had been
Labour since 1920 but never before had the country been
experiencing the dichotomy of a popular SNP Government at
Westminster and an unpopular Labour Government at Westminster,
combined with people struggling with the rising price of petrol and
the cost of living. This was the unique backdrop, but there was
also a myriad of smaller issues that combined to bring his victory;
he explains. "The weather was good, the muddle over Labour choosing
a candidate, all these things that were out of our control, these
all helped as well. We've got to include in there the issues of
abortion and the embryology Bill which came up and did make a bit
of a distinction."
He had also built relationships with people as a local
councillor which, he believes, was an extremely good step, and must
have got him a "few extra votes". It is this role that he seeks to
build on now, "My first priority will be to be someone people can
come to with problems and issues … this has been a very high
profile campaign and people have chosen me so my first aim is to
get an office open". This office will be a shop front in
Shettleston, a visible presence in the community, so that he can
listen to people and take on their issues, whatever they may be. He
sees his role as trying to be a servant to people, people are
looking for their politicians "to be listening, often it's personal
issues - their council tax they're worried about, or the road, or
the school for their kids - you know these are really the important
issues for people". His casework is already piling up, he explains,
so he hopes to be in Glasgow as much as possible and London as
little as possible.
Utilising his training in accountancy, he hopes to focus on the
area of benefits and pensions at Westminster, an area that he sees
as particularly relevant for people in the East End. The local
pensioners group has already been in touch and this is a group
"which I am concerned about, to some extent working people if they
get a poor pay increase they can go on strike, you know that's an
option; pensioners do not have that option so I do feel that
they're in a weaker position."
He goes on to explain, "because my majority is quite small,
everybody thinks that their pressure group got me elected". This
includes the churches and the pensioners and he hopes to use his
experience from the council, of being part of a small political
grouping, to work away at challenging the establishment. He's used
to being in the minority and clearly relishes this role. At
Westminster he will be part of a small political grouping with
Plaid Cymru; in total they are 10 MPs who will work together.
A policy area that he believes he influenced and was able to
bring to the fore at the council was sectarianism. Somewhat to his
surprise the council accepted a motion he proposed highlighting the
severity of the problem and demanding recognition. This was at the
same time as it was being raised at Holyrood and with a humility
that is not always associated with politicians he emphasises that
he was jut one part of the rising prominence of the issue but
admits he was pleased to be able to play that role.
Challenging the establishment, going against the grain and
treading new ground are characteristics that he has admired in
those he cites as key influences. Hudson Taylor, founder of OMF
International, George Verwer of Operation Mobilisation and more
politically, Winnie Ewing have been inspirational to him. He
believes he is "standing on the shoulders of giants". "I see what
I'm doing now as building on that, it's not the same scale",
Another key characteristic for him is being firm in your beliefs,
as he explains he would respect someone like Tony Benn more than
Tony Blair because he stuck to his set of values, partly to the
detriment of his career.
Daniel is also a good role model, he went against the
establishment, but "in the long run he came out on top". His faith
is clearly the foundation for his values; although the values of
integrity, honesty and service can come from other backgrounds, he
sees that they are clearly taught in the Bible and in churches. He
goes on, "I'm not really a fan of political correctness, I like to
speak out and I maybe do that a bit much and need to get wise about
that, so I value prayer for that."
There is biblical support, too, he believes for the independence
cause as a form of decentralisation; "the Tower of Babel is all
about God decentralising things. I'm not for one minute claiming
that Christians should all support one party, I think it's better
that Christians should be involved and support a wide range of
parties but I'm comfortable with the SNP's position on nationalism
as a whole, a very inclusive nationalism."
Despite his personal convictions he does not formally want
churches to have a role in politics. "I'm very strong for the
separation of church and state. I think where we are going now is
healthier for both the church and the state, where probably the
church is the minority in society but has a strong prophetic
voice."
He gets concerned too, when parts of the church and believers
seem to talk about "sex and moral issues all the time. Sometimes
the church tries to speak on too many things and it's better it
speaks about things it's got expertise on." The gap in society
between the rich and the poor, which is huge within the East End is
where they church should really engage with politics he argues. "My
starting position is that everyone is of equal value, I wouldn't go
as far as saying everyone should have the same income, but I
certainly think it has become far too wide. At the moment we are
seeing these banks with people who were earning huge amounts of
money and even where they have failed are getting huge rewards,
whereas people at the bottom will lose their jobs because of this.
People at the bottom can't get credit or can't afford their
electricity bills so there is just far too wide a gap in society so
I would like to see that brought together. "
He is comfortable, however, with the SNP position on faith
schools. If there is demand from a sufficient group of parents for
a school then the government and the council should be supporting
that. "Rather than uniformity I'm in favour of diversity while
keeping a distinct line between the state and the churches - it's
probably a bit odd that one part of the church has state funded
schools and nobody else has, but I expect there are things outwith
our control that may affect things like that in the future."
(Editorial Note: Since this interview was carried out by our
Research Officer rather than by myself, you will notice the cunning
way in which it conceals the real source of John Mason's success -
his long service as a supporter of Clyde Football Club - an
experience which builds resilience, ability to cope with life's
vicissitudes, and a sense of humour. But if we told you that,
everyone would want to be a Clyde supporter, and I wouldn't get in.
- GKB)