PEOPLE and communities in Scotland and the rest of the UK are facing serious challenges accessing their everyday, fundamental rights.
Thousands are trapped in poverty, a record number of children are forced to live in unsuitable accommodation and food insecurity is an almost universal experience among people with disabilities. The cost of living crisis continues to drive hardship, leaving people feeling isolated and ignored by politicians.
People are being scapegoated because of how they arrived in the UK, their preferred pronouns, their faith. Inequality is normalised and solidarity is eroding. This climate breeds anxiety and fear, and fear fuels the politics of exclusion, making it feel like safety for many.
The far right weaponises these fears, using them as political leverage to offer solutions that will make us all less safe, less democratic and less connected. The argument is easy – we have one pie to share and a bigger slice for some means less for others. This zero-sum game, where more rights for some mean less rights for others, is a false dichotomy. But what if we could demand better things for everyone in Scotland?
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Next year’s Scottish Parliament election gives us a chance to do just that. We can take stock of where we are and decide where we want to go next. That is, perhaps, a too simplistic view of the workings of an election, but it is the essence of it – people exercise their inalienable right to vote and decide who best represents them.
Elected politicians take forward our values, our priorities, and our vision. Right now, we have the opportunity to demand a country that tackles poverty and inequality, creates secure jobs, provides robust social security, takes anti-racism work seriously and addresses all forms of abuse and discrimination.
This is exactly what the Civil Society Working Group on Incorporation (CSWG) calls for in its parliamentary manifesto. It demands that all political parties commit to stronger human rights protections and laws for everyone in Scotland.
CSWG, a coalition that represents more than 20 advocacy and campaign organisations, launched its manifesto with a clear message – now is the time to strengthen fundamental human rights protections in Scotland. The manifesto has three clear asks:
Pass the Scottish Human Rights Bill
Why? Because this legislation would incorporate four international human rights treaties into Scots law. They would protect women, disabled people and racial and ethnic groups from discrimination – CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; CRPD, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; ICERD, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; and ICESCR, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It would also enshrine the right to a healthy environment. This bill would create a baseline for all, ensuring no-one is left behind.
Implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to full effect
Children in Scotland are among the first in the world to enjoy protections in domestic law for the standards set out at the international level, thanks to the UNCRC Act.
But these protections must be strengthened to the fullest extent. It can seem like a small thing, but when more than 10,000 children are housed in unsuitable accommodation, 80,000 children live in deep poverty, and access to education is unequal for some children and young people, the sense of urgency becomes evident.
Remove barriers to justice
Rights on paper are meaningless without remedies when those rights are breached. Thousands in Scotland do not know where to turn when their rights are violated, lack access to legal aid or have to represent themselves. This needs to be reformed now.
Our demands are strong, clear and reasonable. Amid an austerity of ideas, we should imagine a different kind of redistribution of dignity.
If dignity – not profit – becomes the new measuring stick, we can create a system that puts people – all people – at the centre of policy making.
If that sounds too ambitious, it is because we have been convinced to dream small. We have been told the system cannot be changed. We have been taught to focus on our individual needs so our collective power can be kept at bay.
The manifesto demands are big – but they are possible, achievable, and nothing short of what we deserve. The manifesto demands structural change to fix systemic failures, and it asks all political candidates to stand for basic protections for all.
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