Voters are politically and economically powerless!

Sep 27 2011 Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

Dear Editor, – Some years ago I studied Scots Law at Dundee University. The main thing I learnt was the utter powerlessness of ordinary people in Scotland – more extreme than in any other part of the United Kingdom, or any other western democracy.

The centralisation of power in Scotland means that anyone who wants to improve their local community hasn’t a hope in hell. All the big decisions are made by remote, powerful institutions.

Of course, the Government uses a host of tricks to create the illusion that we have a meaningful say in local and national governance.

Dozens of public consultation procedures allow us to object to various types of development. The final decisions, though, are usually made behind closed doors. For example where a company appeals against refusal of planning permission to build a polluting plant, the final decision is made by one person – with no means for the public to challenge that decision. On the other hand if planning consent is given, local people have no right of appeal.

Anyone wishing to take legal action against a public body via judicial review will end up spending their life savings and in all probability achieve nothing.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman is meant to enable us to challenge poor or negligent behaviour by local authorities. In fact it upholds about half of one per cent of complaints, and even in that handful of cases no action is taken against the offending authority.

The Scottish Information Commissioner purports to ensure we can get hold of information that is being withheld. However public and private bodies can usually avoid compliance by claiming ‘commercial confidentiality’.

Community councils, supposedly the third tier of Scotland’s democratic governance, have no power and are treated with contempt by local authorities. In effect, Scotland’s democratic system is like a ladder missing its bottom rung – the rung that reaches down into the grassroots of our communities.

By comparison England’s parish councils have a host of powers and a commensurate share of council tax.

The Scottish Government’s Public Petitions Committee is the biggest joke of all, regularly dismissing well-argued petitions with barely a minute or two of discussion. The Committee is under no obligation to give a sensible reason, and the decision cannot be challenged.

Scots are also economically disempowered, as the shortage of land on the open market artificially forces up the cost of housing and keeps them struggling to pay for a roof over their heads. This, despite the fact that Scotland is two thirds the size of England, but has an eighth of the population.

The effect of this political and economic powerlessness is profoundly corrosive. Imagination and creativity are blocked and frustrated in every aspect of Scottish life – socially, economically and environmentally. A life in Scotland is a wasted life, and our useless politicians do nothing about it.

Michael Gallagher,

33 Precinct Street,

Coupar Angus,

Perthshire,

PH13 9DG.