"The fact that the campaign emerged from Scotland’s charity sector is significant, because we see the reality of how people are living"
More than 5,000 people joined the Scotland Demands Better march in Edinburgh on Saturday (25 October). That's 5,000 people asking politicians to make the changes we need to see a society where everyone can thrive and prosper.
Led by The Poverty Alliance, charities and other organisations from across the country - including ourselves in Citizens Advice Scotland – came together to push for practical changes that our political leaders can make to support a better Scotland. We want to give people a stable foundation, to build a better future.
The campaign is calling for a real living wage, more affordable homes, better student support, improved public transport, an adequate care service, cheaper energy bills and a fairer social security system - one that actually lifts people out of poverty and allows them to live with dignity.
This list doesn’t include any surprises. If anything, you might assume these asks are being seen to already. But they’re not.
Across the Scottish CAB network, our advisers support thousands of people living in difficult circumstances every day. Whether it’s threatened homelessness, maintenance of social housing, or simply paying the bills and feeding their families, we know people in all corners of Scotland need, want and deserve better. That’s who we marched for and will keep marching for.
We’re a quarter way through the 21st century, yet more than a fifth of Scots live in poverty. One in five people. How can this be deemed acceptable to anyone?
Without major reform of the broken energy market, people will once again be going cold and hungry as we approach winter. Government and regulators know this and yet here we are facing another winter in which people will suffer. For us, that amounts to the toleration of harm.
Despite these harsh realities being known, social security is forever being cut while energy bills rocket. Many people can’t get a decent home to live in, and others are forced to work two or more jobs but still struggle to make ends meet. Enough is enough. Our society is clearly broken and crying out for systemic change.
That dreadful word ‘austerity’ was first used as a government strategy nearly 20 years ago. Then came the banking crash, Brexit, the pandemic, the energy crisis and the housing emergency.
The cost of living crisis that was supposed to be just a temporary blip has somehow become a permanent reality. Our politicians blame each other and shake their heads sadly at it all. But where is the passion and ambition to actually end it?
The fact that the Scotland Demands Better campaign has emerged from Scotland’s charity sector is significant. Because it is us who see the reality of how people are living through all this. It’s us that people turn to when they need to feed their families. CAB advisers are seeing the highest ever levels of demand for their services from people who are simply unable to cope.
We need to demand better, and our politicians – all of them - need to listen when we do.
Derek Mitchell is chief executive of Citizens Advice Scotland.
