The Rt Rev Bill Hewitt: Our parliament is one that deserves support for its accountability

Published on Friday 29 January 2010 21:25

EACH year, since the opening of the Scottish Parliament, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland makes a visit to Holyrood.

It provides an opportunity to meet party leaders, attend committee hearings, and generally talk with politicians and staff as they go about their business. It is a simple but effective way of keeping lines of communication open, expressing the Church's gratitude to our leaders and servants in government, and discussing areas of mutual concern. Not least is our commitment and concern for children, young people and the poor.

This year, as part of my three days at the Scottish Parliament, I had opportunities to see firsthand the work going on by our elected officials, to present a wish list to Holyrood for the coming year and to raise matters of our own.

One of the key areas of discussion during my visit has been the alcohol minimum pricing strategy. The claim that alcohol abuse costs each of us around 900 a year has been challenged, but there is no doubt that alcohol abuse blights all of our lives.

There is a position that the alcohol minimum pricing might not necessarily be the way forward, but there is support. The cost of alcohol abuse is not just financial but gnaws away at the very souls of families who have to cope with its effects. It doesn't just affect the drinker, it affects everyone.

So we need to change our collective attitude to alcohol as a nation. That is why the Church of Scotland is supporting minimum pricing by asking our membership to write to drinks producers to say that they should work with the government on this issue.

It won't stop alcohol abuse but at least the administration is attempting to tackle the situation. The price we pay for alcohol consumption is more expensive socially and spiritually than financially.

I met First Minister Alex Salmond the other party leaders to discuss some of the work the Kirk will be involved in this year. We have heard that the UK is coming out of the recession. However, for the poorest in our society the spending cuts that are expected this year may decimate the services that they and their communities depend on.

The Church of Scotland has made a deliberate decision to ensure that its resources, material, personal and spiritual, have a bias to the poor, responding to the gospel imperative following the teachings of Jesus to bring good news to the poor.

We at the Church of Scotland have established a "Commission on the Economy" that has drawn together people from the not-for-profit sector, financial sector, politics and churches to discuss what we want from our economic systems. Over the coming year we will be wrestling with these questions and how we put a value on society. We have invited politicians to participate and I urge them today to join us in dialogue.

I also had the pleasure of addressing a climate control summit. The Scottish Government set us the challenge of reducing carbon emissions by 42 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050.

These are spectacularly challenging figures. To get near these targets we will have to reduce carbon emissions in every area of our lives. This means the way we live, travel, work, shop. This won't happen overnight just because it says in law we should. It will require the active support, participation and involvement of people and communities across Scotland.

Politicians are accountable to the people. They are our servants and it is vital that we continue to have a parliament that listens to all sections of society and engages in dialogue with us. That is paramount and we at the Church of Scotland will be watching.

&#149 The Rt Rev Bill Hewitt is Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.