Kirk asks bankers and union chiefs for economic answers

KEY figures from banking, business and the trade unions will serve on a special commission set up by the Church of Scotland to produce an economic vision for the future.

Former Royal Bank of Scotland chief economist Jeremy Peat and ex-Labour MP John McFall, who chaired the Commons Treasury select committee until retiring at the election, are among members.

Details were announced at the Kirk's General Assembly on The Mound last week.

The commission – prompted by the credit crunch and the banking crisis – will spend the next two years exploring the ethical and moral questions underlying economic activity.

It is modelled on the work of a Kirk commission in the 1940s, led by Edinburgh theology professor John Baillie, whose report was credited with helping to shape crucial social changes after the Second World War, including the welfare state, the NHS and expanded educational opportunity.

The Rev Ian Galloway, convener of the Kirk's church and society council, said: "This is a challenging time for many people, especially those who are, in poverty, paying for the excesses of those who craved wealth.

"Yet it is also an opportunity for us as a church and a nation to step back and look into the very basis of our economic system."

Others who will be on the commission include Grahame Smith, general secretary of the STUC; Jim Spowart, former managing director of Direct Line Financial Services and founder of Intelligent Finance; and David Lonsdale, assistant director of CBI Scotland.

They will join church figures such as the Rev Kathy Galloway, head of Christian Aid in Scotland and former leader of the Iona Community, and theology lecturers the Rev Doug Gay and Professor Werner Jeanrond.

The commission will take part in a number of meetings around the country organised through Church of Scotland presbyteries and it will also hold meetings in Edinburgh to hear from people.

It is expected to focus mainly on the Scottish economy and in particular problems of poverty and the use of wealth.

The commission will be chaired by Professor Charles Munn, recently retired as chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland.

He said: "The formation of the commission gives the Kirk the opportunity to speak to its members and the wider world about matters of great importance.

"That many parts of the economic system have broken so badly impacts all of our lives.

"It is important that the national church takes the time to reflect."