Letter: A voice for all

The organisations he mentions, including SCVO (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations), have no desire to speak for people in this debate; our widely shared ambition is to open out discussion and to seek a wider involvement beyond the confines of party politics.

Contrary to his view, we do not seek to promote any particular option. Indeed, we are more concerned at this juncture with resisting the premature narrowing of choices which some insist on.

Voluntary organisations would prefer to debate purposes before powers and, through our many networks of supporters, volunteers and service users are well placed to carry that debate to a wider audience than might otherwise engage in this crucial decision.

While I can agree with much of his analysis of the Constitutional Convention, today’s circumstances are different. Civil society in Scotland is a diverse and pluralist expression of active citizenship, rather than a caricature of the great and the good. It is particularly unhelpful to any understanding of this reality if this myriad of independent organisations is portrayed as corporate or in any way aligned to the motives of political parties. Both criticisms are familiar strategies for excluding people and ideas from the debate, yet this seems to me to be precisely the opposite of what is needed.

Finally, young people do need to be encouraged to contribute to debates about the future of their country. Securing their participation, on their terms and through their media, is a particular challenge, but one which many in civil society will embrace with enthusiasm.

In the absence of popular movements, I do not see where else such initiatives will come from.

Martin Sime

SCVO

Mansfield Place

Edinburgh