Japan, Scotland and the social aspiration gap

March 16, 2011 by
Filed under: Politics, The RSA 

I am writing this post at Heathrow Terminal 5 after missing my flight to Scotland due to a combination of complacency from me and severe delays on the Victoria Line; to have one train break down is clumsy, to have two in one rush hour verges on the blitheringly incompetent.  

Thinking of this post last night, I had planned not to put it up until on my way back from Scotland, but now I have time to kill and, anyway, something I heard this morning makes me feel more willing to risk the wrath of my hosts when I finally arrive north of the Border.

In my first annual lecture as RSA CEO, back in 2007, I described what I inelegantly termed ’the social aspiration gap’. This, I suggested, lay between people’s aspirations for our country’s future and the trajectory we are on if we continue to think and behave as we do. I argued that we need future citizens, in aggregate, to be more engaged (not just voting but understanding that difficult decisions need to be made for the long term benefit of society), more self sufficient and resourceful, and more pro-social. One of the reasons I have no hesitation in expressing enthusiasm for the David Cameron’s idea of the Big Society (if not yet the practice) is that the RSA got there first.  

It was, then, fascinating this morning (as I calmy munched my toast safe in the knowledge I had loads of time to get to the airport!) to hear James Naughtie on the Today Programme describing the issues which some Japanese people hope their country will now face up to in the wake of their unfolding tragedy: first, how could the Government and the people have a deeper and more honest conversation about the choices facing a country which already had a debt twice the size of GDP even before the crisis. Second, how could Japan rediscover the entrepreneurial flair which led to it being the world’s economic powerhouse in the seventies and eighties. Third, how could Japan develop a new and stronger civil society to fill the gaps between big Government, big corporations and individuals? The idea that Japan could turn this crisis into a national conversation about a new idea of citizenship and society is inspiring. It is also fascinating how recognisable these issues are to us in the UK.

Which brings me mournfully to Scotland. I know what I am going to say will be very irriating to most Scottish readers but in my defence can I say that I am primarily reflecting conversations I have had recently with Scottish friends whose opinion I respect deeply?

Last year I blogged a few times on the lack of honesty among party leaders during the General Election campaign as they told us difficult decisions would need to be made on spending but that somehow, magically, these decisions wouldn’t actually affect the lives and service entitlements of voters themselves. But the UK General Election campaign was searingly honest and brave in comparison to what appears – from a distance I admit – to be happening in the lead up to May’s Scottish elections.

Not only are none of the leaders who have any chance of being in power after the election admitting to cuts , they are outdoing each other with new spending pledges, including no redundancies for the public sector, no fees for students ever, more free entitlements for pensioners regardless of how well-off they are etc etc.

Part of the problem in Scotland is the lack of choice. If one imagines a political spectrum ranging from 0 degrees’ being Respect on the left to 180 degrees being the BNP on the right, the three major parties in Scotland – Labour, SNP, and the Lib Dems (although the Lib Dems may cease to be major after the election) are all camped out in the same territory, roughly between 30 and 50 degrees on the centre left.  The long shadow of Thatcherism and the failure of the Conservative UK leadership to take Scotland seriously (after all under our current electoral system David Cameron doesn’t need a single Scottish vote to be able to win a General Election), means that there is no strong right of centre voice. Indeed the  antipathy of Scotland’s political class to New Labour, and its resistance to ideas such a diversification of public service delivery, means there isn’t even a modernising centre . 

As some Scottish commentators have been saying in recent days, this lack of political pluralism is pretty disastrous. The big three parties outdo each other with promises while threatening  full scale scare and smear tactics if the other parties dare to even hint at  the realities ahead. 

Japan’s crisis is profound and urgent, and the worst may still be to come. Scotland’s is less obvious and will take longer to unfold. But in both cases it seems to me - sitting here in Heathrow – the process of renewal needs to be based on a deeper public engagement with the questions: what is our country’s future and what do we as citizens need to contribute to that future?  Right now, there may be more reason to hope such a conversation will take place in Japan than in Scotland.

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20 Comments on Japan, Scotland and the social aspiration gap

  1. Carl Allen on Wed, 16th Mar 2011 2:24 pm

    2. The inherent self-preservation instinct of politicians who are in power lead them to do any and all things that will get them re-elected.

    This makes it impossible for them to act honestly in deeds or words re why does Matthew ask for the tiger to have no stripes and the politician to have an honest conversation?

    Since the weight of past and current history is strongly on the side of the above statement, then the question is “Should elected leaders have one term only and should political parties have one term only?”

    And let us not do the political double act of blowing hot air and passing wind on the question.

  2. World Spinner on Wed, 16th Mar 2011 4:15 pm

    3. Japan, Scotland and the social aspiration gap | Matthew Taylor's blog…

    Here at World Spinner we are debating the same thing……

  3. Neil McNaughton on Wed, 16th Mar 2011 4:17 pm

    4. I share your frustration with transport problems, but, being a little obsessive on time, I am always at airports about four hours early !

    Reading your interesting piece I was reminded of an article I read a few years ago, I can’t remember where, about some research that had been done on levels of civil culture in different societies, following on, I suppose, from Almond and Verba’s work in the 1960s. It asked why the Swedes, for example, (remember this was some years ago) had such a strong sense of society and the social. Why were they so tolerant of high levels of taxation and welfare redistribution ? Why were they so much more wedded to equality than Anglo Saxon societies have tended to be. In short the answer seemed to be the genetic homogeneity of the Swedes. Put simply, the wealthier members of society recognised the relatively worse off as part of th same national ‘family’ for want of a better word. This translated itself into a willingness to have large proportions of their income redistributed downwards, just as some members of a family will help their relatives who have fallen on hard times. It may be that, in Britain, society has beceom too hetergeneous for this to take effect. The middle and upper middle classes are increasingly tax-averse because they feel that much of their contributions is going to strangers. A little crude, perhaps, but one can see the point.
    I think you are right about Big Society, but think its underlying values already exist. Communities and their associations remain active and committed to social improvement. In places it may be latent, but it is there. The problem is the decline in the civic culture that Almond and Verba praised in Britain two generations ago. Cameron is really trying to re-ignite ‘small society’. Big Society implies that we return to the kind of spirit that ushered in the welfare state in the 1940s. Now that was Big Society ! The problem is the apprent failure of multiculturalism. That is where attention must be centred I feel. Interestingly, in view of your destination, I suspect the Scots have more chance of becoming a ‘Swedish style’ society than the English.

  4. Carl Allen on Wed, 16th Mar 2011 7:32 pm

    5. Neil, there never was multiculturalism in this land … my opinion.

    There was and remains the opportunity for minorities to keep their cultural practices and for the mainstream to see, enjoy or be part of minority or exotic culture e.g. Caribbean carnivals which are found not only in Notting Hill, Chinese New Year celebrations, Irish dancing competitions where are seen different races and non-Irish participants, various non-christian religous celebrations and more.

  5. Stephen Sullivan on Thu, 17th Mar 2011 7:50 am

    6. As a Scot, the only future viable option for us is to vote SNP. Then we can look towards an independent Scotland.

    You just have to listen to Salmond’s speech last week to realise they are the only party that truly have Scotland’s interests at heart.

    The people of Scotland can no longer trust any party loyal to Westminster to take our issues seriously. I honestly believe that an Independent Scotland will bring about a more diverse political spectrum and EVERY political belief will be catered for.

    Yes there is political apathy in Scotland. Even, at times, a sense of hopelessness; especially with young voters, but let that not blind you to the fact that we want – and are ready for a true change. One that will see us with fiscal autonomy and finally a feeling of control over the future of our country. We can then build on our relationship with our European neighbours and perhaps the relationship with our English neighbours will become stronger as a result.

    http://www.newsnetscotland.com/scottish-politics/1806-alex-salmonds-keynote-speech-only-the-snp-speaks-for-all-of-scotland.html

  6. Adam on Thu, 17th Mar 2011 10:53 am

    7. Japan’s debt is a non-issue since it’s in their own sovereign currency.

    I would love to see an RSA Animates by Jamie Galbraith or Bill Mitchell explaining how a modern monetary system works.

  7. Neil McNaughton on Thu, 17th Mar 2011 10:57 am

    8. I agree with Stephen pretty much completely. As I said in my earlier comment I think Scotland has a great opportunity to build a fairer, more equal society on the old Scandinavian model, than does England, which has beceom such an individualism-obsessed society. Of course it needs toal or near total authonomy to do that. Sadly, the recent experience in Ireland may have set back the nationalist cause in Scotland many years.

  8. Indy on Thu, 17th Mar 2011 12:28 pm

    9. You are just plain wrong with many of your assertions. None of the things you cite are NEW spending pledges. They already exist. Students do not pay fees now for example. And I don’t know what new benefits for pensioners you are talking about? Also nobody has promised no redundancies in the public sector. They have promised no COMPULSORY redundancies. That’s a very different thing!

  9. Duncan McLaren on Thu, 17th Mar 2011 12:33 pm

    10. The value of this piece is in stimulating self reflection, but it falls sadly short of a constructive analysis. Scotland enjoys not only a highly diverse civil society sector, but one with much greater engagement with a more open Government.

    To attempt to collapse the idea of diversity into the conventional political spectrum entirely misses the point that conversations about alternatives such as the green new deal are much closer to the political mainstream in Scotland than elsewhere in the UK, which is rapidly sliding back into a space in which civil society organisations are reduced into clients of central government.

    For Taylor to confuse Cameron’s rhetoric with the genuinely valuable thinking of the RSA does none of us any good.

  10. Scottish FRSA on Thu, 17th Mar 2011 12:42 pm

    11. You are welcome to criticise but its better not to reinforce the view that our point of comparison should be the reality facing government at Westminster rather than elsewhere.Can I helpfully suggest that before you take to your public platform in Scotland maybe you can pick up a copy of the Herald and read Iain MacWhirter who is critical of the ” conventional wisdom that Scotland is in some way out of step with other industrialised countries in deciding not to introduce a graduate contribution. Not so. If anything it’s the other way around. Scotland has joined the range of northern European countries – Sweden, Denmark, Finland – in abandoning charges for higher education” He adds that “Hamburg has become the latest regional government to abolish tuition fees in “Europe’s leading industrial nation, leaving only three out of the 16 German federal governments sticking with fees.”
    http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/iain-macwhirter/democratic-intellect-must-be-accountable-to-taxpayers-1.1090837?83084

    PS I am sure its a slip of the keyboard but not a single party is saying there will be ‘no redundancies for the public sector.’ The SNP have indicated no compulsory redundancies – which has been challenged by others including the Convention of Scottish local Authorities

  11. Indy Neogy on Thu, 17th Mar 2011 2:57 pm

    12. My reaction to this piece is that Matthew shouldn’t get too smug about the narrow options for the Scottish electorate without examining the narrow centre-right consensus that dominates England and obscures meaningful policy debate.

    To that end, some questions for Matthew (courtesy of TYR blog, I won’t link, because I’d like MT to answer without looking at the answers on that blog.)

    1) What do you think public sector pensions cost as a percentage of GDP, right now?
    2) Is this rising or falling?
    3) What do you think they will cost in 2020?
    4) What do you think they will cost in 2050, in the Treasury’s worst-case scenario?
    5) In the light of this, do you support cuts to public sector pensions?

    and adding my own (6) How many other people in the “modernising centre” know and understand these figures before developing their answer to (5).

  12. Eoghan on Thu, 17th Mar 2011 3:37 pm

    13. Matthew

    While I agree with you about the grouping oif the 3 main parties I don’t think the refrence with events in Japan is necessary (or appropriate) as this conversation has been going on in counties across the globe prior to the natural and sunsequent man made disaster that’s unfolding. At any husting I’ve attended in the last 2 yrs the only candidates with a realistc and alternative view in Scotland have been the Greens. Patrick Harvie exhibited their stance well in last weeks QT, no soundbites but coherent non party political responses. Robin Harper was the same.

    Neil M. Swedish fiends that have returned there after a decade in the UK now find Sweden culturally oppressive and socially, intrusively conservative (even the colours of their curtains have come on for criticism as they don’t match the rest of the village’s). As to equality being easier when the top ‘recognises’ the botton – wealthy Scots look remarkably similar to poverty stricken Scots, white, overweight and sclerotic. This hasn’t made sharing any easier.

  13. Philip on Fri, 18th Mar 2011 8:14 am

    14. It seems Matthew has irritated a few readers. But whether the promise is no redundancies compulsory or otherwise, whether tuition fees are already free, and whether over 60s get free bus passes, its all rather reinforcing his point. The Scottish politicians are shying away from a real debate over the spending cuts that will naturally follow the election in May, and fighting to inhabit a very narrow, free spending area of the “not that centre” left. This plays into Salmonds hand, as no policy choice leaves you with a beauty contest. And although Salmond is no beauty, he does at least have the benefit of visibility.

  14. matthew taylor on Fri, 18th Mar 2011 1:17 pm

    15. Thanks for this folks. Actually, I was pleasantly relieved not to get more stick for having English views about Scotland. And I put my hands up for conflating no compulsory redundancies with no redundancies. On the other hand, someone was telling me that there has been an amusing apprenticeship pledge race between the SNP and Labour with each party adding another thousand to the last pledge of their opponents (but maybe I’m being wound up).

    Let me put my money where my mouth is; if whoever becomes the next Scottish Government isn’t having to do nasty things that weren’t in their manifesto within nine months of being elected I will donate £250 to a Scottish charity. Now, does anyone out there defending the current state of Scottish politics want to match my bet with a corresponding pledge to donate just £100 to the RSA if promises are broken?

  15. keaton on Sat, 19th Mar 2011 1:34 am

    16. Define “nasty things”.

  16. Ian Smith on Sat, 19th Mar 2011 10:10 am

    17. With the greatest respect, Mr.Taylor, your comments are akin to those of many in England who fail to fully grasp the complexities of Scottish politics.

    You highlight what you regard as the lack of plurality within the Scottish political parties, and yet, the reality is it exists to much a much greater degree than it does, say, in England.

    In Scotland, one of the key discussions that has been ongoing for around three hundred years, is the way in which Scotland is governed from out with its own borders i.e from England. On this issue especially, you can find viewpoints across the entire range of opinions in Scotland.

    The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) Favour Scottish Independence

    The Tories favour the Union

    Labour favours the Union

    Liberal Democrats – unclear. They used to be in favour of a federal structure for the UK, but this seems to have changed since they morphed into ‘Tories-lite’ last year.

    Scottish national Party (SNP), the current Government – favours Scotland resuming full control of her own affairs, and at the very least, full fiscal autonomy.

    Scottish democratic alliance favours Independence/fiscal autonomy.

    Green Party – favour greater autonomy for Scotland – full control over finances.

    As for other issues, there was until a few weeks ago, great divisions between the two main parties, Labour and the SNP. The SNP have frozen council tax for four years, and on every occasion, Labour voted against the freeze. Now, with an election looming, just one week ago Labour changed its policy to match the SNP. Labour have done this on several key policy areas over the last three weeks – which kind of lacks credibility.

    On Nuclear power, and Nuclear missiles, again there is a wide variety of opinions. The SNP are wholly against any NEW Nuclear power stations, and have driven the development of renewables with great vigour – they have just announced the development of the world’s largest tidal power scheme. ;http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-12767211

    The SNP are, and always have been wholly against Nuclear missiles on Scottish soil.

    The Tories are in favour of nuclear weapons and nuclear power, as are Labour (surprisingly).

    The Libdems change their viewpoint on this subject depending upon poll ratings (not surprisingly).

    On the economy, the SNP favour the abolition of the Barnett formula and the block grant, arguing instead it would be far healthier for Scotland to spend money it raises in Scotland, thereby eliminating claims that Scotland is subsidised by England. Labour, the Tories and Libdems oppose this, and are keen to maintain funding from London – they view Scottish fiscal autonomy as akin to Scottish independence, and as such oppose it.

    I could go on, and on Mathew, but I hope you get the message, their is GREAT division in viewpoints in Scottish politics, just maybe not in the subject areas YOU might expect. Your blog post lacked substance, and was based upon what I would call poorly informed ‘tittle tattle’. But it is just a blog, so you are excused.

    Oh, one final point, you mentioned in a reply above an ‘apprenticeship pledge race’, between Labour and the SNP. It just isn’t so. In the Scottish budget a few weeks ago, the SNP proposed funding for a substantial increase in the number of apprenticeships in Scotland. All the key parties in the Scottish Parliament approved this – the only exception being Labour (again surprisingly). They have since taken so much flak over this, they are now attempting to re-write political history, by claiming they will provide more apprenticeships than the SNP. The simple inescapable fact however, is that when they were given the chance in Parliament, they voted against such a measure – to a man!

  17. Japan, England and the Social Aspiration Gap | on Sun, 20th Mar 2011 12:05 pm

    18. [...] Imagine a country riven by a culture of deference and conservatism, wholly dependent on nuclear power and desperately short of a drive for social aspiration for change. I speak of course of England, a country sadly lacking in Matthew Taylor’s tasteless blog post in which he decided to compare Scotland and Japan, a coun… [...]

  18. ESP on Mon, 21st Mar 2011 9:53 pm

    19. Matthew,
    At least acknowledge that Scotland was the birthplace of the Enlightenment and is trying, however fitfully, to regain that position. If the RSA truly wishes to embrace 21st C Enlightenment, England is not the place to look.
    To create worthwhile change requires us to reject the accepted wisdom. I shall take up your challenge but make it worthwhile:
    if an SNP majority government disgracefully imposes university tuition fees in the next 10 years, I shall apologise and donate £1000 to any charity you suggest. The money would hurt me less than than the feeling of betrayal from fellow Scots.
    The return bet? If you fail to understand the socialist contribution to education, you agree to get yourself a proper education in Scotland. :)

  19. moujick on Thu, 24th Mar 2011 10:20 pm

    20. My reply as per link:-

    http://theweepennyland.blogspot.com/2011/03/my-reply-to-matthew-taylor-rsa.html

    I left in my comments re redundancies since although I see your ackowledgement re compusory etc I think my substantive point re scale of job losses still stands.

  20. matthew taylor on Thu, 21st Apr 2011 8:16 am

    21. I know it’s smug of me, but it will be interesting to see whether these Scottish experts arouse as much fury NOTB as I did for saying something rather similar…

    http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ff745cd6-6b6f-11e0-a53e-00144feab49a.html

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