On Monday 8th February, Prospect held its third annual poverty lecture in conjunction with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The principal guest speaker was Ruth Davidson, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party and MSP for Glasgow, who discussed potential social, economic and educational solutions to poverty. Her speech was followed by a question and answer session during which Bronwen Maddox, Prospect’s Editor, and Julia Unwin, Chief Executive of the JRF, quizzed her on welfare sanctions, student tuition fees and the European Union.
In her speech, Davidson pointed out that poverty isn’t always the individual’s fault, but was keen to remind the audience that she still strongly believes in self-determination—“Who doesn't think that each of us has it within us to clear our own path and make our own way in life?” she asked. She then quipped: “I bet, in his quiet moments, even Jeremy Corbyn believes it true." She summed up her approach: “I believe that we can say that the state doesn't have all the answers, but there is such a thing as society.”
She then took questions from Maddox, whose first question addressed Scotland’s free university tuition. Davidson commented that “it has been incredibly popular, particularly for middle-class families in their 30s and 40s who are about to wave their beloved child off to university and it’s not going to cost them any money.” But, she said, Scotland “has the lowest number of pupils from deprived areas going to university.” When you provide things like university tuition for free, she argued, you often see unintended side-effects. When it comes to university in Scotland: “There’s a real mixed picture,” she concluded.
Continuing on the topic of education, Davidson said: “We need to have a real conversation about the value of a vocational education versus an academic one.” “We’re a long way from reaching the balance I want to see in Scotland.” Asked by Maddox whether she thinks education should continue throughout a person's life, she replied: “There has to be an acceptance that leaving formalised education and going into a job is not where learning things ends.”
Davidson also commented that, “I’m not sure this country has ever really managed to fill in the gap that [the closure of] manufacturing has left, particularly for young males in our society.”
Maddox then asked her about poverty in old age. Is it a problem that social care is the responsibility of councils, to which Davidson replied that this is “the next big frontier that we need to address.” “We’re trying to crunch both [The council and the NHS] together and help them work much more closely together.”
“We often in the UK look with a bit of superiority over at our cousins in the United States—‘every time they talk about reforming social security they kick the can down the road, isn’t that terrible?’ Well, I think we’re in a little bit of danger about doing that here too.” Unwin commented that, “A huge success of recent years is that old age no longer has such a strong link to poverty.” We must ensure that remains the case, she argued.
Davidson continued: “If you don't have your own home, does that lead to question marks about investing in other areas of your life?” She also told the audience that she is still saving for her own home deposit, at the age of 37.
Maddox asked Davidson about the European Union, and about how its policies affect poverty in our country. “Would leaving the EU affect poverty in the UK and the solutions to it? I'm not sure it would” was the reply.
Questions were then opened to the floor. During these, Davidson emphasised the importance of keeping our eyes open for new ways to tackle poverty: “We must keep coming at the issue of poverty from different points of view, and look at what works around the world,” she argued.
Asked whether welfare sanctions can do more harm than good, she said: “There has been research done… people say they are 70 per cent more likely to actively seek work because they know that there are sanctions in place if they don’t.” She continued: “I don’t quite see how you could have a model that encouraged entry into the workforce without some form of sanctions too.”
