How Holyrood failed Scottish women

[NonnyMouse1337]

I thought this was a really good article.

stephendaisley.substack.com/p/how-holyrood-failed-scottish-women

Why is a parliament that is supposedly so progressive so poor at serving the women of Scotland?

The fault line is not left versus right but style versus substance. MSPs of all parties are great ones for statements and declarations, lapel pins and hashtags, but substantive policy turns them circumspect. Policy typically involves time, effort and money; it requires evidence to be gathered, schemes devised and legislation scrutinised.

But most difficult of all — at least for Holyrood — is that policy means taking decisions and that often means taking sides. Whichever way you strike out, you are bound to come into conflict with some interest or group or other priority. It’s easier to stay put and make noises rather than moves.

Exactly.

We have a parliament that shows more interest in defining women out of existence by signing up to fringe theories about gender — and funding contentious organisations that promote them — than it does in making life measurably better for women. Holyrood cannot hope to change Scotland for the better — for women or for anyone else — until it changes its priorities.