The Summer Children

From the age of seven, I grew up with my brother (12) in a single parent household.Our mum worked hard to provide for us both and we always had regular meals, although there were often times we had to wear wider family hand me downs, as we could not afford new clothes for those that needed replacing.My brother and I both grew up across two council estates. We lived in a high rise during the Thatcher years. My memory is a bit vague but I remember how tough things were for us and our neighbouring families on the second and latter council estate we all grew up on.We had to move to the second estate to get a bigger council house to avoid us sharing a bedroom forever. We had moved to the top floor of a skyscraper after our dad died – you felt like you could touch the Red Arrows on that one occasion they visited Aberdeen during those two years.Regarding our final move, the age of my brother allowed him to keep in touch with his old buddies and secondary school mates, however, I had to start from scratch.I made friends easily, as you do at that age, and my upbringing gave me a spidey sense regarding who to avoid. We didn’t laugh at the posh families moving in, because we understood how they had ended up on the estate. However, we did laugh when they tried to mix posh speech with Doric. They also lacked that streetwise sixth sense we local kids seemed to be born with.Their attempts at the local accent was nae a nice mix.

I now realise those families were undergoing hardships and were trying their best to cater for their own survival. Looking back, the families that stick in mind the most were also single parent ones reliant on the council for lodgings.

I am not stating that we were the poorest of the poor. My mother still managed to get us  a ZX Spectrum and some games. There was also a Christmas bicycle or two, a Total Control Racing (TCR) track, the one that changes lanes, and decent birthday presents – even if my brother did give me advance notice of what presents we were getting. There was always food in the cupboards and on the shelves. What I remember vividly is baby wood lice. I thought every family shared kitchen worktops with wee beasties until we moved out of that council house in my late teens and after my brother had left home. We were brought up to speak normally, not the queens English but with no obvious local dialect. This has proven as a positive and negative in my life but it is something I have tried to instil into my children.

Where is this going? I hear you ask…

Well. In my child hood there was poverty as there is now. However, in the council estate families of the 80’s those that didn’t concede to crime knew they had to work to get out of their situation. Nowadays there is still poverty, of course there is, but there are also a lot less families that struggle like the one I grew up in. There are still plenty of single parent families out there, but nowadays many of those children have grown up well, not having to wear their peers clothes, not sharing the kitchen with bugs and not having to share bath water or worry about breaking the rented TV (yes Radio Rentals).

Now, as a father of children aged 15-25, I have tried my best to provide them with all they require and want over the years, to the point where I don’t think they have wanted anything not provided. I see this as a sign of the times. Under an SNP government in Scotland, we have been fortunate to have slightly more disposable income (e.g. no bedroom tax nor prescription charges @ £8+ per item). This has meant my own, and countless other children have been shielded from the effects and the stigma of extreme poverty. Again, I understand that this is not reflective of all in poverty, but only my experiences, thankfully I was able to get out of that cycle – another story in time perhaps.

So, to get the bottom of things, in Game of Thrones speak, my brother and I grew up in much more difficult times than now. Today there is a Scot Gov that works for Scotland. Policies are focussed on reducing poverty to the point where, if available 40 years ago, I would not have been sharing my cornflakes with wood lice nor suffering an annual invasion of forky tails. Nowadays, things are not perfect but it is so much better than it was. So I think I can say my brother, and I were brought up in a Game of Thrones winter (for those not familiar with the term – difficult times).

Many of todays children, especially those who have popped their head above the parapets politically do not know the winter or the bad times. They are the summer children. Most have not had to endure financial and social hardships. Most have not had to deal with the bullying or stigma attached to wearing out of date clothes or saying, “nah, can’t tonight, got no cash” – which is obviously not what you say, as that would be the truth.

Many of todays children have experienced only the good of Scotland:

· Better healthcare than the rest of the UK

· Better education than the rest of the UK

· Mitigation of draconian Westminster policies

This is all thanks to an SNP government, majority or minority at Holyrood. Where we stand now is a complicated time. We have a Scottish election in May and all is to play for.

And the point of this? I hear you ask…

The SNP has achieved much with their hands tied behind their backs, however, think of what we could do with all financial levers available as a nation? It strikes me that there are a lot of Summer children out there prepared to sacrifice independence for another 5 years of GRA, careerists, HCB and carrots. This is the SNP1/2 mantra. The grassroots of 40-50 years of SNP support, who know the Winter years are speaking out about what that status quo will mean – the possible dilution of Holyrood to that of an English county council or worse. They are scorned by the Summer children and those embedded into parliamentary positions, those same children and the older Craster styled slipper wearers have never had it so good. This election on May 6th will be like no other. The Alba Party have appeared led by devout independence supporter Alex Salmond. There is a chance to get an independence super majority of Indy MSP’s in Holyrood for the first time ever. This would be globally acknowledged yet the Summer children are not keen. They have not lived through a Tory winter. They have a chance to avoid this, a choice my brother and I never had. They could scupper it all by toeing the party line SNP1/2, or they could be part of history. If they mess up independence in May citing an SNP1/2 vote when we have credible List vote option available with Alba, then I hope they can survive the Winter that will surely come under a Unionist coalition. It will be a short Winter, but a harsh one, with Scotland ravaged by cruel unionism. It can be avoided. We all need to embrace SNP1 and Alba 2, then we could be in for the best Summer ever…