To my fellow Scots
We have just had an election where Scotland - and the rest of Britain - voted overwhelmingly for change. And change is desperately needed: to create high quality jobs, improve our NHS, transform our schools, preserve our environment, and combat poverty and inequality. But right now there is no overwhelming majority for how Scotland should be governed.
I am therefore inviting all of you - whatever your views on independence - to attend a Neighbourhood Assembly. To talk together as one community about what kind of a Scotland we want to build over the next decade. To find what values and hopes we have in common. To understand why we disagree when we do. To uncover the sort of change we could all unite behind. We need to hear what every community in Scotland has to say.
Despite the turmoil of the last decade I still hope that Scotland's future will be better inside the United Kingdom in some form, and that we can find a way forward that the vast majority of people in Scotland can support.
It is time we listened to each other. The division cannot go on. We need to settle this.
Let's Talk
Gordon Brown
The Challenge
Scotland is a divided country in a divided Kingdom. The referendums of the 2010’s have created a legacy of bitterness and a politics that is stuck repeating the same tired arguments and slogans
We are still known the world over for our sense of fairness, our ingenuity, and our pride in Scotland’s role in the world. But at home we are all having to deal with rising economic insecurity in what feels too often like a rigged system, and NHS and public services struggling under huge pressures, and a breakdown of trust in our current political system as a route to solving these problems.
Scotland therefore desperately wants both change and settlement – a vision of a better society that can rise to the challenges of the 2020s, and one that an overwhelming majority of people in Scotland can feel a part of no matter what their national identity.
Let’s Talk Scotland
We know that Scotland can do better than what is on offer from either Westminster or Holyrood right now. That Scotland’s unique culture and history cannot be papered over by raising flags a little higher, and that the economic ties and shared values that exist between Scotland and the rest of the UK cannot be ignored.
We believe that the common values and shared experiences of people living in communities across our country are stronger and more important than our political disagreements. That by coming together and talking openly and honestly about how they feel about Scotland today and their hopes and fears for the future, people all over our country can together come up with the ideas and a vision for the future that is fundamentally different to today.
We want to bring neighbours, friends and families together across Scotland to share their hopes and fears for our country, to discover where they agree, and understand how and why they might disagree. From these Neighbourhood Assemblies we might just find that our shared values can lead to common purpose and a way forwards as One Scotland.
One Scotland, Many Voices
We want to hear from everyone – Yes and No, Leave and Remain. Whatever our future relationship with Britain, we know that Scotland will do better the more United it is.
If you sign up above, we will let you know when there is a Neighbourhood Assembly nearby. Neighbourhood assemblies will last for 2-3 hours and we will refund reasonable travel and childcare costs. We will do our best to accommodate everyone who signs up, but occasionally numbers may be limited.
Upcoming Neighbourhood Assemblies and other meet ups will also appear on our website below.