Author: Shona Haslam

The vast majority of Scots Christians are deeply concerned about abuse, negative comments and attitudes experienced by Christian politicians in the media according to a survey by think tank Logos Scotland and more than 70% feel the Scottish Government does not support them.  With faith and politics increasingly in the headlines we thought it timely to ask Christians and non Christians about how they felt in Scotland today, living and expressing their faith, and viewing politics and the news.

We need to earn the right to speak with a massive swathe of new MPs.  In my 30 years of lobbying politicians one thing I have learnt is that they will listen to you more if you have proven to be a solid friend.  Not someone who is only in touch when you want to complain about something, but someone who will write and say – well done, thank you.

This report is not about politics, it is about policies.  It does not favour one political stance over another or agree with one party or another, but instead asks those in power to think about where do we begin from?  What is the lens through which you are seeing this issue?  What should the founding principles of any asylum policy be?

Last week was a big week in the Scottish Parliament.  Humza Yousaf delivered his first Programme for Government which sets out the proposed Bills and policies for the coming year for the SNP/Green coalition Government.  We asked some of friends to tell us whet
her they think it will deliver for Scotland.

Twenty years ago this week that Alastair Campbell famously said “We don’t do God”.  On 5th May 2003 Tony Blair was giving an interview to Vanity Fair when his head of communications interrupted the interview with what was probably a throw away quip but it has gone down in history as a mantra to live by for many politicians.
Twenty years on, do politicians still not do God or have times changed?

Jesus offers a master class in compassionate leadership, underlined by the fact that the bible continues to be one of the highest-grossing books in the world (Guinness World Records, 2021). It is not surprising then that my view is that the church’s continued survival rests partly on its [albeit often painstakingly slow] ability to innovate.

So, echoing down through the ages, from the death and resurrection of Christ to the five stages model proposed by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in the 1960s, right up 9/11 attacks in the early 2000s and upon the recent death of our most beloved Queen Elizabeth II, the enduring message is thus:

“Grief is the price we pay for love”