Heritage

This is Ross Greer. He's 21 and has just been elected to the Scottish Parliament. He's the youngest MSP ever. He has given up his degree course to pursue his political ambitions but I imagine he'll go back to university sooner or later. After all, he won't want to end up as a degree-less wonder. Like - oh, I don't know - Jim Murphy?

I've noticed a few snide comments about Ross's youth since he got elected and all from SNP colleagues. Maybe Ross needs his nappy changed? Will he be able to take the oath or will someone have to read it out to him? 

Can you imagine how outraged these people would have been if remarks like that had been made about Mhairi Black, who was even younger than Ross when she took her seat in Westminster last year? 

There are a couple of serious points to this blog spot, rather than just a moan from me about youth-ism, as opposed to ageism. 

Do we or do we not want young people to get involved in politics? If you have a look at Westminster and Holyrood, the seats are occupied by mainly grey folk (and mainly men - 65%, I believe) in their 40s and 50s.  I can't think of any other way to describe Mhairi Black and Ross Greer except brilliant role models for young Scots. And I can only hope that other political parties will encourage young people like them to get involved in politics. It would certainly shake up the legislature if people their age were there to represent the view of the next generation in Scotland whose taxes will have to provide for us all and who could be in charge for 30 or 40 years to come. 

Besides that, these young people are not so far 'tainted' by the touch of old-fashioned party politics. What else can I call what the Tories, LibDems and Labour do except in those terms? In the past, I've been amazed at how fast people with ambition learned to follow the party line: people with great ideas suddenly realised that wasn't how they would get a nomination for their party - and man o man, they wanted to be nominated. Picking the party that reflects your own view of the country's future is to be encouraged and jumping ship to get into a party that reflects your view likewise.

I come from solid working class stock, people who voted Labour (and before that, ILP or Communist). I went from Labour to Green in about a year, and I'd like to see more people do the same, maybe several times over, in a variety of directions, with each jump to a different party being a judgement on whether the party they voted for looked like delivering the kind of government they wanted. 

I have a few relatives of Mhairi and Ross's generation that I can see in a political role in Edinburgh and London. I'll leave it to them to work out who they are. But you too should look around you and ask who do you want to represent you in the future?