Nathanael Williams

Campaigners gather to plan an overhaul of the welfare and work system in Scotland

ACADEMICS, economists, charities and campaigners will state that a basic income is the best way for Scotland to deal with its issues of unemployment, poverty and work/life balance.

Professor Guy Standing, co-founder of the Basic Income (BI) Earth Network and internationally renowned author will set out his stall for why BI would improve standards of living in Scotland.

At a conference on [Saturday 26th November] a new Scottish Organisation, Citizen’s Basic Income Network Scotland (CBINS) will launch itself promoting the idea of Basic Income (BI) in Scotland.

A spokesperson from the CBINS said: “We are particularly pleased to have working with us, Professor Guy Standing, co-founder of the Basic Income Earth Network and internationally debated author of ground breaking books on work, security and the economy. Having spoken in Scotland several times in recent years, he is well placed to help us tailor BI to the Scottish context.”

The conference called ‘Time for a Basic Income in Scotland’ will be at the Pearce Institute in Govan, Glasgow, and is co-sponsored by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), GalGael, the Centre for Human Ecology and Govan Folk University. It will begin at 10am and run until 3.15pm.

Through workshops and panel discussions the organisers hope to explore practical ways in which BI could increase economic and social inclusion, improve individual work/life balance and societal wellbeing.

Ben Simmons, a trustee for CBINS told CommonSpace that: “We are excited to begin the groundwork of establishing a network of Citizen's Basic Income advocates across Scotland, and we hope that through our discussions and workshops on the day we can start to harness Scotland's passion for a more equal society.”

The event also follows the release of the highly acclaimed film ‘I, Daniel Blake’ which looked at the human costs of austerity under the current string of welfare cuts by the UK Government.

Picture courtesy of Citizen’s Basic Income Network Scotland