What Do the Scottish Tories Mean for Young People?

As part of JUNK Edinburgh's series on what Scottish Party is best suited to young people, I interviewed Jeremy Balfour, a Scottish regional MSP for Lothian.

Jeremy Balfour, Scottish regional MSP for Lothian

With over 70% of people aged 16-34 in favour of an independent Scotland, how does the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party maintain relevance to Scottish youth?

Well, when people respond to polls, what they say may not be reflected in the actual vote. On the actual day of the vote the numbers will probably be lower than what the polls say. In general, policies for young people in Scotland are good, but are more stable in the Union. Whether that’s around university or the climate crisis. Young people may be more inclined to challenge the status quo, but it’s important to remember that the status quo can be flexible. Look at the benefits Scotland has got from being in the Union throughout COVID- 19. Look at all the benefits we’ve got, such as money from Westminster to support our economy in lockdown and a rapid vaccine rollout, which may not have happened in an Independent nation. You can be proud to be Scottish and proud to be British, even though many people think that they’re mutually exclusive, but you can be both, I’m proud to be both.

Substance abuse is an extremely prevalent social issue in Scotland that affects all its citizens in some way. I know that the Scottish Conservatives are heavily against drug decriminalisation, despite the fact that this idea is growing in popularity. Why is this?

Well, it’s important to realise that substance abuse also covers alcohol abuse and tobacco abuse. I had a meeting with Alcohol Focus (a Scottish pressure group that aims to reduce and prevent alcohol harm) who are concerned about alcohol abuse rates rising in Scotland, especially as alcohol can cause great damage. Taking illegal drugs can damage people greatly, and if you take away prison or a fine for drug use, then that is effectively legalising drugs (editor’s note: under some models of drug decriminalisation, fines can be administered for low- level drug possesion). What we should do to decrease substance abuse is give people the rehab that they require and increase the amount of rehabilitation centres in Scotland. We are being too soft for not telling people the danger that drugs can pose, so we should create a campaign to prevent people from taking drugs in the first place.

What do the Scottish Tories propose to do about Scotland’s drug death rates rising and on a consistent increase?

We must stop people from taking drugs, from getting into drug culture. To do this we should give the police the appropriate powers to combat drug use, increase education about the dangers of drug use at all ages and have programmes available at all ages that can help people out of drug abuse.

Many of our readers are part of the LGBTQ+ community, does your party support the speculation that Scotland may be the first country in the UK to recognise a legal third gender?

The Conservative Party does not have a definite view yet, we are waiting to see what comes forward from an investigation we are currently conducting to determine what people of all ages in Scotland think about having a legal third gender. We do not have a position yet, however.

Your manifesto says that: ‘we need to restore Scotland’s schools to the world-class reputation they held before the SNP came to power’, how does your Party propose doing this?

So, there are two or three basic things we would do. We would put more funding into our schools, we would give more power to the headteacher of each school, as they will know what is best for their pupils and give a wider range of subject choice to our S4 and above, for Highers and Advanced Highers. It’s important to make sure that children learn the basics in primary school, and then cement them in secondary school. Curriculum for Excellence has its merits, but it’s a watered- down version of what should be in place.

So, where would this funding come from?

We would choose to spend our budget on education, for future generations coming forwards. We would find money and invest it in education.

The Union is at the core of your Party’s ideology, with ‘Unionist’ even being in the title. Why do you consider Independence such a bad choice for Scotland?

There are two main reasons why we think that Independence is a bad choice for Scotland. We have emotional ties that hold us together, family and friends in the Union. We share a history, and identity, values and aspirations. This isn’t a tangible connection, rather an emotional attachment. There is also the more practical economic argument. 64% of all Scotland’s trade goes to England, so why would you make them more difficult to trade with. We would have a hard border, making trade more difficult, and people would leave Scotland. As clichéd as it may be, we are better together.

Is a soft border impossible?

Well, no, but it would be a political choice that would be made at that time. There would still be different regulations, different taxes, different rates of tax, and bad effects on business. In regards to trade, a soft border would still be difficult, so would it be worth people going through these difficulties?

Was devolution a good thing in the opinion of the Scottish Tories, has it benefitted Scotland more than disadvantaged it?

Yes. It brought power and decision making closer for things like health, it meant decisions could be made more rapidly. The Parliaments work pretty together well most of the time, so it ultimately has benefitted the Scottish people. My own view is to concentrate on bread- and- butter issues: health, education, the environment, away from the constitution and towards ways to help people.

In the past few days, senior Scottish Tories have been reportedly pressing Boris Johnson to officially state that he supports the North Sea oil industry. Especially in the wake of COP26, and the looming climate crisis, we should be decreasing our use of oil. So why are the Scottish Tories pressing this?

Great question. Currently, we’re in a transition period, we can’t just stop having oil tomorrow. We still have 10- 15 years left before we should stop using oil completely, and in this time, we will still need to get oil from somewhere. This would probably end up being the Middle East or Russia, and we shouldn’t be reliant on countries we don’t always see eye- to- eye on with something so key to our economy as oil. We should reduce oil and bring in other sustainable energy, if we reduced oil immediately, we would lose knowledge and workers. We can’t switch to oil tomorrow and it’s better to have oil within Scotland.

Surely, we should be incentivising people to work in sustainable energy which will be beneficial to our economy and our environment?

We should incentivise people to shift to other energy suppliers, but we do need oil for the next ten-to-fifteen-year period before we switch to renewable energy completely; we can’t just switch of off the tap. Having oil and encouraging people to switch to renewable energy isn’t mutually exclusive, as people may think.

What is one of your Party’s policies that you wish had more publicity?

I concentrate on social security, particularly young disabled people and young people claiming carers benefits, and I believe that these deserve more publicity.

What is one of your party’s policies that either has benefitted young people greatly, or will benefit young people greatly?

Our education policies. Keeping schools open wherever possible as much as possible, pushing the government to keep schools open, especially as school closures affect people from deprived backgrounds more.

By Petra Pender