…Especially in Scotland! What’s happening? Where is it happening? Why are we so excited? It might look like we’ve been quiet recently, but it’s about to be a big year for Basic Income. Kicking things off is the launch of a new project, the Basic Income Conversation, co-founded by CBINS director Cleo. CBINS will be at the centre of the action too, when a major Basic Income feasibility study reports to the Scottish Government in June.
Timothea Armour, CBINS blog editor
CBINS will be hosting events in all of the local authority areas that have taken part in the feasibility study – inviting audiences to take part in the conversation, helping to build momentum behind Basic Income in these key locations. The four local authorities involved are Fife Council, City of Edinburgh Council, Glasgow City Council and North Ayrshire Council. We’ll be looking to make sure people in those localities are as up to date and excited as we about the potential offered by a Basic Income pilot.
This comes at a key turning point for Basic Income, with a feasibility study that has been running for the past two years about to report back to the Scottish Government on whether a pilot scheme in four Scottish local authorities is possible or desirable. At such a crucial time for this policy, the Basic Income Conversation will be doing important work – in alignment with what we do at CBINS – making sure that people know what Basic Income is and making sure they play a part in its development as a policy.
Of course, Basic Income campaign groups elsewhere will be paying close attention to what’s happening in Scotland and the massive opportunity it offers us to move closer to achieving a Basic Income for everyone.
The Basic Income Conversation project will bring together leading activists, research and political support for Basic Income, creating a path to the biggest transformation of the UK since the creation of the NHS. The project is supported by think tank Compass and will run for the next year, working UK-wide to bring public voice to the design and piloting of Basic Income Policy.
Basic Income Conversation will support grassroots organisations like CBINS to educate about Basic Income. The project will also work with key groups including disabled people, unpaid carers and women to make sure their needs are addressed and the challenges posed by financial insecurity are better understood.
As Neal Lawson Director of Compass says, “There are no silver policy bullets – Basic Income isn’t the answer to everything but it’s the best way into a conversation about what sort of good life and good society we want.”
Of course, with all this happening, now is a great time to get involved in the Basic Income movement, wherever you are. Find out more about the Basic Income Conversation here and volunteering with CBINS here.