Why do older Scots women have so little interest in politics? It's a question I've tried hard to answer in recent years but with little success.
Today I attended a tea-party for a friend's 65th birthday and, as we were all retired or semi-retired women, it was a good place for me to continue the quest for some answers.
Living in a rural area of Scotland, most of these ladies were 'incomers' for one reason or another, the main one being suburbia had become too large and lost its sense of community. We agreed that a small rural town gave us the balance of friendship and personal space but also provided for many of our interests.
One interest is certainly not politics. "I don't have time for politics", "Politics doesn't interest me, never has", "Why would I want to be interested in politics. Politicians don't do anything for me", "I vote, does that count?" plus other comments, all negative.
When asked about their voting preferences there was silence. Knowing this area was for many years conservative, I wasn't surprised to realise that most had voted for the same party all their lives (so I assumed the tories). Two bravely admitted to voting SNP at the last election - I could sense the thoughts of some others, "How could they?".
Women of 50+ make important decisions which affect their lives and indirectly the lives of many others. To emphasis my meaning I posed the question, "If we decided to never use organic foods again, do you think that would affect us?" Obviously all had a strong social conscience because the majority mention the damage that would cause to the Scottish farming industry with fewer mentioning health reasons. Trying to explain the question was political (with a small p) and so were their answers was difficult, insofar as I was told the question was hypothetical anyway.
This generation of Scotswomen have worked throughout their lives and some have, with great success, broken into male dominated career areas. The three retired NHS workers were the most open about their thoughts and seemed to be quite well clued up on Scottish politics. (Guess who voted SNP).
About 50% of the party I would have classed as very comfortable financially but the other 50% voiced concerns about the reduction in interest rates on their savings and all were concerned about the state of the UK in general, both financially and socially. Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling's ears must have been on fire.
It's sad, but I don't think the 55+ generation of Scotswomen will ever be open to even considering the merits of independence for Scotland. Why do they have this resistance to change? Perhaps too many have been brainwashed all their lives by the our dependency on Westminster and the emotive words used by unionists such as divorce and separation, or perhaps they think their opinions don't matter is today's modern world.
No politician will convince them to consider independence for Scotland, that is going to have to be the responsibility of the younger generations. So you young ones, start discussing politics with your mothers, grannies and aunties!
I never bothered to asking why so few of them used the top of the range laptops or desktops they have in their homes. The answer was too obvious, "I don't have time."
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