CURRENCY AUGUST 15 - 17 DEFENCE 2014 EUROPE HAVE ECONOMY YOUR OIL SAY POVERTY AND MEDIA BIG TAXATION What next for Scotland? facebook.com/ScottishParliament @FoP2014 Free WiFi Publisher: Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh EH99 1SP The Great Tapestry of Scotland returns to Edinburgh After touring the country, the world’s longest tapestry is back at the Scottish Parliament. Join us and take a journey through the history of the nation. Free Exhibition 1 July - 13 September 2014 The Scottish Parliament www.scottish.parliament.uk @ScotParl GToS-Logo-Title lock up.indd 1 19/06/2014 11:07 PRESIDING OFFICER’S WELCOME @ FoP2014 The Festival of Politics has always placed people at the centre of politics, here in the unique and vibrant Scottish Parliament building. And in our 10th year, the Festival of Politics programme is no exception. Our theme echoes the conversations happening in homes and places of work across the country, getting to the heart of the question: What next for Scotland? We offer you a programme of informed opinion and balanced debate, with experts in their fields coming together in a thought-provoking and inspiring programme, tackling the key issues of the Referendum. From oil to currency, Europe to the economy and immigration to poverty, we’re inviting you once again to come to Holyrood and be part of this exciting and important conversation. And our Festival Café Bar will again open its doors and offer a range of food and drinks, music and comedy, as well as the space to continue the debates of the day. The Festival of Politics is the place to be to discuss what next for Scotland. We’d be delighted to welcome you to the Scottish Parliament to have your say and discuss the big issues. Rt Hon Tricia Marwick MSP Presiding Officer Festival of Politics 2014 | 3 FRIDAY 15 AUGUST Balancing the What is the future of public services in Scotland and can Books the public sector meet the ever increasing demands that are placed upon it? Following the Referendum, what is 16:30-18:00 the future of our vital services: policing, health, social £5.00/£3.50 services and education? Join the debate with Chair Professor Charlie Jeffrey from the University of Edinburgh. Defence What are the key defence issues facing Scotland and the UK including the future of trident at Faslane? Join Chair 16:30 -18:00 Peter Felstead, Editor of IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly and £5.00/£3.50 panellists as they discuss defence capability, the right mix of defence forces and international co-operation including NATO membership. Food Security Can Scotland feed itself in the future? Join Chair Dr Alan Rowe, Food Industry Specialist, Rowett Institute, 16:30 -18:00 University of Aberdeen, and our panel of experts in £5.00/£3.50 this discussion forum to explore some of the key issues. Can we resolve the health and wealth paradox and what is the role of the food industry? What is the proportion of crop-based food that we could expect to sustainably produce in Scotland? What is the role of sustainable plant protein in a healthy diet? @ FoP2014 4 | For latest programme info, please visit www.festivalofpolitics.org.uk SATURDAY 16 AUGUST Black Gold The North Sea oil industry has been central to the debate on independence. Join our panel of experts who will look 11:00-12:30 at the economic and wider societal implications of the £5.00/£3.50 “black gold” upon which almost every country in the world is critically dependent on. From exploration and extraction to tax revenues, this event will cover all the key issues. Chaired by ITV Border’s Political Editor, Peter MacMahon. Poverty and Life Scots have a lower life expectancy than the rest of the Expectancy UK. Use of food banks has risen dramatically and poor diet is inextricably linked to low income and poverty. 11:00 -12:30 Chaired by Polly Toynbee, columnist for The Guardian, £5.00/£3.50 our panel of experts will consider the link between poverty and life expectancy and consider possible solutions. Polls and Polling Are we influenced by polls or do polls reflect the actual attitudes of Scottish people? More people are placing 11:30-13:00 political bets now but are polls getting any more £5.00/£3.50 accurate in determining the results of votes? In a yes/ no situation, do polls take on additional importance? Join Chair Mandy Rhodes, Editor of Holyrood Magazine, and the panel in this discussion. Festival of Politics 2014 | 5 SATURDAY 16 AUGUST Scotland’s Place in the World The Scottish With just a month to go until Scots answer the biggest Independence constitutional question facing their country for 300 years, how is the Referendum campaign being viewed around Referendum: the world? Join our panel of international journalists for a To See Ourselves as global perspective on whether the independence debate Others See Us really deserves to be described as an example to the world. Chaired by BBC Scotland’s Isabel Fraser and 13:30 -15:00 sponsored by the Law Society of Scotland. FREE Political Strategy Do you have questions about Scottish public opinion on the Referendum? How is that opinion translated into 13:30-15:00 political strategy? Come and join our pollster roundtable £5.00/£3.50 and learn how political professionals turn data into strategy. Join former First Minister, author and academic the Rt Hon Henry McLeish and panellists as they discuss current political strategy. Scottish Social Following on from last year’s very successful event, the Attitudes/Identity Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has funded significant research into a number of the key issues 16:00-17:30 relating to Scotland and the UK’s constitutional future. £5.00/£3.50 Come and join us to discuss the most recent research and findings taken forward by the ESRC. This session will be chaired by the Presiding Officer. 6 | Updates available @FoP2014 What Currency? Future currency options have been one of the most hotly contested issues in the Referendum debate.This 19:00-20:30 panel will cut to the nub of the matter and identify £5.00/£3.50 which options are available, the likelihood of their being achieved and the pros and cons of each. Join in the discussion with Chair Bill Jamieson, freelance journalist and commentator. One Humanity One Humanity tells the story of how the world came (Film Screening) to focus on a single cause – the end of the apartheid regime in South Africa – through two star-studded global 19:00-21:45 television broadcasts produced by Tony Hollingsworth. £5.00/£3.50 In 1988, the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute at Wembley Stadium called for Mandela’s release and was broadcast to 600 million people in 100 countries. In April 1990, 54 days after his release, the International Tribute for a Free South Africa was produced at Mandela’s request. View this amazing film and join Chair Mark Muller Stuart QC, director Tony Hollingsworth and Professor Alan Miller as they discuss the issues. This event is sponsored by The Hunter Foundation who will ensure that the proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the following charities: Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital and the Mabuza Scholarship Foundation. @ FoP2014 Festival of Politics 2014 | 7 SUNDAY @ FoP2014 17 AUGUST Broadcasting What is the future of broadcasting in Scotland and the UK? Do more media outlets make for a healthier media sector 10:30-12:00 and what are the implications of the Referendum for public £5.00/£3.50 service broadcasting in Scotland? Switch on and join our panellists as they discuss the picture of things to come. An Economic The Referendum has focussed minds on the short-term Vision for 2020 choices for Scotland, but what could the future hold? We ask an expert panel drawn from the fields of economics, 11:00 -12:30 the media, business and the arts to imagine two scenarios: £5.00/£3.50 what will the country be like in six years’ time if the vote is ‘Yes’ and what will it look like if the vote is ‘No’? This event will be chaired by BBC broadcaster James Naughtie and is sponsored by The David Hume Institute. EU Membership, European Union (EU) membership for an independent the UK and Scotland is much talked about and raises many questions. Would Scottish accession to the EU be a Scotland legal or political process or both? What would be the 11:00 -12:30 terms of Scottish membership of the EU? And what would £5.00/£3.50 the timescale be? Join our panel, chaired by the BBC’s Allan Little, to find out the answers. Immigration What are the key issues for immigration policy in the UK and Scotland? What are the impacts of 13:00 -14:30 immigration on the economy and society? Join Chair £5.00/£3.50 Gary Christie from the Scottish Refugee Council and panellists to discuss the issues. 8 | Buy tickets at www.festivalofpolitics.org.uk Cochrane and Two of Scotland’s leading political journalists have Kerevan in used their insight to bring something unique to the independence debate: their book Scottish Independence: Discussion ‘Yes or No’, is a side-by-side presentation of the case 13:30-15:00 as seen from each camp. Alan Cochrane, Scottish Editor £5.00/£3.50 of The Telegraph, presents the ‘No’ side while George Kerevan, economist and former Associate Editor of The Scotsman, gives the ‘Yes’ point of view. Join them as they debate and discuss the key issues, chaired by the Presiding Officer.