SOCIETY faces “huge uncertainties” as old assumptions about politics are overtaken by new divisions, Holyrood’s Presiding Officer has said.
Ken Macintosh, whose role is similar to that of the Speaker of the House of Commons, said it was not for politicians alone to solve the issues facing Scotland and the UK.
He made the comments as he launched this year’s Festival of Politics, which will see Holyrood become the first UK legislature to host the BBC’s flagship political debate programme, Question Time.
It will be broadcast from the debating chamber as part of a series of events in October, taking in music, comedy and film.
Mr Macintosh said it was an “unbelievably busy time” in politics, before adding: “Busy doesn’t quite capture it.”
He said: “It’s a tricky time in politics. Some of the old certainties or the assumptions we made about politics, about – just for example – the left-right spectrum, have been, not perhaps shattered, but certainly overlapped by other divides in our society.
“And it is quite a divisive time in politics. There are huge uncertainties at the moment, and I think that it’s not just for politicians alone to solve these issues.
“That’s why the Festival of Politics is such a good event. It allows the people of Scotland to come in, to share their ideas, to give their views on the huge issues of the day.”
Lord Heseltine and best-selling author Mary Beard are among the big names taking part in this year's festival, which will run from October 10-13.
Dame Margaret Hodge MP, the former chair of the Public Accounts Committee who recently branded Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn an “anti-Semitic racist”, is also due to appear.
Other events will feature Booker Prize winner and poet Ben Okri, social commentator and Orwell Prize winner Darren "Loki" McGarvey and historian Sir Tom Devine.
Mr Macintosh said the festival – which is now in its 14th year – allowed “the people of Scotland to have their say, to put their questions – to get their issues on the agenda”.
He said: “The Festival of Politics is an opportunity for parliament to really open its doors to the people of Scotland so they too can debate the big issues, while sitting in the heart of Scotland’s democracy.”
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