Deprivation and inequality 'divide nation'

ONE OF Scotland's leading historians has described the country as a deeply divided nation where profound deprivation leaves entire areas mired in poverty while the middle classes get richer.

Professor Tom Devine says devolution has so far failed to tackle the inequalities of the country's poorest estates, leaving thousands facing premature death. His damning judgment, in a new edition of the bestselling book The Scottish Nation, states that "the inter-generational culture of worklessness" where children "grow up in households devoid of role models" remains grossly apparent in the 21st century.

Devine, holder of the Sir William Fraser Chair of Scottish History at Edinburgh University, concludes that the nation's politicians must focus on transforming the situation. In the book's final chapter, 'After Devolution', the author and historian - himself brought up in a Motherwell tenement - points out that in the heart of "Third Scotland", male life expectancy is now less than 60, lower than during the Second World War and also in modern-day Lebanon, Bosnia or the Gaza Strip.

In the new edition of the book, Devine writes: "This depressing picture helps to explain the incomprehension of many middle-class Scots when they read that their country is a drugs blackspot and has one of the murder capitals of the world.

"Their reactions reflect the deep social divisions within urban Scotland, where the new affluence of the many has not substantially eased the relative living standards of the poorer minority."

Last night, the historian's comments were echoed by a leading expert in urban regeneration, who said rising inequality and entrenched poverty remain Scotland's biggest challenges in the 21st century.

Recent NHS Scotland figures show that a child born in Calton, central Glasgow, can only expect to live to 54 and is three times as likely to suffer heart disease, four times more likely to be hospitalised and 10 times as likely to grow up in a workless household than a child in the city's prosperous western suburbs.

Devine told Scotland on Sunday: "I have tried to illustrate that some areas of Scotland are now a bit like the housing in US city ghettos. If you look at the facade it doesn't look too bad, but it is what lies behind them that does the damage.

"The people are totally excluded from the knowledge economy and can see no way out of it."

However, Devine believes devolution has at least begun to address the deprivation that plagues the poorest areas of Scottish cities. But he doubts whether it can ever be reversed, and also questions the role of the benefits system.

He said: "Devolution has helped because it has produced a considerable political will to do something. But as far as I am aware, no society on the planet has been able to manage this problem that some members of our society don't get the same advantages as the majority.

"The welfare state can provide a safety net, but when people get embedded in that safety net there is always the possibility for the dependency culture to exist."

Professor Ivan Turok, an expert in urban studies at Glasgow University, said: "My immediate reaction is that there is a lot of sense in what Tom is saying.

"He is talking about rising inequality and entrenched poverty. At the same time the rest of society is becoming more prosperous. The poor are being left further behind. They also see the rest of society getting richer, so they become increasingly resentful and deeply alienated."

Bill Aitken, a Conservative MSP for Glasgow, who was raised in a Maryhill tenement in the city, said: "Seventy years of undiluted municipal socialism has resulted in the clear divide Professor Devine suggests. Neither the Executive nor the council shows any real desire to get to grips with the problem.

"Throwing money at it is not the answer. There needs to be a look at the benefits system to see how we can get people into meaningful employment which, in itself, will raise aspirations and, above all, do something to inspire a generation of youngsters."

Devine has also used the second edition of The Scottish Nation, which is being released to mark the tercentenary of the 1707 union with England, to comment on some of the more notable events in the first nine years of devolution.

He describes Donald Dewar's time as First Minister, less than 18 months, as "tragically short", with his administration beset by the escalating costs of the Parliament building and the furore over Section 28, lifting the ban on promoting homosexuality in schools.

His successor, Henry McLeish, is given credit by Devine for introducing free personal care for the elderly, but receives criticism for his poor leadership of the country.

Devine writes: "The McLeish administration was mainly distinguished by its mediocrity."

The current First Minister, Jack McConnell, is credited with introducing proportional representation in local government elections, "as it could end the hegemony of the Labour party at local level".

Facing an early death, just like mum

"MY MUM died at 61. It was emphysema. I'll probably not even live that long," said Elizabeth Hughes, clutching a cigarette in the pouring rain as she walked home in Glasgow's Calton district.

A premature death is virtually guaranteed for the 39-year-old mother of two, whose flat on Mill Road has been scheduled for demolition for more than a decade.

When Hughes' landlord, Thenew Housing Association, asked her whether she wanted either double glazing or central heating, she asked for the former.

"So they gave me central heating," Hughes said. "The heat goes straight out the windows."

The plaster on the walls of her two-bedroom flat is so flimsy that the radiators are falling off. Damp pervades the rooms.

Hughes is on steroids to combat the asthma which has followed.

She worries that it is only a matter of time before her children, Sinead, eight, and Conor, 12, fall victim to the same condition.

Despite her apparently desperate situation, Hughes retains a sense of resilience - and humour. But there is also anger.

She said: "When Maggie Thatcher was in government, a lot of the bigger council houses were sold off. The ones that weren't are still mostly taken by pensioners, who have three spare bedrooms.

"It's mad. We're overcrowded, with some families having four weans in a two-bedroom flat. Where's the sense in that?"

Statistics show there is nowhere worse to live in Scotland, but only a few hundred yards away luxury flats at Graham Square betray a tale of two cities.

And opposite the Bellgrove Hotel, described by locals as a hostel for "junkies and alkies", stands the east end Healthy Living Centre, where professional sportsmen and women are known to train.

In Calton, two in five adults claim incapacity benefit and the number of under-25s claiming it is up from 52,000 to 83,000 in seven years.

The local health centre uses two security guards. One, Michael Niewiedzial, from Poznan in Poland, has been in Scotland for a year. He said: "I wasn't surprised when I came here, because Glasgow is a big city. But it should be more equal.

"The government has to involve people in some kind of work. Just giving them money and saying 'see you next week' doesn't work."