Basic Income in Scotland: A Grassroots View

The document examines the role of basic income as a focal point for grassroots organising in Scotland, focusing on the Citizens’ Basic Income Network Scotland (CBINS). It argues that basic income attracts a diverse supporter base because it offers a common solution to varied problems, such as poverty, health inequality, and precarious employment. The author details CBINS's strategies, including the use of social media, face-to-face events in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and partnerships with other NGOs and academic institutions. While the document notes a more hospitable political climate in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK—highlighted by a £250,000 government fund for feasibility studies—it emphasizes the need to bridge the gap between grassroots demand and formal policy to ensure the long-term viability of such schemes.

• Basic income serves as a unique tool for grassroots organising because it provides a single solution to a wide array of diverse problems, attracting a broad demographic of supporters including students, full-time carers, the long-term unemployed, and small business owners.
• In Scotland, basic income is specifically viewed as a potential tool to address health inequality and poverty.
• Grassroots organising is essential for basic income advocates in the UK due to a lack of support from business leaders and major public organisations, such as the Department for Work and Pensions and HMRC.
• Face-to-face interactions are highly effective for long-term volunteer recruitment; over 50 per cent of CBINS volunteers joined after attending events in Glasgow or Edinburgh, which typically attract 25 to 40 people.
• The UK basic income landscape is fragmented across different organisations with varying strategies, such as the academic focus of the Citizen’s Basic Income Trust and the activist approach of Basic Income UK.
• The Scottish government has demonstrated a higher level of openness to basic income than the rest of the UK, providing 250,000 pounds to four local authorities to study the feasibility of a pilot.
• Political support for basic income in Scotland is varied: the Scottish Green Party supports it outright, while 30 SNP MPs signed an early day motion for an "emergency universal basic income" in March 2020 in response to the coronavirus crisis.
• There is a risk that basic income pilots may be cancelled due to political shifts if they are not backed by strong public demand, as seen in previous experiments in Finland and Ontario.

APA

Perry, J. (2020). Basic Income in Scotland: A Grassroots View. Green European Journal. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/basic-income-in-scotland-a-grassroots-view/

Chicago

Perry, Jack. Basic Income in Scotland: A Grassroots View. Green European Journal, 2020. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/basic-income-in-scotland-a-grassroots-view/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Perry |first1=Jack |title=Basic Income in Scotland: A Grassroots View |publisher=Green European Journal |date=17 April 2020 |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/basic-income-in-scotland-a-grassroots-view/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{perry2020basic, author = {Perry, Jack}, title = {{Basic Income in Scotland: A Grassroots View}}, institution = {Green European Journal}, year = {2020}, month = apr, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/basic-income-in-scotland-a-grassroots-view/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }