The Common Weal: We Need You to Build a Better Scotland

“A coherent vision of a wealthier, fairer, more equal Scotland” - the Herald

The independence referendum is a once in a lifetime opportunity to re-imagine and reshape Scotland. In the few months since the Jimmy Reid Foundation launched the Common Weal project, we’ve moved our vision of a high wage economy with universal benefits to the centre of the debate about Scotland’s future.

Common Weal, our vision for a Scottish version of the type of society that has been achieved in the Nordic countries, has been backed by leading figures from politics, civil society and business, and will be debated at the SNP conference in October.

Now, with the referendum just over a year away, we need your help to make the vision a reality. We’ll be publishing a series of reports mapping Scotland’s path to a fair society with a strong, high wage economy.

We need your support:

For more information, read our full briefing on the Common Weal (pdf).

If you would prefer to contribute by post, you can send a cheque to The Jimmy Reid Foundation, PO Box 8781, Biggar ML12 6AG.

There's lots of other ways you can contribute to the Common Weal project. Find out how at www.scottishcommonweal.org.

Some of Our Supporters

"Common Weal has fundamentally changed the debate about Scotland's constitution. Common Weal has placed ideas of popular ownership, equality and radical democracy at the heart of the discussion. This is vital if we are to build a better Scotland through this debate and in the new era that awaits us." - Peter McColl, Rector of Edinburgh University

"Common Weal is breaking through the stale political consensus that says we should all be resigned to TINA (There Is No Alternative)." - Sarah Collins, Chair of STUC youth committee

"Common Weal is starting to give citizens the tools to imagine and create a better Scotland.  It's exciting to see so much fresh thinking." - Isobel Lindsay, Convenor, Scottish CND

“The Common Weal can provide a framework for turning vague promises of a fairer future into concrete plans.” - Sarah Glynn, Scottish Unemployed Workers Network

"The Common Weal is by far the most inspiring vision for Scotland to emerge from the independence debate." - Murray Ritchie, former Political Editor of the Sunday Herald

“The Common Weal project is a shiver down the spine hope that we could actually do something together which would change the game - and the beginnings of a thought map about how the new game would play.  Maybe in Seamus Heaney's words this is one time when hope and history rhyme.” - Pete Ritchie, Nourish Scotland

"I believe the Common Weal is an outstanding project that offers a refreshing insight into a wide range of opportunities that could shape the future of our nation. It offers possibilities, the greatest of which is the prospect of breaking the paradigm and  putting forward an achievable vision of Scotland that is inclusive, just and fair." - John Duffy, Strathclyde Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union

"The Common Weal Project is about creating a fairer, more just Scotland, for all our citizens, irrespective of the constitutional arrangements which will be in place after the referendum; it deserves widespread support." - Larry Flanagan, General Secretary of the EIS

"We have to develop a vision for a better Scotland in response to the disastrous social and economic policies of the Cameron Government. A better Scotland for the people of Scotland is a socially just and economically sustainable Scotland." - Des Loughney, Secretary of Edinburgh Trades Council