Pupils at Merchiston Castle School enjoyed a talk and lively discussion session yesterday with Gordon MacDonald, the SNP constituency MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands. Mr MacDonald visited the School to talk to pupils about Independence and his party’s plans for the upcoming referendum. Although aimed primarily at boys studying A level Government and Politics, the event was open to the whole school and many younger boys and boys who do not study Politics came along to the event. The MSP spoke for ten minutes giving a general background on the case for independence and then took questions from the audience. Topics raised surrounding the independence debate included Scotland’s natural resources, fiscal policy, university fees and the referendum itself.
The Merchiston boys offered insightful comments and had some challenging questions for Mr MacDonald. There will be another lively debate at the School next week, as on Wednesday 1 February Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, is coming to talk to the School about Politics in general and her party in particular. For boys studying A level Politics events like this act as an invaluable insight into how Politics works at the coalface, but for all boys it gives them a unique opportunity to question, at close quarters, some of the people involved in making the decisions that affect the whole of Scotland at every level.
The Edinburgh-based School hopes that these events will not only give insight into the workings of Politics in Scotland, but will also stir up enthusiasm and curiosity for finding out more, not just in school academic work but also in the wider world.