Robin Downie

What did you find most encouraging?
The success of the SNP has been very encouraging. Scotland has suffered so long from a sense of inferiority – the 'cringe' and the 'chip' – that it was really encouraging to find some more positive thinking from the electorate. And it was also good to see that a minority government could work quite successfully. A sign of confidence was the refusal of Kenny MacAskill to capitulate to US pressure over the Megrahi affair.
     The collapse of the banks was a setback, but the lesson for Scotland is surely that we should rely for our prosperity not on financial houses of cards but rather on the industries of the future, such as power from wind and water. Leaving aside Scotland's glorious and well-documented achievements of the past we should stress Scotland's contemporary contributions to science and the arts. Take just one art. We have world-class orchestras with conductors to match: Runnicles at the BBC SSO, Deneuve at the RSNO, Ticciati at the SCO. And we host not only the Edinburgh Festival, but the Celtic Connections in Glasgow. In sport, we have Murray in tennis and Higgins and others in snooker. Football, well, our position was summed-up by a sports writer in the Herald who said that the football song of his team had been 'Anthem for Doomed Youth'.

What did you find most discouraging?
A worrying side to the decade has been Scotland's succumbing to the cancer of managerialism. 'Managerialism' is based on several assumptions, including the following: that people have no significant motivation other than self-interest; that self-interest can be inflamed by competition and rewarded with bonuses and status; that there must be measurable results; that managers know better than the professionals what should be done, and therefore should be more highly paid than the professionals. It didn't work in the banks, and it is now crippling the NHS, social work, schools, universities and the police. We are awash with league tables; education has been reduced to a set of targets to be met. Like cancer, managerialism spreads and is difficult to get rid of.

Which public figure did you most admire?
Jose Antonio Abreu is a social crusader from Venuzuela who founded what has come to be known as 'El Sistema'. His philosophy is that in the poorest slums of the world, characterised by drugs, crime and despair, life can be changed if children can be brought together to make music. There are now 270,000 young Venezuelans playing in 220 youth orchestras from the Andes to the Caribbean. These young people would otherwise have been stuck in the barrios. The finest of these youth orchestras – the Simon Bolivar Orchestra conducted by Gustavo Dudamel (himself from the slums) – received rave notices at the Proms and the Edinburgh Festival.
     Richard Holloway of the Scottish Arts Council is attempting to replicate 'El Sistema' in a pilot scheme at Raploch near Stirling. More modestly, the work of Gareth Malone in England, as shown on TV in 'The Choir', deserves a mention. He established choirs in deprived schools and communities with encouraging results. There is much hand-wringing about unhealthy and badly-behaved youth, but these ventures are successful and novel ways of approaching the problems.

Which public figure did you least admire?
It is impossible not to deplore the effects of Blair over the last decade, in substance and style, especially in foreign affairs. But (perhaps) this will be exposed by the Chilcot Inquiry. Almost as deplorable was his promotion of managerialism. He is said to have asked after confession whether his priest had saved many souls. The priest hoped so but didn't know. To which Tony replied: Don't you have targets?