COONCIL hoose mentality is ane o the maist damagin things aboot growin up in poverty. Kennin fir shair that the warld ye bide in is f*cked, an kennin wioot a doubt that ye cannae change onythin aboot it, fae the colour o the waas on yer tenement tae the dug shite bags hingin fae the puckle trees ootside like Christmas decorations.

Bairns see their mithers an faithers ging tae wark, come hame wabbit, burst, foonert. Week in week oot, the same sair darg. Hame they come wi the same peengin aboot the greive, the boss, the hours. Despite aa this wark, they bide skint, same broon pentit waas, same keich in the trees ootside. Then the faither gets his jotters, or the plant shuts doon. Still naethin happens. The cooncil doesnae boot them oot, the government doesnae get ony new wark, but insteid gars him ging oot tae pointless gaitherins doon the job centre.

Fash yersel aa ye like, it’ll be the same aye-lourin mirk hingin owre yer future.

The Union is, fir Scotland, this situation writ large, the ultimate expression o cooncil hoose mentality. It is the constant reiteration that gin yer born here ye inherently cannae hae a muckle impact on yer environment. Win, lose or draw naethin changes.

Vote SNP, win muckle majorities, get intae a rammy owre pensions, vote fir EU memmership, get thegither wi thoosans o pals an tak pairt in mairches. Naethin changes. Whiles ye feel like politically engaged Scots are in a steekit soond-proof glass box, deavin theirsels an their freens wi their scraichs an howls, but wi naebody ootside able tae hear them.

We hae it lairnt us fae a young age; we cannae effect this warld, gin we stamp wir feet, gin we mairch en masse, gin we kick up stoor an gie oor electit officials pure hell, naethin changes. Sae fowk disconnect.

I’m spikkin noo fir ma ain community, but I ken its mair widespreid nor a wee neuk o cooncil hooses in amongst the bonnie tattie fields o Angus. We kent fine fae a young age that we wernae awa tae be onythin special. We hae nae role models. Naebody we kent wis a politician, nor a body wha pit owre muckle faith in the system.

The news wis in English an aboot England, as were the lave o the buiks in the scuil. Aabdy wi ony importance spake a different leid tae us. Even the fairmers were an unco different breed tae us, wi their muckle hooses an fantoosh cars.

Whaurever pooer lay, it lay nae place near us. An this wis, an remains, a dulesome waste o resources. Maist fowk I grew up wi were clever, capable, bricht an kind. They care aboot whaur they come fae an gien the weeest amoont o pooer tae change things fir the better ye can be shair they wad dae aahin in their great ability tae dae it. But they arnae gien even a skelf o pooer tae change their situation.

Them wha wad change the warld hae tae ging aff tae ither airts, whaur there exists an infrastructure able tae yaise their skills. They ging tae Norway, tae London, tae the auld dominions. They want, richtly, tae hae a sense o influence on the warld aboot them, an tae be gien a bitty siller tae gie them a decent life, the chance tae hae bairns an raise them in a bitty comfort.

Them wha dinnae leave hae a tremendous sense o their ain lack o influence. It’s a system that breeds passive passengers. Fowk speirt anent the 2014 referendum, “whaur is this missin million wha didnae vote?!” We ken that fine. They were gettin alang wi their lives, oot o touch wi a system that’s oot o touch wi them.

Pittin an enn tae the Union wad gie us an opportunity tae gie the pooer tae alter their situation oot tae aabdy, tae devolve pooer nae just tae Embra but richt doon tae the individual.

The concentric circles o pooer an influence hae their centre owre London, wi the royals, the Hoose o Lairds, the Hoose o Commons an the heid o a guid skelp o the media. Oot fae there ye hae oor devolvit pairliament, the auld Scottish executive, an the cooncils. Theoretically ye also hae a community cooncil nearer tae hame.

We need tae shift this hail jingbang north. There’s nae need tae be gien awa sae muckle administrative an political authority owre us an oor communities tae a fremmit bourach o lairds. Ken I’m preachin tae the convertit, but it’s an important point.

By draggin pooer back owre the Tweed an pittin in place structures at a local an regional level tae cope wi it, we’ll gie opportunities tae oor best an brichtest lads an lassies, tae gie them a reason tae bide here an improve the place. It’ll also gie us a magnet tae attract fowk fae owreseas tae ither airts ayont Embra.

It maun also be a warnin. Gin we brak up the Union, mak oorsels independent then just centralise aa the pooer in Holyrood then the same symptoms will play oot.

Muckle regional parliaments, in Aiberdeen, Dundee, Inverness, in Glasgae, in the Norlin an mibbie Western Isles, makkin the maist important decisions for their region whilst playin the gemme wi the Holyrood pairliament in the Swiss style, wad be ideal. It’d gie ilka pairt o Scotland the opportunity tae big a system o governance wha’s duty wis tae repone tae local issues wi real ability tae mak a difference.

The soor-mulk stooshies o pairty politics that embitter debate the dey wad tak a back seat tae the ettle o daein guid wark. Demographic, economic an migration needs wad bear the gree in decisions.

Maist importantly, the first generation o bairns raised in sic a system wad ken nae just ane but dizens o fowk that hae access tae pooer. They wad grow up kennin that gin they really thocht there wis a better wey o daein things, then it wad be possible tae get oot an dae it. Cooncil hoose mentality wad be on the cowp, an I cannae imagine a greater benefit tae Scotland nor that.