Jim McFarlane: An independent Scotland needs a change of system as well as a change of flag

By Matthew Rees 

On Friday, the Jute Journal was given the opportunity to speak with the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidate for Dundee West, Jim McFarlane. 

We put the questions of the students at the University of Dundee to Jim so you can get to know your candidates better 

Jim’s Doorstep Pitch: 

Jim says he is the candidate that will stand up for the ordinary working people of Dundee and the only one that can provide a genuine alternative to the current system of governing for voters.

The University of Dundee and the higher education crisis:

Jim is very proud to have stood alongside staff and students alike on the picket lines when jobs and livelihoods have come under threat at one of the biggest employers in the city. 

“Huge levels of mismanagement is being seen with enormous amounts of money going to those at the top in salaries and in payouts” Jim said. “All this while staff are not paid well at all for the work they do”. 

The universities need proper investment and restructuring in Jim’s mind. By investing in the workforce on the front line of higher education we will subsequently see this expressed in an increase to the level of student satisfaction. The best way to do this is to pay people what they are worth. 

We asked: Drug deaths are still a massive problem across Scotland and in Dundee itself. Latest figures show that the war on drugs is being lost with a 30% rise in drugs deaths from December 2025 to Feb 2026 on the previous quarter. How would you approach driving the numbers down and ultimately save lives?  

Jim said: 

“Drug deaths are rooted in poverty and trauma”. Jim wants to see an increase or harm reductions and a decriminalisationof drugs across Scotland. Furthering this, Jim would also like to see more harm reduction spaces introduced. This goes hand in hand with wider societal factors like the stigmatization around drugs for Jim, who would like to see this addressed. By removing “unnecessary barriers to safety”, for addicts, we could see a fall in those committing robberies and turning to prostitution. 

Jim would also like to see “proper funding for rehabilitation programmes” and a reduce in programmes that seek to make a profit at the expense of others. Social factors like the deindustrialisation of Dundee and the subsequent drop-inemployment rates in the city are a contributing factor for Jim. 

We asked: Affordability, availability and conditions of properties are a nonstop problem for the people of Scotland. Young people cannot get on the property ladder; those who do have a property are struggling to afford to keep it. How do we stop this? Where do the root causes of this lie?  

Jim said: The roots of this lie in Thatcher’s government selling off council houses and preventing new ones from being built. The attitude towards housing an investment rather than a social need has also played a role in today’s housing crisis.Currently in Scotland, Jim said, “there are more empty properties in than there are homeless people”. Again,reiterating that housing is a social need. 

Jim would want to see a mass building of social housing in Scotland. Moreover, he would also favour a programme off reacquiring empty properties that could be refurbished for families to live in. All of this in Jim’s eyes would create jobs and apprenticeships too. As an interim measure, Jim would favour introducing rent controls until enough social housing can be built. 

We asked: If there is a pro-independence majority in the Scottish parliament come the 8^th of May does this mandate an independence referendum. Why does it/or does it not?  

Jim said: Yes. Jim is in favour of Independence but wants to see a “change of the system as well as the flag”. If the votes come in, then it should mandate a referendum. “It is hypocrisy to say no to leaving a voluntary union”. 

We asked: What can Dundee offer that other cities in Scotland cannot?  

Jim said: “I myself am Dundee born and bred”. Jim was quick to very strongly highlight the ‘Waterfront vs the rest of Dundee’ divisions in investment and conditions around the city saying that some have felt isolated from the investment. 

Regarding division, he points out that Dundee was built on immigration from Ireland, Italy, Poland and others. He warmly referred to Dundee as the city of Pizza, Peh and Pakora and remarks we should never forget the heritage of the city. 

We Asked: Young people are leaving education and walking into a world of few jobs, fewer houses while everything costs more. How do we break this cycle and let young people prosper when they go into the nightmare that is being called the ‘real world’?  

Jim said: 

“I have two younger daughters myself so I can sympathise”. “This generation will be the first that is not better off than the last” Jim continued. 

Jim says that all people should be paid a living wage and that age should not be a factor in anyone receiving that. Jim also points out that casual work and zero-hour contracts are a problem that stands in the way of people gaining sustainable employment. “There should be a return to coming together as a collective and paying people what they are worth”. It is also hard for Jim to accept that we live in a wealthy society given the conditions that some live in. 

We should also be moving to bring public services back into public control according to Jim. No one should be profiting of the public sector. A democratic ownership of shared services is of importance to Jim. 

Furthermore, Jim would favour a 4 day working week which, in his mind, would free up more employment opportunities for those who cannot find it and help lift people into a better standard of living. 

Scotland goes to the polls in only a few days on Thursday the 7^th of May. Whatever the result, the issues we raised in this interview, housing, cost of living, the crisis in higher education and the drug crisis, won’t be disappearing on Friday morning.

Young people are often the demographic least likely to vote and most likely to be ignored by those who win. Whoever you vote for, break the cycle and show up at the ballot box.