Published on Liberal Democrat Voice by  Marion Hutcheson | Wed 1st October 2014 – 3:58 pm

The Scottish referendum was an important debate for the people in Scotland to have as it affected the future of Scotland and the UK as a whole. It got the whole country involved – which isn’t always the case with politics. However I don’t think I was alone in feeling like I had heard enough of the seemingly endless campaigning.

People always talk about what women voters want, and the referendum was no different, but it sometimes seems like while the politicians talk about what we are interested in they haven’t really bothered to ask us.

Politicians don’t do enough to find out what we really want, they might be doing things that I’m not aware of but it seems as if they don’t know what ordinary life is like for people; taking the kids to school, getting yourself to work, doing the shopping. These are the everyday things that dominate most peoples’ lives.

One small example was getting my son to school, this can be expensive for parents and time consuming. Education is very important, we all agree on that, and politicians are always talking about the cost of living, so why not have free bus passes for all children so that they can get to school? A policy like that would be worth so much more to families than warm words about the cost of living.

It’s a similar story with the NHS, the staff are fantastic and do a brilliant job with the limited resources they have but the experience I had from taking a member of my family to hospital recently was that there simply wasn’t enough staff present. Patients buzzing for more than 10 minutes at times asking for help, and so on.

These are the things that we want politicians to focus on, the things that matter to us every single day: school, health and paying the bills. While they say they get I’m not sure they actually do and this is because they are too detached from everyday life.  The debates that take place at the Lib Dem party conference will talk about lots of these things, but I’m yet to be convinced that they will actually get it.

That’s why I’m going to be at this year’s party conference in Glasgow. I’m not a party member, just somebody who wants to know what the parties will do to help people like me. I won’t just be listening; I’ll be taking part in a fringe event discussing what mums like me really want. I hope you’ll be able to join me.

‘The Independent View‘ is a slot on Lib Dem Voice which allows those from beyond the party to contribute to debates we believe are of interest to LDV’s readers. Please email voice@libdemvoice.org if you are interested in contributing.

* Marion Hutcheson will be on the panel with Jenny Willott, Ros Gordon and Steve Richards (chair) at the Asda Mumdex and Women Liberal Democrats fringe on Tuesday 7th October , Crowne Plaza, Barra, Glasgow, 8am – 9am