Scotland’s well-known compassion isn’t necessarily as deeply embedded as the more socially conscious of us might like to think. I was shocked and saddened during a recent Glasgow taxi journey to hear the driver refer to the city’s homeless population as "scum of the earth". This harsh utterance made me wonder if we have any hope of changing the narrative on disadvantage, let alone tackling some of our most pressing challenges.

Most Scots are fully aware of an increase in homelessness and poverty - it’s often painfully visible. Unfortunately, our observations are backed up by the stats. Eighty-nine per cent of Scottish respondents to a Centre for Homelessness Impact & Ipsos survey in January said that they perceived homelessness to be a "very" or........

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