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10 hours ago
2
Allison, 63, Edinburgh
Occupation Former policy manager. Currently “economically inactive/domestic goddess”
Voting record Labour in UK elections; for the Scottish parliament, first vote Green, second vote SNP. Describes herself as a leftie
Amuse bouche In February, Allison won £500 for a 247-word story in a flash-fiction competition. More than £2 a word: “quite a good return”
Michael, 34, Edinburgh
Occupation Computer science researcher within academia
Voting record Michael, from Malta, came to the UK in 2017. In Malta he usually voted for the Nationalist party. In Scotland he votes SNP
Amuse bouche Michael once went straight from the beach to a formal ceremony in his wife’s town in Italy. He sat next to the mayor wearing wet swimming trunks
For starters
Allison I was intrigued to learn Michael was from Malta. And he could speak to the friendly waiter in Italian, so mille grazie for that.
Michael To begin with, the conversation was a bit robotic, but we got on to our kids, and realised we’d both been involved in dementia research. I work in dementia modelling, and Allison had worked for Alzheimer’s Research UK. Then everything warmed up.
Allison I had some very tender pork with dates and pistachios, washed down with lashings of good house red. Michael had the steak, and nobly allowed me a spoonful of his tiramisu. It was all delicious.
The big beef
Allison I’ve heard somebody dying in pain in a hospice. There’s a noise you make when you’re in labour because you’re in so much pain, and that’s the sound the woman was making. Her relatives were weeping in the corridor – it seemed inhumane. That’s why assisted dying should be an option.
Michael Within the Catholic church, if someone is administered drugs with the intention of reducing pain, and as a side-effect that causes someone to die quicker, that’s OK. It’s not about prolonging life at all costs; it’s about respecting the dignity of human life.
Allison Assisted dying is working well in other countries. It feels like another mark of civilised society that we would, with sufficient safeguards, allow this to be put in place.
Michael My view is informed mostly by my faith, but there are issues about the safeguards. Allison said it has to be the person concened who pushes the button. But when someone is in extreme pain or has dementia, they can’t really be objective about it. In countries where it has happened, the law has been relaxed, and it goes on and on. I’m pretty sure that at least some of the MPs who voted against did so because of the slippery slope.
Sharing plate
Michael We agreed that the state of the US political system is a nightmare. Neither of us is a big fan of Trump.
Allison We both enjoyed the food, and talking about parenthood … but there was much more uncommon ground.
For afters
Michael On abortion I believe a baby is a human being from the moment of conception. You should have the rights over your body. But even that is qualified in law. For example, there are laws for using seatbelts – even though if you don’t use a seatbelt you’re harming only yourself. In abortion, it’s riskier because there is a human being growing in the womb.
Allison Michael thinks it is for God to give life and for God to take life away. I’m not just an atheist, I’m an angry female atheist. I’m angry about how some religions try to control women’s bodies. We talked about the Catholic church and how there had been a number of cardinals discredited in terrible scandals, and there was an irony in elderly, supposedly celibate priests giving women advice about reproductive health. Michael thinks Catholicism actually values women because they revere the Holy Mother, and he said there are some powerful nuns. Then the tiramisu arrived.
Takeaways
Michael It was refreshing to have a respectful – I would say loving – conversation in a very polarised society. I still believe in absolute moral truths, but I also appreciate that most people are good at heart.
Allison We left at 9.20pm, long enough to be at polar opposites. At no point was it unpleasant. Michael is clearly a very thoughtful, nice bloke.
Additional reporting: Kitty Drake
Allison and Michael ate at Mamma Roma in Edinburgh.
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