The COVID-19 Pandemic has highlighted the importance of strong communities, supporting and looking out for each other. However, strong communities do not happen by accident; they need to be nurtured…Read more…
Build back a better economy
Economic forecasts on the economic impact of the pandemic vary. However, they are all pretty bleak, and this emphasises the need for an effective recovery package.
There is growing support for an…Read more…
More lessons from the pandemic – Scottish Care Service
Today, the Jimmy Reid Foundation has published the second in their series of papers on ‘Reconstructing Scotland after COVID-19’. As with the first paper, they seek to put forward policies that…Read more…
Build Back Better
In April I wrote about the longer-term lessons to be learned from the pandemic and the importance of thinking about these now, rather than allowing others to capture the narrative – as they did after…Read more…
The Case for Economic Democracy
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our economy will be significant, and we will need new ideas to address the consequences. While written before the pandemic, Andy Cumbers’ (University of…Read more…
Return to work planning – some issues to consider
I have been helping one medium size organisation with its HR challenges in recent months, and this week, we were looking at plans for a return to work for the majority of staff who have been…Read more…
Lessons to be learned from the pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic has immediate implications for its victims and those in health and care treating them. There are also medium and long-term implications to consider if we are to avoid the…Read more…
The case for Universal Basic Services
If the current crisis teaches us anything, it has to be the importance of a genuine safety net for everyone in our society and the weakness of the global economic system. COVID-19 has brutally…Read more…
Turning climate change rhetoric into action
Despite the best efforts of industry lobbyists, the debate over whether climate change is happening is over. In Scotland, we have ambitious targets, but targets alone don’t remove…Read more…
How pension funds can invest responsibly
In the last few months, I have completed three projects on Responsible Investment (also known as Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)) in the pensions sector. One a broad policy paper and two…Read more…
Still learning the lessons of PPP
Nearly thirty years after John Major’s government introduced the Private Finance Initiative (PFI), it is astonishing that we are still writing about and using this failed model of delivering public…Read more…
Passing on the Scottish healthcare experience
I am in Stockholm this week talking about health and care systems. Sweden has a healthcare system which is generally free at the point of use. However, there is greater local autonomy at the regional…Read more…
Financial and workforce challenges for social care in Scotland
Two new reports again highlight the problems facing social care in Scotland but offer few indications that a credible solution is on the horizon.
The Accounts Commission annual overview of…Read more…
Focusing on the climate emergency
I see in The Herald that ScottishPower chief executive Keith Anderson said Labour promises to take back control of Britain’s energy network meant “losing focus” on the issue of tackling the climate…Read more…
Manifesto reflections
I have worked on a fair few manifestos in my time. For Labour, UNISON and a range of campaigns. I can honestly say that the Scottish Labour manifesto for this General Election is, without doubt, the…Read more…
Transforming social care in Scotland
If there is one issue that ought to be at the top of any policy agenda in Scotland, it is social care. One in 24 people in Scotland receive funded care support, and they deserve better.
Over half a…Read more…
Tackling climate change with warm homes for all
If we don’t take action now, a zero-carbon energy system will remain a pipe dream for decades to come.
I was listening in on a focus group discussion the other day, run by a friend in the industry….Read more…
Keir Hardie and the 21st Century Socialist Revival
The life, politics and ideas of James Keir Hardie, the Labour Party’s founder and first leader can be a tool for socialist political education and a spur to action in the current political era.
I…Read more…
Housing Commission shows how to tackle the housing emergency
There is a real housing emergency in many parts of Scotland, and we need the Government to recognise the scale of the problem and take radical action.
I was in the Scottish Parliament today at the…Read more…
Plunder of the Commons
Public wealth takes precedence over private riches. This is a policy prescription from what became known as the Lauderdale paradox. The Earl of Lauderdale in 1804 argued that there was an inverse…Read more…