In the book, A New Scotland, leading activists and academics lay out the blueprints for radical reform, showing how society can be transformed by embedding values of democracy, social justice and…Read more…
ScotRail – the start of a new journey
Today is a special day for rail campaigners who have been making a case for bringing Scotland’s railways back into public ownership for the 25 years since privatisation. ScotRail is back as a public…Read more…
Putting the local into reducing health inequalities
While national strategies are essential in reducing health inequalities, we need to emphasise local action. This week the Scottish Government statistics division published its long-term…Read more…
Time to reform sick pay
‘Fixing the UK’s broken sick pay regime would reduce the spread of infectious diseases – and be a small step towards a fairer country.’ I read these words in a Guardian editorial just before a…Read more…
A wake up call for a realistic energy policy
This month, I returned to familiar territory when asked to write an overview of UK energy policy as part of a wider European project. Energy policy can be quite parochial, particularly in…Read more…
The ‘poor relation’ in railway policy
I was speaking at a European symposium on rail policy this week, providing an update on developments in the UK. It was interesting to hear what other countries were doing post-pandemic. Most are…Read more…
The not so ‘Great Resignation’
There has been a lot of talk about ‘The Great Resignation’ in the media and HR circles. However, for some sectors, this is not new and certainly predated the pandemic.
I have been doing some HR work…Read more…
The future is railfreight
In July, I was asked to write an overview of rail policy in the UK for a European think tank. An absolute pleasure for a rail buff like me after working for a union with no railway members. They…Read more…
Delivering a fairer society – policy and people.
I am in London this week, mostly doing some research in the National Archives and British Library. However, I spent a day at the Labour Party conference in Brighton, and it was good to meet in person…Read more…
National Care Service
The Scottish Government has published a consultation paper on the creation of a National Care Service in Scotland. This follows the Independent Review of Adult Social Care (Feeley report, Feb 2021)….Read more…
UK rail policy in transition
One of the many things I enjoyed about working for UNISON was the range of issues we covered. While some days I wished I worked for a single industry union, it was rarely dull! However, I have always…Read more…
Christie Commission – Ten Years On.
Next week is the tenth anniversary of the report of the Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services, known as the Christie Commission. I spent six months working as an expert advisor to the…Read more…
The future of work
I have been helping to review the HR policies of a charity as it considers a return to normal operations after the pandemic. We had a false start last year, although the return to…Read more…
Paint Your Town Red
Community Wealth Building is a new kind of economy. It offers a way of addressing the major divides in wealth and opportunity by focusing on local economies. This new book by Matthew Brown and Rhian…Read more…
Where next for Labour?
That’s another Scottish Parliament election completed with few indications that any real change will happen as a result. Scottish politics remains in a rut that not even a pandemic could shift. The…Read more…
Manifesto 2021 – National Recovery Plan
After more than two years of consultation and engagement, it was good to see the Scottish Labour election manifesto launched today. I have been working part-time managing the process leading up to…Read more…
Understanding opinion polls
I was doing a session on public affairs at a company staff conference last week, and in the Q&A, I was asked about using opinion polls. The questioner referenced a Twitter exchange I had…Read more…
On the Corona Frontline – European perspectives on social care
A new report based on in-depth case studies of social care workers in nine European countries offers a unique perspective on the situation of elderly care workers during the pandemic. I wrote the…Read more…
UK Budget 2021 – Schizophrenic or maybe not
Depending on who you read in today’s UK budget analysis, the Chancellor has either gone full-blown John McDonnell or is returning to austerity. You would think both cannot be right, and in my…Read more…
Health and Care Workers Covenant
The pandemic has seen many key workers going far beyond their contract of employment to keep services running. That is particularly the case for health and care workers who have worked…Read more…