The resignation of Sir Stephen House in itself isn’t a solution to the problems facing Police Scotland.
The Chief Constable of Police Scotland has decided to leave his post in December, some nine…Read more…
Trade Union Bill and Scotland
The Trade Union Bill is an unwarranted interference in devolved public services and will wreck the modern approach to industrial relations in Scotland.
Today’s STUC conference was a first opportunity…Read more…
Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign helps, but Scottish Labour’s solutions have to be home grown
Congratulations to Kez Dugdale and Alex Rowley on winning the Scottish Labour leadership elections. The challenges haven’t gone away, but this is the right leadership team to start rebuilding…Read more…
Future Energy Scenarios
Planning the UK’s energy future is a difficult task and getting more challenging. A secure, sustainable and affordable energy supply should be a priority for any government.
National Grid has today…Read more…
Finding a future for wind power
As the political storm over the UK government’s decision to end subsidies for onshore wind power rumbles on, we take a look at wind power developments in Scotland.
Renewables now generate almost half…Read more…
The budget headline is wages, but dig a little deeper….
The Chancellor’s summer UK budget today was long on spin, but the substance was less impressive once you delve into the detail.
The headlines are about wages with the introduction of a new national…Read more…
Why the social security system is vital to low paid workers
As we await the the assault on working people in the first Tory budget next week, new data points to better ways of supporting the low paid and reducing inequality.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has…Read more…
UK Labour Leadership
I was at the UNISON Labour Link hustings for the UK Labour Leadership today in Manchester. With our focus on the Scottish leadership election’s earlier timetable, this was my first real opportunity…Read more…
Inflation busting registration fees for health workers
At a time of pay restraint it is not acceptable for regulators to impose inflation busting fee increases on health and care workers.
I was giving evidence today at the Scottish Parliament Health…Read more…
Wind farm subsidy – right policy, wrong timing
The UK government decision to exclude new onshore wind farms from a subsidy scheme a year earlier than planned, is the right energy policy, but wrong on timing.
The subsidies, which are paid for by…Read more…
Scotland’s world leading climate legislation needs world leading action
This is a crucial year for the planet as world leaders meet in Paris in December to thrash out a new international agreement on climate change. As Lord Stern, and others, warned last month, pledges…Read more…
Time for a political consensus on local taxation
The funding of local government in Scotland has been a difficult issue for political parties. At best proposals have been sticking plaster solutions because change is viewed as being politically…Read more…
More unnecessary spending cuts
Osborne’s latest budget announcement is driven more by his ideological desire to cut the state than any concern for deficit reduction.
The UK government has decided to cut a further…Read more…
Giving social care the priority it deserves
The social care crisis in Scotland is not given the priority it deserves, but there is a growing consensus about what needs to be done.
I was speaking at the Care Scotland, care at home conference…Read more…
What is Scottish Labour for?
As Scottish Labour regroups after the General Election, the temptation will be to focus on organisation and structure. Important though these are, the real question the party has to ask itself is -…Read more…
A Queen’s speech that divides the nation
Today’s Queen’s speech is motley collection of proposed bills that fails to address the big issues facing the UK. Far from being a plan for ‘working people’, it further concentrates power in the…Read more…
Pre-payment meters masking fuel poverty
Pre-payment energy meters are being used to mask the real levels of fuel poverty in the UK.
An investigation by BBC 5 Live has highlighted that more than half a million pre-payment energy meters have…Read more…
How responsible is responsible investment?
Responsible investment is a nice title and a growing industry, but how much difference does it really make to the way our pension funds are invested?
Courtesy of the excellent Nordic Horizons…Read more…
What’s coming our way with a new Tory government
As the Tories form a government at Westminster what are the issues likely to face Scotland and trade unions in particular? There are many, but the key issues are likely to be public spending,…Read more…
Some post-election thoughts
Well, that wasn’t pretty. As someone who has participated in elections since the age of 12, that one rates alongside 1979 and 1992 in terms of outcome, and possibly worse in terms of the campaign…Read more…