While the Scottish Government’s programme for 2017-18 has some very welcome elements, it also feels a bit like a chinese meal. Satisfying as it goes down, but leaves you wanting more later.
The most…Read more…
Oh joy, another Labour leadership contest
Scottish politics may be many things, but boring it isn’t. Just when you think we are in for a settled period, the Scottish Labour Leader, Kez Dugdale, resigns.
With hindsight, it was perhaps not a…Read more…
Business rates review – tame but sensible reforms
The long awaited Barclay review of business rates hasn’t exactly set the heather alight, but its recommendations are, in the main, pretty sensible.
The reviews main recommendations are set out in…Read more…
Household debt, pay and the magic money tree
Low wages and rising household debt is not a sound basis for any economy. Today’s news that spending on credit and debit cards is rising five times faster than wages, should set off the…Read more…
No ‘certainty’ for EU workers in Brexit plan
The claimed ‘certainty’ in the UK government’s ‘cut and paste’ job on EU law clearly doesn’t apply to EU nationals working in Scotland and the rest of the UK. Last month the UK government…Read more…
Action on energy prices is another damp squib
As widely predicted, UK government action on energy bills has turned out to be another damp squib. Ministers passed the buck yet again to Ofgem who have published plans for a ‘fairer and more…Read more…
Taylor Report consolidates a race to the bottom in employment standards
The Taylor report into ‘Employment Practices in the Modern Economy’ does little to help workers being exploited in the workplace.
The appointment of Matthew Taylor was always likely to be a…Read more…
Regulation is not ‘Red Tape’
If the Grenfell tragedy teaches us anything, it must be that regulation is not ‘Red Tape’, it is an essential safeguard for a civilised society. Scotland has escaped some of the worst examples of…Read more…
Public sector pay back on the agenda
Public sector pay is at least back on the political agenda. Now we need to turn the rhetoric into action.
The decision of Jeremy Corbyn to put ending the public sector pay cap as a key element of…Read more…
Tackling the causes of poverty
The shocking news that a homeless person dies every three weeks in Edinburgh highlights the extreme consequences of poverty and neglect in our society. Millions more are struggling in poverty every…Read more…
How do you like your council coalition?
As the dust settles on coalition and other arrangements across Scotland’s 32 hung (or balanced if you prefer) councils, now is good time to look at how councils will operate in this…Read more…
Education reform – getting the balance right
The Scottish Government’s education reforms are an attempt to balance their centralising tendencies with local democracy and give headteachers’ greater responsibility for their schools, without…Read more…
A very different election
Well that was different! From landslide victory to hung parliament breaks the received wisdom that the short election campaign can only marginally shift voting intention. I have been fighting…Read more…
Election 2017 – Labour’s ownership plans are the radical shift in energy policy
Not for the first time, energy policy has received very little attention in this election campaign. In Scotland, key elements are reserved so you might expect a bit more attention to be paid to it,…Read more…
Election 2017 – what side are you on?
Election slogans are generally meaningless, but in this election they clearly differentiate the offer. Comrades, left and right, should focus on that.
Today’s Scottish Labour manifesto will set out…Read more…
Freedom of Information – from ambition to action
Freedom of Information is an essential part of a thriving and effective democracy. Scotland needs to move from the ambition of support for open government, to putting the legislative and practical…Read more…
Councils should defend local services and those who deliver them
Musical chairs around the council chamber won’t alter the challenges facing local government in Scotland.
The voters have had their say and there are a lot of new councillors taking responsibility…Read more…
Scotland is NOT our local
Three days to go to polling day for the council elections – just in case anyone noticed. Even before the general election was dumped on us, national issues dominated the debate.
If the parties want…Read more…
Electoral alliances – progressive or not
As the general election campaign kicks off, my newsfeed is full of stories about alliances, rather than the policy issues that matter.
The SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon was quick off the mark,…Read more…
Council elections – keep it local
As the local government election short campaign gets under way – let’s keep it local.
Local government elections will be held for every seat in Scotland on Thursday 4 May. The first reminder…Read more…