‘…if Scotland is excluded from key European programmes then funding streams will dry up which are crucial to the delivery of Scotland’s policy ambitions’. An ex-adviser on EU to the First Minister examines her Programme for Government.
Archives for September 2017
Breaking the silence around asbestos
‘My dad lost his voice a few days before he died, caused ultimately by this illness. We became his voice. It is my hope that in writing this I can help in some small way the people who are struggling to have their voices heard.’ Dianne McKay speaks up for women and men suffering from asbestos related diseases.
Education and inequality: Part Two
Why do some parents send their children to secondary schools outside the catchment area? In the second part of his series on education and inequality in Scotland, Andrew Conway finds associations between school placements and relative wealth, house prices and population density.
Resonance: Jeremy Corbyn in Scotland
Jeremy Corbyn’s recent tour of Scotland highlights an alarming ignorance of the United Kingdom’s constitutional makeup, and one that can only discredit the true value of any so-called ‘federal’ arrangement the Labour party may so wish to conjure. The biggest gaffe of Corbyn’s five-day stint, much reported by the press (and most glaringly omitted by […]
Eggs Benelux
Poisoned eggs? Dominic Duckett considers the culture of risk and blame surrounding the latest food scare and suggests our systematic finger-pointing at foreigners may well tell us something about who we think we are.
Brexit may mean internalised border control
The UK Government has published plans to maintain a border-free zone with Ireland once it has left the EU. Analysing the long-awaited paper, Professor Christina Boswell, finds it knocks out one of the main arguments for refusing Scotland more autonomy over its immigration policy
Can satire bring Brexit Britain to its senses?
This is a good time for satirists, though there’s no clear line between farce and tragedy in the real life script written in the words of our political leaders. Fay Young samples poetry and music inspired by Trump, May and Brexit.
Goodbye from her…and me
“Truth springs from argument among friends,” is often attributed to Hume, although it doesn’t appear in his writings. As long as it doesn’t count as a slogan or a soundbite, I’m happy to subscribe to it. The former David Hume Institute director says au revoir…as a happy sceptic to the end.
GERS: location, location, location…
‘Of course, it is possible to close this (budget) gap by explicitly reducing certain expenditures or by assuming higher tax revenues – either through increased rates or faster growth. Others will argue though, that in the context of independence, there may be additional costs. The debates will no doubt continue.’ And indeed they do…