‘For them (Leave voters), Brexit wasn’t about rebooting Britain as a global player, in fact it was about recognising we have limited capacities—particularly economically—and that these should be focused almost exclusively domestically.’
Refugee feeds tourists: Imad’s Syrian Kitchen
One diner’s casual satisfaction is another’s fight to survive. Deeply aware of being a tourist in an age of mass migration, Fay Young enjoys one of the best meals of her life cooked by a warm-hearted refugee in Imad’s Syrian Kitchen.
Brexit, devolution and local government
‘One thing is clear – the days of a neat division of powers between UK, Scottish and local government are gone. Brexit will paradoxically make these multilevel dynamics very much like those of the regionalised states in the EU27,’ the bead of COSLA office in Brussels writes.
Neoliberalism, power and the nation state
It may seem befitting the name for a nationalist to claim their nationalism is in some way fundamentally different from others—and yet we find ourselves presented with that conclusion, and without batting an eye. The BBC’s survey earlier last month on ‘Scottishness’ went a long way in demarcating the lines between what it saw as […]
England’s southern North
‘Clearly, there are significant variations in economic and cultural output within the north of England. Before our very eyes, a new north-south divide is emerging, within what was previously understood as “the north” itself.’
Brexit and devolution….a primer
‘If you believe that every power currently held by the EU should be devolved completely and immediately upon Brexit then, yes, you can describe the UK government as grabbing those powers. But, you’d then have to explain why you were previously happy for the EU to hold those powers.’
Devo, federalism and the UK constitution
‘The UK could, therefore, be in the process of a fundamental constitutional reconfiguration that partially reverses devolutionary patterns of development of the preceding two decades. This project is taking place in a fashion that is not wholly consensual, and involves the UK government deploying, or at least threatening to deploy, parliamentary sovereignty for purposes of legal coercion.’
How will NHS Scotland benefit from English hike?
If this happens, the NHS Scotland will see average annual real terms increases of around 3.1% during this parliament (and 4.2% annually over the next three years), more than double the implication of its existing plans, which envisage average annual real terms increases on the NHS over the parliament of around 1.4%.
Optimism returning to North Sea
‘With that in mind, if this optimism translates into actual activity and higher pay for workers, then the sector should help boost economic growth in Scotland as a whole during 2018.’
Help to build – with Scottish taxpayers’ cash
Confidential document from housing industry lobby group reveals underspent funds will be spent on the controversial Help-to-Buy scheme