Forget David Cameron’s muscular unionism and Humza Yousaf’s sense of grievance: Scottish and UK foreign policy must go through Europe
Politics
Labour’s road to victory runs through Scotland?
“Labour once again is seeking a middle road in its pursuit of power, both north and south of the border, attempting to be the grown-up in the room, offering a coherent, united proposal, while its political rivals turn their focus inward. However, this middle way remains challenging, and while Labour’s prospects in the post-Sturgeon era appear sunnier, many challenges await it on the road to power.”
Lost opportunities in Scottish education 2: lack of leadership
“Bringing forward new proposals to improve literacy and numeracy, in response to the PISA results, may produce some improvement, but there are deeper, systemic problems that require to be addressed. Are politicians, administrators and senior professionals capable of demonstrating the boldness that is required?” asks Walter Humes in his latest broadside against a mutually self-supporting educational bureaucracy
Gaza: No words
No words can capture the scale of destruction, pain and misery in Gaza but the late Palestinian poet, Refaat Alareer, prompts Kirsty Hughes to reflect on our collective responses…
What does the Autumn Statement mean for Scotland?
“As these are devolved matters, the Scottish Government receives this funding but is under no obligation to match the policies announced by Westminster. For example, the retail, hospitality and leisure relief is a repeat of the measure for 2023-24, which the Scottish Government decided not to pass on and spent elsewhere. So this is one to watch out for at next month’s Scottish Budget.”
Land wars go badly – and today’s world knows it
” Instead, there is every prospect of a bitter war with many thousands more Palestinians killed, tens of thousands of young Palestinians all too ready to fight in the future, and a peaceful resolution of the Israel/Palestine conflict delayed by at least another generation.
Israel and Hamas: the debasement of discourse
“To portray the Islamist fanaticism of Hamas—its radical-conservative ‘purity’ laws, its Manichean world of friend and foe—and its consequent war crimes as somehow comparable to the national liberation movements of past times is, apart from everything else, an insult to the vast majority of those liberation movements.”
What do Humza Yousaf’s new policies mean for Scotland?
“It may be that the process of establishing and issuing the bonds is seen as strengthening the Scottish state in advance of a future independent Scotland. But in a constrained fiscal environment, it will be fair to ask whether borrowing in a more expensive way makes sense.”
Labour needs a thumping majority at Rutherglen to win big in the UK
A thumping Labour gain “would signal that currently the key swing voters in Scotland – that is, those on the left torn between expressing their support for independence and kicking the Tories out – are giving a higher priority to the latter. This is a precondition for Labour progress in Scotland.”
What’s in the new Programme for Government? Look in the long grass
Humza Yousaf’s first programme for Government kicks several big fiscal and other policy issues into the long grass.So, do we have to wait till the Scottsh Budget likely on December 14?