Fixing Broken Government, a latest report by Professor Jim Gallagher of Our Scottish Future will no doubt be dismissed by some as a partisan attack on the SNP Government. That would be a grave mistake. If the SNP hopes to govern Scotland after next May then this report will be essential reading. There are some senior SNP figures who will recognise the accuracy … [Read more...] about Enough campaigning. Is the next Scottish government prepared to govern?
devolution
Political change across Britain and Ireland (2)
Politics happens not only between Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, but across them as well. There is a British-Irish and an Irish-British politics, along with growing relationships between state and political actors in Scotland, Wales and parts of England with their counterparts in Ireland North and South. Such relations are built into the three-stranded … [Read more...] about Political change across Britain and Ireland (2)
Power from the grassroots
2025 is proving a year of huge political and economic significance. We face a daily deluge of announcements, claims, and assertions that challenge much of what we understand of the ‘World Order’. Most of us feel the deluge comes from ‘on high’ and beyond any influence or control that we, as citizens in a democracy, might legitimately expect to have. There is growing evidence of … [Read more...] about Power from the grassroots
The UK needs a reformed second chamber
Nicola Sturgeon has announced that she won’t be standing in next year’s Holyrood election. Most of the other remaining ‘class of ‘99’ MSPs, who have sat in Holyrood since it reopened, have said the same. Whatever Sturgeon does next with her wealth of experience and knowledge of Scottish affairs, she won’t be going to the Other Place as the House of Lords is sometimes … [Read more...] about The UK needs a reformed second chamber
Strangled by the purse strings
Eyes are on the UK Budget at the moment, and for good reason, but shortly after that we’re going to see what the Scottish Government lays out in its own budget and, given the scope of devolution, that is likely to have much more of an impact on Scottish public services – especially at a local level. This means that recent news from Shona Robison telling Local Authorities that … [Read more...] about Strangled by the purse strings