Scottish devolution
National scandal – and emergency
‘We cannot go on like this. Every year since 2014, steep annual increases in drug-related deaths have been met with promises to look into causes and propose solutions. Meanwhile, people continue to die, as evidence-based…
Brexit: worst crisis for devo
The fact that a cross-party group of MPs has been able to coalesce around the reforms in our report … (underlines) the broad consensus that the time has come for the UK Government to take…
‘Children of the Devolution’: really?
‘What is missing is any dynamic between insider and outsider Scotland, or an understanding that politics is about power, contested ideas and different social constituencies.’
What now for Holyrood?
‘…whereas a Scottish Parliament within the UK can and has responded to Scottish priorities by forging its own path in many policy areas, from tuition fees to public health to land reform, there is little…
Devo 20 and the economy
‘If Scotland is to meet the challenges of the next decade and beyond – and take advantage of the undoubted opportunities that will arise – it is likely to require a much bolder economic policy…
People O’ Oor Ain
‘Recall the teeth-gnashing of unionists that people were being sold a false prospectus, that ‘real politics’ are what mattered. Indeed so, but people see constitutional matters as the means to better social and economic policy.’
A £1bn Scottish budget shortfall?
‘But what can be said with certainty, if these forecasts are correct, is that the amount of money that the government had planned to have at their disposal – all other factors remaining equal –…
The narrative of devolution twenty years on
Twenty years of Scottish devolution: who controls the historical narrative and can thereby claim to ‘speak for Scotland’?
“It’s Westminster’s fault”
‘If voters filter their responsibility judgements through the lenses of partisanship and national identity, incumbents may end up being rewarded or punished by the electorate in a way that is unrelated to policy outcomes.’
Towards a devolution backstop?
‘Were Brexit to weaken the autonomy of the devolved institutions without increasing their influence over UK policies, relationships between the UK’s territories may become ever more strained.’
Brexit and Scottish devolution
‘If reforms are to be effective, rebuild trust and be regarded as legitimate by all governments, collaboration and mutual consent will need to go hand in hand.
‘Turbo-charged austerity’ devolved from centre to local councils
‘The Labour councillor’s passion resonates all the more because it is non party political. Voting for cuts to vital services, which will hurt those who most need them, ‘should give none of us any joy…