Farmers are protesting across Europe, including Wales, at loss of income and green regulations – prompting support from the Far Right and danger signals for mainstream politicians
Peat Bog Soldiers: how a Scottish band contributes to a German concentration camp archive
Professor David Archibald takes a radical approach to history through ‘wild research’ which has one foot in higher education, and one foot in Glasgow’s vibrant music scene. “One aspect of this wildness is that it is free to go where it has to go”
Can the EU rise to the democratic moment?
The European Parliament’s last plenary session, before the 6-9 June elections, is next week. Is the EU rising to the democratic moment in the face of the climate and biodiversity crisis, and given all the other challenges of our times? For now, the picture looks bleak, a short-sighted shift to the right in an attempt to minimise far-right gains. But replacing climate with security and far-right concerns will help no-one.
Diplomatic largesse is not on the agenda
The First Minister wants to curtail Scotland’s culture of excessive alcohol. But why impose a ban on diplomats you’re trying to woo and offer them meagre fare?
Flying the flag for Belarusian dissidents
“Belarusian troops are not being sent to the front in Ukraine. That is because the response of a patriotic Belarusian in these circumstances would be to immediately surrender, taking their weapons with them and then turn their fire on Russia. “
SNP, Labour and the general election
“Labour’s fiscal caution and policy U-turns, not least with Starmer dumping his £28bn green investment plan, have left the door wide open for a strong, broadly social-democratic challenge from the SNP to Labour’s policies at the general election…so why is the SNP being so cautious and over-focusing on the Tories?”
The paradox of Scotland’s ‘Gold Coast’
“Saving the Highland’s rural schools, and with them the traditions and future of the communities they serve, will take joined-up thinking and a strong and determined approach to regulation of the housing market.”
Russian army wives speak out against Putin’s war
“These women are also exercising the fundamental right of citizens to hold their government accountable for its policies – there is no more political act than this. Ultimately, women’s “patriotic dissent” is a powerful form of resistance and it must be taken seriously.”
Options and challenges for Wales’s constitutional future
In her latest European Conversations podcast the author talks to a member of the independent commission on the constitutional future of Wales about its findings – and their relevance for Scotland
Sunak’s day of two (poor) speeches
Bring on the election and put us out of our misery, urges one of our regular columnists in a partially updated piece written before this week’s UK Budget which has apparently failed to turn the dial for the Tories.