“A government that operates on the basis of centralisation and control; micro- management and a misplaced lack of faith or worse still, a lack of trust in local government to deliver locally based solutions to both national and local issues will not succeed. It must exploit the full toolbox offered by devolution.”
UK-wide constitutional reform is an unavoidable must
“Intergovernmental relations across the UK should be redefined on a stronger, formal footing and codified in a new constitutional framework which enhances arrangements for self-government and secures mechanisms for effective isles-wide collaboration.”
Scotland’s centres of power need reform: Part 2 (Holyrood)
James Mitchell’s survey of Scotland and its centres of power ends with reflections on the glaring need for reforming Holyrood after two decades of devolution. “The Scottish Parliament is not a delicate flower that needs protection but a robust institution that required robust critiques, especially from those who support it.”
Scotland’s centres of power need reform: Part 1 (Westminster)
“No progress can be made so long as the governments – the centres – remained unreformed. No amount of new machinery of Intergovernmental Relations will work – indeed it could make matters worse – if centres are looking for a fight. Providing a gladiatorial arena for constitutional one-upmanship is counter-productive.”
Rewilding the Highlands: Glen Affric and Dundreggan point the way
Kirsty Hughes illustrates in text and images the challenges and hopes associated with rewilding the Highlands: “The rewilding journey is a long and vital one. With places like Dundreggan and Glen Affric showing the way, it can – and must – be a successful one.”
Plotting Scotland’s unsettled future
“There is no question that leaving the EU will leave our economy smaller and less successful than would otherwise have been the case. But rather than dwelling on this ‘borrowed future’, we need to have consensus on how to move forward. That consensus can be especially hard to find when politics in Scotland is often binary and confrontational in nature….”
Forget the tough talk and flag waving, Labour
“The people in lost constituencies want Starmer’s Labour to spend more, not less, than New Labour. This is the most significant aspect of “red-wall sentiment”, and yet the one Starmer seems reluctant to recognise.”
Will Scotland switch to Labour in a big way?
“..the old saw that long periods of Conservative rule are a price worth paying to remain in the UK, and that Labour will fix everything when they get back in, has worn too thin for me. I want to see Scotland take responsibility for its own future, build and manage its own democratic institutions. So at some point, England will have to get ready to do the same.”
The desire for change
“Fundamentally, the UK is far too centralised politically, and far too unequal economically. This is how to win a convincing majority for the Union in Scotland – by making it work better.”
What’s going on at the SNP?
“History may judge the police search and arrests to be over the top – or justified. We don’t know yet. But I think the interests of justice would be best served by a speedy decision from the Procurator Fiscal on this.”