How do we meet the needs of birds, bees and butterflies when storms blow the blossom off our wild fruit trees and flowering times are thoroughly out of sync with birds, bats and insects hatching?
Perhaps answers are growing in the garden.
The SNP must get serious on tax
“So where do things go from here? Blaming Westminster, finger-pointing at Labour and shouting “wiznae us!” will not suffice. Not now, and certainly not in 2026 and 2027, when the Holyrood and council elections occur….”
Budgets, ideas and lethargy in the Scottish Government
“Questions like – are free tuition fees a better use of money than directing it towards reducing child poverty? – remain unaddressed. The Scottish Government is reactive to UK policy and funding and therefore constantly in catch up mode.”
Is Scotland heading for an early election?
The parlous state of UK public finances and spillover impact of the October 30 Budget could mean Holyrood refuses to pass next year’s Scottish Budget, triggering the government’s resignation
SNP ‘Company Man’ can’t save the party he loves
“Leadership requires a willingness to confront so much that he turned a blind eye to. A decent, able functionary, as Swinney understood when he stood down as leader in 2014, does not have the qualities required to lead a political party, far less to lead a government.”
An alarming Alternative for Germany
“There is renewed talk, too, of “Ossifikation” or reasserting a specific east German identity rather than adopting a pan-German One after 34 years of unification. All of these factors but, most notably, xenophobia – the Ausländerfeindlichkeit I reported on from east Germany in the early 1990s and the emergence of a small but ultra-violent neo-Nazi movement today as then – hasten this sense of separatism.”
The AfD can win on an extremist platform
“It’s also significant that the AfD gained considerable support among voters under 30, reflecting a wider trend in Europe for younger people, particularly men, to increasingly lean towards far-right positions.”
Saving Loch Torridon
“It should be up to the government, acting on behalf of all of us, to protect the maerl beds of Loch Torridon. They are in a stronger position to stand up to the rich and powerful and all the marketing and muddying of the water that money can buy.”
GERS 2023-24: The results are in!
“…the challenge is stark, with a likely deficit far in excess of the UK as a whole, other comparable countries or that which is deemed to be sustainable in the long-term. It is not enough to say ‘everything will be fine’ or ‘look at this country, they can run a sensible fiscal balance so why can’t Scotland?’. Concrete proposals and ideas are needed.”
Looking for political dynamism in UK/Scotland
“The real political question may be where new energy and ideas come from. Are Scottish Labour or the SNP capable of providing that energy? Or will it come from a wider, new and innovative political and social debate across Scotland? If not, the current doldrums may continue and that’s not to the benefit of our politics whoever wins in 2026”