‘What we are witnessing is the kind of internal bloodletting normally associated with the aftermath of a major defeat. Much is a function of frustration and an inability to manage internal debate. The SNP needs a period in opposition to sort itself out. It has no credible roadmap to anywhere other than victory at the next Holyrood elections. It hopes that a big win will restore Nicola Sturgeon’s authority. If that happens, it is likely to be short lived.’
Emergency: close the gap between real life and government ‘FACTS’
“Too many lives have been lost or destroyed. Integrating equitable support services for those most at risk for covid-19 is a national emergency and governments should act accordingly”
How to end food poverty?
Fair shares? Big supermarkets and other private corporations have seen profits boom during the pandemic. If they each invested just a small percentage of their profits it could end food poverty in Britain.
Road to recovery bypasses Red Morningside
“To chart a path to recovery Scottish Labour needs to elect a new opponent,” argues Chris Silver. “If the party found a way to trace a route back to its origins – seeking in the first instance to represent the interests of those who live by selling their labour – there could be a path back from the brink…”
Boris is the new Maggie, Brexit the new poll tax
‘Devolution was grafted onto an unreformed centre, an unreformed state. Without addressing what is literally the central problem, the prospect of constitutional stability looks remote. There are glimmers of hope. The assumption that there is no demand for reform in England ignores recent, albeit rudimentary, developments in need of leadership, elaboration and mobilisation.’
Oor land
“And herein lies the rub with Scotland’s supposedly “radical” land reform journey. The measures so far have not transformed the big picture: some have merely dragged Scotland’s anachronistic land laws into the 20th century as the rest of the world has entered the 21st. Most changes have worked within the old paradigm, treading carefully—maybe even neurotically—around established property rights.”
We will dance, oh how we will dance!
“There’s nothing that can quite live up to the thrill of live performance. I realise now that it was something I took for granted.” Craig Angus finds liberation in a film that seems made for our time. ‘Stop Making Sense’ fills a void where live music once was.
The play must go on
“There is a range of attitudes in the industry from blind optimism to sheer pessimism, depending on who you talk to and what day of the week it is,” says Williams, when asked how hopeful he is about the future of Scottish Theatre. “I do think that when people can return to the theatre, they will. I think there will be a real hunger for live events.”
Overcoming lockdown blues – and barriers
Many people in Scotland are finding this second lockdown harder than the first. People are tired, burnt out…no-one knows when this will end. Philippa Kemp describes how human contact can provide vital support – both online and offline
Infants in care – Scotland’s civic emergency
In Scotland, one in every 85 children born between 2008 and 2017 was in public care at some time before their first birthday, separated from their mothers in their first year of life. These figures are shocking. They raise a basic question no one here seems to be asking: why and why so many?