“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.”
The disappearing act
‘Faced with Westminster’s constitutional tinkering, independence may well appeal precisely because it looks less like a radical departure and more a restoration of sanity and normality—a factory reset rather than a clean slate’
“Westminster’s Man at Holyrood” ain’t going to cut it
‘Douglas Ross’s challenge as leader then is clear. He will have to convince the electorate that he looks at Holyrood in the same way as they do: as a place where things can and should be achieved and decided, rather than a pitstop on the way to something better. It’s just a shame he’ll have to wait until after the election before he can even make a start.’
The only lesson worth learning: FPTP must go
‘Centrist or socialist, whoever leads the Labour party next—or indeed the Liberal Democrats—must put electoral reform back on the agenda.’
A vote revisited
‘The status quo that brought us to Brexit will not get us out of it. While that time has gone, it is clear a new way of talking about the future was sorely needed anyway, even more so two years on. Meanwhile we are presented with an opportunity: in the breaking down of established common sense comes an opportunity to recreate and redefine.’
A pedestrian’s view of the Edinburgh Art Festival
‘Despite its closes and little streets, for locals Edinburgh does not often afford itself to hidden gems. Very rarely does it come up with something you haven’t seen before, or at least not heard of; seldom is there such a thing as a pleasant surprise that isn’t pre-booked in advance’: a meander through the festival art galleries
Neoliberalism, power and the nation state
It may seem befitting the name for a nationalist to claim their nationalism is in some way fundamentally different from others—and yet we find ourselves presented with that conclusion, and without batting an eye. The BBC’s survey earlier last month on ‘Scottishness’ went a long way in demarcating the lines between what it saw as […]
The prime that never comes: on Muriel Spark’s Miss Jean Brodie
‘School holds a fascination long after we leave it because it is so often the last time many people feel themselves emerging as individuals. By adulthood, the terms of who we are and what we decide to do are expected to be firmly set….And so when, in Edinburgh, we are asked: ‘what school did you go to?’ the question perhaps belies a deeper subtext: ‘who were you, before you made the choice?’
On Halloween
‘In the past twenty years, festivals are returning as we realise their place and value in society. It should be unsurprising that many of these ‘newly hallowed’ traditions should resemble Halloween in some way or other: the selection of a hallowed day or event, the putting on of costume, the establishment of rites and rituals. Even non-festive occasions, like protest, are increasingly moments for Halloween-esque performance and participation: a symptom of the appetite for a public sphere conducive to sociability like the one that, at some point, conjured the modern Halloween’.
Resonance: Jeremy Corbyn in Scotland
Jeremy Corbyn’s recent tour of Scotland highlights an alarming ignorance of the United Kingdom’s constitutional makeup, and one that can only discredit the true value of any so-called ‘federal’ arrangement the Labour party may so wish to conjure. The biggest gaffe of Corbyn’s five-day stint, much reported by the press (and most glaringly omitted by […]