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Sceptical Scot

Asking Questions. Seeking Answers.

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Vaccination: new start or emperor’s clothes?

January 10, 2021 by James Urquhart 1 Comment

‘The outcome is indeed so vital for us all that the progress of the vaccination programme is the one topic that cannot be kicked into the long grass of some future Inquiry – and this knowledge must be shared as fully and as often as possible.’

Energy transition: vital spark of national renewal or dying ember?

January 9, 2021 by Robert Pollock Leave a Comment

The story of BiFab, a fabrication yard that symbolised Scotland’s hopes for a “just transition” from North Sea oil to offshore renewables yet went into administration at the end of last year, has salient lessons for Scotland’s future. Profound institutional redesign is required in the near term if national renewal, predicated on disruptive decarbonisation technologies, […]

Another now, another Scotland

December 6, 2020 by Ben Wray Leave a Comment

‘A publicly run financial system investing in worker-owned firms would be a truly brave vision for Scotland’s economy – but do we have politicians who can see beyond the doom-laden horizons of Capitalist Realism?’ asks Ben Wray in a review of Varoufakis’s first foray into fiction.

Statistical amnesia

December 6, 2020 by James Urquhart 5 Comments

‘Putting it bluntly, this kind of statistical amnesia will seem a little tawdry to anyone who invested belief and political capital in the First Minister’s approach.’ Our statistical expert ends the year of the pandemic as he began: savaging the misuse of data.

Is the BBC helping British democracy?

December 6, 2020 by Tony O'Donnell 5 Comments

The BBC was once among the UK’s most respected institutions but no more – and it faces fresh competition from new upstarts like Andrew Neil’s GB News and Murdoch’s UK News. Break-up or renewal ahead?

Free school meals and child poverty

December 6, 2020 by Emma Congreve Leave a Comment

‘Child poverty is a systemic and deep routed issue that has been prevalent in our society for too long.  However, universal free school meals all year round are unlikely to be the most effective way of tackling this issue.’

On the threshold: songs and poems for a Covid-safe Christmas

December 6, 2020 by Fay Young 6 Comments

Covid has closed the doors at least for now.  But, there’s death-defying joy in Michael Marra’s song, a lockdown escape to be played loud and long.  Here’s Frida Kahlo cutting an intoxicatingly exotic dash dancing to Perdido among the locals in the singer’s favourite bar.  

Voices for humanity: Max Richter’s quiet protest

December 5, 2020 by Gordon Munro Leave a Comment

Screenshot, from Max Richter's Mercy, official music video by Yulia Mahr

‘If we get back to public performance in time the piece is tailor made to open next year’s Edinburgh International Festival – at its source is the same inspiration that reached out a hand to the vanquished of the Second World War and also led to the creation of the first festival in 1947. It would be apt too given that Max Richter studied at Edinburgh University’.

Songs for our time

December 5, 2020 by Abi Rooley-Towle Leave a Comment

Prayer flags image by lwtt93 CC.by 2.0

From Scotland to Canada, four musicians and an artist came together during lockdown to create a song to raise funds for Medecins Sans Frontieres, to help the worlds most vulnerable people.

Unpacking 2020: the good, the bad and the uncertain

December 5, 2020 by Craig Angus 4 Comments

It’s maybe melodramatic to say it, but I feel like the year has changed me. I can feel it physically and mentally. I need to unpack that before I re-enter the arena. I think we might be unpacking this year for a long time, as a society and – many of us – personally too.

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About Sceptical Scot

Welcome to Sceptical Scot, Scotland’s premier non-tribal forum for passionate, informed debate. Sceptical Scot is for all who care about Scotland’s future, regardless of how they vote: for party, independence or union, EU or Brexit. We aim to provide an arena that is both broader and deeper than current online/print offers with a rich diet of well-researched, polemical, thought-provoking writing. Read more » about About Sceptical Scot

What’s new on Sceptical Scot

  • Doses of compassion from the doctor-poet January 16, 2021
  • Pandemic and absent solidarity January 10, 2021
  • Vaccination: new start or emperor’s clothes? January 10, 2021
  • Why do we need a Year of Childhood? January 9, 2021
  • Energy transition: vital spark of national renewal or dying ember? January 9, 2021
  • Another now, another Scotland December 6, 2020
  • Statistical amnesia December 6, 2020
  • Is the BBC helping British democracy? December 6, 2020
  • Empathy for women December 6, 2020
  • Free school meals and child poverty December 6, 2020

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