If projections can be relied on, Labour has good reason to feel confident of supplanting the Conservatives as biggest party at the next general election. Yet it remains far from clear that Keir Starmer is heading for a House of Commons majority. A Tory-to-Labour swing of 4.5% in 2023’s local elections in England fell marginally short of the 5% switch-around he needs to enter … [Read more...] about Forget the tough talk and flag waving, Labour
Housing
Highland homes for whom?
A dozen white painted cottages strung along the seafront harbour in the hamlet of Diabaig look out on a postcard-perfect West Highland vista - but there are few inhabitants to enjoy the view. Ten of them are second homes, several occupied for just a few nights per year. One has been visited only once in five years. Neighbours boarded up the door after a storm but the owners … [Read more...] about Highland homes for whom?
Floating on airbeds
So, what exactly is this urban Frankenstein in our midst, and how did it come about? The creation myth, for sure, is a real corker, an-all American tale much like when Ben met Jerry and came up with that lovely vanilla bean ice cream. Airbnb's founders, fellow students Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia (soon joined by Nathan Blecharczyk), met at Rhode Island School of Design, moved … [Read more...] about Floating on airbeds
Airbnb blitz is blighting cities
The three saddest words in the English language, thundered that cantankerous old brahmin, Gore Vidal, were 'Joyce Carol Oates.' Whatever the poor lady may have done to earn such vilification, her supposed infamy has since, I would earnestly suggest, been supplanted by three very different words which are not just sad, but also terrifying and duplicitous: 'The Airbnb … [Read more...] about Airbnb blitz is blighting cities
A way home for Scotland’s homeless young people
Once I woke up cuffed to a hospital bed. I had been arrested and didn’t have a clue why.FionaThis year's Sceptical Scot Christmas story is a message of both hardship and hope.The hardship is often distressingly visible. Homeless young people sleeping rough on our city streets. There is also a hidden population of vulnerable youngsters, sleeping on sofas, in unsafe … [Read more...] about A way home for Scotland’s homeless young people