The First Minister wants to curtail Scotland’s culture of excessive alcohol. But why impose a ban on diplomats you’re trying to woo and offer them meagre fare?
Independence
SNP, Labour and the general election
“Labour’s fiscal caution and policy U-turns, not least with Starmer dumping his £28bn green investment plan, have left the door wide open for a strong, broadly social-democratic challenge from the SNP to Labour’s policies at the general election…so why is the SNP being so cautious and over-focusing on the Tories?”
Options and challenges for Wales’s constitutional future
In her latest European Conversations podcast the author talks to a member of the independent commission on the constitutional future of Wales about its findings – and their relevance for Scotland
Bias, politics and the need for serious debate on independence
“As Rishi Sunak says he respects constitutional nationalism in Northern Ireland, the same, of course, is not true for Scotland where the debate has sunk to silly levels in recent days. Are Scottish government officials biased towards independence? Did Nicola Sturgeon ever think about independence during the Covid pandemic? Our politics will be better, the more serious our level of debate is.”
Britain’s governance problem laid bare by Covid
Hoping that you can form a decent personal relationship with key Ministers in London isn’t a satisfactory basis on which to run a complex country in the middle of a crisis.Fixing the structural weaknesses revealed by Covid is a task that a pro-UK Government in Scotland will need to tackle. The next time, Britain needs to work better.
Sturgeon in the stocks
“Many people who watched or read the transcript of Nicola Sturgeon’s evidence to the Covid Inquiry may have been reminded of just what a good First Minister she was at that time. She can do the detail. She is smart, empathetic and forthright. Her engagement with the people of Scotland brought comfort to many in a difficult time.”
Industrial strategy for Scotland 2
“There’s growing agreement on the need for an industrial strategy in Scotland. The immediate question for the SNP government in Scotland and the next government in London is whether they are prepared to expend the time and energy to deliver one, now. Yousaf has started an important debate: we hope to see positive and practical action over the coming months to turn a debating point into reality.”
Poor Things movie: Alasdair Gray revisited – and revised
“Lanthimos’s film and Gray’s text are independent but related works. It is worth remembering that adaptations are under no obligation to be faithful to source materials. There is no governing body adjudicating and no code of laws to apply. Traces remain, however. Look out for the interrogation of authority, the imagination of an alternative future, and the indomitable spirit of Bella Baxter. Then read some Alasdair Gray.”
An industrial strategy for Scotland
At the start of general election year a leading Scottish trade unionist and policy wonk reflects on the industrial strategy challenges facing both SNP and Labour.
Shared links with Europe suit Scotland’s purpose
Forget David Cameron’s muscular unionism and Humza Yousaf’s sense of grievance: Scottish and UK foreign policy must go through Europe