Politics
Give us peace: the Scottish Tories
“It is this total vacuity of devolved politics, self-consciously free from conflict and danger, that allows the spectre of Scottish Toryism to haunt us so brazenly. They can happily adopt the rhetoric of the centre-left…
Bypassing Barnett
.’.the allocation of an additional £1bn funding to Northern Ireland over two years represents a particularly large financial settlement to have bypassed Barnett. To secure an equivalent funding increase via the Barnett Formula, the UK…
When will the next general election be?
“If you can tell me if and when the government would lose a vote of no confidence, either because of defections, bye-election losses, falling out with the DUP, ministerial planes stuck in the fog in…
International law could scupper Tory/DUP deal
‘Strangely, the most internal domestic matter for any state – the democratic formation of its government – in the UK now could have implications in international law. Just one of the many unforeseen consequences of…
How to keep young people engaged in politics?
Young people responded in what seems unprecedented numbers to Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign but will a hung parliament curb their enthusiasm? Gemma Baird outlines three options for keeping young people engaged with special responsibility for academics.
Scottish voters rewrite a well-worn script
“If we remain fixated on the constitution and neglect to debate properly the record of the Scottish (and UK) government, why would people vote for anyone except the SNP and, to a lesser extent, the…
Trident: a very British yearning for Empire bling
‘Trident is a weapon designed for the past. Britain’s willingness to squander billions on a technology which may well be redundant before it’s been fully installed would be absurd if it were about military strategy.…
FOI and the SG’s dubious claims to openness
‘We believe there are now grounds for a review of the Scottish government’s treatment of and policies for dealing with freedom of information requests, and would urge the Scottish government to address these concerns by…
The SNP’s conservative agenda
“As in 2015, the main slogan is ‘Stronger for Scotland’. The manifesto repeats the trick of running this alongside a tartanised version of the famous green leather seats in the House of Commons.” “In fact,…
Mayism or Maybe not
Theresa May promises a post-Brexit Britain that will be unfettered, united in joint enterprise, thriving – and fair for those able and lucky enough to thrive in it. How does she intend to get us…
Tale of two referendums
“The UK government might wish this to be about the Brexit referendum and the mandate for negotiations, but there is early evidence that it’s another referendum Scottish parties want voters to have in mind –…
Scottish Labour’s unravelling continues
“A similar stiff upper lip will be required amongst many Labour candidates going into this election with the hope that they too might in time sit on the Commons’ green benches with similar majorities some…