“Scottish students at Scottish universities pay no tuition fees! It’s great! The Scottish Government pays them! Except of course, the Scottish Government DOESN’T pay anything like the real amount per head, leaving universities like Edinburgh and St Andrews to recruit the vast majority of their students from the rest of the UK and from abroad.”
UK
A new way to govern Scotland: co-opposition
Labour and Plaid Cymru ran Wales pretty successfully for three years (2021-24) without a formal coalition. Could Swinney and Sarwar take a leaf out of the same boat?
How the Scottish Government’s net fiscal position has evolved
Ahead of Shona Robison’s December 4 Scottish Budget @Strath_FAI lays bare the fiscal numbers she’s grappling with – and urges greater transparency
Too big to be local
The new UK government has made a commitment to devolution within England and to resetting the relationship with the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. At the same time there is a growing debate about devolution within Scotland. An architect of the original devolution settlement 25 years ago examines our glaring democratic deficit.
Who owns the news?
“We pay a licence fee and in return deserve a fearless and objective public broadcaster. That may at last change the gloomy media weather forecast. It will require the departure of a number of staff – some on-screen, some not – whose grip on democracy, the public mood and decent journalism has been irretrievably damaged by 14 years of Tory government….It is a pity a change of government has not signalled a turning of the tide.”
Seven questions on the Council of the Nations and Regions
Keir Starmer is due to chair the inaugural meeting of the UK government’s newly created ‘Council of the Nations and Regions’ in Scotland this Friday. The summit is due to focus on investment and growth ahead of a much bigger international investment summit to be held in London the following Monday.
Ten years on: the story behind a front-page pic
“The British government – whether Conservative or Labour – has decided to veto another independence referendum for Scotland. I think in the end that strategy may prove counterproductive for the Unionist cause. Whether Scotland’s future is as an independent country or within the UK is a matter that the people who live here should be able to decide, hearkening, of course, to the voices of their consciences.”
Ten years after: the enduring case for indy in Europe
“The EU and independence debate have been inevitably intertwined in the last ten years since the independence referendum. The case for independence in the EU is strong in many ways. But why did Brexit not have more of a sustained and dynamising impact on the political push for independence?”
Budgets, ideas and lethargy in the Scottish Government
“Questions like – are free tuition fees a better use of money than directing it towards reducing child poverty? – remain unaddressed. The Scottish Government is reactive to UK policy and funding and therefore constantly in catch up mode.”
GERS 2023-24: The results are in!
“…the challenge is stark, with a likely deficit far in excess of the UK as a whole, other comparable countries or that which is deemed to be sustainable in the long-term. It is not enough to say ‘everything will be fine’ or ‘look at this country, they can run a sensible fiscal balance so why can’t Scotland?’. Concrete proposals and ideas are needed.”