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Scotland’s centres of power need reform: Part 2 (Holyrood)

May 15, 2023 by James Mitchell 2 Comments

James Mitchell’s survey of Scotland and its centres of power ends with reflections on the glaring need for reforming Holyrood after two decades of devolution. “The Scottish Parliament is not a delicate flower that needs protection but a robust institution that required robust critiques, especially from those who support it.”

Scotland’s centres of power need reform: Part 1 (Westminster)

May 14, 2023 by James Mitchell 10 Comments

“No progress can be made so long as the governments – the centres – remained unreformed.  No amount of new machinery of Intergovernmental Relations will work – indeed it could make matters worse – if centres are looking for a fight.  Providing a gladiatorial arena for constitutional one-upmanship is counter-productive.”

Forget the tough talk and flag waving, Labour

May 11, 2023 by James Morrison Leave a Comment

“The people in lost constituencies want Starmer’s Labour to spend more, not less, than New Labour. This is the most significant aspect of “red-wall sentiment”, and yet the one Starmer seems reluctant to recognise.”

Will Scotland switch to Labour in a big way?

May 9, 2023 by Jackie Kemp 2 Comments

“..the old saw that long periods of Conservative rule are a price worth paying to remain in the UK, and that Labour will fix everything when they get back in, has worn too thin for me. I want to see Scotland take responsibility for its own future, build and manage its own democratic institutions. So at some point, England will have to get ready to do the same.”

The desire for change

May 7, 2023 by Eddie Barnes Leave a Comment

“Fundamentally, the UK is far too centralised politically, and far too unequal economically. This is how to win a convincing majority for the Union in Scotland – by making it work better.”

Rolling stone of destiny

April 12, 2023 by Jackie Kemp Leave a Comment

Fate of the Stone of Destiny – and the UK. Same old ‘tartan gesture politics’? or meaningful role in Charles III coronation?

An existential challenge

April 4, 2023 by Carwyn Jones Leave a Comment

“Constitutional change is unfinished business in the UK and will remain so until a lasting settlement can be agreed. Any state where a significant portion of its territory votes in large numbers for parties that wish to leave it has to ask questions of itself and find ways of alleviating the concerns of those voters.”

What does Hunt’s first Budget mean for Scotland? (Update)

March 16, 2023 by Emma Congreve and Mairi Spowage Leave a Comment

“The £320 million of money coming to Scotland mentioned in the Chancellor’s speech is for 2023-24 and 2024-25, but that’s all we’ve been told. Given that these figures will have been worked out in advance, there is surely no reason why these figures can’t be released in full at the same time as the rest of the Budget documents.”

Impartiality and public service media

March 13, 2023 by Robin Wilson Leave a Comment

“It (BBC) also bends with the political wind, especially where—as on refugees—Labour is too cowed to offer any challenge to the dominant discourse (that the desperate journeys by raft across the channel, often ending in tragedy, are all got up by traffickers of the ‘migrants’), which the BBC then faithfully echoes.” It should “speak truth to power” instead…

Taking the border out of politics

March 8, 2023 by David Torrance Leave a Comment

David Torrance looks back on the first UK constitutional referendum – the 1973 N Irish border poll. “As Prof James Mitchell has observed, the 1973 referendum ‘suggested that sovereignty rested with the people of Northern Ireland and not Parliament at Westminster’, a suggestion arguably reinforced with respect to Scotland more than 40 years later.”

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