Every day, a new diatribe about Labour betrayal from the SNP crosses my computer screen. It can be as many as five or six daily news releases either accusing the party north and south of the border of betraying Scottish workers, business, civil society and/or of imposing a huge new tax burden (currently +£2bn) on Scotland. And this deluge has been going on since around … [Read more...] about A new way to govern Scotland: co-opposition
UK
How the Scottish Government’s net fiscal position has evolved
2024-25 has been a financial year of tribulations in terms of the Scottish Government’s ability to adhere to its legally binding requirement to balance its resource budget. When we presented our 2023 Budget Report, we highlighted the challenges that were likely to come in the year ahead. As a result of these challenges, the 2024-25 Budget included some increases in tax, as … [Read more...] about How the Scottish Government’s net fiscal position has evolved
Too big to be local
Scotland is one of the most centralised countries in Europe with the largest local councils. The average council has 170,000 citizens, whilst the European average is 10,000. Councils here have fewer powers and are often seen as merely the delivery arm of the Scottish Government. One description is that our councils are too big to be local and too small to be strategic. They … [Read more...] about Too big to be local
Who owns the news?
Remember A Very British Coup? Chris Mullin’s tale of how the Press and Establishment combined to bring down a Labour government highlighted the UK media’s default preference for the Tories. And over the years the political and reputational damage caused by this bias has stacked up. Yet Labour’s election manifesto fails to address this crucial handicap, despite the obvious … [Read more...] about Who owns the news?
Seven questions on the Council of the Nations and Regions
For Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, politically and constitutionally, this is potentially important all round. Are we going to see much better, serious cooperation between the devolved governments and the UK/England’s prime minister? How will the mayors of England’s combined authorities fit in? Or is the mayors’ presence, politically, a clear downgrading of the three … [Read more...] about Seven questions on the Council of the Nations and Regions