Beyond Tribal Politics
Independent journalism and commentary on politics, society, culture, climate and Scotland’s future.
Tories back wrong horses on energy
The new UK energy secretary, Amber Rudd, is backing the wrong policy options – ignoring wind but going for nuclear and fracking,…
Too early to privatise the Green Investment Bank?
The “greenest of all” UK government’s signal it wants to privatise the GIB adds weight to the suggestion it is not a…
If the eurozone survives the Greek crisis it can come through stronger
The EU and Eurozone owe it to history and its long-suffering people to ensure that Greece remains an integral part of both.
In my country: a poem for refugee week
This week sees World Refugee Day marking the huge rise in people seeking asylum, escape, sanctuary around the globe in the face…
‘Radical’ land reform that isn’t
You might be forgiven for thinking that the rules regarding a patch of land north and south of the Anglo-Scottish border do…
Give Scotland the power to go greener
The Scottish Government is under attack for failing to meet its climate change targets but David Toke argues it should be given…
The profligacy myth that stymied the UK and EU economies thrice over
The myth that Labour over-spending “caused” the financial crash and recession of 2008 has had damaging consequences for the British and European…
Franco-German Social Democrat plan to revive EU
The French and German economy ministers have come up with some radical ideas to get the EU out of its trough -…
Double crossings: the Queensferry Crossing and the future of Scottish engineering
The Queensferry or Second Forth Crossing is no triumph of Scottish engineering but, rather, a reflection of globalisation. George Rosie reports on…
Charles Kennedy: a principled politician
Charles Kennedy was a conviction politician. Affability and an ability to bring commonsense warmth into the nation’s living rooms won him affection,…
Sex and sensuality
One hundred years after the Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock was published Fay Young reflects on how Eliot’s poem fits our…
Tests for Scotland’s anti-austerity credentials
As with their counterparts in other parts of the UK and beyond, Scotland’s public-sector workers are more and more sceptical about the…