Beyond Tribal Politics
Independent journalism and commentary on politics, society, culture, climate and Scotland’s future.
The real news show
The future of broadcasting in an independent Scotland was a major topic in the run-up to last year’s referendum. The subject has…
Smith Commission welfare powers don’t imply more spending
Great play was made of the devolution of aspects of UK welfare provision to the Scottish Parliament as part of the Smith…
Thoughts for life
Sexual desire, the search for happiness, dealing with death and living as a member of a minority are just some of the…
Trident: an expensive and useless status symbol
It is extraordinary that, even at a time of intense pressure on Britain’s defence budget, questioning the biggest, most expensive, unique, controversial…
Restoring trust in bankers? Start by breaking up RBS
Shortly after my book on the collapse of HBOS came out I was speaking to a meeting of savings and post bank…
No fees? No pain?
For many people, it is obvious that Scotland must have a fair system for funding students. Since the abolition of the graduate…
Escaping the shadow of euroscepticism
The referendum campaign devoted much attention to how and whether an independent Scotland would negotiate to stay in, re-join, or even leave,…
Stress fractures in the Nordic model
When the Social Democrat leaders in the Nordic region gathered last November just outside Oslo, the mood might have been expected to…
Why centre parties have lost their way
In electoral democracies generally, the traction and attraction of the main parties of the centre-left and centre-right have diminished so much that…
Latvia: no template for Scotland
It’s a commonplace of Scottish political discourse to compare our nation of 5.2m to independent near-neighbours such as the Nordics – Denmark,…
Does classic British social democracy have a future?
Back to The Future of Socialism, by the Labour MP and former Cabinet minister Peter Hain is a bold effort to reimagine…