I went to Strathclyde University in 1968 when I was 17. My mother worked in a bar and my dad was an engine driver. I grew up in a council house and I was the first in my extended family to go to university. I spent the first couple of years at uni never speaking in tutorials and was taken aback when I got a good mark for my first politics assignment. I never failed an essay or … [Read more...] about Being a woman writer/leader in Scotland – the imposter syndrome
Scotland
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?
GERS 2023-24: The results are in!
The latest Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland 2023-24 statistics - that normally provoke a bitter and unrewarding spat over their significance for Scottish independence and/or the Union - came out on August 14 with little or no trace of late summer madness. These statistics set out three main things, write the FAI authors:The revenues raised from Scotland, from both … [Read more...] about GERS 2023-24: The results are in!
The change election: UK and Scotland
On Friday, world leaders including Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen queued up to offer congratulations to Keir Starmer on his landslide Labour victory. But Hungary’s Viktor Orbán was, outrageously and provocatively, in Moscow meeting Vladimir Putin. His pretence at representing the EU was swiftly rejected by the actual president of the European Council, … [Read more...] about The change election: UK and Scotland
Are there thousands of jobs at risk in North East Scotland?
The future of the oil and gas industry in the North Sea is a core issue in the Scottish campaign for the July 4 general election and featured heavily in the June 11 televised debate among five leaders that, typically, generated more heat than light. Here's a dispassionate view from one of our leading economists. Aberdeen and Grampian Chambers of Commerce (AGCC) has recently put … [Read more...] about Are there thousands of jobs at risk in North East Scotland?