Ahead of the pupil protest outside the SQA’s HQ today, it is worth thinking about the structural disadvantages facing young people from deprived communities in the broader context of this economic crisis. Economics commentator Aditya Chakrabortty wrote yesterday about the enormous ‘Covid jobs crisis’ to come when the furlough scheme finishes at the end of October, with […]
“There is one final element of democracy they haven’t quite managed to degrade yet. The people.”
“The central green commitment of the Scottish Government’s economic recovery plan is an auction block of Scotland’s resources in the form of a Green Investment Portfolio.”
“We will have to change the focus and ask the Scottish public: Are you listening? Can you see what we see?”
Usually on Source Direct we give focused news analysis on one main item, but there are so many things going on in Scottish politics right now we are going to give you a brief snapshot of several different issues today. 1) Economic Recovery report response: Remember Bennie Higgins’ Economic Recovery advisory report for Scottish Government Ministers? […]
“Given the choice between being ‘credible’ and being fair, a choice was made that strengthened inequality and erected roadblocks to social mobility for the poorest and most disadvantaged. In a just world, it would be the SQA and the Scottish Government that bore the consequences of that decision. In this one, that price will be paid by the nation’s youth”
“The problem at the heart of the statistical standardisation is that it can be simultaneously unfair to individuals, but also maintain the integrity of the system. However, if system integrity damages the life chances of individuals, then it is not much of a system.” Professor Guy Nason of the London School of Economics’ yesterday, summing up […]
“Clearly, a mood of desperation has gripped party managers north and south. A project to save the Scottish Tories from another distant second place in the 2021 Scottish election has swung into action.”
With the long-weekend behind us, Source Direct is coming late to the SNP bunfight. The room is being tidied up, and the National Executive Committee are nursing hangovers, as well as one or two bruises. Why did it happen, and what does it mean? First, for those of you who missed all the fun and […]
“If we fail women now, we will be failing women for a long time to come.”
What would you do if you were Prime Minister for a day? It’s not a bad question to get a sense of someone’s character and creativity. Douglas Ross, hotly tipped to be the next Scottish Tory leader after Jackson’s Carlaw’s shock departure yesterday, was once asked this in an interview, and, quick as flash, without […]
“If you were to line up everyone in Scotland, with the most left-wing at one end and the most right-wing at the other, then keep walking until you were precisely half way and asked the person standing there for their opinions, Scotland’s media would probably describe them as ‘the far left’.”
“It is hard to understand how the policies in the Growth Commission, and the Economic Recovery Group – both unelected elite commissions made up largely of corporate, banking and landholding figures – are designed with middle Scotland in mind.”