“What Scotland is seeking is the kind of meaningful local democracy which empowers it to be a responsible partner nation among all the other countries in the world, and we should say so with confidence.”
Analysis
“LGBT+ people have often become a casualty of these social and economic shifts brought about by the crisis.”
Peter Markham: Why Covid-19 has had a disproportionate impact on LGBT+ people
“There is absolutely no good reason why Scotland should not seek to replicate the French ‘winter truce’, or trêve hivernale, which officially prohibits evictions between 1 November and 31 March.”
The eviction ban highlights the need for a permanent Scottish ‘winter truce’
“If an alliance can be forged drawing working class communities together with the environmental movement they could prove a potent force.”
Analysis: BiFab is in administration – trade unionists and environmentalists are united in rage
“Social work should have been at the forefront of defending the rights of those who have needed care during the Covid crisis, from asylum seekers to older people in care homes denied contact with their families.”
Nick Kempe: The crisis of leadership in the social care system
“The idea of abolishing or reforming the House of Lords, which arguably enjoys far more political support than any form of federalism, has been one of the most consistent dead-ends in British politics for over a century.”
Independence remains the only realistic way of escaping the House of Lords’ influence
“Slowly, too slowly, Scotland has been adopting the tools used by other countries that have avoided what the virus has done here. To say this isn’t an improvement would be wrong, but to say that we have been fine without them is worse.”
Analysis: Counting the Covid cost
“Apocalyptic fires and floods, cyclones and hurricanes are the new normal,” Guterres will reportedly argue. “Biodiversity is collapsing. Deserts are spreading. Oceans are choking on plastic waste.”
Self-congratulation will not fix a broken planet
“The new tensions in the global system which are being accelerated by the pandemic are adding in spades to a domestic mood of authoritarianism in some of Europe’s key states.”
Analysis: Across Europe, Islamophobia is becoming the bigotry for all seasons
“The Bayoh family themselves have been fighting for five years, and this inquiry would arguably not have come to be without their brave efforts. It is hard to imagine they will not remain resolute in their determination to see justice, no matter how long it takes.”