There was a remarkable contrast this morning in two stories standing side by side on the BBC homepage. On the left, US President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows saying “we’re not going to control the pandemic”. On the right, one positive covid-19 case sparking the testing of all 4.7 million people in the […]
Coronavirus
Common Weal head of policy & research Craig Dalzell, author of a paper last month proposing a tiered approach to covid-19 restrictions, examines the Scottish Government’s new five-level alert system. Over a month after Common Weal called for a localised, tiered response to the Covid pandemic and six months since countries like France adopted one, […]
Craig Dalzell: @ScotGov tiered Covid-19 restrictions a step forward
“We also need to make some serious choices. You can keep financiers and corporate lobbyists happy or you can build a stronger indigenous industry base, but not both. Scotland has to choose the latter.”
Robin McAlpine: As the government sleeps at the wheel, this is how we could save the economy
“When 75 percent of the nation would vote for independence with ‘the right economic case’, when is the Scottish Government finally going to publish one?”
Ellen Höfer: The blank White Paper
The Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland has raised concerns that the end of the furlough scheme this month will increase the risk of evictions and homelessness, with the Job Support Scheme not providing a sufficient safety net.
Scotland Will “Never Forgive” End of Furlough Scheme Causing Homelessness
With over 500 hospitalisations, and a seven-day average of confirmed cases over 1,000, Scotland’s spread of covid-19 certainly looks “out of control”. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon denied that was the case yesterday, as she has to do, but the estimated ‘R’ number has been over one for about two months now, and the places that […]
Where is Scotland going on its covid-19 “journey”?
“If the plan is to do what is best for Scotland, perhaps it’s time to recognise that following failing plans from the UK has resulted in Scotland failing almost as badly.”
Craig Dalzell: The Scottish Government cannot hide behind Boris Johnson’s strategy
The fight-back has started. David Bell, Professor of Economics at the University of Stirling, has said the idea of a National Care Service is a “distraction”. He said we should instead be focusing on how to increase funding to the sector, and what a fair funding mechanism would look like. Donald MacAskill, CEO of Scottish […]
The debate about the future of social care is heating up
“Politicians are not leading you to that hope-infused future, so you’re going to have to lead them. It is your best protection against despair. It also happens to be our best hope for our shared future.”
Robin McAlpine: D=S-M: The formula that could save us from Covid despair
Craig Dalzell has written a detailed response on Source here to the new restrictions imposed by the Scottish Government yesterday. Dalzell looks at the evidence report that the new measures are based on, which is really well worth a read if you have the time. Crucially, the evidence report finds that “at the current rate of growth (7 per cent increase per […]