Within about 24 hours of a ‘Glasgow Uni Rent Strike’ social media campaign starting, university principal Anton Muscatelli stepped in with a one-month re-fund “to compensate for the disruption they are facing”. It appeared to be some sort of admission of guilt that there was, at minimum, a lack of institutional preparation for students moving […]

Box-room revolt


Two stories today illuminate the absurdity of modern-day capitalism, where inequality is so profound that the economy appears broken in two, orbiting in completely different realities from one another. On the one hand, food bank usage in Scotland has more than doubled since the pandemic, up 108 per cent on the year previously according to […]

When the Ayn Rand dystopia becomes real


On Source Direct yesterday morning we asked what the Scottish Finance Secretary Kate Forbes would do differently from the Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s mini-budget on Wednesday. The answer soon followed. Forbes announced a tax cut to property buying and selling (LBTT), very similar in substance to the Chancellor’s cut to the English version of the same tax (Stamp […]

Is the Scottish Govt really prioritising rising property values when a “tidal wave” of evictions are on their way?


“It is pretty clear the Scottish establishment is starting to mobilise to see if it can limited reform as much as possible. They’re already saying ‘first get me my neoliberal utopia back at great public expense – then and only then am I willing to offer you a couple of minor nods towards reform’.”

Robin McAlpine: Recover forward – how to use crisis for good