“Generally, if you wish to be progressive, then you don’t give all your tight public finances to corporations. The words ‘public’ and ‘ownership’ do not appear in the same sentence in this report. There is little which will be substantially different from what I expect from the UK Government in the same poicy fields – and that is a worry.”
rent controls
Nicola Sturgeon announced that the eviction ban in Scotland is to be extended until March 2021, however there have been 350 eviction orders applied for already, with many more expected.
Evictions Ban Extended, but Renters Still Left Unprotected
“I say directly to the Scottish Parliament and especially to the SNP MSPs, we haven’t forgotten your promises of 2016. We haven’t forgotten that you identified the rising cost of rent as a problem and then fobbed it off every step of the way. We haven’t forgotten and we are angry.”
‘Angry and growing’: Renters union say they will increase pressure for justice
“Will these polling results resemble the eventual makeup of Holyrood in 2021? Mibbes aye, mibbes naw. Will continuous and verifiable majority support for independence lead to a second referendum on the national question? Could be – but nobody’s quite sure how.”
Sean Bell: Polls, pundits and the perils of heeding the loudest voices
“The latest side-stepping of protections for tenants comes at a time when they are suffering through the lockdown economy.”
Analysis: Rentier Parliament? How Scots’ demands for fairer rents were locked-out
With few protections being given to renters since the Covid-19 crisis hit, and record job and income loss, a high burden is being placed on the shoulders of renters.
Evictions: The Second Wave of the Covid-19 Crisis
It is a grim irony that on the day it was announced that Heriot-Watt University had removed the Salmond “rocks will melt with the sun before I allow tuition fees to be imposed on Scotland’s students” stone, the Scottish Parliament had one of its most dire day’s on historical record. Many university Principals are now […]
A grim day in Holyrood
“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’.”