“Tomorrow’s Holyrood election – for which more than 4.2 million people have registered to vote, the highest number yet recorded – has arguably frustrated Scotland’s politicians at least as much as the public on whom their futures depend.”
Scottish Government
“If we are to design a NCS worthy of the name, it is essential that the full truth about that disaster is made public, including the role of central government, private sector providers and the relationship between the two. The revelations of the last two weeks represent some tentative steps in the right direction.”
Nick Kempe: Would the Scottish Government’s proposals for a National Care Service have averted the death toll in our care homes?
Real governments with real central banks and real borrowing powers are beginning to make real shifts, albeit for self-interest reasons. With COP approaching, Scotland risks being left behind. Two years on, it’s no longer sufficient to declare an emergency. Rhetoric must be matched with action.
Source Direct: Happy Earth Day?
“As our national and international conversations turns increasingly towards post-Covid recovery, we will dwell less on what has traumatised us and more on what might heal us. Of course, this is where it gets tricky.”
Sean Bell: What does a post-Covid recovery for our mental health look like?
“No matter how strict the law on hunting with dogs is made, the question persists of how effectively it can be enforced across the vast tracts of Scotland that remain under private ownership”
Sean Bell: Class war or not, fox-hunting must end
“The Scottish electorate, like the people of Liverpool, have voted against Conservative rule for generations now. There is absolutely no sound argument for democratic deficiencies to be remedied by a government mired in its own corruption scandals, in jurisdictions where it cannot win elections.”
Analysis: Direct Rule for Liverpool should worry Scots
“It would be really, really nice is Hamilton’s verdict signalled a new stage of our political discourse – one which prioritised the issues facing Scotland, rather than its current and former first ministers, and where matters of sovereignty, social and economic justice, and protecting the vulnerable and the marginalised do not take a backseat to tortuous inquiries and the shenanigans they allow.”
Sean Bell: In the wake of Hamilton, Sturgeon’s critics must realise there is no cheat-code to victory
“We should celebrate this successful step forward as loudly as we can, but we should also then consider our next step. The demands of the climate emergency mean that we do need to radically overhaul our transport network.”
Craig Dalzell: The first step to nationalised transport
“Why are our politicians still leading us sleepwalking towards the climate catastrophe? I’ll leave you to decide how much of this is due to the vast amounts of money spent on lobbying by the fossil fuel industry and its patsies, their seemingly endless desire to latch onto the latest shiny new thing”