Suddenly everyone’s talking about Brexit and ‘power-grabs’ again. It’s 25 months yesterday since SNP MPs staged a walk-out from the House of Commons over the “power-grab” of the EU Withdrawal Bill, and now it’s back. If you thought we were done with all that, think again. What are we actually talking about here? As part […]
UK Government
“Scotland has effectively reached the end of its ‘devolution journey’. Once Scotland was promised that it would have ‘the most powerful devolved government in the world’ but it seems that the limits of that high tide has been reached and those powers are now retreating by the day.”
Craig Dalzell: Westminster power grabs and the high tide of devolution
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?
“Sunak is arming the British state with a new language and ethos of economics and civic responsibility – fusing the state, the citizenry, and the ‘private’ economy.”
David Jamieson: Why Sunak’s ‘Economic Unionism’ means the independence movement must rearm
The hedge-fund Chancellor knows how to grab the front-pages. £10 per head for a meal out, but only in August, and only on Monday-Wednesday, is novel. The Rishi-burger is indicative of the kind of gimmicky, short-term, consumption-heavy and corporate-subsidy laden approach of the Chancellor’s announcement. As The Guardian’s economics commentator Aditya Chakrabortty pointed out, it’s […]
Who wants a Rishi-burger?
“If there is a solution to the problems of arts funding, it will involve more than a handout from Boris Johnson, or the wisdom of Creative Scotland.”
Sean Bell: If we purport to care about art, we must care about artists
All you despots out there – beware! The UK Government is coming for you. In its new post-Brexit sanctions regime, the UK is taking action against those behind the most “notorious” human rights abuses in the world, with the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 named as one of those acts of brutality to […]
UK sanctions list is about geopolitical influence, not human rights
“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
“In the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic, the US is making a concerted effort to suffocate the revolution once and for all.”
Iain Bruce: The UK’s theft of Venezuelan gold endangers a successful fightback against the pandemic
When Prime Minister Boris Johnson is accusing anyone else of “astonishing and shameful” responses to Covid-19, and when Scottish Secretary Alister Jack is describing others as “reckless” in how they are handling this health crisis, they should be put in their place. The facts are the UK is third highest in the world for excess […]