Campaigning during May’s local elections, I found myself at the door of a small terraced house in Glasgow. The conversation I had with the woman who lived there, her children peeking round her legs to see who was at the door, has stayed with me in the months since.
Scotland has a problem. No, not that one. Or that one. It’s a problem that if you squint your eyes, you can see, menacingly, on the horizon. Its distance makes it all the more challenging to solve, as politicians focus on the present and at furthest the next election.
With the right ideas, energy and boldness Euro 2028 can be a celebration of the different cultures across the British Isles. The UK government can demonstrate it is a government for all by engaging with the devolved governments on an equal footing. It will also show the benefits of membership of the UK: with opportunity and diversity on our doorsteps.
For those of us who believe in our responsibility as global citizens, the UK represents our best vehicle for influencing progressive change in the world.
The World Cup: a tournament that the UK and Ireland should host in 2030. From the UK government’s perspective, it would be an opportunity to reaffirm the deep cultural bonds that exist across the UK. It would also show the UK delivering for Scotland, much more than any technocratic policy announcement ever could.
Kate Forbes billed this as a “budget of choices”. Instead, it was a budget of zero choices. Rather than grasp the thistle of change, the meter was fed, the show trundles on and tomorrow will be the same as yesterday.
It seems that in Scottish politics the word of the week is “stuck”. In an emotional interview with Holyrood magazine, former First Minister Jack McConnell shared his dismay at the state of Scottish politics. He revealed the depths of his frustration at how a parliament he has longed for has failed to deliver on its potential. This prompted a flurry of engaging articles on devolution
There were more than 1300 drug deaths in Scotland last year. Every one a real person, with their own individual story, now cruelly packaged up and included as a number in the annual figures that shame a nation.
Those living in deprived areas are 18 times more likely to die from drugs than those in the least deprived areas.
As one of the biggest international climate change conferences whirlwinds into Glasgow, it’s time we start asking the question, what will COP26’s legacy be for Scotland? Here are three ways we can make COP26 a byword for legacy.
Scotland is a nation of romantics. We have always taken pride and pleasure in our nations stories and myths. However, there is danger in delving too deep into the pool of mythology, of becoming too intoxicated by our own self-proclaimed values that we lose sight of both evidence and the modern world. That is what has happened in the debate around free tuition in Scotland.
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