Hi and welcome to RobinMcAlpine.org. This is my attempt to do what I can to contribute more to Scotland by creating a place where you can get solid news and policy analysis, opinions on current affairs, new ideas to think about and resources to help explain important things that are happening. But it really isn't about me. My work in Common Weal means I get great access to a lot of information, knowledge and expertise – but I can't even begin to cover the entire gap in the scrutiny of Scotland's policy and democracy. That's why I want to start by asking for your help. If you have policy expertise or direct experience of public life in Scotland and think that people would benefit from you explaining what you know or revealing what you've seen and are willing to write about it, please get in touch. Or perhaps you're struggling to get a community initiative off the ground in the face of...
RobinMcAlpine.org
Opinion Analysis Ideas
RobinMcAlpine.org
Opinion Analysis Ideas
Lead
Read the article
Latest
48 Hours later and…
The early hours of the Yousaf era are failing to escape the low expectations people had for them. The picture is grim for independence. The only hope lies in change.
“Fuck it. This’ll do.” Said the SNP.
The SNP has made its choice. That choice was to reject reform, back the party machine and stick two fingers up to the independence movement and the wider public. Does it really think there will be no consequence?
Why did the media miss the mess?
Scotland’s media seems to have been caught unawares by the crisis in the SNP despite plenty information in the public domain. What caused the media to miss it and how do we fix the problem?
The Sturgeon Era: control, paranoia and vanity
Few politicians have seen their reputation collapse so completely so quickly as Nicola Sturgeon. There is a very good reason for this – behind her endless rhetoric her real legacy was failure.
Can the SNP keep a lid on crisis?
The SNP is widely seen as being in crisis, but some are still trying to say there is ‘nothing to see’. Is that a feasible strategy? And what is the alternative?
But why would anyone be suspicious of SNP HQ?
Some people seem a bit confused about why any of the candidates in the SNP leadership election would have any doubts about the process. Let me see if I can help them out…
Lead
Welcome – come on in
Hi and welcome to RobinMcAlpine.org. This is my attempt to do what I can to contribute more to Scotland by creating a place where you can get solid news and policy analysis, opinions on current affairs, new ideas to think about and resources to help explain important...
Latest
48 Hours later and…
The early hours of the Yousaf era are failing to escape the low expectations people had for them. The picture is grim for independence. The only hope lies in change.
“Fuck it. This’ll do.” Said the SNP.
The SNP has made its choice. That choice was to reject reform, back the party machine and stick two fingers up to the independence movement and the wider public. Does it really think there will be no consequence?
Why did the media miss the mess?
Scotland’s media seems to have been caught unawares by the crisis in the SNP despite plenty information in the public domain. What caused the media to miss it and how do we fix the problem?
The Sturgeon Era: control, paranoia and vanity
Few politicians have seen their reputation collapse so completely so quickly as Nicola Sturgeon. There is a very good reason for this – behind her endless rhetoric her real legacy was failure.
Can the SNP keep a lid on crisis?
The SNP is widely seen as being in crisis, but some are still trying to say there is ‘nothing to see’. Is that a feasible strategy? And what is the alternative?
But why would anyone be suspicious of SNP HQ?
Some people seem a bit confused about why any of the candidates in the SNP leadership election would have any doubts about the process. Let me see if I can help them out…
Opinion
48 Hours later and…
The early hours of the Yousaf era are failing to escape the low expectations people had for them. The picture is grim for independence. The only hope lies in change.
“Fuck it. This’ll do.” Said the SNP.
The SNP has made its choice. That choice was to reject reform, back the party machine and stick two fingers up to the independence movement and the wider public. Does it really think there will be no consequence?
Why did the media miss the mess?
Scotland’s media seems to have been caught unawares by the crisis in the SNP despite plenty information in the public domain. What caused the media to miss it and how do we fix the problem?
Opinion
48 Hours later and…
The early hours of the Yousaf era are failing to escape the low expectations people had for them. The picture is grim for independence. The only hope lies in change.
“Fuck it. This’ll do.” Said the SNP.
The SNP has made its choice. That choice was to reject reform, back the party machine and stick two fingers up to the independence movement and the wider public. Does it really think there will be no consequence?
Why did the media miss the mess?
Scotland’s media seems to have been caught unawares by the crisis in the SNP despite plenty information in the public domain. What caused the media to miss it and how do we fix the problem?
Analysis
Is this leadership election normal?
Current SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon says this leadership election is being run like all other elections in the SNP and doesn’t see what the objections are about. Does either claim stand up to scrutiny?
Scotland’s money trees are making us poorer
The Scottish Government is trying to ‘lever in’ private funding to profit from tree planting in Scotland. The direct consequence of this will be something akin to ‘reverse land reform’, pricing another generation off the land.
How Scotland could provide a genuine alternative to the UK financial chicanery
The UK’s debt and speculation model is hitting the buffers – Scotland could offer citizens a completely different approach
AudioVisual
Coming soon…
Ideas
Start a National Leasing Service
How to have everything you ever wanted, pay less and save the world…
Create ‘public journalism’
Scotland’s media is under-resourced so can’t scrutinise properly – a publicly owned news agency would set journalism free
Set up Policy Academies
Big, open, transparent, public centres of thinking to develop the best possible public policy in Scotland, Policy Academies could transform government
Elsewhere
Biden’s foreign policy is a complete mess
David Pratt concisely and clearly explains how Joe Biden is making an absolute mess of the US’s foreign policy stance
Why Scotland never creates it’s supply chain
Really clear explanation by Dick Winchester of why Scotland is going to lose out AGAIN from the opportunity to develop a renewable energy supply chain
Scotland’s real government…
An excellent piece from Nick Kempe on the insidious role of KPMG (and the other Big Accountancy firms) in the government of Scotland