Analysis
Did the Scottish Government have no choice over free ports?
Is the investment promised in Scotland if it accepts free ports of a scale that makes the decision impossible? Almost certainly not.
What guarantee is there of ScotWind jobs?
There have been big claims about the jobs to result from the ScotWind sell-off but the reality of the proposed action to secure them tells a very different story
Scotland gives away its energy future
The ScotWind auction has just handed almost total control of Scotland’s energy future to overseas corporations for what looks like a pitifully small sum
Why the Council Tax is unusable
Claims that a substantial Council Tax rise are essential and too damaging to consider are both correct and will continue to be true until it is replaced
Is Scotland on the right climate change path?
The UK Climate Change Committee’s new report to the Scottish Parliament makes sobering reading for those who believe Scotland is a ‘climate leader’
The Covid inquiry looks sound – so why the secrecy?
The remit of the Scottish Government’s Covid Inquiry is pretty comprehensive and its Chair predictable but solid – but information is still being held back and the reasons for this are not clear
Why are care inspections decreasing?
New figures show a new low in the proportion of investigations into care providers – but separate figures show quite the opposite for investigations into the workforce. What is going on?
The least a budget can be
The Scottish Budget is about as stand still as it gets, but bodes ill both for local government and for the prospects of a National Care Service – and Climate Change action
Where are Scotland’s ‘Covid Death Lessons’?
In England an independent Coroner system has produced clear warnings about Covid failures. There is no comparator in Scotland because we do not have an independent Coroner system, so we are in the dark
A conference and a poll: where stands independence?
A spike in support of independence is entirely in line with the pattern of previous polls rather than representing anything new – but there is a visible change in attitudes to currency in the movement
Did the Scottish Government listen to the Citizen’s Assembly of Scotland?
The Scottish Government’s response to the report of the Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland is basically a rejection of the whole report in favour of a restatement of what is already being done
Punching down on plastic
The Scottish Government’s steps to crack down on single use plastics are anything but courageous, dodging big business and instead targeting small businesses