Opinion
Violence in Scotland shows something is missing
As more and more frontline services report unmanageable strain deriving from the need to deal with minor and serious social care issues, turning teachers, doctors and the police into social workers isn’t the solution
The push to privatise Scotland’s NHS was launched today – don’t listen
Right wing figures and commercial interests have wanted to privatise the NHS for ages and former NHS boss Paul Gray kicks off their campaign today. There are very good reasons not to listen.
Let’s invest in trust
The consequences of the public losing faith in public institutions are dreadful. It is happening everywhere, and that includes Scotland – so we should make sure that the public has reason to trust its leaders.
There are always alternatives to economic surrender
It’s not just that the ‘hydrogen deal’ arranged by the Scottish Government is bad, it’s that almost any alternative approach would have been better.
The anger in my grief
I have suffered a personal loss and it is raw and painful. All I can find to do is to seek comfort with my friends and seek answers to why this happened and to rededicate myself to changing Scotland.
When no-one is sleeping, we need to wake up
Far too many people in activist are talking in terms of personal despair and despondency these days. It is a very important sign that we have to start joining up if we are going to restart the momentum we need.
We must fight back against stupid paperwork
A system of arse-covering and virtue signalling is drowning communities and front-line services in unnecessary paperwork. It is time this became a much bigger issue for social campaigners.
A way to skip the world war ahead
We stand on the precipice of another global conflict. Why not learn from the last one and just skip it to the bit where we realise we’ve lost the plot and need to do something better?
The Bank of Friends and Family
The Scottish National Investment Bank continues to give loans to businesses with which its own staff and directors have a very clear conflict of interests. Is anyone going to stop this in a Scotland where ‘dodgy’ is now normal?
WhatsApp corruption was in plain sight from the beginning
It has taken a remarkably long time for the Scottish Government to be held to account for what is clearly breaches of acceptable practice in record-keeping. Let’s hope the Covid Inquiry becomes a final reckoning for WhatsApp Government.
Scotland and the wellbeing con
Public policy is behaving like wellbeing is ‘this with relaxation pods’. It is no such thing; it is a revolution in how we structure our economy – if we do it right.
The world is changing. Do we want to shape it or not?
Right now a massive shift in the balance of power globally is taking place. The America Century is over and a new multipolar world is emerging. Either we accept that and shape it or we get left behind.