There’s another layer above the real and fantasised darkness, and it’s a good one. It involves people working away at the grass roots with and for their community. BBC Radio Scotland’s Kaye Adams lives in a world where it’s fine to introduce her “Rule of 6” call-in with the comment “I know dozens of people […]
Financial
The World Through A Window
There’s a wistfulness in the air. We’re no longer marvelling at clear skies above China and translucent blue canals in Venice. We’re watching from behind the sofa as death rates continue to rise around the globe, and fluctuations occur, leading to second, or even third wave and Lockdown periods, such as in Hong Kong and […]
Will ‘Max The Yes’ Independence Voting Work? by Mike Moss
Will using our list vote for one of the new independence parties increase the number of independence supporting MSPs in the next Holyrood election? Spoiler alert, no. If your only concern in voting on the list is to vote for an independence supporting party, then in general we should use our list vote in the […]
Fear and Loathing in Tring
We were somewhere around Watford on the edge of up North when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like, “I need a shit… the bowels are at last engaging… maybe you should drive…” And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of lorry tractors […]
What will the Post-Covid Independence Movement Look Like?
“Scottish independence is a progressive movement, not an apology nor a distraction” Movements don’t stand still. It’s in the name. It will undoubtedly be some time before we see massive shoulder to shoulder AOUB marches and rallies, saltires flying in the wind, or even drooping in the rain. Many will rejoice at that thought, but […]
Grounds for Divorce: The European Union After COVID 19
Indian novelist and activist Arundhati Roy penned an article in the Financial Times last week on the global effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Many writers have offered ideas on this topic, but Roy’s stood out as some of the most prescient speculation on the new groove of a post-COVID world: “Our minds are still racing […]
Corruption in West Dunbartonshire Council
by Councillor Jim Bollan “A whistle blower approached myself and my colleague Cllr George Black about corruption by senior WDC officials. We met the whistle blower in Dumbarton in late 2016. The main charge was that the managing director of a private company Called JRB Construction Ltd was being “allocated” Council work below the radar […]
The Chinese Economic Model: Threat or Future
The collapse of the Soviet Union brought with it the end of the Cold War and an apparent end to any challenge to Western capitalism. Fukuyama famously called it “the end of history”, others called it the end of ideology. Western neoliberal hegemony and “free markets” were to be the new unchallenged normal. It wasn’t […]
Michelin Closure Highlights Need For A Just Transition
I was devastated, but perhaps not really surprised, to hear of the closure of Dundee’s largest industrial employment base – Michelin – a couple of weeks ago. Last month I wrote about how the 2008 financial crash signalled just how broken our economy is. The Michelin closure is perhaps the most recent example, close to […]
Reimagining our Economy
“Our economy is broken. Capitalism is not stable. It never has been and was never designed to be”