MAgazine
Giving to those who already have
Why is the Scottish Government creating a housing subsidy it knows will mostly go to the wrong people? In Common this week argues strongly against another help to buy scheme.
Forget ‘opportunities’; what about lives?
Being young has never been easy but it used to be a transitionary stage towards a decent adult life. If that adult life is less and less available, what does our politics offer young people?
We cannot police our way out of the channel crisis
Reimagining Scottish Independence as Deliberative Democracy
In Part Four of his series on deliberative democracy, Bill Johnston looks at what lessons can be learned for the campaign for independence.
Six more ideas to revitalise the high street
One of Andy Burnham’s first initiatives as Prime Minister appears to be to revitalise high streets in our towns and cities. He’s suggested one policy - regulating vape shops - but if he wants to go further, here are six ideas than could do much more.
A ride to nowhere in Glasgow
Adham Fisher is a public transport campaigner for England who has gone to various cities and tried to ride as much public transport as he could in a set period of time to describe how successful it is. He was in Scotland for the Commonwealth Games so gave Glasgow a shot - this is what he found out.
Drawing willies and stopping the far right
We have seen our information ecosystems transformed over the last 20 years and the consequences have been appalling. We are capable of fighting back with a better system of information, but there are lessons we must learn first.
Through with drive-throughs?
COVID lockdowns put drive-throughs in pole position, and the UK is now experiencing a tsunami of expansion, with community volunteers left with the resulting tides of litter. Given such minimal retail space and cleaning costs, drive-throughs are clearly very good for business, now accounting for 70% of McDonalds’ income and more and more brands taking to the road. But just how bad are they for our children and communities? Guest writer Henry Mathias explores.
Beyond jobs: What is education actually for?
John Swinney Is Acting Like a Climate Denier
John Swinney is actively lobbying for oil companies to get a tax cut so that they can make more money. This makes him more extreme on oil subsidies than vocal climate denier Donald Trump.
Bad economics lead to bad decisions…
Yet again we are being told that there are special economic laws which mean that there are perfect and imperfect tax rates. The theory concerned is highly flawed and it isn’t even showing the thing that it is claimed it is showing.
Building citizens for the age of infinite information
How to reform Council Tax and why we must
In our In Common column in The National this week, Craig discusses the warning shot fired at Andy Burnham this week in terms of Council Tax reform and how Scotland could go about revaluing every house in the country to allow for fair taxation.
Why Andy Burnham won’t reform Council Tax either
Andy Burnham was given a chance to make the most necessary reform of British taxes that he possibly could do. He declined. The reasons he did are the same as the reasons the Scottish Government haven’t reformed Council Tax either.
Save the CCA for Artists
Guest writer Georgia Grainger calls for the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow to be retained as a cultural hub for artists via community ownership rather than being lost to the private sector.
Everything wrong with the new 'Universities Defence Alliance'
In this week’s In Common, Rory Hamilton adds a new layer to the saga of university management in Scotland, where three leading Scottish universities have signed up to a charter which asks members to promote the defence industry to students and creates a dependent relationship between defence sector funding and university research priorities.
We failed to invest cleverly - can we learn?
Our failure to understand why China is so good at manufacturing is the failure that will stymie the Burnham Government and which is at the heart of Scotland’s weak government. Where you invest your money matters too much to be left to chance.
Defining the Right to Grow Old
The UN has started the early stages of what could become an international treaty on protecting the rights of older people. Scotland should be ready to help shape it, as well as to make sure that we live up to it.
Perhaps Scotland should take the dirty road
What if Scotland is deluding itself about its current state of development and what if countries we consider below us are more realistic? Does it suggest that we should take a less formal approach to solving our problems?
How to make the sun shine at night
Upcoming battery technology may well finally eliminate the last disadvantage of renewable energy and turn what has been an intermittent power source into a fully dispatchable one.