MAgazine
Scotland’s future is now clear; ambition or subordination
Over the devolution years Scotland’s leaders have become more and more cautious and have internalised more and more doubt about Scotland’s ability to try big things. In a world in turmoil, we either shake this affliction or we suffer.
Transparency means keeping politicians where we can see them
Democracy only works if we can see everything that a Government does at all times.
Happy to be an embarrassment
Common Weal has been regularly mocked for making arguments which are now mainstream. It is a reflection of Scotland’s stultifying problem of political orthodoxy and the failure to support and promote voices brave enough to ask difficult questions.
Cities for people first, tourists second
Rory Hamilton says his non-New Year’s resolution to carry something forward from 2025 into 2026 and to leave something behind in 2025 is no better embodied than in his moving from Edinburgh to Glasgow.
The failure of politics? You can't fix what you can't see
Policymakers are far too stuck in their own bubble to properly understand how their policies impact on people. Unless they learn to count what matters to real people rather than corporations, the fraying of democracy will continue.
Informed Citizens and Deliberative Democracy
Bill Johnston argues that politicians must keep their promise to use deliberative democratic techniques such as Citizens Assemblies to help strengthen decision-making in policy but also to strengthen our democracy itself by better empowering and informing citizens.
Farewell Auld Reekie, onwards the dear green place
Rory Hamilton says his non-New Year’s resolution to carry something forward from 2025 into 2026 and to leave something behind in 2025 is no better embodied than in his moving from Edinburgh to Glasgow.
Twelve Ideas for Scotland in a Progressive Europe
Twelve ideas for Scotland in a progressive Europe
The only tired I am this Christmas
I am usually exhausted by the end of the year and in need of a Christmas break. This year I feel different - and there are a lot of reasons top be more hopeful about 2026 than it appears.
In 2025, nothing is as it was
It’s been a year of turmoil, in the world and in my head. But it leaves space for new ideas and it is those we must cultivate if we are to save democracy
2025 - Common Weal’s Year in Policy
Craig runs through Common Weal’s policy library to show off everything we’ve published this year, just in case you’ve missed a paper or two and would like to see them.
Private profit doesn't make government more efficient
For 50 years we've lived as if private profit is good for public services and it has led to the mass extraction of public wealth by corporate insiders. We will never fix public services until we admit this problem.
I want to choose a different modernity
Modern life truly is rubbish, and it is a state of affairs none of us chose. It is time to believe that we can chose a different modernity, one that works for us.
How can you wash your hands when this happens to us?
Temoka Melindo (Moka) is a student at Glasgow Caledonian University and now lives in Scotland as a climate refugee. She tells her story and asks how we can sit around and watch this happen to families like hers and still do nothing.
It’s time to stop lobbyists
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Repowering Scotland - A missed opportunity
The Scottish Government has squandered an opportunity to nationalise our energy by not taking Scotland’s first onshore wind farm into public ownership at the best time to do so.
This Skye wind farm fight shows Scotland's national energy injustice
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Chatbots Vs Democracy
Craig’s encounter with an AI chatbot feeding him false information about a Scottish political party and what that did to alert him to another threat from AI to our democracy.
When inequality is this high, all choices become bad
Speculation on the UK Budget this month has leaned on the tensions the UK Government’s faces as all of its choices seem to face intractable opposition
Why this sport's in a perilous position in Scotland
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