MAgazine
Pay attention Scotland - we’re cutting our own throat
There are major developments in the global economy that ought to be influencing policy in Scotland. Instead we appear to be about to do precisely the opposite of what we should be learning, and we’ll pay a price for it.
The Programme for Government 2026
The first Programme for a newly elected government is a good time large ambitions. The ones included in this year’s PfG certainly are large, but not necessarily good.
That’s Plenty! The church of Jack and Victor
Politics tries to hide it but the only morality it is interested in these days is greed and avarice. It is this which has done endless damage and only a moral campaign can challenge it.
How we should regulate Data Centres
In this week’s article in In Common in The National, Craig alerts folk to data centres lobbying the Scottish Government to write their own environmental regulations and lays out what we should be calling for instead.
How to break an investment bank
Losses continue to mount at the Scottish National Investment Bank. This would not have been an existential problem had the Scottish Government followed our blueprint for the bank.
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.
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.
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.
Make It a Contract, Not a Gift
Guest writer Douglas Guy replies to Craig’s recent article on Zonal Pricing and our Daily Briefing on Data Centre politics by looking at the demand side of the equation and asks if data centres could be supported if they could meet conditions around ownership and environmental impact.
Retrofit is on a roll, Let’s keep the momentum going
Keith Baker gives us an update on the progress he’s making on helping to improve Scotland’s home energy efficiency standards by having the Scottish Government adopt principles that he and Common Weal have been pushing towards.
Life After Oligarchy
Oligarchs are now our greatest threat and they are out of control. The only hope for the good society is to build a world beyond their reach.
You can't reform oligarchs – we have to walk away
I retain the strong view that almost everyone is still greatly underestimating the power and control the US oligarchs have over our lives. Win or lose, it looks like they will destroy our standard of living so we should opt out of their rigged game right now.
Why you should Get to grips with data centre politics
The backlash against data centres is only just reaching the UK but it would be a big mistake to mistake this for ‘just more Nimbyism’. Unless you understand what is different about this backlash you will miss one of the most significant things happening in politics right now.
Things could get really scary, so why aren’t we preparing?
Is the Western economy on the brink of a worrying collapse? There are different views on this, but there is enough real world evidence to suggest our failure to prepare could be something we seriously regret.
How to solve Renewable Constraint Payments
Taking inspiration from a policy in Sweden, it is possible that the UK could move away from the need to pay energy companies to turn off wind turbines when there’s too much wind.
Scotland's Seabed Is Worth More Than This
Guest writer Fraser Brydon looks at the projected rental income from ScotWind and how it compares to energy choices made by our neighbours.
Be angry – their stability is your chaos
You have heard politician after politician lauding the merits of 'stability', but have you ever stopped to ask what it is they want to be stable and for who? Once you realise the answer, your grocery bill (and starving children) make a lot more sense.
How the Scottish Government drove a wedge between care experts and the cared for
Mark Smith and Marion Macleod from Common Weal’s Care Reform Group discuss their latest academic paper on how the Scottish Government overused the “lived experience” of cared for people to shield themselves from expert advice about the National Care Service.
Workers aren’t lazy; they’re being left behind
Young workers are being told that the reason that the economy isn’t growing is because they are too lazy. There’s a lot to unpick about why this is entirely wrong.