MAgazine
What does ‘The Traitors’ tell us about ourselves?
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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.
Scotland could lead the UK by upholding International Law
With the US no longer a demonstrably reliable ally and the UK demonstrably unable to stand up to them, Scotland should do what we can to protect ourselves from the recent shifts in geopolitics and act as a beacon for the upholding of international law.
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.
Approaching 2026 with hope
This year has been a dark one, but I approach next year with hope because we’re now seeing how powerful we really are.
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.
How the basic building blocks of health and care services are being outsourced
Nick Kempe reveals how fundamentals of healthcare that should have been under the control of patients and the National Care Service are instead being outsourced to private companies.
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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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.
Why this sport's in a perilous position in Scotland
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Information is still not free enough
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The Energy Postcode Lottery? We already have one
Gordon Morgan from the Common Weal Energy Working Group discusses the recent decision by the UK Government to reject “zonal pricing” in light of a recent consultation into reform of the way that consumers are billed for electricity.
Escaping the bonds of bonds
The world has passed a tipping point and we can no longer see bond markets as facilitating democracy. They are an active threat to democracy and we need to disempower them.
Solidarity is dangerous
The power of the efforts to break the blockade of Gaza is seen as an act of futility by some. It isn’t; it’s an act of solidarity and it is powerful because of that.
An Illusionary Convention
John Swinney is proposing a ‘constitutional convention’, but what he is proposing is no such thing. Understanding the original Constitutional Convention offers a real way forward for independence.