MAgazine
Common Weal Consultation Update - June 2025
An update covering some of the government consultations we’ve responded to so far this year.
Why a Scottish Currency Can’t Wait: Lessons from Keynes
German economist Jan Frederik Moos explains that the Scottish Government’s current position on an independent Scotland’s currency is simply wrong. Monetary independence is no the final stage in independence, it is the first.
Loch Lomond is a right, not an opportunity
To help the politicians understand why their actions over Flamingo Land have made so many people so angry, Tam Brotherstone explains what it really meant to a working class boy like him. It mean freedom, peace and tranquility - if only for a night.
![This Article Has Been [Redacted]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/66cdd4436533f0690e12c6c6/1748521677922-RBHCG8Z80F6ODVWWT0JD/Glass+Room.png)
This Article Has Been [Redacted]
The Scottish Government continues to show bad faith when it comes to Freedom of Information, spending more time and effort to conceal information than it would take to simply comply with the spirit of the legislation.
What we are doing isn’t working - is it time for some utopia?
The one rule in politics is that all you can talk about is how you will change what is already there. But what if what is already there is so broken it will never work again?
Flamingoland: we have a system which itself is corrupt
An architect with 45 years of experience working in England cannot understand what he has seen in the Flamingoland decision. Perhaps it is time for direct democracy…
Why we should listen to a car boss if we want a GP appointment
The Western world has had a dominant model of how to do things for 40 years and it is clearly failing while China has a different model which very clearly works. It is time we started learning.
Your Vote Matters
Frances Corr from Youth Voting Matters calls for young people in Scotland to be registered to vote from age 14.
I want to choose how I’m cared for when I get old
None of us know what our health will bring in the future. A Living Will can help ensure that we get the care we want no matter what happens to us.
Programme for Government 2025 - In Review
A review of this year’s Programme for Government and some suggestions for “tweaks” we could have seen.
That’s so woke: time for a language of emancipation
The far right pose a threat in Scotland too, and we can’t be complacent by saying ‘independence will save us’ especially if the independence we offer is built on the economics which have given rise to the far right, i.e. austerity and the sustainable growth commission.
In an era of psychos we must learn from sociopathy
Sociopathy is both a real condition and also a perfect metaphor for our institutions. We need to learn from one to understand the other
They should ban that sort of thing!
Bans save lives - but they also ruin lives. To get them right we need an ethical and moral framework that helps us to understand the difference.
Our identities are tearing us apart
A major study has shown that between left and right we share little identity in common now, but that that is also true within the left. Without collective identity can we reverse polarisation?
The trouble with Erdoğan
For many people in the West, Turkish President’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s support for Palestine has bought him a lot of good will. Sadly, this comes from ignorance and is certainly not merited.
Fair Pay For All
The Scottish Government should add a clause to their Fair Work Framework to limit the maximum pay of executives in companies that wish to claim Fair Work accreditation.
It’s Scotland’s Economy - Or Is It?
Scotland is losing billions of pounds a year to profit extraction. Why is the Scottish Government encouraging even more?
Learning from “Greens in Government™”
As we move forward, we must ensure that we are at the centre of decisions, that there remains a left-wing voice in Holyrood, and that we are not tempted by the neoliberal forces of even Scotland’s establishment if we are to return to power.
Scotland Vs USA - Abortion rights
How on earth have we reached the point where the Vice President of the United States of America is continually interfering in policing and the law around protest in Scotland? It’s not an accident, it’s a concerted plan.
This moment is filled with so much hope
Among the chaos and the dark tone of world politics, there is actually rather a lot of reason to feel hope. Things getting better is a long way from guaranteed, but the chances diminish more if we don’t imagine they could be better.
