Populism is a word often flung around the world of politics as an insult; its pejorative connotations hint at laziness, even demagoguery on the part of the accused…
It strikes me that there are a couple of important, issues to emerge from the Stage 3 debate on the Alcohol Bill that are not related to alcohol.
The prevailing wisdom at the moment is that next May’s Holyrood elections are Labour’s to lose. They have a healthy poll lead, buoyed as they were by their remarkably strong showing at the UK general election. They are sensing weakness in their SNP rivals, and they are of course no longer hampered by the contradictory position of being in opposition in Scotland at the same time as being the government in London.
With the publication of the Independent Budget Review, post-devolution Scotland faces a new challenge – the urgent need for public service cuts and reform. But in the same way as the first Beveridge Report of 1942 turned despair into opportunity, shouldn’t we be looking to our politicians to do likewise?
There has been much talk of the merits, or otherwise, of devolution lately, and with the Tory-LibDem UK government starting to implement its agenda, there is little doubt that political divergence between Scotland and the UK is increasing. But it raises an important question; is the UK leaving Scotland behind?
According to the Scotsman, Labour MPs in London are seeking to ‘audit’ devolution and to assess whether or not it has been a success. Potentially incendiary stuff, and perhaps not too surprising that the story has ‘broken’ after Holyrood has gone into recess.
We are currently recruiting an intern for a two-month period to work in our Edinburgh office. The role will involve research and administrative support as well as opportunities to develop individual projects.
I wonder about Scots and their obsession with Thatcher. It is surely now bordering on the dangerously obsessive? People would have been casting their votes for Labour and against the Tories (Thatcher) who were not even alive when she was in office.
As a football fan, the accusation that a manager is ‘tactically naïve’ is an oft used, if often misunderstood accusation from disgruntled fans. It usually indicates that things are not going well, and that from the outside at least, those who find themselves in a position to do something about it are unable, unwilling or both. That senior Labour politicians are now actively encouraging voters in certain areas to tactically vote possibly says a lot about how the campaign has gone for Labour.