Neil McInroy – Power to the local economy

“I can’t myself raise the winds that might blow us or this ship into a better world. But I can at least put up the sail so that when the winds comes, I can catch it” E.F. Schumacher

‘Although we talk a lot these days about globalisation, about a world grown small, when you look at the economies of modern cities what you see is a process of localisation: a steadily rising share of the work force produces services that are sold only within that same metropolitan area.’   Professor Paul Krugman, Professor of Economics, Princeton University.

Local economies matter for a socially just and economically robust Scotland.  Despite a general rise in economic prosperity and a rising standard of living, Scotland is a land of haves and have-nots.  For too long some of Scotland’s communities have suffered from poverty and disadvantage.  A true progressive agenda, needs to tackle this.  A progressive future is about a Scottish economy which works for all of the Scotland’s communities and its people. 

Fay Young – Time to end the social injustice of the council tax freeze

 

Perhaps I should be grateful to John Swinney. Since 2007 Scotland’s Finance Secretary has spent £500 million on freezing council taxes. “By the end of the current Parliamentary term, [Band D] households will have saved £1,200 since the freeze was introduced in 2007.” So says the SNP press release which conveniently skates over the cost of this ‘saving’ and the cuts it has imposed on all local authorities.

David Hume Institute – Measuring inequality in Scotland: a widening gap between the young and the old

“The main purpose of the housing market should be to provide accommodation, but it now also seems to be a mechanism that sustains and magnifies intergenerational inequality. This might be an issue that a new Scottish Parliament with enhanced tax powers might wish to address.” Professor David Bell. 

Max Cruickshank – Why you should sign the petition for votes for 16 and 17 year olds

What a momentous day I had last week sitting in the gallery of the Holyrood parliament listening to MSP after MSP, from EVERY political party, heap praise on the honesty, integrity, enthusiasm and sheer hard work that young people had applied to making their decision on how to use their votes for the first time in our independence referendum.

Carol Craig – On Selfishness and the Scottish Independence Referendum

A few days ago a woman I know told me that she was no longer going to accompany me to a meeting. The clear implication of her email was that she had made this decision because I had come out as a No voter. Indeed at one point she wrote about her annoyance at my ‘stance on the campaign for a better, fairer Scotland’. What I find astonishing is that this person knows that for over ten years I’ve written or commissioned books, organised events, and given talks, all with the aim of bringing about a better Scotland. But clearly none of this matters, now I’ve voted No.

Alf Young – Forget Project Fear. Project Reality, in terms of oil prices, now stalks North Sea

HAVE you noticed what is happening to the price of oil? In mid-June, the benchmark North Sea crude, Brent, was trading at $115 a barrel. Now, less than four months later, it is struggling to stay above $90. As I write it’s a shade under $91, down by more than one per cent in the past twenty four hours alone.

Nigel Smith – Next time a supermajority will be needed

This article first appeared in Scottish Review on 8th October 2014

On the whole, a simple majority (50% + 1 vote) works for democracy including referendums. It has the great merit that all voters understand and usually accept the result.

One exception is the constitutional referendum where some countries and states require a supermajority sometimes as low as 55% more often 60% or even 67% majority before the result is valid and the change adopted.

Trevor Davies – Local democracy begins where people are: in the local

If the Scottish Parliament is to grasp this next stage of devolution its role will change. It will leave behind the detailed management of public services and reach up to grasp fully its ambition as a legislature: setting standards, enhancing our rights and freedoms, taking on vested interests.

Like the UK as a whole, Scotland is sharply divided by inequality and this division has increased over three decades. Our economy today fails to provide adequate work or income to a large minority – 20% of workers are paid less than it’s possible to live on (up from 18% in 2012).  Considerable spending on Scottish public services over the years has failed to correct the impact of that inequality. The negative outcomes of failure drive current public spending. Local housing policy must deal with failures in the housing market; health policy struggles against our failure to maintain the health of families, many sick with the diseases of poverty – obesity, alcoholism, drug dependence, disability;  schools, with too many children disadvantaged by family ‘failures’ again associated with poverty, fail to keep up with standards in the rest of the world. John Seddon reckons up to 80% of what is done in local authorities today is driven by what he calls ‘failure demand’.

Its only #earlydays but together we can change Scotland.

earlydaysscotland

We hope we are in the early days of a better nation. Let’s make it one.

Last week people turned out in their droves to change their country for the better. What if people turned out in those numbers to do something for their fellow citizens?

Early Days is an attempt to take the energy and hunger for change in Scotland following the results of the referendum on September 18th and put it to action. Whether yes or no, people power prevailed during the referendum, and this is a medium for people to channel their passion through mass actions. We encourage change from the bottom up to make Scotland a more socially just nation, without the need for politicians. Fuelled by the quote made famous by Alasdair Gray ‘work as if you live in the early days of a better nation’ Early Days is just a starting point.

Its only…

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Let Scotland flourish

After a momentous night, a new day.  In every street of every town and city in Scotland there is likely to be a mix of deeply conflicting emotions. Relief, anger, grief, disappointment, jubilation, maybe even despair as the reality of the referendum result sinks in.  It will take time to recover a sense of balance after such a long, passionate and often divisive campaign. But hope has not died. Today, the day after Scotland’s historic decision, brings a dawning reality: we have woken in a different country. Scotland is still part of the United Kingdom but both are changed forever.