Who Are Our Cities For?

In which Simon Constable and Fiona Campbell come to the rescue of Edinburgh’s housing crisis, and save the Edinburgh Festival … Too late for my 2023 Wrapped, Spotify’s algorithm recently suggested that I might want to listen to the Constable Confidential podcast, episode title “Housing Crisis in Scotland and How the Edinburgh Festival Will Never […] Source

Flying High, to Dubai

As the bombing of Gaza recommences and eulogies for Henry Kissinger rain down, something called COP 28 kicks-off in Dubai, the capital of the United Arab Emirates and one of the world’s top ten oil producers. Three unelected leaders from Britain flew out for the event, Rishi Sunak, our unelected Prime Minister. David Cameron, our […] Source

Fun-Washing Fascism

The standout neologism* from this year is Fun-Washing (after Nigel Farage joined I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here). But ‘Fun-Washing’ – the idea of cleansing toxic or repellent individuals or ideas by re-locating them into the heart of light entertainment – is not as recent as we might think. Cultural historians will debate […] Source

Three reasons the new UK immigration package is bad news for Scotland

The two main UK parties are both committed to slashing immigration numbers. They don’t care if that means bad news for Scottish public services, Scottish universities, the Scottish economy – and the comfort and security of many New Scots. Both Labour and the Conservatives are tailoring their message to what will bring them votes down […] Source

The Banality of Scottish Politics

Much of the political debate and coverage of Scottish politics remains utterly banal. We are caught in the stagnant pond of constitutional impasse. The reasons for this are clear. Around 50% of people don’t want to be part of the British state yet there seems no way to alter this reality. Those that champion our […] Source

Family matters

I’m afraid I’m currently dealing with some family issues so won’t be blogging for a little while. My mother’s health has taken a turn for the worse and she is currently in hospital. I will be back when things settle down a bit.   _______________________________________________ My Gaelic maps of Scotland are…

Shut It Down for Palestine

Three weeks is a long time in politics – or certainly it is for Glasgow City Council. * As part of an international call out to ‘Shut it down for Palestine’, five Glasgow residents disrupted a Glasgow City Council ‘State of the City Economy’ conference. The event featured a panel with two weapons companies based […] Source