Devo Mac: An Invitation From Lord Smith Of Kelvin

In the recent referendum on Scottish independence 63% of those eligible to vote declined the opportunity to make Scotland an independent nation (c.2 million voted against and another 0.8 million didn’t bother to turn out). On the face of it this might look like an overwhelming majority of Scots are in favour of continuing with…

Vanity (un)Fair

In Thackery’s early 19th century satire, Vanity Fair, all of the characters are flawed in one way or another, but George Osborne is is without a doubt the most shallow, self-regarding and stupid of the lot. Fast forward a couple of hundred years to the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham. The Chancellor of the Exchequer…

Financial Reform: An Alternative Use For “Yes”?

The Scottish independence referendum was about different things to different people, but a common theme was the hope of finding better ways of doing things: ways of tackling poverty and inequality; ways of moving government closer to communities, of making democracy more responsive; ways of encouraging an economy to thrive. For many people who are…

diagram from Flip Chart Fairy Tales

Fairy Tales

I’ve been following a blog for the the last few months called Flip Chart Fairy Tales, written by a business insider called Rick. His strapline is “Business bullshit, corporate crap, and other stuff from the world of work”, and from what I’ve read so far you get exactly what’s advertised: straightforward analysis of of business…

Scottish Independence: Status Quo (Whatever You Want)

“Should Scotland be an independent country?” On the 18th of September people living in Scotland will have the opportunity at the ballot box to answer Yes or No. Since the date of the referendum was announced the onus has been on independence enthusiasts to bring forward arguments in support of their cause, and they have…

Scottish Independence: One Good Reason For Voting “Yes”

I’ve just listened to playwright Kieran Hurley’s forthright and energising Aye! Talk in which he lists 25 reasons why he’s voting Yes in September’s referendum on Scottish independence. Most of the 25 reasons relate to Kieran’s own political and moral preferences, things that he dislikes about the UK that he hopes can be done better…

Scottish Independence: On A Wing And A Prayer

I’ve just watched Jim Sillars on the Aye! Talks website giving a speech about the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence. Jim is always worth listening to and here he’s as articulate and passionate as ever about why he believes Scotland should step away from the union with England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The best thing about…

Freaking Unbelievable

Steven D. Levitt is a professor of economics at the University of Chicago and co-author of a series of books that have the word “Freakonomics” in their titles. Until yesterday I had never read anything by Mr Levitt, and heartily wish that I hadn’t bothered to read this article on his blog because its stupidity…

The Yes Movement & Political Engagement

The Yes Movement & Political Engagement.  Supporters of a “No” vote in September’s referendum on Scottish independence and enthusiasts for keeping the UK intact need to read this article from Jen Stout. This is where the groundswell of support for independence is coming from and tells us what needs to happen in the whole of…