@davehawkey.bsky.social
Equalising capital gains with income tax is fair, sensible, & could raise £14bn a year.
It was famously 'pro-growth' Tory chancellor Nigel Lawson who equalised CGT with IT in the first place - and our analysis shows millionaires wouldn’t flee.
inews.co.uk/news/politic...
🎯The broad settlement for Scotland in today's Spending Review is welcome but not enough to meet its fiscal challenges.
👀All eyes should now be on the upcoming industrial strategy.
@stephenboydippr.bsky.social reacts ⤵️
Full statement on our website: www.ippr.org/media-office...
The Climate Change Plan, due later this year, will be a litmus test as to whether the parties are willing to step up to solving these defining issues of our generation.
10.06.2025 09:51 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0What’s the programme to upgrade the heating of our homes so we stay warm as the gas grid is shut down? What does our food system look like as we give over more of our land to trees and less to sheep and cows? How will we make sure net zero narrows inequalities and doesn’t drive us further apart?
10.06.2025 09:51 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0We need concrete plans for how we are going to get to net zero safely and fairly: climate missions that set clear objectives and coordinate delivery.
10.06.2025 09:51 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Voters have seen this failure and want more ambitious action. www.ippr.org/articles/pol...
10.06.2025 09:51 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
The parliament’s recognition of a climate emergency in 2019 was not matched by a step change in policy. Instead, timid piecemeal initiatives crowded out more ambitious ideas.
10.06.2025 09:51 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Today’s emission figures are disappointing but hardly surprising. Stalled progress on climate is rooted in inadequate political leadership. www.gov.scot/news/scottis...
10.06.2025 09:51 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
🌡️Stalled progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions raises urgent questions about how Scotland meets its targets for net zero.
🎯Action is needed now, and the upcoming Climate Change Plan will be the litmus test for meeting the moment.
🗳️Voters in Hamilton have shown they want to a fairer, greener future, but can Scottish politicians afford to be complacent? Certainly not.
✅2026 cannot be a contest mired in negativity but a battle for the high ground.
@stephenboydippr.bsky.social
The number of people putting immigration as one of their top three concerns has increased, but it sits in the middle of the pack with many others and represents a minority (16%) of people. Half of people taking the survey are worried about health and the NHS.
27.05.2025 10:14 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Even "immigration ranked as *a* top concern" would have been over egging it a bit. Health/NHS and cost of living far and away more significant
understanding-scotland.co.uk/report/under...
This is a wildly misleading headline on @hannahmargbrown.bsky.social story today
"Immigration ranked as top concern for Scots, new report reveals"
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2519162...
⚠️The CCC published expert advice on how the Scottish government can tackle the climate crisis.
📺 @davehawkey.bsky.social spoke to @laurapiper.bsky.social of STV to elucidate further: "What we need now is a policy package that can step up to deliver [the simple things recommended by the CCC]."
⚠️It is time to focus on adopting “climate missions”: coherent plans to coordinate change that everyone eventually will be a part of.
We respond to the Climate Change Committee's advice published today⤵️
@davehawkey.bsky.social
Thanks @prospectmagazine.co.uk @aloner.bsky.social who let me write about Tony Blair's recent tribute act to the TB-GBs of New Labour, with some more serious consideration of where his NZ antipathy comes and the new politics if climate
mini 🧵
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/698...
🚗 | NEW REPORT: Around 25,000 car manufacturing jobs in the UK are at risk if Trump announces new tariffs today. But as one door closes another one opens. There is huge untapped potential in building & selling green planes, trains and automobiles.
Read here: www.ippr.org/articles/pla...
"The political debate is lopsided, focusing on electricity while ignoring our dependence on gas for heating. This is an amazing omission given gas makes up half of a typical Scottish energy bill." @davehawkey.bsky.social tells @alexofbrown.bsky.social @scotsman.com
www.scotsman.com/news/politic...
No child deserves to live in poverty, yet today's figures highlight the work still to be done to eradicate child poverty.
Tweaking the system isn’t enough - ending child poverty requires a clearer debate about our shared prosperity and how costs are distributed.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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🚨 New child poverty figures out today paint a stark picture - 22% of children in Scotland are trapped in poverty
➡️ While lower than the UK’s 31% rate, this still falls short of the 18% interim target. Urgent action is needed
Our response ⤵️
www.ippr.org/media-office...
IPPR Scotland response:
The government should think very carefully about how these costs are shared across society. Benefits and services can’t always be expected to take the strain. It is only fair and reasonable for taxation to play a much more prominent role.
www.ippr.org/media-office...
Child poverty isn’t inevitable. We can turn the tide and give every child in Scotland the chance to thrive 👩👦
Social security is key. When wages work together with strong social security, the impact is powerful. Senior Research Fellow @davehawkey.bsky.social explains 👇
Today @ipprscotland.bsky.social publishes new analysis showing that by 2030 child poverty in Scotland will be:
- well below the rest of the UK due to devolved policies
- more than twice as high as the Scottish Government's current target
@davehawkey.bsky.social
www.ippr.org/articles/ach...
In light of the Scottish government's decision to scrap the heat in buildings bill altogether, do read @davehawkey.bsky.social's extremely pertinent paper on how the cost of retrofit should be covered fairly⤵️
www.ippr.org/articles/no-...
The Scottish government's decision to scrap the heat in buildings bill is the wrong one. The government should instead adopt better and more equitable solutions available to them. Read @davehawkey.bsky.social's response in full here⤵️
12.03.2025 11:07 — 👍 5 🔁 6 💬 1 📌 0
Welfare changes could deliver real savings over time, but a ‘cuts first’ approach is likely to undermine efforts to reform the system and worsen child poverty.
💻 Read Avnee's full reaction to today's rumoured welfare cuts here: www.ippr.org/media-office...
Fiona Collie from the Carers Scotland team was interviewed today on Good Morning Scotland and spoke about how a minimum income guarantee could improve the lives of carers.
Catch up with the piece here (segment starts at 11:24): www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Climate Horizon conference -- can AI help tackle fuel poverty through the transition?
Perhaps some AI can make cost and energy efficiencies.
But its a steep hill to climb for that to convincingly deal with the twin facts of persistent inequality and the investment cost of the heat transition.
I’m going to “Climate Horizons 2040” conference at Edinburgh University today in the roll of “keynote listener”(?!).
The state of the climate and of our efforts to protect it have never seemed so bleak. We need an almighty gear shift if we’re going to stop the harms getting even worse.
