AI, creativity and humanity (1) - Sceptical Scot '“I resisted ChatGPT for so long because I felt it was wrong to use it. But then I caved in and now I can’t stop!” one arts organisation CEO told me. She’s hooked, having discovered the joy of draftin...

#AI what will its real impact be on the creative sector in Scotland and what are its benefits/risks to creatives: @dougalperman.bsky.social investigates in the first of a 3-part series - MUST READ!
sceptical.scot/2025/10/ai-c...

Rafah crossing to stay closed, Israel says, affecting aid after Hamas failed to hand over bodies of hostages – Gaza ceasefire live Israeli defence minister says delay in returning bodies is violation of ceasefire

collective punishment by any other name www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

Israel’s biggest security threat: Netanyahu - Sceptical Scot "Perhaps the most damning result of what is happening is the mass radicalisation of young Palestinians and of future Palestinian generations. As Israeli and US security experts have acknowledged, talk...

#October7 two takes on the 2nd anniversary
sceptical.scot/2025/10/isra... and sceptical.scot/2025/10/midd...

Build, baby, build - Sceptical Scot The Scottish Parliament has just passed a new housing bill that, inter alia, removes the council tax cap on second homes but we need a much more consequential approach to solve the housing polycrisis.

sceptical.scot/2025/10/buil... @ross-greer.bsky.social et al should read @davidhumeinst.bsky.social report on Scotland's housing polycrisis via Prof Duncan Maclennan - not tinker around legislative edges

Does Starmer have a vision? - Sceptical Scot "Starmer, in his speech, said both Farage, the Tories, ‘the extremes of the left’ and the SNP want Britain to fail. But as the Prime Minister struggles on, the biggest risk is that Starmer will fail a...

#Starmer and how he's set to become the latest in a series of failed UK leaders via @kirstyshughes.bsky.social sceptical.scot/2025/10/does...

#Gaza this has to be one of the most grotesquely cynical comments via @haaretzcom.bsky.social "Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told a real estate conference that Gaza "is becoming a real estate bonanza," and negotiations with the U.S. regarding a business plan for the Strip have begun."

Scottish education: genuine partnership or pre-election fix? - Sceptical Scot "The Scottish educational establishment, over many decades, has been successful in resisting attempts to disturb its culture of complacency. Sadly, it may take a further decline in public confidence a...

Another magisterial, incisive analysis by Walter Humes of the latest
effort to improve Scottish education ahead of #Holyrood2026 by building on a "new" partnership btw central and local govt

sceptical.scot/2025/09/scot...

Ferreting out radioactive leaks from Trident - Sceptical Scot "Loch Long is a 20-mile-long seawater loch that flows into the Firth of Clyde. People fish there; they swim and paddleboard. They had a right to know about the leak - and we all had a right to know ab...

Let's hear it for @theferret.scot says @jackiekemp.bsky.social for doggedly exposing radioactive leaks from Trident into a popular Scottish loch
sceptical.scot/2025/09/ferr...

GERS and what it tells us about the de-prioritisation of health spending in Scotland - Sceptical Scot "At face value, this does seem like another area where the Scottish Government is not being adequately held to account for its decisions. Doing so might throw up some difficult questions but at least ...

#Healthspending how come it's relatively low in real terms v England, asks GERS sleuth John McLaren - and compared with the two other big areas of the Scottish Budget, education and social protection?! With fresh analysis
sceptical.scot/2025/08/gers...

Independence, GERS and how not to have a debate - Sceptical Scot "If the fiscal shortfall were only a few billion then fair enough, it’s not that important and we can deal with it when it arises, but not when it’s around £14-18bn. Facing up to it post-independence,...

#GERS now that's out of the way for another year why can't we have a proper, full debate about what an independent government would do to tackle the deficit it would inherit and fund its plans?! asks John McLaren
sceptical.scot/2025/08/inde...

Labour and ending poverty - Sceptical Scot "When governments are remembered after they lose office, their achievements are unforgivingly distilled into a few pithy bullet points. Does Keir Starmer really want one of his bullet points to be tha...

#poverty a cool, analytical look at Starmer's fiscal rectitude plus/versus Labour's anti-poverty values sceptical.scot/2025/07/labo...

Labour and ending poverty - Sceptical Scot "When governments are remembered after they lose office, their achievements are unforgivingly distilled into a few pithy bullet points. Does Keir Starmer really want one of his bullet points to be tha...

sceptical.scot/2025/07/labo...

Starmer Y1: what now for Scotland and a fractured union? - Sceptical Scot "Labour’s hopes, when it won the general election, to be in government in England, Wales and Scotland by 2026 currently look off the agenda, not to say absurd. A fractured Labour government and parlia...

#Starmer a year on: sharp critique via @kirstyshughes.bsky.social who belittles @scottishlabour.bsky.social chances of beating Swinney et al in Holyrood26 elections sceptical.scot/2025/07/star...

The fragmenting map of Scottish politics - Sceptical Scot "A disruptive polariser like Reform UK could reshape the system without facing a coherent counterforce. In such a scenario, the rules of the political game are not just changing – they may be dissolvi...

what happens to Scottish politics post-Hamilton and Reform UK's breakthrough here? Some (bleak) answers here: sceptical.scot/2025/06/the-...

Scottish paradox: a £704m boom on a foundation of sand - Sceptical Scot "The most striking disparity is gender. For every £100 of investment capital distributed in Scotland last year, a colossal £87 was captured by businesses run by men, who secured 75% of all deals....Th...

Really good piece by a young Scottish financial journo on the booming (?) start-up scene sceptical.scot/2025/06/scot...

A coalition willing and delivering change - Sceptical Scot "That's why - in the middle of tectonic turbulence geopolitically - a progressive coalition that can see off Reform with or without the shrunken Conservatives in its pockets would be the most desirabl...

real change in Scotland requires a real change of government via @gowdav.bsky.net sceptical.scot/2025/05/a-co...

Power from the grassroots Why improving local democracy is vital: continuing a Sceptical Scot series of analyses from the Mercat Group of the Scottish Government wilful centralisation of power

substack.com/home/post/p-... - our new Sceptical Scot second home!

Big series of events next week to mark Europe Day/VE 80 and the end of WW2m in Scotland: sign up via here festivalofeuropescotland.org/whats-on and see here: @festivalofeurope.bsky.social

Making sense of politics in “these islands" - Sceptical Scot When it comes to the Union: "Big things are happening but, in the midst of change, their shape and significance has yet to become clear. To paraphrase Gramsci, the old order is dying but the new one s...

How should we think of UK-Irish relations these days, asks Prof Michael Keating sceptical.scot/2025/04/maki...

Trans in fiction - and in court - Sceptical Scot The UK Supreme Court said that their ruling on biological sex as a distinct category in equality provision should not be interpreted as a defeat for trans people. Trans people have the right to live i...

Nice piece by @jackiekemp.bsky.social on the trans issue going back over a century sceptical.scot/2025/04/tran...

Welfare reforms: the (unknown) Scottish dimension - Sceptical Scot “The Scottish Government’s block grant adjustment is based on the projected expenditure in England and Wales, and therefore a tightening of access to PIP will (all else equal) make the Scottish Budget...

PIP/ADP: how will Liz Kendall's mooted reforms affect Scotland? An initial analysis: sceptical.scot/2025/03/welf...

Irish neutrality comes under question - Sceptical Scot The Dáil's failure to establish committees for government scrutiny is alarming amid shifting international relations. The discourse includes critiques on Irish neutrality, urging a reevaluation of pol...

Irish neutrality coming under serious question via Mick Fealty sceptical.scot/2025/03/iris...

What are Labour governments for? The aid issue - Sceptical Scot "Leading where others follow, Trump has cut US foreign aid. By 83%. It is hard, in the new age of transactional, personalistic, international relations, to discern much a future for development spendi...

Aid cuts: Judith Hart and countless others are turning in their graves at the scale of these cuts while today's activists/supporters are prompted to switch to other progressive parties via Martin Farr sceptical.scot/2025/03/what...

A reformed second chamber is urgently required in the UK argues Jackie Kemp[https://sceptical.scot/2025/03/the-uk-needs-a-reformed-second-chamber/

What the ferries fiasco means for Arran - Sceptical Scot The launch of MV Glen Sannox marks a significantly delayed step towards improving ferry services between Arran and the Scottish mainland. Uncertainty persists regarding the ferry base location, with e...

An in-depth look at the impact of the ferries fiasco on Arran via Aidan Rooney of @fraserofallander.org sceptical.scot/2025/03/what...

Trump’s negotiation tactics: a business mindset in a diplomatic world - Sceptical Scot The confrontation between U.S. President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy illustrates the risks of prioritizing immediate national interests over foundational principles in international diplom...

Trump's transactional business mindset sends him all at sea in complex diplomacy via Alexios Arvanitis sceptical.scot/2025/03/trum...

another one bites the dust: BP votes to kill the planet in order to boost "shareholder value" and dump green "ambition"

why @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social slash the overseas aid budget (and lose votes to Libs/Greens) and not ballooning welfare spending, including PIP that's out of control?

Tough guy Starmer tries to ape Trump by slashing international aid budget to fund extra defence spending: not a shred of principle left in this ex-human rights lawyer

Lavrov: “replace the Euro-Atlantic model that is bankrupt,” with a new initiative “open to all alliances on the continent, including the European part of the greater Eurasia.” Warsaw Pact 2.0 extended westwards and expanded but dominated/run by Big Power Russia - NO THANKS Sergei