The Common Weal

Investing pensions in the UK economy — Common Weal Jim Osborne calls attention to the UK Government’s proposal to compel pension companies to invest into the UK economy - that plan that could support the economy by at least several tens of billions of...

“Investing in a US owned private equity entity which is building new infrastructure in the UK may seem like a positive contribution to the UK economy & add value to pension funds, the longer term impacts of foreign domination of the economy should be considered.”

www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

How Common Weal helped reform care — Common Weal Craig Dalzell looks at the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill - what remains of the National Care Service Bill - and compares it to Common Weal’s own work to see how many of our proposals made it into the fi...

Dr Craig Dalzell reviews the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill and what this means for care in Scotland.

www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

Scotland can lead the world with 'ecocide' bill currently in Holyrood IMAGINE the scene: a CEO sits handcuffed, silent, in the dock of a Scottish courtroom...

Michaela Girvan and Tara Pierce were representing Common Weal as part of our involvement in the Ocean Rights Coalition at the UNOC3 in Nice last week and reiterated our support for Monica Lennon’s Ecocide Bill in our @scotnational.bsky.social column.

www.thenational.scot/politics/252...

Seamless services? Only on better foundations — Common Weal Politicians often talk about seamless public services but don’t want to tackle the underlying problem - public sector data is a mess and it makes our services grind against each other where they shoul...

“Scotland doesn’t have a civil service so much as a loose coalition of semi-autonomous bodies that all do whatever they like and over which politicians have only limited control.”

www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

Scotland is not for sale Pt. I — Common Weal Scotland may not be privatising the public realm with quite the zeal of Starmer’s Labour, but it is happening constantly nonetheless. A vision for a public good-driven democracy is needed.

@roryhamilton.bsky.social says almost anybody can own Scotland’s economy apart from Scots themselves.

www.commonweal.scot/articles/sco...

If we don’t get ahead of the game we lose — Common Weal The chattering classes continue to chatter but fail to reach conclusions. But more chatter is a luxury we can’t afford; we need answers, we need action and we need some savvy.

“Inserting yourself in a productive process and taking value out of it is harmful, not positive (that includes FDI). Management consultants do not run public services well. Bureaucracies should not be left to run wild and build empires in the public sector.”

www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

Common Weal Consultation Update - June 2025 — Common Weal An update covering some of the government consultations we’ve responded to so far this year.

“If Scotland wants to properly equip local communities to be able to take on these developments, to own them then we also need an overhaul of local democratic structures including the refounding of a municipal level of local government.”

www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

Why a Scottish Currency Can’t Wait: Lessons from Keynes — Common Weal German economist Jan Frederik Moos explains that the Scottish Government’s current position on an independent Scotland’s currency is simply wrong. Monetary independence is no the final stage in indepe...

“What matters is not the absolute size of the deficit, but whether it sustains output and aligns with public purpose. However, this capacity depends on one fundamental precondition: that the government issues its own currency.”

www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

Moved on to Craig Dalzell on WellBeing Economy at Independence Forum Scotland convention @indyforumscot.bsky.social @thecommonweal.bsky.social @commongreen.bsky.social

National Convention - Independence Forum Scotland Envelope Youtube Icon-twitter-x Created with Fabric.js 5.2.4 National Convention The next meeting, the Summer Convention on Scotland’s Future, will take place at the Salutation Hotel, Perth, on Saturd...

We’d be delighted if you could join us in Perth on 14 June at The Summer Convention.

Free to attend, book at: independenceforum.scot/national-con....

Who is fighting your war? — Common Weal

“It is no secret that the army continues to target young people from poor working-class backgrounds to drive up recruitment. Because why would they help young people into employment when they could funnel them into the armed forces.”

Kaitlin Dryburgh at: www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

If you want to bid Government up, don’t start by bidding yourself down — Common Weal As well-meaning as the Greens’ proposals for property tax reform were, they were doomed by dint of their own self-sabotage by minimisation.

✍️ Dr Craig Dalzell on the MSPs who all agreed that council tax was ‘absurd’ but that it was ‘too difficult’ to reform.

www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

This is why the food system is unreformable — Common Weal Our food system has become a system of corporate exploitation, addiction and early deaths. When every incentive points exactly the wrong way, you can’t tweak the system into shape.

“That's the problem with food; the whole point of a termite is to work out how to take the most from consumers while giving the least back.”

Robin McAlpine at: www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

Turning the heat up - the right way — Common Weal A series of new government consultations could lead to a home insulation scheme that actually works. You should support them and ask your politicians to do the same.

Dr Keith Baker writes in our @scotnational.bsky.social column with Magdalena Blazusiak on the alternative EPC they have developed: the Home Energy Efficiency Technical Suitability Assessment (HEETSA).

www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

Who is fighting your war? — Common Weal

“It is no secret that the army continues to target young people from poor working-class backgrounds to drive up recruitment. Because why would they help young people into employment when they could funnel them into the armed forces.”

Kaitlin Dryburgh at: www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

Loch Lomond is a right, not an opportunity — Common Weal To help the politicians understand why their actions over Flamingo Land have made so many people so angry, Tam Brotherstone explains what it really meant to a working class boy like him. It mean freed...

“A place where you could escape from the horrors of slum housing, dirty and dangerous workplaces, and spirit crushing poverty. That’s what I and thousands of Glaswegians felt they found on the shores of Loch Lomond.”

Tam Brotherstone: www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

‘Scotland’s Future – Something Worth Talking About’ — Common Weal William Duguid on the Independence Forum Scotland’s upcoming conference in Perth

“The Wellbeing Economy is a term frequently bandied about, but often understood in fairly vague terms, without a clear picture of what it might actually involve.”

William Duguid ahead of this weekend’s Summer Convention on independence and the wellbeing economy.

www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

A phoenix could still appear out of the ashes of the National Care Service Bill — Common Weal The final amendments to what was the National Care Service Bill have been published. Nick Kempe reviews them to see what good can be salvaged out of the ground-down remains of the legislation.

“While the opposition political parties have focussed on different aspects of the Bill, most of the amendments represent considerable improvements. As a whole they would help pave the way to a better care system such as we proposed in Caring for All.”

Nick Kempe: www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

This Article Has Been [Redacted] — Common Weal The Scottish Government continues to show bad faith when it comes to Freedom of Information, spending more time and effort to conceal information than it would take to simply comply with the spirit of...

“The only reason this public information is not viewable by the public is because no-one has asked a question under an FOI that would reveal that information. This is the biggest flaw in the process, that information is secret by default.”

@thecommongreen.scot: www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

What we are doing isn’t working - is it time for some utopia? — Common Weal The one rule in politics is that all you can talk about is how you will change what is already there. But what if what is already there is so broken it will never work again?

“I don't think there is a better version of the NHS internal market or a better version of our dreadful inwards investment obsession, or a 'less bad' version of PFI.”

Robin McAlpine says there isn’t anything left in existing politics, we need an overhaul: www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

It’s time we talked about it — Common Weal It’s a subject that we need to talk about, perhaps uncomfortable and easier not to, but with Ash Regan’s proposed Prostitution Bill we may need to. Sex work often stays in the shadows, and as a societ...

“Perhaps though what I see as the biggest issue with this Bill is it does nothing to address the supply in the sex industry. Away from trafficking and overtly criminal issues, why do people consensually get involved?”

Kaitlin Dryburgh at: www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

Why we should listen to a car boss if we want a GP appointment — Common Weal The Western world has had a dominant model of how to do things for 40 years and it is clearly failing while China has a different model which very clearly works. It is time we started learning.

“The China Model doesn't try to extract wealth from the process, it tries to generate wealth from the efficiency of production. Its supply chains are shorter and more limited and it has much more command and control over every stage.”

Robin McAlpine: www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

Burning Down The House Of Cards — Common Weal Rachel Reeves appears to be ready to remove banking regulations put in place after the 2008 Financial Crash, and setting us up for a repeat of it in the future.

@thecommongreen.scot warns of the latest efforts by banks to lobby Rachel Reeves to repeal regulations separating retail and investment banking.

www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

Flamingoland: we have a system which itself is corrupt — Common Weal An architect with 45 years of experience working in England cannot understand what he has seen in the Flamingoland decision. Perhaps it is time for direct democracy…

“That is, it removes all controls inhibiting corruption and allows decisions to be made outwith public or even parliamentary scrutiny. It’s an open door for unscrupulous gold-diggers.”

www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

Robin McAlpine in @scotnational.bsky.social calls on the Scottish Government to make use of Scots Law to hold those aiding and abetting war criminals accountable over Gaza.

www.thenational.scot/news/2518543...

A Minimum Income Would Be A Real Cost Of Living Guarantee — Common Weal Instead of a “Cost of Living Guarantee” that doesn’t actually guarantee that you can meet the cost of living, John Swinney should adopt the long-awaited publication of a proposal for a Minimum Income ...

Dr Craig Dalzell criticises the First Minister’s “cost-of-living guarantee” for simply recycling policies and offering nothing new for people struggling.

www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

What should we think about weight-loss drugs? — Common Weal

“Perhaps that’s because we’re starting to lose sight of what a good diet is – not in relation to weight loss, but in general. These drugs don’t stop us from eating ultra-processed food – they just stop us eating as much.”

Kaitlin Dryburgh at: www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

I want to choose how I’m cared for when I get old — Common Weal None of us know what our health will bring in the future. A Living Will can help ensure that we get the care we want no matter what happens to us.

“For me this is not a debate which is about finding reasons to reject other people's choices. Yes, better palliative care, but not at the expense of someone's choice to not suffer.”

Robin McAlpine: www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...

“It is simply irresponsible for politicians to make policy which has potentially devastating effects on vulnerable children if they do not have evidence to support it.”

@thecommongreen.scot in @andrewlearmonth.bsky.social’s @heraldscotland.bsky.social scoop: www.heraldscotland.com/news/2516401...

Our identities are tearing us apart — Common Weal A major study has shown that between left and right we share little identity in common now, but that that is also true within the left. Without collective identity can we reverse polarisation?

“What we need is less rhetoric and finger-pointing and more data on which to base our investigation. If you want to look at any individual indicator, look at antisocial behaviour. That is a decent proxy for social disillusionment.”

Robin McAlpine at: www.commonweal.scot/articles/mag...