William Duguid

Donald Trump at the centre of a laying-on-of-hands ceremony. Pass the sick bucket.

'When it comes down to it, the reason that Trump has no aim is very simple. This isn’t his war.
Netanyahu, by contrast, has wanted this war all his life.'
Peter Arnott, via Bella Caledonia
bellacaledonia.org.u...

Why every war sounds the same — Common Weal Western governments often frame military intervention as a duty to protect democracy, stability or human rights. But these narratives shape how conflicts are understood long before the first policy decision is made. When intervention is consistently presented as moral and defensive, it becomes diffi

'When wars are framed primarily as struggles between good actors and bad actors, scrutiny becomes more difficult.'
Megan Davidson, via Common Weal

Rarely have we ever marched into the unknown so ill-equipped to manage the consequences There has been something strange taking place on Sky News over the last day or so. A succession of retired former generals and security chiefs, including a British former deputy chief of NATO and the former head of MI6, have been appearing in interviews that can be found on their...

'The West has let fascism govern its agenda because it is what Trump and Netanyahu are pursuing. Too many countries, including the UK, have obsequiously fallen in line behind these staggeringly incompetent leaders. We might pay an enormous price.'
Richard Murphy

'The Justification for the War against Iran Has Changed from Day to Day, with No Clear End Goal or Exit Strategy' From Washington DC, former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall assesses the arguments used to justify the attack on Iran

'It’s not just the Iranian regime that's in a weak position, but also the US administration, which presides over a divided country at home, and internationally has seemingly gone out of its way to alienate many of its allies.'
Alex Hall Hall, via Byline Times

Why you should learn the Iron Law of Oligarchy — Common Weal All bureaucratic systems tend further and further towards centralised control, and there are no exceptions. The only protection against this are checks and balances, and the only protection for those comes from our determination to keep officials honest.

"You don't need to be dishonest or a crook to want to shrug off accountability. It's generally precisely because someone thinks they're an 'honest kind of person' that they conclude they can just skip a step put there to constrain them.'
Robin McAlpine, via The National

John Swinney emerging from a polling station

'Many independence supporters – me included – have cut the SNP some slack and gone with the SNP majority plan in the absence of a viable alternative, but surely this is the last throw of the dice.'
Richard Walker, via The National
archive.is/L1ZJw

A classroom. in soft focus taken from the back, with an empty chair and desk in the foreground.

'Much of Finland’s success in education is counter-intuitive. They have the best results with the shortest school terms, the shortest school days and the lowest amount of facetime between teachers and pupils.'
Lesley Riddoch, via The National
archive.is/eQyIV

Supporters at an open-air rally with Alba banners and saltires

'The idea that a party that was polling at 1% would miraculously gain massive support after a sustained bout of bitter internal factionalism that makes Your Party look like a Buddhist retreat is extraordinary.'
Mike Small, via Bella Caledonia
bellacaledonia.org.u...

Workers remove the rubble of a police facility struck during the U.S. Israeli military campaign in Tehran (Image: AP)

'If decades of watching Western military interventions in the Middle East up close have taught me anything, it’s that once in such wars, they are almost impossible to get out of without great cost.'
David Pratt, via The National
archive.is/xlQR0

It’s a lack of will, not consensus, that prevents Council Tax reform — Common Weal The Scottish Government’s failure to reform Council Tax has gone on far too long. It must be a defining mission of the next Parliament to reform it in the only fair way possible.

'The debate on Council Tax reform has gone on far too long. Everyone agrees that things need to change. No-one, it appears, wants to be the one to take the responsibility of making that change happen. This isn’t good enough.'
Dr Craig Dalȝell, via Common Weal

Skye's revolting Crofters by Catherine McPhee

'Words shape how governments act, resources are shared, and futures are imagined. Our culture is not peripheral, it is powerful. Our voices are not distant, they are here, loud and clear. Rural, not remote, is who we are.'
Catherine McPhee quoted by Yes United

Immunity without accountability — Common Weal A Court of Session ruling has declared part of Scotland’s criminal procedure incompatible with the right to a fair hearing. The case is not about a controversial prosecution, but about a deeper constitutional question: how much immunity should public prosecutors enjoy in a modern democracy?

'If the state has the power to prosecute, it must also tolerate structured scrutiny of how that power is exercised.
Independence without accountability is fragility disguised as strength.'
Megan Davidson, via Common Weal

Owen Jones

'Today, there is hope. But brace yourself for what will come next.'
Owen Jones on the aftermath of the Gorton & Denton by-election, via The National
archive.is/b8mxR

An offshore oil rig in silhouette on the horizon at sunset.

'What would Scotland look like if Scots saw the McCrone Report?'
Richard Johnston, via The National
archive.is/XJusn

Here I am discussing the Independence Forum/Yes United music/poetry event at Oran Mor on Saturday 14 March at 6pm. We hope it'll lead to something big for the cultural side of the Yes movement.
Tickets, £20+booking fee, from Ticketsource at www.ticketsource.co.uk/independence...
Don't miss out!

'Every means we have for holding public sector bureaucracies to account is being weakened, removed or subverted.'
Robin McAlpine, via Common Weal

Green Party leader Zack Polanski at Manchester Central as votes are counted for the Gorton and Denton by-election (Image: Peter Byrne)

'The by-election result has had one very significant impact on Scottish politics, because for the first time ever, a party not actually opposed to Scottish independence has a non-trivial chance of taking power at Westminster.'
James Kelly, via The National
archive.is/GLNWb

Screenshot of a Facebook post about Scottish Labour's 2026 conference in Paisley, showing a rather less than impressive crowd at the event.

'After Manchester, Scottish Labour are like a Dead Man Walking, with the party faithful searching for new ideas ongoing, like latter-day alchemists. Desperately trying to conjure gold from base metals, Scottish Labour stumbles on.'
Mike Small, via Bella Caledonia
bellacaledonia.org.u...

Why regulating social media is now a public health imperative — Common Weal Social media is not a neutral communication tool but a behavioural system engineered to capture attention and shape development. This argues that protecting children online must be treated as a public health imperative requiring structural intervention – not piecemeal regulation.

'Regulating social media use is not a culture war issue, nor a generational panic. It is a public health imperative – and a moral one.'
Megan Davidson, via Common Weal

Offshore wind turbines.

'The current generation of privately owned energy assets will eventually need to be replaced, and fairly soon – perhaps in 25 years’ time. This gives us an opportunity to start planning now.'
Dr Craig Dalȝell, via The National
archive.is/PhkeC

A photo of King Charles waving, with his face scribbled over with a marker pen.

'Despite its manifest unfitness for purpose, the House of Windsor is safe for now. The United Kingdom will not abolish the monarchy, because nobody with clout has any courage.'
Claire McNab, via Bella Caledonia
bellacaledonia.org.u...

The public and politics are at right angles; this missing concept explains it — Common Weal Politics used to focus on people’s quality of life - and then it started counting up numbers instead. This more than anything explains the disconnect between people and politics.

'A rising economy is no longer a guarantee that standards of living will also rise, and until we accept that and start focussing on the latter, this political disconnect will just keep getting bigger – with all the harm that comes with it.'
Robin McAlpine, via Common Weal

Reform is setting out to deceive Richard Tice made abundantly clear yesterday where Reform's sympathies lie. The party exists to enhance the well-being of employers and landlords.  It exists to assist the exploitation of workers and renters. And, it also intends to facilitate the end of sustainable human life on Earth. In a speech yesterday, he did,...

'What is a surprise is that many of those voting for Reform will not have noticed how severely it intends to harm their well-being.
They are pursuing a politics of hate, and the hate is aimed at the very people they are seeking to woo.'
Richard Murphy

Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers remarks at the top of a Cabinet meeting on February 24, 202.

'Labour are putting the UK on a war footing, but where is the media scrutiny?'
Professor Des Freedman, co-director of the Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre, via The National
archive.is/QhnZo

A plaster cast of two hands standing upright with the pinkies crossed.

'There’s no actual legal recourse if a party of Government starts throwing out the promises they made in order to win power. Just look at the manifesto of Keir Starmer’s leadership campaign compared to what he’s actually done in office.'
Dr Craig Dalȝell, via Common Weal
www.commonweal.scot/...

An elderly person with a worried expression as she looks at an energy bill.

'In a country still marked by fuel poverty, telling households already rationing heat to practise energy “sobriety” can sound less like climate policy than like a polite disregard for material reality.'
Assa Samaké-Roman , via The National
archive.is/YSiYq

A workman in a yellow hi-viz jacket appearing at the top of the internal inspection ladder of an offshore wind turbine. Between the blades of the turbine you can see an array of several other turbines on the horizon, rising from the surface of the sea.

'Incredibly, Scotland has a second chance at energy wealth, yet if we remain with Westminster it'll again be taken from us, and we'll be told we're subsidy junkies who should be grateful for the generosity of the English taxpayer.'
weegingerdug, via The National
www.thenational.scot...

Legal woes The Lesley Riddoch Podcast · Episode

Bumper podcast from Lesley Riddoch and Fraser Thompson.
Legal rammies on Mandelson, Andrew, Lord Advocate and Alba.
Does the Lord Advocate's dual role do Scotland any favours?
Transforming Scotland: community wealth building.
Can SNP sustain its big poll lead?

John Swinney looking thoughtful

'Perhaps the biggest danger of all in this election is for expectations of an improbable single-party SNP majority to be allowed to run away with themselves, and then to be shown up as a mirage when the votes are counted.'
James Kelly, via The National
archive.is/3VhxH

Andrew Mountbatten-Winsor, looking excetionally cheesed off. Not quite as much as he's probably going to be, of course.

'Although they might appear to be experts, royal correspondents are really just there to ensure the institution lives on - and amid the biggest crisis the system has ever faced, they will make sure every single finger is pointed at Andrew.'
Steph Brawn, via The National
archive.is/WxumO