Latest Articles & News

One Year On: Labour Proves Westminster Still Doesn’t Work for Scotland

A year ago today, many Scottish voters answered Labour’s call to vote the Conservatives out. They were promised change and a fairer society.

But after 12 months in office, it is obvious that changing the guard at Westminster does nothing for Scotland.

Believe in Scotland founder Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp said: “Real change, the kind that puts Scotland first and improves the lives of those who live here, won’t come from swapping blue for red, or red for a new shade of blue. It will only come from independence.”

Here are four key areas where Labour has set its course in a direction that is bad for Scotland.

Calls for Wales to copy Scotland’s “powerful and effective” child poverty measures

The Scottish Parliament’s child poverty measures have seen a “parting of the ways” with England and Wales. Wales’ Bevan Foundation is calling for Wales to emulate what Scotland is doing as a powerful and effective way to lift children out of poverty.

Scotland has seen a 12% drop in child poverty since introducing reduction targets into law in 2017, according to new research. There has been a reduction of 21,000 children living in relative poverty, while in the same period, England and Wales have seen a 15% rise, said the Big Issue.

Reform rides the wave of poverty and inequality to political power in England

Reform UK has won the by-election in Runcorn near Liverpool and is dominating the English local government election results. The Westminster seat that they won used to be a Labour safe seat. But is this really a surprise? History tells us that poverty and inequality are fuel for right-wing populism.

Cultural Independence - The key to Scotland’s Constitutional independence

Scotland’s journey to independence can’t just be about politics. Politics is tribal and it's divisive. The UK government doesn't want Scotland to have another referendum; it wants to force the independence question to be about voting for political parties. That is because they know it's easier to vote for a nation you believe in than to vote for a political party you don’t.

If Grangemouth was in England, would it be saved?

Westminster has stepped in to save a British steel plant from closure on grounds of national security. But they haven’t done the same for Grangemouth. Even Labour MP for Grangemouth Brian Leishman and many other MPs for the surrounding areas have said if Scunthorpe can be saved, so can the sole Scottish oil refinery. The SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has also called for the Grangemouth refinery to be nationalised.

Child poverty now 35% higher in England than Scotland

UK figures released last week show that child poverty rates are now 35% higher in England than in Scotland.

Annual statistics show compared with the previous year’s statistics, relative child poverty in 2023-24 reduced from 26% to 22% in Scotland while absolute child poverty fell from 23% to 17%. UK Poverty statistics show compared with the previous year’s statistics, levels of relative child poverty at 31% and absolute child poverty at 26%.

Scottish water bills increase is a third of England's

Water bills in England are rising much more than in Scotland. You would not know that from watching BBC Breakfast as they presented the rise as an average £10 a month for England and 10% for Scotland. The average rise for Scotland is £3.68 - about one-third of the English rise.

Not the price of Net Zero - the cost of the Union

On the 1st of April, the energy cap on domestic energy bills rose by 6.4%. Right-wing commentators like to argue that the push for Net Zero is putting up energy bills. They have got that wrong - it is the privatisation of energy which is to blame for the fact our energy bills are sky high.

Westminster welfare cuts to slash £1 billion from Scotland’s budget

Disabled and chronically ill Scots are worried about the effect the Westminster government’s cuts to welfare are going to have on them. And the uncertainty Scots face is a direct result of devolution.