Latest Articles & News

Three Ways Westminster Has Weakened the Scottish Parliament’s Powers

The last few years have seen a sustained attack on the powers of the Scottish Parliament from Westminster. In a paper called “Devolution Since the Brexit Referendum”, Constitution Secretary Angus Robertson looks in detail at what has taken place. Here are three key takeaways from the paper.

5 things you need to know about today’s independence paper announcement

Today the Scottish Government released its fourth paper in the ‘Building a New Scotland’ series. This paper covered the constitutional future of an independent Scotland. Following independence, Scotland would move away from the UK constitutional system by adopting a written, codified constitution, enshrining the rights of all citizens and describing the powers and limitations of the branches of government (such as parliament, government and the courts of law).

Here are five things you need to know from the announcement of today’s independence policy paper:

Mediawatch – Media ignores new report that proves Scotland’s A&E wait times are MUCH better than England’s

Scotland and England were releasing different figures until now

Scotland and England have been measuring wait times in A&E differently – Scotland’s figures are from “time of arrival” but England’s NHS only started the clock from the time of “decision to admit” – that is not what most people mean when they talk about their A&E wait time and it made England’s figures look better than Scotland’s.

After a long campaign, NHS England has started to produce comparable figures to Scotland’s – and they show a really significant difference, with Scotland performing a lot better.

Johnson's Dishonours List makes titles a badge of shame

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack is just one of around 50 people who are expected to receive the sham title of ‘Lord’ in Boris Johnson’s so-called resignation ‘honours’ list.

The House of Lords is already an undemocratic sham but this new list which includes lacklustre MPs like Nadine Dorries, rewarded for her fawning loyalty and Paul Dacre, the former Daily Mail editor whose paper notoriously branded judges “enemies of the people” when they prevented Johnson from illegally shutting down Parliament, will make the title “Lord” into a badge of shame.

How to stop Voter ID rules undermining Scotland’s democracy

Local elections in England last week were marred by voters getting turned away from the polls – or deciding to stay at home because of the new voter ID requirements. This has suppressed voter turnout – as Believe in Scotland predicted.

Finally even Farage admits Brexit has failed – with Scotland now tied to failing UK

“We have not delivered on Brexit… the Tories have let us down very, very badly”. Arch Brexiteer Nigel Farage’s words on Newsnight this week have caused tremors across the UK’s political landscape.

Farage and his party UKIP were hugely prominent and influential in selling Brexit to voters. Scotland didn’t fall for it – but it was forced to leave the EU and now Brexit’s failures are forcing particular hardship on families and businesses north of the Border. If the country was independent, men like Farage would have no role in shaping policy for Scotland.

Who do you want to represent Scotland internationally - so-called "lords" or democratic representatives?

Who do you want to represent Scotland internationally - unelected peers or democratic representatives? Who has the right to represent Scotland’s interests abroad? Is it elected representatives such as Angus Robertson - or unelected Conservative donors such as ‘lord’ Malcolm Offord? Many will ask - what possible right does Malcolm Offord have to represent Scotland internationally? And yet he does. ...

Media Watch - Unionists announce attack on Scotland’s Parliament

Those who have been warning that the UK government is planning to undermine and attack the powers of the Scottish Parliament got further confirmation this week from “lord” David Frost in a column in the Daily Telegraph. Frost is an unelected member of the Westminster Parliament who has held several ministerial posts including that of Brexit Minister. Writing...

Good news for the independence movement as "Yes" vote holds firm

Recent polling shows support for ‘Yes’ to independence is holding steady at 48%, even as the SNP as a political party has lost some ground. It is good news for the independence movement - although it means that independence support is not as closely linked to SNP support as it used to be. That raises questions - is this a...