Latest news with #CommonWeal
The National
5 days ago
- Business
- The National
SNP under fire over public energy firm as Wales launches wind projects
The Labour-run administration in Cardiff set up Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru (which translates to Green Electricity Wales) in 2024, and in July announced plans for three wind farms on publicly owned Welsh woodlands – as well as more renewable energy projects yet to be finalised. Trydan said the initial three wind farms would be able to generate up to 400 MW of clean electricity – enough to power around one in four Welsh homes – with 'all profits generated reinvested in Welsh communities and public services'. In 2017, then-Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon pledged to establish a 'publicly owned, not-for-profit energy company', but the policy was dropped after the 2021 Holyrood elections. Robin McAlpine, from the Common Weal think tank, said that they had partnered with Plaid Cymru during their time in the Welsh government to lay the groundwork for Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru. 'The whole point of that conversation was to explain how to create a public energy company under a devolved settlement – and the fact that this is happening in Wales shows that it certainly could have happened in Scotland too,' he said. READ MORE: UK energy bills to rise as Ofgem approves £24bn investment 'Common Weal has made this point over and over again – the letter of the devolution settlement says the Scottish Government can't own a wind farm, but we've set out about six different workarounds. 'The fastest is to create an energy company which is co-ordinated and funded by the Scottish Government, but in which the actual wind farms are owned by local authorities. 'We have told the Scottish Government this again and again. It is a very active choice to maintain an almost wholly privatised energy system in Scotland.' Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie MSP also called for more to be done to ensure communities in Scotland see the benefits of energy generation projects. Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie (Image: PA) 'Scotland has seen extraordinary growth in renewables, but this hasn't come with the growth of local, community and public ownership that some countries have achieved,' he told the Sunday National. 'We have an abundance of natural resources at our disposal that can generate clean, green, renewable energy, and we also have highly skilled people with years of experience working in the energy sector. The Greens want these resources to benefit everyone, not just giant private investors. 'It is great to see Wales taking steps in this direction. As Greens, we've long made the case for every local community to have its own energy company, as well as a role for the national level. 'The Scottish Government can do far more to ensure that the ownership models for renewable energy put money back into communities across Scotland, at the same time as cutting emissions. Local ownership, community ownership and public ownership should all be playing a much bigger role.' READ MORE: Scottish Government approves one of world's biggest wind farms amid controversy However, a Scottish Government spokesperson insisted that they did not have the powers required. 'A national public energy company that is involved in large-scale energy generation would only be possible in an independent Scotland where we had full powers over the energy market and full access to borrowing,' they said. 'We are committed to maximising the public benefits of our renewables revolution, and while many powers remain reserved, we will use the powers we do have and continue to grow community investment in energy-related projects and technology.' In January, Scottish Energy Secretary Gillian Martin told MSPs that setting up a publicly owned energy firm was "not something we are able to do at the moment with the current devolution settlement". Rebecca Evans is the Economy Secretary in the Welsh Labour Government (Image: Welsh Government) Announcing the Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru plans for 400MW of wind farm capacity, Welsh Labour's Economy Secretary Rebecca Evans said: 'These proposals demonstrate our commitment to harnessing Wales's abundant natural resources to generate clean energy while ensuring the benefits are felt locally. 'By developing these projects on the Welsh Government Woodland Estate, we're making best use of our public land to tackle the climate emergency and create sustainable economic opportunities." A press release said that the developments will 'create hundreds of jobs during construction and operation, with Trydan committed to involving Welsh companies throughout the process'.
The National
29-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Activists react to John Swinney's plan for independence convention
It comes after it was revealed that the SNP leader will ask party members to support the move in a motion put forward at the upcoming conference in Aberdeen in October. Swinney has argued that the only time a referendum had been secured was after the SNP's historic majority win in 2011, when it returned 69 MSPs, and so, he intends to set up a 'Scottish constitutional convention' to 'marshal support for Scotland's right to decide through gathering support from the people of Scotland, civic bodies and international opinion'. SNP depute leader Keith Brown, who has co-signed the motion, previously told the party's conference in 2024 that he would support an independence convention that included other Yes-party representatives. READ MORE: John Swinney issues statement after Donald Trump meeting – read in full Brown said the move puts independence "at the very heart of the 2026 election campaign". "I know how important the establishment of a civic convention will be for our movement –it has been pushed by some of our leading Yessers and The National newspaper itself. "Together, we will deliver it and make this campaign a reality. That will be welcomed by activists across Scotland," Brown added. A constantly-declining seriousness about the SNP Robin McAlpine, founder of pro-independence think tank Common Weal reacted to the news by describing the announcement as an attempt at "saving political careers.". "There is a recklessness about the way the SNP is exhausting what remains of the patience of independence supporters," he said, questioning: "Is there a committee that meets to come up with ways to say the same thing again and again using slightly different words? "Wasn't there a new strategy two weeks ago? Will there be more? Shouldn't we just wait for the next one?" McAlpine added: "The prospectus for independence remains full of holes and a serious constitutional convention could play an important role. That's not what this is. This is a plea for an uncritical fan club that the First Minister hopes will rescue his election campaign. There is to be no independent thought, no alternative opinions, just cheerleading. "There is a constantly-declining seriousness about the [[SNP]] these days. I don't think anyone really believes any of this anymore. Tying independence inseparably to the Scottish Government isn't about progressing independence but saving political careers. "Still, at this rate we'll only have to pretend to believe in this strategy for a few weeks until the next one comes along." 'Eyes on the prize' Former SNP MP Tommy Sheppard told The National that if in nine months time, there is any Scottish government formed other than one led by the SNP, "it is a major setback for the national movement," urging the party to keep the "eyes on the prize". "It just makes it so very much harder to start talking about moving forward to independence. It doesn't mean a campaign stops, but will be a big blow, and we will lose the levers of government which can which could be deployed," Sheppard said. When it comes to other pro-independence political parties on the ticket, Sheppard said if they were to get "even 3 or 4% of the vote each, all that means is that they don't get anybody elected, and neither does the SNP". Sheppard added: "We need to make sure that those who resist or deny Scotland's right to self-determination are defeated, and that those who insist upon it are victorious." Elsewhere, Alba leader Kenny MacAskill said the convention was to be welcomed, but it must be used as "the launch pad for a plebiscite election". He also demanded that all pro-independence parties must be included, claiming that the referendum route proposed by Swinney is "doomed to fail", adding: "Otherwise it will be a blind alley leading to a political cul de sac". 'Holyrood 2026 must be Scotland's independence election where the pro-independence parties seek a mandate for Independence and agree that a majority of votes cast for pro-independence parties, on the regional list, will constitute that mandate," MacAskill said. 'Alba have consistently called for action on independence. The SNP have an opportunity to make this convention more than symbolic, and instead ensure that it leads directly to a clear, democratic mandate for independence at the next election.' READ MORE: Did Donald Trump bar more critical news outlets from his new golf course opening? Brown said he understood the frustration felt by the public, and called on Scotland use the "golden opportunity to change all of this" in 2026. 'There is a lot of frustration out there at the moment – people across the UK feel like they are working harder than ever, but their living standards aren't improving, and their energy bills and food costs are going up. We were told to wait for a Labour government but now we have a government which is balancing the books on the backs of the poor, the disabled and the elderly. 'Next year, people in Scotland have a golden opportunity to change all of this – using the election to put ourselves in the driving seat of our own destiny. 'Westminster wins when we in the independence movement convince ourselves that we cannot – that has always been their objective. But the reality is that support for independence in Scotland has never been as consistently high as it is today, and the case for [[Westminster]] control of Scotland has never looked weaker. "There is not a single question facing Scotland right now for which Westminster control provides the answer. 'The [[SNP]] is the party of Scottish independence – and over the next few months, we will lead a new debate for a new Scotland. We will set out an ambitious and radical vision for Scotland's future – showing how we can use our immense energy wealth to raise living standards, power Scotland's economy and transform public services".
The National
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Independence campaigners react to new John Swinney referendum plan
The National has reached out to influential figures within the independence movement to hear their take on the three-part plan. Read below as Robin McAlpine, Jonathon Shafi, Lesley Riddoch, Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp and Ruth Wishart have their say. READ MORE: John Swinney sets out 3-point plan to achieve Scottish independence Robin McAlpine (Common Weal): No more progress towards independence under John Swinney's leadership It would have been less embarrassing if the First Minister hadn't written this. It is his second major relaunch in recent weeks and neither are persuasive or identifiably different from the pre-launch position. This is based on fantasies. The First Minister can keep claiming the SNP are united and popular again, but opinion polling and constant internal grumbling prove otherwise. This "strategy" isn't going to help matters. The same politicians repeating the same soundbites won't grow support. There is no chance the SNP are going to secure more than 50% of the votes cast next year. I therefore see no chance that they will then be able to mobilise any kind of mass public campaign. As a strategist I can tell you that a persuasive strategy speaks for itself and does not need all this stuff about global precipices and nations reborn and destiny and dynamic interconnected economies. Adjectives are the enemy of good strategy. All we have learned from this is that the SNP won't speak to anyone but themselves, that they are entirely out of ideas and that they plan to run the same election campaign as last time and call that an independence strategy. If this is all they have it now seems vanishingly unlikely there will be any further progress towards independence under the current regime. In fact I'd be surprised if there is anyone who is now not drawing the same conclusion. The door is wide open but the SNP is blocking it. Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp (Believe in Scotland): There's nothing new here The SNP are getting on the front foot on independence again, that's to be welcomed. However, there isn't anything new being said that hasn't been said before by previous leaders before Scottish elections. The new SNP strategy summarised: Start using the word 'independence' again and reiterate the SNP's support for it. Good, but that alone won't trigger the new national conversation required for the country to truly engage with the independence cause. Emphasise that Swinney's SNP is regaining its reputation for competent governance. But after 18 years in power, the SNP are seen as the establishment, tired and not exciting. Voters may feel a Labour FM could wield more influence in London, where the SNP clearly have none. Ask for a referendum if they win the election. A repeat of the democratic mandate by being the largest party that they already have. That mandate will be ignored as it has been in the past. Without a majority of votes or seats, it's easy for Westminster to dismiss any mandate the [[SNP]] may have on the constitution. Governments don't offer referendums they believe they'll lose. David Cameron thought 2014 would deliver a 75% No vote, or he'd never have agreed to it. He misjudged the EU referendum too thinking Remain would win comfortably. That mandate will be ignored as it has been in the past. Without a majority of votes or seats, it's easy for Westminster to dismiss any mandate the SNP may have on the constitution. If the [[SNP]] want to capture the 54% Yes support in a Holyrood election, they must do two things. Firstly, explain what happens when Westminster says No. Not doing so means asking supporters to back something they know won't happen, and that will cost them seats. Secondly, we need a new national conversation to co-create a vision of the future. When Believe in Scotland meets the FM in early August, I'll present the details of the Scottish Citizens' Convention Plan and challenge him to fund it or come up with a better plan. This strategy is not a better plan. Jonathon Shafi (columnist and socialist campaigner): Yes, the SNP are in a better place. But this is word soup While arguably down to the weakness of the opposition, there is no doubt that the [[SNP]] have steadied themselves under John Swinney's leadership. In a fast-moving world, it is easy to forget just how perilous the situation was for the party. Riven with splits, including bruising clashes and fallouts between leading figures, there was an existential feel to the atmosphere at the height of the police investigation into party finances. This, combined with departure of a once untouchable Nicola Sturgeon and a threadbare track record in terms of meaningful reform in government, led to new found belief in the Labour camp. But despite their recent by-election win, Keir Starmer has made it an uphill battle as far as the prospects for [[Holyrood]] 2026 are concerned. As such, and despite it all, the [[SNP]] are on track to form yet another government. But this is where any faint praise ends. Just as [[John Swinney]] identifies the "listlessness" of the Labour Party, the same can be said of the [[SNP]]. There is a lack of bite when it comes to policy, especially when it comes to taking on the vested interests. Thus, the freeports are being set up, our wind is being sold off and Grangemouth went down without a fight. The idea that the First Minister is going to lead an insurgent campaign against the British state will be risible to many. The official prospectus for independence remains little more than a hangover from the Growth Commission, which would leave Scotland stranded without its own currency for an indefinite period, and therefore at the behest of the Bank of England and the City. There is no sign that this and other programmatic issues have been addressed, so it is little wonder that the result is word soup. Ruth Wishart (columnist): Patience isn't unlimited On one thing we can certainly agree: 'Scotland's interests are best served only when Scotland's future is in Scotland's hands. Our nation will only fully flourish when the people of Scotland are in charge of our own destiny with independence.' The question remains who is best placed to move the dial. [[John Swinney]] benefits from the fact that all his main opponents are Unionists. I'm unconvinced that the indy movement as a whole will buy the assertion that: 'Our renewed unity and sense of purpose is clear for all to see. Some good and necessary first steps have been taken, but they have only brought us to the starting line." How long are we meant to linger on the starting line? John argues that the long pause from 2014 suggests our aspirations 'are ever more valid.' Yes they are. But for many of us long-standing supporters of independence, patience is not unlimited. Apparently we demonstrated in 2014 that a formal referendum is "the correct means to bring about independence'. Even if them down there keep saying no? Even if we continue to beg on our knees for one? Lesley Riddoch (journalist, filmmaker, campaigner): We need something to enthuse us, and this isn't it Lesley Riddoch with the FM in an interview marking 10 years since the indyrefJohn, a question. Will independence be line one, page one of the SNP's 2026 manifesto? If not, this well-constructed piece means nothing. You want a Scotland that is reborn. Good phrase. But rebirth should start now. The only "new" policy you mention is scrapping peak rail fares – again. How about finally publishing Scottish Government franchising guidelines to help regional transport authorities re-regulate buses so the £2 cap on bus journeys already operating in England can happen here? That would be genuinely new, big, inexpensive and only involves standing up to the lawyers. Ditto muscular land reform, a land tax and a wealth tax. Dinnae pu' a face. People need to see you tackle the ae' beens and vested interests fearlessly so they can believe the disruption of independence will be worth the candle. You are "ready to turn the heat up on Westminster". How? And you say: "History tells us that only when the SNP is doing well is there any prospect of advancing on Scotland's constitutional cause." Strangely enough indy is doing quite well right now while the SNP are not. None of this is really new. So c'mon. Surprise, enthuse and amaze us. What do you make of the strategy? Have your say in the comments.
The National
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Four ways Mairi McAllan can fix Scotland's housing crisis
Good evening! This week's edition of the In Common newsletter comes from Dr Craig Dalzell, head of policy and research at Common Weal. Màiri McAllan has returned to the Scottish Government after a well-deserved period of patient parental leave, though has left her former post as Cabinet Secretary for Energy and has been tasked with fixing Scotland's housing crisis. As a writer of policies on both topics I don't exactly envy the position but I can at least lay out some of the options I and my colleagues in Common Weal have published over the years on the topic. Housing is about more than homes – as anyone can attest if they have ever objected to a planning application for a new suburban sprawl on the basis that it would add extra pressure to services such as GPs, schools and other public services without adding to provision – but about building a sense of place, of community and about meeting a fundamental human need for shelter. The task is far larger than I can do justice in these few lines of text but I shall offer Màiri (below) four ideas to help fix housing in Scotland. Actual land reform You cannot build a home without having the land to build on it. This is a particularly acute problem in rural Scotland where despite having the space to build we often cannot access the land due to it being held by mega-estates and is simply not for sale or when it is, the price to buy is being speculated beyond control. We need a land tax and other mechanisms like Mercedes Villalba's proposal to cap maximum land ownership. One of the most powerful ideas though would be to allow councils to buy land at 'existing use value'. That is the value of land as it currently is, not an inflated value based on its 'potential' for housing or other uses. Build 'enough' social housing The central reason why Britain's housing 'market' is broken is because we run housing as a market. Thatcher broke the previous system by selling off social housing and making it impossible for councils to replace them. Social housing should never be the last option before homelessness but the first choice for housing for many. My paper Good Houses for All shows how the borrowing powers of councils and the Scottish National Investment Bank could build essentially unlimited homes for social rent (councils aren't limited in borrowing powers like Holyrood is, so long as the rents are sufficient to pay back the loan). They could be built to the highest possible energy standards to outbid the private sector in both price and quality. And they shouldn't be built to an arbitrary target of 'more houses than the previous government' but based on actual need. Councils should have a waiting list of people who want one of these homes and be resourced to deliver them by a certain date. If we do this, the private sector will be forced to cut rents and increase quality ... or their landlords will decide that they can no longer exploit people for a profit and will have to sell. (Image: Supplied) Fill vacant housing 'But what happens to the houses if the landlords sell?' Scotland already has more vacant homes than we have homeless households. Many of those homes are not being sold, but are still being clung on to as a speculative investment because prices are rising higher than costs. We also have even more vacant housing than appears in those statistics because many high street shops in Scotland have housing units above them that are vacant but are classified as 'commercial use' rather than residential. Look above the ground floor in many places in the centre of Glasgow and you'll start to see them. Policies like increasing council tax multipliers on empty homes and Màiri's announcement this week of extra vacant housing officers will go a long way towards fixing this. Councils should also be resourced to allow them to use their compulsory purchase powers more aggressively – particularly to support them to purchase vacant homes not at 'market rate' but at a fair rate that will include consideration of the costs to repair and retrofit the housing up to the standards expected of newbuilds – this will often be far cheaper than building new and therefore will contribute to the solution to the crisis in a much more resource efficient way. READ MORE: 'Trading people like cargo' UK-France one in, one out deal sparks fury Increase rental building standards For the housing that remains in private rental hands, we need to continue the work already being done around tenants' rights, rent controls and quality standards. As hinted above, many private rented houses in Scotland fall far short of energy efficiency and other environmental standards and urgently need retrofitted. France is rolling out a scheme whereby it will be illegal to rent properties that fall below a certain EPC rating and the minimum rating will keep rising every few years. Scotland should do the same. Before those retrofits happen, many of these properties also need to be repaired first (there's little point in installing solar panels on a leaking roof). The aggressive recapture of housing for social rent mentioned above could also be done with private rented homes that still have sitting tenants if the landlord wishes to sell or is deemed no longer adequately responsible in their management of housing, converting them to social rents and offering a rent-controlled lifetime tenancy to the tenant along with an improving their homes. Conclusion The housing emergency in Scotland is perhaps second only to the climate emergency that Màiri was familiar with in her previous brief. The two are, in fact, interrelated and can't be solved separately. What won't solve it is shovelling more money into the paws of private developers under the guise of 'affordable housing' that is barely either. It's not going to solved by a single tweak anywhere or even if we only do everything on this list but every step we take will lead to more people living more affordably and more securely in a country that can more than afford to provide that, but for too long hasn't by design.
The National
02-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Universal Basic Income in Scotland can draw from our neighbours
Good evening! This week's edition of the In Common newsletter comes from Dr Craig Dalzell, head of policy and research at Common Weal. BACK in the early days of Common Weal, while we were still finding our feet and building our reputation, we had an informal rule when it came to policy-making. We had to be able to show the policy working somewhere else. This was because we felt that Scotland simply wasn't ready for some of the radical ideas that we wanted to implement so being able to show it already working was a good way of building confidence in a nation too often told 'we cannae dae it' (by which our opponents often mean 'we shouldnae dae it' which is a different thing entirely). We've since dispensed with that rule and we sometimes broke it even then (one of Common Weal's very first policy papers, 'In Place Of Anxiety', was an advocacy for Universal Basic Income (UBI) long before it became one of the 'cool' policies) but this isn't to say that we can't learn lessons from elsewhere. Just this week, I was asked by a researcher which of our neighbour nations I'd like Scotland to copy if I could. My answer was that we shouldn't copy any one but that I take a lot of inspiration from Germany on local democracy, from Denmark on energy strategy and from Norway for public ownership. Somewhere else we could do with taking inspiration from our neighbours is on social security. The scenes this week from the UK's attempts to hammer the poor and disabled and only backing down after shambolic chaos in the Parliament should be a lesson not just in humanity but in policy-making as well. Never fight a battle you haven't won in advance. Never assume a large on-paper majority means certain absolute power. With many of our neighbours basing their politics on proportional representation and coalition politics, this kind of legislation would have undergone a lot of negotiation and compromise long before arriving at the voting chamber. The way that many of our neighbours deal with the issue of social security is markedly different from the UK in several ways. The first is that the systems are a lot more generous in general. Norway, Denmark and Sweden rank in the top three OECD nations for spending on disability protections at above 3% of GDP while the UK is well below the OECD average at less than 2%. Many more social securities like unemployment protections follow a different model from the UK when they are calculated. In particular, instead of the flat rate paid under the UK's Universal Credit, many countries follow a model where the protection you receive is based on a percentage of your previous income. There are consequences to each of these models. A flat rate tends to be more redistributive if it is generous enough (which Universal Credit isn't) whereas a proportional rate tends to be less disruptive to an individual who is already going through the shock of losing their job while still having bills to pay. We've seen these impacts in the UK too. During the pandemic, the Covid furlough scheme was paid at a proportional rate to people who were employed but was often paid at a flat Universal Credit rate to self-employed people. This exposed a lot of people who were previously on the side of denigrating poor and vulnerable people as lazy slackers to just how meagre and cruel the UK 'benefits' system is. We had an opportunity then to get some serious change off the back of that and maybe we still see echoes of it in this week's chaos but largely the Powers That Be wanted to make us forget that moment of reflection as quickly as possible. On the other side and as tempting as it might be to copy a European-style unemployment insurance based on previous income, and as beneficial that would be to people in well-paid but otherwise insecure jobs, we have to remember that many people are not in well-paid jobs and that wage suppression has been rife in the UK for decades. Receiving 60% of your previous income when you were being paid poverty wages won't protect you from poverty in unemployment. So maybe rather than Scotland – particularly an independent Scotland – copying existing social security policies from our neighbours, we need to look to them for inspiration in another way and look back at that paper I mentioned at the start of this column. (Image: PA) Last year, the EU think tank the Coppieters Foundation published a paper called 'A European Universal Basic Income' which found that a UBI sufficient to eradicate poverty across the entire union could be entirely paid for by relatively modest changes to income tax and the savings found from the reduction of poverty itself. Its model called for a UBI of €6857 per year for adults and half that for children under 14. This is the equivalent of £113 per week for adults and £57 per week for children. The paper claimed that the increase in income taxes to pay for this level of UBI would themselves be relatively modest and the 'breakeven' point for people who'd pay more income tax than they'd receive in UBI would be at around the 80th percentile. In other words, eight out of 10 people would be directly better off with the UBI. And, to repeat, while this is still a relatively small sum per person if you have no other income, it would be enough to eradicate poverty across the entire EU and would be cheaper overall – after the health, crime and social inequality costs of poverty are factored in – than the current systems. When this paper came out I argued that this meant a UBI was now a moral imperative because it was cheaper than the cost of poverty, but there's clearly a financial imperative too. Whether we're discussing an independent Scotland seeking to create a better country for all of us or even just a cynical UK trying to save money in the face of a humiliating attempt to crush the poor, here is a solution we should all support. Eradicate poverty, save money, implement a Universal Basic Income.
