Scottish voted want change but not for its own sake

I was delighted to be selected to be the Scottish Labour candidate for the seat where I live, Dunfermline & West Fife, likely to become Dunfermline & East Ochils after boundary changes. It it is a very winnable seat in a General Election, but also could be a...

Crisis, what crisis? Values, what values?

The quote penned by novelist James Lane Allen “Adversity does not build character, it reveals it” applies about as clearly to the past two years of politics as perhaps at any time of the past. It is  therefore worth reflecting on what the responses over the past two...
Global climate challenge; Time to act local?

Global climate challenge; Time to act local?

Recently, I was listening to the final episode of my favourite podcast, Talking Politics, which is  ending after six educational years.  As the team of Professor David Runciman and the incomparable Helen Thompson neared the end of the recording, they listed the things...

Is that helping?

You will all know the joke about Scotland being the only place where a double positive makes a negative? “Aye, right.”  Said out loud in most parts of Scotland, we know what that means but it doesn’t travel well and is likely to confuse. Another phrase that got me...

A little more conversation, a little less self-destruction please

Firstly, yes, this is a very long sub-tweet.  As I have said before, Scottish Labour can continue on a path to recovery and relevance by supporting people’s aspirations and by reaching out to build as broad a coalition as possible. To do that we need to talk about...