Debatable
Are general election debates a flagrant waste of time that don’t advance anyone’s views and serve only to boost a candidate’s visibility in the media? Yes. Also, an article inside.
The Week In Campaigning: Electile Dysfunction
One week into a long old six week election season. Disaster and scandal on a soap opera scale, a sign of things to come?
Volunteering For Profit In Scotland’s Capital
Intensely rewarding, a way to give invaluable help to a worthwhile cause, and a way to build valuable skills and experience—volunteering is a fantastic pursuit that can bring you closer to worthwhile organisations and causes. A lot of great charities and groups benefit from assistance of dedicated helpers and volunteers to solve the day-to-day and advance their cause. The positive change which can be brought about bit-by-bit from volunteers is truly incredible. For some, this relationship breaks down where for-profit…
And They’re Off!
One of the most voluntarily dysfunctional parliaments of all time will suspend itself on Wednesday, just weeks after it opened. Since the current Prime Minister took office, the house has briefly returned from summer recess, very briefly prorogued itself in a way which turned out to be illegal, and broke again for a semi-serious Queen’s speech shortly after. It’s a wonder Conservative government has had the time to lose as many votes as they have in the brief intervals in…
If we keep only one verdict: it should be not proven
Campaigners have recently called on the Scottish Government and justice secretary Humza Yousaf to scrap the ‘Not Proven’ verdict which is unique to Scots law. Critics claim the verdict allows guilty suspects to walk free from court where a more acceptable verdict may have been found. Government studies have shown the public has wildly inconsistent views on what the verdict means in law, and how it differs in practice from not guilty. The Justice Secretary has committed to reviewing multiple…
Opt-Out Organ donation
Starting next year, changes to the law mean everyone in the country will appear on the organ donor register unless explicitly making the decision to opt-out. Labelled as a ‘soft opt-out’ option, legislation will assume patients wish to donate their organs after their death unless they have removed their name from the register. The plan hopes to increase the number of organs available for donation by expanding the number of patients from the current opt-in system. The changes will undoubtedly…
The Simple Brexit Solution
Since triggering Article 50, Brexit has been touted as the unsolvable problem. In many minds, there’s no single solution that satisfies the problems of the Irish border, those bloody Scottish and Irish remoaners, and the desire to see the democratic result of the referendum carried out to its complete conclusion. But there is a simple, undiscussed solution that puts to bed all of the secondary consequences of Brexit while carrying out the result. Former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson laid…
Building Our Own Disasters
The government has a literal never-ending list of things to do. When they go on summer and winter break, it’s not because the country has been ‘sorted’ and all the work of governing is done with for the time being. Within their, typically four day week, members often handle evergreen topics such as education, health, employment, business, and international relations. Occasionally members debate urgent crises such as the climate change emergency or acute disasters. Most sane individuals recognise that tackling…
What’s The harm In Data Trackers
If you’ve got nothing to hide, there’s nothing to fear. Right? Logging on to the internet is a phrase that has surprisingly little relevance today. We no longer “log on”, we’re simply always on and always connected. Push notifications, automated updates, and background downloads ensure we are rarely truly offline. Crucially, being online today and using web-based services and tools gives away implicit consent to data monitoring, tracking, and spyware. These tools are embedded in everything from the websites we…
A New Type Of Campaign
I’ve always been fascinated by the kind of conversations leaders and elected officials have behind closed doors. Almost everyone else is too. Hundreds of hours of television have been dedicated to the topic. Comedy, drama, and fly-on-the-wall documentaries each show their own take on the world and unique characters of government. The accuracy of these accounts differ, but feels as if it would scale more with comedy lately, but who knows. This season, the role of pantomime villain is played…