Yesterday The Majority, with the support of Scotland Matters, UK Union Voice and over 250 donors who contributed to a crowdfunding campaign, launched the #ResignSturgeon campaign, the first in a series of campaigns leading up to the Scottish Elections on May 6.
The campaign started with :
Three digital billboards
Glasgow – Clydeside Expressway (access near Lidl on Castlebank St)
Edinburgh – Slateford Road (next to Jewson)
Aberdeen – Market Street (at Union Square)
A #ResignSturgeon banner towed behind an aeroplane flying over:
The Scottish Parliament Building in Holyrood and Edinburgh City Centre
Glasgow City Centre and Finnieston Crane area
The campaign is a message to Nicola Sturgeon to ‘take responsibility for her Government’s catastrophic handling of the Alex Salmond Harassment Inquiry, which cost the taxpayer well over £500,000 in damages to Salmond plus hundreds of thousands of pounds more in Scottish Government legal fees, as well as the cost of the ongoing inquiry’.
The group says Nicola Sturgeon hasn’t taken responsibility: ‘She has not fired anyone. The whole of Scotland is talking about her collusion, corruption and cover-up, instead of health, education and jobs. She must resign so the country can move on.’
The campaign message — #ResignSturgeon— is part of an ongoing grassroots hashtag campaign on Twitter that has had hundreds of thousands of retweets and responses and regularly appears on Twitter’s ‘trending’ lists of the social network’s most popular hashtags.
The campaign is funded in part by donations to a crowdfunder, run by The Majority, that has raised almost £6500 to date. https://donorbox.org/billboard-campaign
Mark Devlin of The Majority: “We represent the silent majority of people in Scotland, who are angry and frustrated by Nicola Sturgeon’s shenanigans bringing international shame on Scotland.
“The Scottish public deserve a Parliament and First Minister above reproach and want the Scottish Government to focus on health, education, jobs and the pandemic.
“Instead we have a First Minister misleading parliament, breaking the ministerial code and withholding information from an inquiry into her government’s unlawful, unfair and biased actions against Alex Salmond, all while totally neglecting her day job.”
Alan Sutherland from Scotland Matters: “We call on the First Minister to do the right thing for Scotland: resign and let us focus on recovery from the pandemic.
“She has done great damage to our country and Parliament’s reputation, here and abroad, by conducting an undignified, very public dispute with her former SNP colleague, while preventing the Salmond enquiry from seeing evidence that is crucial to a proper investigation.”
The Majority says it is Scotland’s leading anti-Nationalist media. Since its founding in June, 2020, it has grown to almost 50,000 social media followers.
It aims to unite Scotland’s anti-Nationalist majority; say NO to IndyRef2; Expose Nationalism as a toxic ideology; Support effective anti-Nationalist politicians; and criticise media appeasement.
Scotland’s Council Leaders have restated their view that the Scottish Budget as it currently stands does not represent fair funding for Local Government.
Commenting ahead of the final decision on the Scottish Budget next week Councillor Gail Macgregor, COSLA Resources Spokesperson, said: “Our ask of Scottish Government throughout the Budget process for this year was to give Scottish Local Government the fair funding and flexibility it deserves to be able to deliver the essential services that we provide to communities.
“The settlement for 2021-22, as it stands, does very little to address years of cuts to our core funding – in fact, once all Scottish Government commitments are taken into account, the increase offered is less than 1 percent (0.9% increase on last year’s base).
“This comes on top of years where Local Government has seen no increase at all. Since 2013-14, Scottish Government has seen a 3.1% increase in its revenue funding (real terms) – this is in contrast to a 2.4% reduction for Local Government over the same period.
“A key part of flexibility for Councils is to have their democratic right to determine their own council tax rates in their own areas respected. Sadly the Scottish Government have not listened to us this year but Scotland’s Council Leaders have restated their view that councils should have the right to determine the level of council tax for their own areas without facing penalties in future years.”
Councillor Macgregor continued: “In light of the current offer of £90m for authorities that agree to freeze the council tax this year (2021/22), Council Leaders were clear that COSLA should continue to press for this amount to be baselined into the Local Government Settlement.
“Council Leaders also expressed their continued concern about the proposed levels of core capital funding for the next five years. It will severely restrict the ability of councils to invest locally and drive recovery from the Covid19 pandemic. We would ask that Scottish Government thinks again about Local Government’s capital grant ahead of a final decision on Tuesday.”
The Scottish Parliament debated the report of Scotland’s first Citizens’ Assembly on Thursday 18 February.
MSPs welcomed the Assembly’s shared vision and 60 recommendations for the country’s future, ahead of an action plan on the Assembly’s findings to be published by the next Scottish Government and a further debate to be held by the new Parliament following the election in May.
Parties were urged to take forward the Assembly’s work through manifesto pledges.
The Assembly’s report was published last month. The vision and recommendations were agreed by an overwhelming consensus of members, and cover a wide range of areas including future citizens’ assemblies, incomes and poverty, tax and the economy, health and wellbeing, support for young people, sustainability and further powers for the Scottish Parliament.
Following the report’s publication, Assembly members met virtually to discuss their vision and recommendations with ministers from the Scottish Government, including the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs Michael Russell and a number of other ministers.
Last week, the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Futures Forum held an event convened by the Presiding Officer which brought together members of the Assembly, a political panel and a number of MSPs to discuss and consider the vision and recommendations of the Assembly ahead of the Parliamentary debate on Thursday.
The report of the Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland can be read online at citizensassembly.scot
To accompany the report, a short film on the Vision and Recommendations agreed by the Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland, and featuring the voices of members is here:
All of the materials including evidence from previous weekends, an interim report and range of supporting papers covering previous work and articles and videos about the impact of COVID-19, together with recordings of plenary sessions, are available on the Assembly website
Scotland has another Citizens’ Assembly underway. Scotland’s Climate Assembly is tackling the question: “How should Scotland change to tackle the climate emergency in an effective and fair way?” and will continue its work over the next few months.
A project which aims to boost women’s involvement in politics have their work recognised this week in the Scottish Parliament.
Deputy Presiding Officer Linda Fabiani MSP led a debate in Parliament on Thursday welcoming the publication of the 2019-20 Young Women Lead Report.
The report investigates the obstacles facing BAME women transitioning from school to the workplace. A subject chosen due to a lack of Scotland-specific data on the issue. It looks at employment opportunities for women from ethnic minorities considering recruitment, retention and development policies and practices.
The Young Women Lead Committee is a leadership programme for young women aged 30 and under who live in Scotland and is delivered in partnership with the Scottish Parliament and YWCA Scotland – The Young Women’s Movement.
Deputy Presiding Officer Linda Fabiani MSP said: “I am delighted to lead the debate today which will give us all an opportunity to better understand the barriers faced by young BAME women across the country.
“Throughout the last year, I have been continually impressed by the young women involved in this project. They have put together a vital piece of work despite the immense challenges presented by a global pandemic.
“The recommendations of this timely report should be taken on board to help create a fairer and better Scotland for all.”
The Young Women Lead programme was launched in 2017 and was created from a need to address the lack of representation of young women in politics. In 2019-20 the programme was revised with the intention to increase young BAME women’s political participation and to hear their voices and experiences.
The programme was created from a need to address the underrepresentation of young women in politics. Working with the Scottish Parliament, The Young Women’s Movement (YWCA Scotland) has designed the programme for 30 participants from a range of diverse communities to come together in the Parliament to run their own committee inquiry, focusing on a topic of their choice.
City Council Committee Conveners and Vice Conveners have set out their key priorities for 2021:
Council Leader Adam McVey and Depute Leader Cammy Day:
Our first and most pressing task in 2021 is to continue to steer Edinburgh through and – hopefully sooner rather than later – out of the global Covid19 pandemic. There’s no doubt these past nine months have been unbelievably challenging for all of us, and especially so for anyone who’s sadly lost a loved one during the crisis.
As we work with organisations and communities right across the city to help Edinburgh navigate whatever comes next, we’re clear that ‘back to normal’ won’t be good enough – we need to build back better, following the key principles of the Edinburgh 2050 City Vision to achieve a thriving, welcoming, pioneering and fair Capital for now and for future generations.
Our work will be guided and shaped by our core priorities of tackling poverty and inequality, boosting sustainability and promoting wellbeing. We’ll push on with implementing our 10-year End Poverty in Edinburgh plan as well as our Net Zero 2030 ambitions. 2021 is going to be a major and defining year for this incredible city and we’re determined to do Edinburgh proud.
Cllr Rob Munn and Cllr Joan Griffiths, Finance and Resources Convener and Vice Convener:
Our main focus for 2021 is to take the carefully considered decisions about where to prioritise spending for the Council over the next three years and setting a balanced budget that protects our most vulnerable citizens and helps our communities to recover from the pandemic. At the same time, we want to continue to deliver high quality services for Edinburgh.
Our budget process is, as ever, informed by direct feedback from the people of Edinburgh on which services they want to see prioritised and we’re very grateful to the 2000+ people who responded to our budget engagement survey before Christmas. This feedback is invaluable, especially given the exceptionally challenging year 2020 was and the impact that Covid19 has had and will continue to have for us all. It’s crucial we understand how people’s lives have been affected by the impact of the pandemic on our services as we work to steer the Capital towards a sustainable recovery.
Finally, the Council’s core priorities of addressing poverty and inequality, improving sustainability and tackling climate change as well as enhancing wellbeing, based on what people told us was most important to them, will remain at the heart of our budget setting for 2021 and beyond.
Education, Children & Families Convener Cllr Ian Perry and Vice Convener Cllr Alison Dickie:
The ongoing pandemic is having a devastating impact on us all and 2021 will still provide challenges for our education system and young people but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I have to pay tribute to all our dedicated teaching staff and young people who are showing amazing resilience in these challenging times. Even though there will be no exams this year our school staff will ensure pupils get the best teaching possible for their assessments. Our Edinburgh Learns plan will position education as the lever for a fairer, healthier and greener future. The support for our vulnerable young people, especially our Looked After Children, will continue to be a priority.
Our plans to create the very best learning environment for young people will continue with our £500m planned investment over the next 10 years for an ambitious new school building programme with Frogston Primary, Victoria Primary, St Crispin’s opening this year and the new Castlebrae Community Campus in early 2022.
The investment also includes new nurseries with more Forest Kindergartens opening up this month and we’ll be meeting the Scottish Government’s target of 1140 funded early learning and childcare by August this year.
Transport and Environment Vice Convener Cllr Karen Doran:
The events of 2020 have had an unparalleled impact on so many aspects of our lives. How we move around our city has of course been greatly affected.
During lockdown, roads emptied and travel by bike, foot and wheels surged. Our Spaces for People measures saw people take up cycling or walking where they might previously have driven, and we want to keep this momentum up.
In 2021, development of major plans, including the draft City Mobility Plan and Edinburgh City Centre Transformation, will revolutionise the way we interact with the city. Construction will begin on schemes like City Centre West to East Link and design will continue on several exciting projects to improve cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.
We’ll move closer to introducing a Low Emissions Zone and Electric Vehicle charging network while Trams to Newhaven will begin to take shape, alongside our excellent existing bus and tram services.
I know we’re on the right track for a sustainable, inclusive, carbon-neutral future for Edinburgh, and 2021 will help get us there.
Councillors Kate Campbell and Mandy Watt, Convener and Vice Convener for Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work:
In 2021, we will build more good quality, energy efficient, affordable homes. They’ll be good places to live, within strong communities. Our new and existing tenants will get the best service possible from us as their landlord; and we’ll make sure our tenants, especially those who may be struggling with the impacts of Covid-19, get the support they need.
We’ll continue work to improve temporary accommodation, reach out to our most vulnerable citizens, prevent homelessness whenever possible and make sure people are able to access the right support when and where they need it.
We want to help our economy to build back better and stronger, putting fair work and sustainability at the heart of our strategy to rebuild. We’ll do that by supporting businesses and, with a view to the long term, we’ll work towards building a wellbeing economy based on good jobs, job security and career progression.
We’ll begin by expanding our existing employability services so that people facing barriers to employment are supported to find work, learn new skills and gain confidence.
Culture and Communities Convener Donald Wilson:
I think it would be an understatement to say 2020 was extremely tough for the culture sector. As we look ahead to 2021 we will be doing all we can not just to survive, but to come back better than ever.
Our vibrant cultural heritage and festivals offering is at the heart of what makes Edinburgh unique and we are committed to supporting the sector’s return and future. The return of live audiences next year will be crucial to this recovery. The cultural sector makes a huge contribution to our economy and the quality of life of our communities.
We have made a start though with the City Art Centre reopening in September and we very much look forward to the reopening our other Museums and Galleries as well as opening our doors for performances at the Usher Hall.
So, in 2021, I’ll continue to fight for what I believe in: that it is the city’s duty to continue to nurture Edinburgh’s creative heart. Not just for the huge contributions to our economy but also to the lives of our citizens.
We may find those priorities changing come May, of course. Local government elections are still scheduled to take place on , when we may well see new political alliances and a new administration with new priorities for the capital. – Ed.
Scotland’s first Citizens’ Assembly has published its report setting out a shared vision and 60 recommendations for the country’s future.
The vision and recommendations were agreed by an overwhelming consensus of members, and cover a wide range of areas including future Citizens’ Assemblies, incomes and poverty, tax and the economy, health and wellbeing, support for young people, sustainability and further powers for the Scottish Parliament.
Doing Politics Differently: The Report of the Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland can be read online at www.citizensassembly.scot
This report has been submitted to the Scottish Government and Parliament. It will be laid in Parliament for debate, with an action plan from the Scottish Government to follow.
To accompany the report, a short film on the Vision and Recommendations agreed by the Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland, and featuring the voices of members is here: Our Vision and Recommendations – YouTube
All of the materials including evidence from previous weekends, an interim report and range of supporting papers covering previous work and articles and videos about the impact of COVID-19 are available on the Assembly website
The Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland is now coming to a close. Made up of 100 people like you, selected to be a cross section of Scottish society, they came together to address what kind of country we are seeking to build in the 21st century (writes WILLIE SULLIVAN, Director of ERS Scotland).
Citizens’ assemblies like these have been used around the world to find solutions to complex problems and hold politicians to account. Scotland’s success depends upon the power of people working together to tackle the real challenges, and one of the things the Assembly was nearly unanimous on was the success of the citizens’ assembly format.
Over 80% of the Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland backed the idea that“In order to overcome the challenges in relation to citizens’ engagement in decision-making, the Scottish Government and Parliament should set up a ‘house of citizens’ to scrutinise government proposals and give assent to parliamentary bills.“
When the Scottish Parliament was set up, the designers were right not to mirror Westminster’s broken set up – with a House of Lords packed full of party donors and political cronies.
We knew we could do better than that. Two decades later, assemblies from around the world have shown the success of citizens’ direct involvement. Momentum is growing – sign this petition and help us push the campaign to the next level.
The Citizens Assembly will meet for Weekend 8 today – Saturday 5 December. Convener Kate Wimpress has written a blog where she provides an overview of the weekend (see below).
We will be livestreaming the plenary sessions on our website,
and materials for the Assembly that members will use, are also available to view online.
Convener Kate Wimpress (above) said: “I am very much looking forward to the last meeting of the Citizens’ Assembly.
“Members will be meeting online on Saturday, 5th December, to discuss support for the final recommendations to advance their vision for Scotland. This is the culmination of the remarkable journey we have taken, together, as Scotland’s first Assembly. As usual, we will be livestreaming the plenary sessions on our website: www.citizensassembly.scot
“Members will be reading out their recommendations, and it will be a privilege to hear the recommendations, formed through careful deliberation, shared in their own voice. They will also be voting on the levels of support for each recommendations agreed during weekend 7.
“The recommendations are varied and speak to a number of broad themes:
How decisions are taken
Recommendations about improving citizen participation, the provision of information, and accountability in our political institutions.
Constitutional issues
Some recommendations explicitly call for further powers, for example, around taxation and negotiating trade agreements. Others call for changes in areas that are currently reserved, including aspects of employment law, incomes and regulation of utilities to support environmental objectives.
Building a sustainable country
A range of recommendations about environmental sustainability.
Tax and economy
Recommendations on changes to, and improving the understanding of, the tax system
Income and poverty
Recommendations covering a range of action to address poverty including to improve information on poverty and relating to income and employment.
Helping people to realise their potential
A broad range of recommendations, including around education and training for young people, and action around health and wellbeing, the NHS, and wider health services
“There is a great deal of detail within each of the themes and members will be finalising their recommendations during Weekend 8.
“The final report will incorporate the Assembly vision and the recommendations, alongside a description of how the process worked, and reflections from Members on their journey. It is to be published early next month, presented to the Scottish Government and Parliament, and debated in the Scottish Parliament.
“We are making plans for communicating the final reports and our subscribers will be kept up to date with all the latest developments.
“In the meantime, we will continue to promote the Assembly across our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram social media channels.”
Holyrood’s Festival of Politics starts online tonight
Scotland’s Futures Forum, the Scottish Parliament’s in-house think-tank, has published the findings of its 2030 programme, looking at what sort of country we might become, and what our response might be to the great changes of the next decade and beyond.
The report, which examines the challenges and opportunities posed by climate change, technological innovation and an aging population, will also be debated at the Parliament’s first online Festival of Politics. The event, ‘Scotland 2030: What do we want, and how can we get there?’, opens the Festival today and will be chaired by the Presiding Officer, Rt Hon Ken Macintosh MSP.
The work, which aims to help parliamentarians think about long term challenges, outside of electoral cycles and party politics, found that:
• Around half a million babies are due to be born in Scotland in the 2020s. To give every one of them the best chance in life, fundamental change is required to end child poverty – either through ‘pre-distribution’ or radical redistribution via taxation and spending. • Technological disruptors such as Uber and Amazon will continue to have an impact on jobs and society. We need a school and lifelong education system that helps people adapt to changing circumstances, giving them the freedom to be creative, to take risks and, on occasion, to fail safely. • To meet our ambitious targets of net zero carbon emissions by 2045, radical change is required in our working lives. There are clear pathways to a more sustainable future if Scotland switches investment towards sectors and industries that bring long-term benefits. • Scotland need to make more progress on creating gender equal workplaces. Realities of life for women such as menstruation, pregnancy and menopause need to be taken more seriously by employers. Increasing the uptake of paternity leave will also help redress imbalances in the distribution of unpaid work • Aging and death need to be addressed earlier in life. Most of us will become dependent on other people as we age. We need to tackle the taboo of discussing these things by normalising planning for this inevitability in our 40s and 50s, if we are to support the right care at the end of life.
The forum is also recommending ten ‘ideas for 2030’ to be debated in the Scottish Parliament from the creative suggestions heard during its events.
These include a Scottish island test site for autonomous vehicles, ‘digital havens’ with limited internet access – allowing visitors to switch off from their devices – and a Museum of Failure to show the role of failure in the path to achievement and encourage people to embrace risk.
Speaking ahead of the Festival, Chair of the Forum and Presiding Officer, the Rt Hon Ken Macintosh MSP, said:“How we tackle the great issues of the next decade will shape Scotland for generations to come. Climate change, technological advancements and an ageing population all present profound challenges for the country, but also opportunity.
“This report highlights the importance of taking a positive view of the changes we’ll experience by 2030. As the response to the Covid-19 pandemic has shown, people can and do respond positively when life throws up huge challenges. But it has also shown the importance of including people in the process when the decisions on how to respond are made.
“A key part of the Futures Forum’s work, a central theme throughout this programme from all our events, and one of the founding principles on which the Parliament operates, is the importance of including everyone in discussions about our long-term future.
“How we move forward, harness new technologies, create more environmentally sustainable jobs and tackle child poverty are all topics ripe for debate as we look ahead. I am sure it will be a very interesting discussion at this year’s Festival of Politics.”
You can find out more and watch the event in full on the Festival of Politics website here.
The festival takes place from Thursday 19th to Saturday 21st November. The first event starts at 7pm tonight.
Harry Cairney, Scotmid President and John Brodie, Chief Executive paid tribute to former employee and Director, John (Ian) Miller.
It is with deep sadness that we pay tribute to the passing of John (Ian) Miller, former employee, Director and East Regional Committee member. John passed away suddenly, aged 72.
Known as John to his friends and colleagues at Scotmid, he served the Society both as an employee and as a democratically elected member. He was Manager at our Penicuik non-food branch for 15 years before starting his own carpet business and went on to serve on the democratic side of the Society, representing Members in our East Region for 17 years and then the Board for 9 years.
It is very sad that John passed away so soon after retiring from our Board and East Regional Committee at the Society’s AGM in September.
John was widely known and respected within the co-operative movement and in his local community. It is difficult to quantify the contribution which he made both to Scotmid and the cooperative movement over many years.
He represented the Society on a wide range of Boards and Committees over the years and was a fouder member of Fairtrade Midlothian. He was a true gentlemen with a firm belief in co-operation and the benefits of the co-operative movement and would champion these at every occasion.
John will be sorely missed by all at Scotmid and our thoughts are with John’s family and friends at this very sad time.
