Tag: democracy

Citizens Assembly to hold final meeting today

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, 

www.citizensassembly.scot 

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.”

A Positive View of Our Future

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.

Full programme details can be found at the Festival of Politics website.

You can read the full Future’s Forum report, ‘Scotland 2030: A Positive View of Our Future’, here.

Visit Scotland’s Futures Forum at: http://www.scotlandfutureforum.org/

Tribute to former Scotmid employee and Director, John (Ian) Miller

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.

Biden claims victory in US Presidential Election

Last laugh for ‘Sleepy Joe’

‘Stop The Steal’: Trump vows legal challenge

Democratic nominee Joe Biden has defeated President Trump in the 2020 presidential election as he secured the 270 electoral college votes required to win the race, according to projections by Associated Press, NBC News and other trusted news outlets including our own BBC and ITV.

With four states yet to declare, the Democrats have 279 votes while the Republicans have 214.

In a victory speech on Saturday (early hours of this morning in the UK), President Elect Biden said: “I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but unify. Who doesn’t see red states and blue states, only sees the United States.”

While Mr Biden called for national unity, it’s unlikely to be a smooth transition for the President Elect.

President Trump is not known for losing gracefully and, while he has made no public appearances since the polls closed, he has released a barrage of tweets claiming widespread election fraud – so far without producing any evidence of corruption or voting irregularities.

Among them:

THE OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED INTO THE COUNTING ROOMS. I WON THE ELECTION, GOT 71,000,000 LEGAL VOTES. BAD THINGS HAPPENED WHICH OUR OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE. NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WERE SENT TO PEOPLE WHO NEVER ASKED FOR THEM!

Trump also released a statement: “The simple fact is this election is far from over.”

The Trump campaign team now plan to challenge the election result in the US courts.

FM @NicolaSturgeon has warmly congratulated President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris on their success:

“Scotland and America share deep and longstanding bonds of friendship, and I look forward to these being renewed and strengthened in the years ahead”

The UK Government has also conveyed good wishes to the President-elect.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has congratulated Joe Biden on his US election victory.

Mr Johnson said he looked forward to “working closely” with the new president-elect.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also commented on result of the US Presidential Election.

Dominic Raab, said: “My congratulations to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on winning this election, with more votes than any candidate in US history. President Trump fought hard in what proved a close contest.

“We’re looking forward to working with the new administration on all of our shared interests, from tackling Covid-19 to counter-terrorism, and collaborating closely through our Presidencies of COP26 and the G7 next year.

“The friendship between the UK and US has always been a force for good in the world.”

By-election candidates confirmed

The candidates standing in the forthcoming Craigentinny/Duddingston Council by-election have been confirmed. Seven candidates have been nominated to stand in the by-election, which is due to take place on 12 November.

There will be additional hygiene and distancing measures at polling places on the day to keep voters and staff safe. These include a new pencil for each voter, protective screens for polling staff, limits to the number of voters in polling places at one time and one-way systems in some venues.

The candidates standing for election are: –

Elaine Ford, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Margaret Arma Graham, Scottish Labour Party
Tam Laird, Scottish Libertarian Party
Andrew McDonald, Independent
Ben Parker, Scottish Green Party
Eleanor Price, Scottish Conservative and Unionist
Ethan Young, Scottish National Party (SNP)

Returning Officer for Edinburgh Andrew Kerr said: “Now that nominations have closed residents in the Craigentinny/Duddingston ward can begin to think about who they will vote for in the upcoming by-election. However, it’s crucial that you make sure you’re registered to vote by 27 October to take part.

“With less than a month to go our Elections Team are finalising plans for a safe, physically distanced by-election, with several hygiene and distancing measures to be put in place. Anyone can also register for a postal vote before 28 October if they’d prefer not to vote in person.”

If you live in the Craigentinny/Duddingston ward you must register to vote by 27 October and anyone wishing to vote by post can sign up for a new postal vote up until 28 October. Residents will begin receiving poll cards from tomorrow (Tuesday, 13 October).

You can also apply for someone to vote on your behalf via proxy voting, with the deadline for new proxy vote applications on 4 November (for registered voters). After this, anyone who is unable to vote in person because of a medical emergency or who is following advice in relation to Covid-19 can apply for a proxy vote before 5pm on 12 November.

The by-election follows the resignation of SNP Councillor Ian Campbell in February. Craigentinny/Duddingston is one of the city’s larger wards, with an electorate of 24,258.

As of 9 October, 3,693 people had registered for a postal vote.

While the Conservatives are currently now the biggest party group in the City Chambers with 17 councillors, the capital is run by the SNP (16) with the support of Labour(11) in a ‘Capital Coalition’.

Find out more about the Craigentinny/Duddingston by-election, including all the safety measures in place, on the Council website.

Have your say on MPs pay

An invitation from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority to take part in a consultation on MPs’ pay:

Today IPSA is publishing a consultation on how MPs’ pay should be updated.

IPSA have a statutory duty under the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 to review MPs’ pay in the first year of each parliament. We decided after consulting in 2012, 2013 and 2015 that the best way to update MPs’ pay periodically was to link it to a transparent, external benchmark, and that the most appropriate benchmark was a measure of earnings.

This consultation proposes to retain that approach, using the Office of National Statistics (ONS) Average Weekly Earnings figure reflecting changes in public sector earnings for the period ahead.

Richard Lloyd, IPSA’s Interim Chair, said: “IPSA is responsible for setting MP’s pay and pensions. We act independently of parliament and have a statutory duty to review MPs’ pay in the first year of each parliament.

“We carried out a major review of MPs’ pay with consultations in 2012, 2013 and 2015, and technical adjustments in 2018. Given the huge economic uncertainties arising from the coronavirus pandemic, we do not think it is right to depart from this approach now.”

The consultation will close on 6 November 2020 and we expect to make a decision in December 2020.

To take part in the consultation please click the links below.

Consultation Document

Consultation Survey

Cosla welcomes additional support worth £750 million

A package of financial flexibilities and extra funding for councils which could be worth up to £750 million has been agreed by the Scottish Government in partnership with COSLA.

To address the financial pressures caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic over the next two years, councils will be granted additional spending powers which could be worth around £600 million.

In addition to this, a Lost Income Scheme will be established to help compensate councils and council trusts for lost sales, fees and charges from services such as sports centres and parking charges.

Councils and their trusts will have access to an estimated £90 million of funding with council trusts delivering services on behalf of councils able to receive a share of a further £49 million of support through the scheme.

Added to additional funding already committed, this brings the value of the overall COVID-19 support package for councils to more than £1 billion.

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said: “I have been clear that the Scottish Government needs appropriate fiscal levers in order to respond effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic. That is equally true for local government, which is why I am very pleased that we have been able to deliver a package of support for local services worth up to £750 million.

“Working in partnership with COSLA, the Scottish Government has delivered on our commitment to support councils across Scotland with a game changing package of financial flexibilities, giving them the powers they need to make informed decisions about spending at a local level.

“In addition, we are close to finalising the details of additional financial support through a Lost Income Scheme, worth an estimated £90 million subject to confirmation of the funding from the UK Government. For trusts delivering services on behalf of councils this can also be topped up with £49 million of additional funding already confirmed.

“This support will help councils and their trusts manage the loss of income they are facing from local services due to COVID-19.  

“These measures are excellent examples of how the Scottish Government is working together with COSLA and local authorities to ensure that we are doing everything within our power to save jobs, protect our public services and reboot our economy.”

COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson Cllr Gail Macgregor said: “We welcome this substantial package of measures from which councils can choose, depending on local circumstance.

“Responding to COVID-19 whilst continuing to deliver essential, everyday services has put extreme pressure on Local Government finances this year. The pandemic has also meant substantial losses of income across a range of council services including leisure, sport, culture, and planning.

“Balancing budgets will be a real challenge and this has been fully recognised by Scottish Government who we have worked with constructively and positively.”

Political parties have become even more secretive about their online campaigning

Openness and transparency are the key foundations of any democracy. But today we find too much of our politics is shrouded in secrecy. Too often voters remain unsure about who is behind the messages they read, who is behind the information that shapes their political views, and ultimately their votes.  In no area is this truer than online campaigning (writes JESSICA BLAIR).

Nine months on from the general election, we still have little idea how much money was spent in the campaign. But even when the data is published by the Electoral Commission, huge gaps will remain in our understanding of how voters were targeted – and by whom.

Democracy is about empowering citizens so that they can actively take part in our political processes and make an informed decision at the ballot box. Transparency, fairness and accountability in political campaigning are key to ensuring this is possible. But while technology offers huge opportunities for political engagement, the current system – if it can be called that – is an unregulated Wild West.

Indeed, the Electoral Commission’s own post-election research found that ‘[m]isleading content and presentation techniques are undermining voters’ trust in election campaigns’ and that the ‘significant public concerns about the transparency of digital election campaigns risk overshadowing their benefits’.

Democracy in the Dark, a new report commissioned by the Electoral Reform Society and written by Dr Katharine Dommett and Dr Sam Power, sheds light on campaigning in the 2019 general election.

For the first time, the authors reveal how much was spent on social media platforms by campaigners and parties during the election, and track the rise of non-party ‘outriders’, with all the associated secrecy.

However, it’s not enough to just point out the risks. Dommett and Power also summarise the many sensible, proportionate and easily implementable recommendations, around which there is broad and cross-party consensus, as to how we can restore trust in our democratic processes.

These reforms would shine a light on the murky world of unregulated online campaigning, focusing on five key areas: 1. Money; 2. Non-party campaigns; 3. Targeting; 4. Data; 5. Misinformation.

Many of the recommendations in this report echo existing calls to modernise electoral law to help rebuild trust in our democratic system. Recommendations include closing funding loopholes, creating national standards for social media ad transparency and ensuring voters can easily see who is targeting them and why.

Since we published our report Reining in the Political Wild West in 2019, countless calls have been made across the political spectrum in support of reform and there continues to be strong and long-standing cross-party support to tame the unregulated Wild West of online political campaigning.

Yet despite repeated calls for reform, little action has been taken. Strikingly, far from becoming more transparent, the authors find that in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, parties and campaigners have become even more cautious about disclosing information about their campaign activities online.

In terms of progress, the most significant step has been the launch of a consultation on extending the use of imprints to include online election material – a necessary step, but which on its own is woefully insufficient.

Such limited efforts have further been undermined by alleged threats to abolish the Electoral Commission if it cannot be ‘radically overhauled’. Rather than enhancing the Commission’s powers and resources so that it can tackle the challenges of the modern age, the body tasked with protecting our democracy is under unprecedented attack.

With elections due to take place across the UK in May 2021, we cannot let the urgent task of ensuring our electoral integrity be kicked into the long grass once more.

Read the full report Democracy in the Dark

EACC meeting cancelled

Edinburgh Association of Community Councils will now meet in October

We are sorry to notify CC members that we have decided to cancel the next meeting due to be held on Thursday 24th September 2020.

Unfortunately, due to holidays and other issues, we have not been able to tie up with speakers nor obtain sufficient information on current issues to make a meeting worthwhile for those representatives who normally attend. 

We are planning to hold a virtual meeting on Thursday 22nd October 2020 with a full agenda of items raised by representatives. It would still be helpful if issues of concern raised at CC meetings were notified to the Secretary in order that we can circulate relevant information to attendees.

We still proposed to hold an AGM on Thursday 19th November 2020.

We apologise for the late cancellation of next Thursday’s meeting.      

Kind regards

John Tibbitt

Chair, Edinburgh Association of Community Councils

chair@edinburghcommunitycouncils.org.uk

Latest update from Citizens’ Assembly

The report from Weekend 5 of the Assembly has now been published, and you can see all the outputs including the livestream recordings on our Weekend 5 page. 

Convener Kate Wimpress has also published a blog where she reflects on the last weekend. 



We look forward to meeting again online on 3 and 4 October, and hope you can join us by watching the livestream on our homepage. 

Best wishes,

Citizens’ Assembly Secretariat