“Britain deserves a pay rise and Britain is getting a pay rise”

“The Budget today puts security first. The economic security of a country that lives within its means. The financial security of lower taxes and a new National Living Wage.

“The national security of a Britain that defends itself and its values. A plan for working people. One purpose. One policy. One nation. And I commend this Budget to the House.” – Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne

Every Chancellor loves a little drama; that opportunity to produce a rabbit from a hat and wrong-foot political opponents and leave them floundering. George Osborne took centre stage today, delivering the first Conservative budget since 1996, and in the finest traditions of vaudeville conjurers he kept something up his sleeve, saving the best ’til last – the big finish.

Yes, there was the expected £12bn cut to welfare – although over a longer time frame – and there were small giveaways here and clawbacks there, nothing too remarkable or unexpected. And then …

“In the last five years we’ve taken the tough choices to drive down our borrowing, make our business taxes competitive and reform welfare.

“It’s because we’ve taken these difficult decisions, and overcome the opposition to them, that Britain is able to afford a pay rise.

Because let me be clear: Britain deserves a pay rise and Britain is getting a pay rise.

I am today introducing a new National Living Wage.”

Now you can call it a new National Living Wage if you want, or just an increase to the National Minimum Wage if you prefer, but whatever you choose to call it, it’s a sizeable hike: more than either Labour or the SNP offered in their respective manifestos, the government has set it to reach £9 an hour by 2020.

Working people aged 25 and over will receive it, starting next April, at the rate of £7.20p.

Along with the slashing back of public expenditure through swingeing cuts to the welfare budget, the setting of a compulsory ‘National Living Wage’ is clearly designed to get the message out that this government intends to make work pay. The announcement delighted the massed Tory ranks, with architect of the benefits reforms Iain Duncan Smith (below) particularly enthusiastic. Rarely has the ‘quiet man’ been quite so animated!

Responding for the Labour Party, acting leader Harriet Harman said: “When you’re in opposition, the temptation is to oppose everything the government does – and believe me, I feel that temptation. But we best serve this country by being a grown-up and constructive opposition.

“So while we will fiercely oppose policies that hit working people, and we will expose policies that are unworkable, where the government comes forward with ideas that are sensible we will be prepared to look at them.”

On Scotland, Mr Osborne said very little: “But what really drives this government, is building up other parts of our United Kingdom, as a balance to London’s strength.

“For Scotland, we’re now delivering – as promised – major devolution of tax and welfare powers.

“The Scottish Government will soon have to answer the question; “you’ve got the powers, when are you going to use them?””

And that was it.

Scotland’s Deputy First Minister John Swinney called the Budget a ‘con trick’ which particularly hits low income households and young people.

He said the announced freeze in working age benefits and cuts to tax credits will see the most vulnerable in our society continue to be hit the hardest whilst the revised minimum wage fails to deliver a real living wage.

Mr Swinney said: “The reality is this budget is an attack on the low paid, the young and those entering the jobs market. This budget is a series of con tricks to try and hide the fact that individual households will now bear the brunt of austerity cuts.

“I support a meaningful living wage paid for by business – one that pays what people need to live, not one that fails to compensate for cuts to valuable tax credits.

“The Chancellor has not even promised to meet the current living wage of £7.85 and under 25’s will face the brunt of cuts but receive no increase in wages.

“As the Resolution Foundation – cited by the Chancellor – make clear the real living wage is based on people receiving tax credits and housing benefit so any new living wage must be far higher to compensate for it. The Chancellor’s con trick does not come close to meeting those costs.

“The Chancellor is cutting from the poor whilst paying out to the rich, he is short changing those on low incomes whilst giving tax breaks to the better off.

“There has been no easing up on austerity – he has simply shifted some of the balance from public services to the public themselves. The Scottish Government has faced a 10% cut in our overall budget for the last five years and the Chancellor today said deficit reduction would take place at the same pace in the future. Overall the scale of austerity being imposed by this UK Government remains unchanged.

“Despite revising down productivity and export figures in each of the next four years there was little in this budget to boost productivity or to set out a strategy for growth.

“The reality is that in delivering his emergency budget the Chancellor has simply exacerbated the emergency situation faced by many on low pay and low incomes.”

The Budget in summary:

1. Introducing a new National Living Wage of over £9 an hour by 2020

From April 2016, a new National Living Wage of £7.20 an hour for the over 25s will be introduced. This will rise to over £9 an hour by 2020.

2. The government will run a surplus in 2019-20

The deficit will be reduced by around 1% of GDP (the value of the economy as a whole) on average in each year, which is the same pace as over the last 5 years. This means a surplus (where more tax is raised than is spent) will be achieved in 2019-20, and debt will fall in every year. Included in this is:

£12 billion by 2019-20 through welfare reforms
£5 billion by 2019-20 from measures to tackle tax avoidance, planning, evasion, compliance, and imbalances in the tax system

Plans for the remaining savings will be set out in the autumn following the spending review.

3. The tax-free Personal Allowance will be increased from £10,600 in 2015-16 to £11,000 in April 2016

The tax-free Personal Allowance – the amount people earn before they have to start paying Income Tax – will increase to £11,000 in 2016-17.

Increases to the Personal Allowance since 2010, when it was £6,475, mean that a typical taxpayer will be £905 a year better off in 2016-17.

The government has an ambition to increase the Personal Allowance to £12,500 by 2020, and a law will be introduced so that once it reaches this level, people working 30 hours a week on the National Minimum Wage won’t pay Income Tax at all.

4. Protecting defence spending

The Ministry of Defence’s budget will rise by 0.5% (above inflation) each year to 2020-21. Up to an additional £1.5 billion a year will also be available by 2020-21 to fund increased spending on the military and intelligence agencies.

The government will meet the NATO pledge to spend 2% of national income on defence every year of this decade.

5. Reforming the welfare system to make it more affordable

The welfare system will be reformed to make it fairer for taxpayers who pay for it, while continuing to support the most vulnerable. Changes include:

working-age benefits, including tax credits and Local Housing Allowance, will be frozen for 4 years from 2016-17 (this doesn’t include Maternity Allowance, maternity pay, paternity pay and sick pay)
the household benefit cap will be reduced to £20,000 (£23,000 in London)
support through Child Tax Credit will be limited to 2 children for children born from April 2017
those aged 18 to 21 who are on Universal Credit will have to apply for an apprenticeship or traineeship, gain work-based skills, or go on a work placement 6 months after the start of their claim
rents for social housing will be reduced by 1% a year for 4 years, and tenants on higher incomes (over £40,000 in London and over £30,000 outside London) will be required to pay market rate, or near market rate, rents.

6. Reforming Dividend Tax

The dividend tax credit (which reduces the amount of tax paid on income from shares) will be replaced by a new £5,000 tax-free dividend allowance for all taxpayers from April 2016. Tax rates on dividend income will be increased.

This simpler system will mean that only those with significant dividend income will pay more tax. Investors with modest income from shares will see either a tax cut or no change in the amount of tax they owe.

7. Taking the family home out of Inheritance Tax

Currently, Inheritance Tax is charged at 40% on estates over the tax-free allowance of £325,000 per person. Married couples and civil partners can pass any unused allowance on to one another.

From April 2017, each individual will be offered a family home allowance so they can pass their home on to their children or grandchildren tax-free after their death. This will be phased in from 2017-18.

The family home allowance will be added to the existing £325,000 Inheritance Tax threshold, meaning the total tax-free allowance for a surviving spouse or civil partner will be up to £1 million in 2020-21.

The allowance will be gradually withdrawn for estates worth more than £2 million.

8. The amount people with an income of more than £150,000 can pay tax-free into a pension will be reduced

Most people can contribute up to £40,000 a year to their pension tax-free. From April 2016, this amount will be reduced for individuals with incomes of over £150,000, including pension contributions.

9. The higher rate threshold will increase from £42,385 in 2015-16 to £43,000 in 2016-17

The amount people will have to earn before they pay tax at 40% will increase from £42,385 in 2015-16 to £43,000 in 2016-17.

10. Corporation Tax will be cut to 19% in 2017 and 18% in 2020

The main rate of Corporation Tax has already been cut from 28% in 2010 to 20%, in order to boost UK competitiveness. It will now fall further, from 20% to 19% in 2017, and then to 18% in 2020, benefiting over a million businesses.

11. The annual investment allowance will be set at its highest ever permanent level at £200,000

The annual investment allowance, which has previously been increased temporarily, will be set permanently at £200,000 from January 2016.

The allowance means businesses can deduct the full value of certain items, including equipment and machinery, up to a total value of £200,000 from their profits before tax. This helps them with cash flow because it means the full tax relief is given in the year items are purchased, rather than over several years.

This permanent increase will help businesses plan their spending on longer-term investments.

12. The Employment Allowance will increase by a further £1,000 to £3,000

Businesses will have their employer National Insurance bill cut by another £1,000 from April 2016, as the Employment Allowance rises from £2,000 to £3,000. The Employment Allowance gives businesses and charities a cut in the employer National Insurance they pay.

This means, next year, businesses will be able to employ 4 people full time on the National Living Wage and pay no National Insurance at all.

13. The standard rate of Insurance Premium Tax will increase to 9.5%

From November 2015 the standard rate of Insurance Premium Tax will be increased from 6% to 9.5%. Households’ insurance prices are falling and the standard rate remains lower than that of many other EU countries.

14. Clamping down on nuisance calls from claims management companies

The amount that can be charged by claims management companies – such as those that encourage claims for payment protection insurance (PPI) or personal injury insurance – will be capped, reducing nuisance calls to potential customers.

15. Restricting tax relief for wealthier landlords

Currently, individual landlords can deduct their costs – including mortgage interest – from their profits before they pay tax, giving them an advantage over other home buyers. Wealthier landlords receive tax relief at 40% and 45%. This tax relief will be restricted to 20% for all individuals by April 2020.

In addition, from April 2016, the ‘wear and tear allowance’, which allows landlords to reduce the tax they pay (regardless of whether they replace furnishings in their property) will also be replaced by a new system that only allows them to get tax relief when they replace furnishings.

16. Ending permanent non-dom status

Non-domiciled individuals (non-doms) live in the UK but consider their permanent home to be elsewhere. The UK rules allow non-doms to pay UK tax on their offshore income only when they bring it into the UK.

Permanent non-dom status will be abolished from April 2017. From that date, anyone who’s been resident in the UK for 15 of the past 20 years will be considered UK-domiciled for tax purposes.

17. Reforming the way banks are taxed

Following increasing bank profits, and to reflect changes in bank regulation, the government is:

introducing a new 8% tax on banking sector profits from January 2016
introducing a phased reduction in the rate of the Bank Levy (which is charged on banks’ balance sheets) from 0.21% to 0.1% between 2016 and 2021
excluding UK banks’ overseas subsidiaries from the Bank Levy from January 2021

18. 3 million new apprenticeships

3 million new apprenticeships will be created by 2020, funded by a levy on large employers. Firms that are committed to training will be able to get back more than they put in.

19. £30 million of funding for Transport for the North

Cities and counties in the North will be given even more control over local transport. Transport for the North (TfN) will be supported by £30 million in funding over 3 years, and will have more responsibility for setting out policy and investments.

20. 30 hours of free childcare for 3 and 4 year olds

From September 2017, working families with 3 and 4 year olds will receive 30 hours of free childcare – an increase from the 15 hours they’re currently offered.

21. Student maintenance grants will be replaced with loans

From the 2016-17 academic year, cash support for new students will increase by £766 to £8,200 a year, the highest level ever for students from low-income households. New maintenance loan support will replace student grants. Loans will be paid back only when graduates earn above £21,000 a year.

22. Road tax will be reformed and the money raised spent on the road network

The road tax system will be revised to make it fairer and sustainable. From 2017, there will be a flat rate of £140 for most cars, except in the first year when tax will remain linked to the CO2 emissions that cars produce. Electric cars won’t pay any road tax at all and the most expensive cars will pay more.

Existing cars won’t be affected – no one will pay more for a car that they already own. The money brought in from road tax in England will be spent on England’s roads from 2020.

The government will extend the deadline for the first MOT of new cars and motorcycles from 3 years to 4 years.

23. Public sector pay will increase by 1%

Public sector pay will increase by 1% a year for 4 years from 2016-17.

24. Making sure individuals and businesses pay what they owe

The government will continue to clamp down on tax avoidance, planning and evasion, as well as increasing resources for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) so they can make sure people pay the tax that’s due. This includes:

extra investment between now and 2020 for HMRC’s work on evasion and non-compliance
tripling the number of criminal investigations HMRC can undertake into complex tax crime, concentrating on wealthy individuals and companies
allowing HMRC to access more data to identify businesses that aren’t declaring or paying tax
clamping down on the organised crime gangs behind the illicit trade in tobacco and alcohol
stopping investment fund managers from using tax loopholes to avoid paying the correct amount of Capital Gains Tax on their profits from the fund (this is known as carried interest)
making sure international companies pay tax on profits diverted from the UK
introducing a ‘general anti-abuse rule’ penalty and tough new measures for serial avoiders, including publishing the names of people who repeatedly use failed tax avoidance schemes

Sturgeon: UK Budget will hit Scotland’s poorest children

Scottish Government figures give ‘frightening indication’ of potential impact of expected tax credit cuts

Expected cuts to the value of tax credits by the Westminster Government in tomorrow’s budget will impact most on the poorest children in Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said this morning.

Figures due to be published tomorrow (Wednesday) by Scottish Government analysts show that, if the Chancellor cuts child tax credits back to 2003 levels in real terms as has been reported, the poorest 20 per cent of Scottish families with children will lose on average nearly 8 per cent of their income – a total impact of £425 million lost across the country – with 60% of Scottish children affected by the changes.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described the research as “a frightening indication” of the impact of the expected cuts and warned that the UK Government’s approach will “hit Scotland’s poorest children and families hard”.

The First Minister said: “The UK Government has already warned that tomorrow’s budget will continue their austerity approach, which we are clear is not just unfair but damaging to the economy – undermining attempts to stimulate growth.

“Tax credits form an important part of the tax and welfare system, designed particularly to support working families on low incomes.

“More than 500,000 children in Scotland benefit from tax credits. Two-thirds of the £2 billion expenditure on tax credits in 2013-14 went to low-income working families with children and only 5 per cent to households without children.

“If, as we expect, the UK Government targets tax credits for cuts in tomorrow’s budget, it will hit Scotland’s poorest children and families hard. It is a frightening indication of the potential impact of the expected cuts in tomorrow’s UK budget.”

The First Minister went on to describe the austerity approach as ‘economically counter-productive’:

“We want to support people to get into work and to stay in work and the tax credit system provides important practical help to families on low pay.

“These are people who are in jobs and often working very hard for relatively little pay. It is unfair that their children are the people made to pay for the mistakes of the austerity approach – not to mention economically counter-productive.

“When people are in work, they spend their wages in the local economy, leading to a virtuous circle. Cutting child tax credits back to 2003 levels, as we expect the UK Government to do tomorrow, will risk threatening Scotland’s economic recovery.

“The deficit needs to be reduced but this should be done in a more gradual manner with more resources allocated to a programme of additional investment in our economy, rather than risking a financial body-blow to hard-working parents and their children.”

Women hit hardest by welfare reforms

‘inequalities faced by women have been exacerbated by the welfare reform agenda’ – Clare Adamson MSP

Women are being hit hard on multiple fronts by changes to the benefits system, according to a report published by Holyrood’s Welfare Reform Committee today.

The Committee found women are ‘disproportionately impacted’ by welfare reform across a range of issues and benefits. Its report includes recommendations to the Scottish Government and Department of Work and Pensions, aimed at mitigating the impact of welfare reform on women, including:

An integrated approach to job seeking support across health, housing and social care, to better meet the needs of women.
To tackle the greater dependence of women on the benefits system due to low pay and insecure employment, the Committee calls for better measures to close the gender pay gap and end occupational segregation.

Committee Convener Michael McMahon MSP, said: “The evidence we have set out confirms the devastating impact on women of the UK Government’s reforms to the social security system. Of particular concern is the cumulative impact on women hit by multiple benefits cuts, from child support to carer’s allowance.

“The UK Government urgently needs to look at how women are being affected by these changes and we are also calling on the Scottish Government to look at the gender impact of their own policy decisions.”

Deputy Convener Clare Adamson MSP, said: ““Our report shows inequalities faced by women in Scotland have been exacerbated by the welfare reform agenda. With the Scotland Bill still making its way through Westminster and the Chancellor set to announce even deeper cuts to welfare spending, the Committee is urging the Scottish Government to make use of expected new powers over welfare to help mitigate more of the negative impact of welfare reform on women.

“The Committee would, for instance, support a move away from monthly and single household payments under Universal Credit, as a way of protecting women’s financial autonomy.”

The report will come as no surprise to many, but perhaps of more concern is the scale of cuts still to come: Chancellor George Osborne is expected to announce a further £12 billion of welfare ‘savings’ in his budget on Wednesday.

Welfare Minister Margaret Burgess said more women could be pushed into poverty and disproportionately affected by social security reforms if the UK Government cuts £12 billion from its welfare budget.

Commenting on the Scottish Parliament’s Welfare Reform Committee’s Women and Social Security report Mrs Burgess expressed her fears that the UK Government’s emergency budget would only deepen the gender inequalities highlighted in the findings.

The report backed Scottish Government recommendations on payment flexibilities under Universal Credit and it also highlighted the need for gender impacts to be factored into any policy decisions.

Mrs Burgess will meet women at One Parent Families Scotland in Glasgow today to hear their views on how the Scottish Government can create a Fairer Scotland. This comes on the same day as Barnardo’s Scotland and the Scottish Government joined forces to call a halt to proposed cuts.

Mrs Burgess said: “It is alarming to see that women have been disproportionately affected by the UK Government’s benefits cuts and are twice as dependent on social security than men. I am deeply concerned that the UK Government’s £12 billion cuts will only widen this gap.

“With our new powers we will create a fairer and simpler social security system that aims to tackle gender and other inequalities. However we need to know how the UK Government’s cost cutting will affect benefits that are to be devolved.

“Organisations like One Parent Families Scotland and Barnardo’s Scotland see the effects of social security changes on the groups the report highlights as being particularly vulnerable, on a day to day basis, and are rightly concerned about the devastating impact further cuts could have on children.

“We welcome the Committee’s recommendations over Universal Credit and sanctions, and we will continue to do all we can to break down the barriers that prevent women from entering into work.

“Over the next few months we’ll be listening to the people affected by the UK Government’s welfare changes and cuts and, will be making sure we get the views of women on how we can create a system that suits their needs.

“Despite challenges from the UK Government we are tackling poverty head on. Our new Independent Adviser on Poverty and Inequality will be looking at what more we can do to lift people out of poverty, we have invested £296 million in welfare mitigation measures, extended our childcare and are encouraging employers to pay the Living Wage.”

Last week the children’s commissioners for Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland warned in a report to the United Nations that government austerity measures had failed to protect the most vulnerable children. The report said the £12bn of planned cuts would have the biggest effect on the 2.3 million children in the UK estimated to be living in poverty.

Greens on Greece: ‘a crisis caused by the rich’

Greens stand with people of Greece as economic crisis deepens

The Scottish Greens have pledged to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Greek people in their fight against austerity. They have also urged both the UK and Scottish governments to put pressure on financial institutions to negotiate a fair debt restructure for Greece.

City councillor Maggie Chapman, Co-Convenor of the Scottish Green Party, said:
“We are in the midst of a crisis caused by the rich. The great economic challenge of our time is ending their power to punish the rest of us for a crisis we did not cause. Austerity is the mechanism they use and the place that has borne the brunt of austerity more than anywhere is Greece.

“We know austerity is doomed to fail, but in that failure it will only extend the economic pain felt by the most vulnerable people in society. All around Europe we must stand with the people of Greece in their stand against austerity, for a decent future and for democracy.

“The election of an anti-austerity SYRIZA led government in January was a clear signal that the people of Greece have rejected austerity. Greece’s creditors, represented by the so-called Institutions – the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund – are trying to subvert that democracy. Their actions have been counterproductive and destructive.

“After five and a half years of brutal austerity Greek debt is higher, while the Greek people have suffered untold harm.

“As a democratic party and a party opposed to austerity the Scottish Greens stand with the people of Greece. As Co-Convener of the Scottish Greens I stand in solidarity with my SYRIZA & Ecologist Greens comrades in the the Greek Government as they lead Europe’s opposition to austerity. We call on the Scottish and UK Governments to intervene with the Institutions to secure the substantial restructuring of Greece’s debts and an end to austerity.”

MP ‘distressed’ by report on impact of benefits sanctions

‘It is time to make this system fit for purpose – and that should be to help people recover to better mental health.’ – Jo Anderson, SAMH

Scotland’s leading mental health charity, SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health) welcomed Joanna Cherry MP to their Redhall service to help launch a new report last week.

The ‘Fir for Purpose’ report documents the negative impact the welfare system has had on 15 people participating in SAMH’s therapeutic gardening programme. The report calls for an end to benefit sanctions which put undue stress on people with mental health problems.

Last year, one of the participants highlighted the negative impact this had on their health:

‘Well, last year my psychiatrist was reducing my medication. When I got this letter from the DWP… I had to stop that and increase my medication again… Suicidal thoughts are massively increased. Urges for self-harm massively increased. Basically, when it comes to getting reassessed, every other part of my life kind of shuts down because it just has a really bad effect on me. It’s almost as if they were to design a process to make it as difficult as possible to stay alive, this is exactly how they would do it.’

The key findings of the report are:

There was a lack of understanding about mental health throughout the assessment process, with those responsible appearing not to be well trained or experienced in mental health.
Those who experienced repeated reassessments or challenging a poor decision found the experience very stressful, which can have an adverse effect of an individual’s recovery.
SAMH is calling for the Scottish Government to ensure that when it takes over the Work Choice programme for disabled people in 2017, it also takes the opportunity to incorporate tailored support for individuals in order to help more people into work and stay mentally well.

Joanna Cherry MP was elected to represent Edinburgh South West in May. She is a QC and recently co-authored the textbook “Mental Health and Scots Law in Practice’. The new local MP said: “The findings from SAMH’s Fit for Purpose report are quite distressing and highlight the real need for a review of how Work Capability Assessments are conducted and monitored effectively.

“The Redhall service offers a great environment for people to receive training and learn to cope with challenges while recovering from enduring mental health problems. I have met some very inspirational people who have overcome huge obstacles in their life and it is important that both the UK and Scottish Government work together and ensure nothing stands in the way of each person’s recovery.”

Jo Anderson, Director for External Affairs at SAMH said: “We are very grateful to Joanna Cherry for supporting our calls for a review to the Work Capability Assessment, with many of those interviewed stating that their mental health had deteriorated as a result of these changes.

“The majority of people with mental health problems continue to be placed on the Work Programme as opposed to the more successful Work Choice, which offers specialised employment support to people with disabilities and other health issues.

“It is time to make this system fit for purpose – and that should be to help people recover to better mental health.”

If you would like to download a copy of SAMH’s Fit for Purpose report, please visit: www.samh.org.uk/our-work/public-affairs/financewelfare

MSP ‘delight’ at record month for Edinburgh Airport

Keir hails soaraway success

The news that over one million passengers used Edinburgh Airport in May has been warmly welcomed by Edinburgh Western Constituency MSP Colin Keir.

Mr Keir, who is also Convener of the Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group on Aviation, said: “This is tremendous news once again from our city airport. It is vital to the economic growth of the city as well as the related jobs that come with having such a successful business. Obviously the new direct routes have given more choice and better deals for those travellers who use the airport which is great for tourism and great for business generally”.

“I’m pleased the airport management have accepted there have been problems with the security hall and that they are working towards a solution. If the airport wish to maintain a world class service with direct routes, the passenger experience has to maintain the same standard”.

Qatar: pressure on First Minister to raise human rights concerns

Concerns at Holyrood over human rights issues

Alison Johnstone, Scottish Green MSP for Lothian, has written to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon raising human rights concerns ahead of the planned football match between Scotland and Qatar at Easter Road tomorrow.

Ms Johnstone, a member of Holyrood’s cross-party group on human rights and co-convenor of the cross-party group on sport, highlights the widespread concern over the unprecedented number of deaths among workers building the infrastructure for the Qatar World Cup 2022 and urges the First Minister to consider how to address ongoing human rights abuses.

Edinburgh North & Leith MSP Malcolm Chisholm will today also ask the Scottish Government to speak out about human rights abuses in Qatar before tomorrow’s friendly match.

The Green MSP said: “I have sympathy for those who suggest the friendly match should be cancelled in order to send a strong signal to the footballing authorities that the current situation is unacceptable, not least while allegations of corruption surrounding World Cup bidding processes await resolution.

“However, I also understand the view that such a course of action may simply punish the Qatari athletes who are entirely innocent in all of this, while failing to address the matters at hand in a way that can have a meaningful impact on relevant Qatari officials and world football’s governing bodies.

“This is an opportunity to establish what action by the Scottish Government will be helpful in such cases where matters of political integrity and sport overlap. It is important that we adopt a stance that can be consistently applied to the one-off friendly match against Qatar, the qualification campaign for Qatar 2022 itself – and indeed Russia 2018, and the upcoming 2015 European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan. All of these events are set to take place against the backdrop of serious human rights concerns, and all deserve our attention.

“Amnesty International has shown that abuse and exploitation of migrant construction workers remains a serious issue. We must consider how Scotland’s voice can aid the growing worldwide effort to tackle dangerous working conditions ahead of 2022, and human rights abuses more generally. Boycotts can be an important way of demonstrating concern, but we must consider whether and how boycotts should form part of a wider strategy, and whether we need to establish criteria by which to accept or extend invitations to play or to host sporting events in the first place.”

Decisions, decisions: Time for truly local councils?

A meeting taking place in Oban this weekend might just change the way communities engage with politics and politicians. Local democracy needs to change – is it time for a People’s Council?

A grassroots movement created to transform local democracy is to hold an event in Oban this weekend. The People’s Council believes that local democracy in Scotland is broken – and it’s up to people and communities themselves to fix it.

The movement has it’s roots in the west of Scotland, where community activists in Argyll & Bute started the ball rolling. Frustrated by the way their local authority operates, campaigners aim to revolutionise decision-making, taking it back to the local communities themselves. They’ve had enough of the council’s ‘we know what’s good for you’ attitude and believe that decisions made about a community are best made by the people who are affected by them – the people who live there. Sound familiar?

Community campaigners were particularly aggrieved over their local authority’s lack of support for a community buy-out of Castle Toward, their council’s failure to challenge budget cuts and the subsequent cuts to services in their communities that inevitably followed.

Activists began chatting online – and an online community, the People’s Council movement, was formed. It soon became clear that people and communities across the country are also concerned about the state of local democracy, and the decision was made to widen the campaign and make the movement Scotland wide.

The group feels that the structure and ethos of councils, and not just their actions and decisions, must be challenged.

It is calling for fundamental reform of local government in Scotland and have called a People’s Council meeting to look at how this can be achieved.

A People’s Council spokesperson said: “This grassroots event in Argyll is set to challenge the nature of local democracy in Scotland. Scotland may be topping the UK charts in terms of voter turnout at the recent election but there’s still a huge local democratic deficit we need to tackle.

“Join us in Oban on 6 June for this one day event full of speakers, workshops, discussion and action to explore local democracy reform from a grassroots level organised by a collective of community activists from across Argyll.

“Speakers include writer and broadcaster Lesley Riddoch, Common Weal’s Robin McAlpine, Paddy Bort of the University of Edinburgh, campaigner Cat Boyd, local MSP Mike Russell and Councillor Vivien Dance, among others.

“The aim of the event is to plan and organise how people can effect change in our local communities and across Scotland. Everyone knows that local democracy in Scotland is broken. The People’s Council wants to try and fix it.”

Broadcaster Lesley Riddoch has thrown her weight behind the campaign and is one of a number of high profile speakers who will address the People’s Council event on Saturday.

She said: “Scotland has Europe’s largest councils by population and physical size. That means distant decision-making, low levels of participation and constant battles between communities and councils.

“Argyll and Bute Council’s shameful failure to transfer Castle Toward to the local community as agreed was one of the lowest points in the history of Scottish local democracy. But now activists from across Argyll are demonstrating real leadership by deciding to get even – not angry.

“These campaigners have kick-started a process to devise a new workable template of truly local government in Scotland involving folk from all over Scotland – the People’s Councils.

“There’s been support for this novel, grassroots idea at every meeting I’ve spoken at during the election campaign from Assynt in the Highlands to Duns in the Borders. Truly local councils are an idea whose time has come – well done Argyll for getting the ball rolling.”

Independent MSP John Finnie, who will also speak at the Oban event, said: “In far too many local authorities decisions reached indicate just how far, both in terms of geography and mind-set, those charged with representing communities are from what really matters.

“That must and will change as the growing debate around the need to ensure meaningful local democracy, which reflects community aspirations, gathers momentum.”

The event takes place at Oban High School on Saturday 6 June from 9.30am to 4.30pm. Tickets are £10/£7 and can be purchased online from Ticket Tailor, or via www.thepeoplescouncil.org.

A number of free tickets are also available.

Charles Kennedy: a wee giant

Former Lib Dem leader dies aged 55

Lib Dem politician Charles Kennedy has died, his family has announced. He was only 55. Kennedy was one of a rare breed – that rare phenomenon, a popular politician – and colleagues and opponents have been swift to praise the likeable wee guy known to many as ‘Chat Show Charlie’.

A statement released on behalf of his family this morning said: “It is with great sadness, and an enormous sense of shock, that we announce the death of Charles Kennedy. Charles died at home in Fort William yesterday. He was 55. We are obviously devastated at the loss.

“Charles was a fine man, a talented politician, and a loving father to his young son. We ask therefore that the privacy of his family is respected in the coming days.

“There will be a post-mortem and we will issue a further statement when funeral arrangements are made.”

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted earlier this morning: “Sad beyond words to hear the news about Charlie Kennedy. A lovely man and one of the most talented politicians of his time. Gone too soon.’

Kennedy’s predecessor as Lib Dem party leader Paddy Ashdown remarked: “In a political age not overburdened with gaiety and good sense, he brought us wit, charm, judgement, principle and decency.”

Nick Clegg, who resigned as Liberal Democrat leader following last month’s general election, said: “Charles devoted his life to public service, yet he had an unusual gift for speaking about politics with humour and humility which touched people well beyond the world of politics.

“He was one of the most gentle and unflappable politicians I have ever known, yet he was immensely courageous too not least when he spoke for the country against the invasion of Iraq.”

Breaking up Britain? Report to lambast Westminster voting system

Electoral Reform Society report will highlight deficiencies of ‘an archaic and broken voting system’

Definitive report on 7 May result highlights least proportional result in UK electoral history
Exclusive YouGov study for the ERS will show result under fairer voting systems
First Past the Post is ‘breaking up Britain’ by creating artificial divisions, analysis shows

The failure of Britain’s voting system will be laid bare on Monday, when the Electoral Reform Society will release their definitive report on the General Election.

The report, ‘The 2015 General Election: A Voting System in Crisis’, will reveal how this election was the most disproportionate in British electoral history, according to new analysis.

It will also, for the first time, conclusively reveal how the election would have looked different under other voting systems – based on polling of over 40,000 people’s party preferences for the ERS by YouGov.

As well as this exclusive new polling, A Voting System in Crisis argues that the voting system is even contributing to the break-up of the UK, artificially inflating divisions and leading to a ‘postcode electoral lottery’ where parties are excluded in one area and over-represented in another. Millions of people’s voices are being excluded simply because of where they live, the report argues.

It draws on the fact that the SNP won 95% of Scottish seats on half the vote – leaving unionist sentiment in Scotland almost completely unrepresented, while at the same time the Labour party was locked out of the South of England – winning just 8 seats in the South East and South West despite getting nearly a fifth of the vote. Equally, cross-community parties were kept out in Northern Ireland under Britain’s divisive voting system, and Labour were greatly over-represented in Wales.

The number of votes cast for parties other than the three main UK wide parties rose to its highest ever level on May 7 – the dawn of ‘truly multi-party politics’, but a politics operating under what the ERS describe as an ‘archaic and broken voting system’.

The report will show the shocking number and percentage of votes which went to losing candidates and were effectively wasted. It will also reveal the number / percentage of MPs who were elected without a majority of votes, as well as the stunningly low number of MPs who actually secured a majority from the overall electorate.

The full report will be produced on Monday 1 June.