MAgazine
Marking my ten years at Common Weal
Craig reflects on the tenth anniversary of his first Common Weal policy paper and picks out a few of his favourite papers that he’s written since.
How the average person killed politics
The ‘moderate centre’ is where almost all politicians think elections are won, yet new research shows that no-one wants moderate parties. The gap between is exactly where democracy has been dying.
Freedom and the good stuff
There are a series of dogmas about choice and freedom which implies that they are the ultimate goal of human affairs. Well I’ve got a pair of jeans which suggests otherwise…
It's time to be serious – Scotland needs partners
It seems like self-sabotage to have the chance of a major industrial plant in Scotland and to throw that chance away. It is time we were more aware of the reality of our position as a manufacturing nation and recognised that to develop, we can’t start from scratch.
Is there a better way to debate?
While many people see the final debate on Assisted Dying as a great success, I beg to differ. Theatre doesn’t make good policy - so what does?
May 2026: The Age-Friendly Election?
Bill Johnston lays out his hope that the upcoming Scottish election will be an age friendly one, and gives you the tools to help make it happen.
Manosphere? We need to do better than name calling
There is clearly a problem with the radicalisation of some young men on the internet, but the picture is much more complex and nuanced than the shouty headlines suggest. The left needs to start engaging with young men with respect and not on the basis of stereotypes.
A Strategy for Deliberative Democracy
Bill Johnston follows up his article from January on building the infrastructure we need to develop a truly deliberative democracy
If politicians can’t, let citizens who will
The failure of the Assisted Dying Bill this week has revealed the limits of the power of parliament to be able to pass important legislation even without the constraints of the party system. For Bills such as these, perhaps power should be returned to the people.
A regulated economy is one that works for all of us
The “Red Tape” of regulations binds us for a reason. Cutting it too often just makes it easier for some to benefit from the cuts by making us pay for their failures.
Why you should learn the Iron Law of Oligarchy
All bureaucratic systems tend further and further towards centralised control, and there are no exceptions. The only protection against this are checks and balances, and the only protection for those comes from our determination to keep officials honest.
What is the point of a party manifesto these days?
Party political manifestos may seem like an old fashioned method of electoral campaigning in the era of targeted digital adverts, but that might well be why they are still important.
How to make people non-disposable
There is a tacit understanding right across politics that some people just count for less than others, and everyone knows it. Only a rethink of our democracy can resolve this.
We are all responsible for industrial scale child abuse
Our generation has betrayed our children and chosen our greed over their best interests. There is no ‘dealing with’ a childhood in crisis - we need to remove the cancer.
What does ‘The Traitors’ tell us about ourselves?
Excerpt goes here
Transparency means keeping politicians where we can see them
Democracy only works if we can see everything that a Government does at all times.
Happy to be an embarrassment
Common Weal has been regularly mocked for making arguments which are now mainstream. It is a reflection of Scotland’s stultifying problem of political orthodoxy and the failure to support and promote voices brave enough to ask difficult questions.
Cities for people first, tourists second
Rory Hamilton says his non-New Year’s resolution to carry something forward from 2025 into 2026 and to leave something behind in 2025 is no better embodied than in his moving from Edinburgh to Glasgow.
Scotland could lead the UK by upholding International Law
With the US no longer a demonstrably reliable ally and the UK demonstrably unable to stand up to them, Scotland should do what we can to protect ourselves from the recent shifts in geopolitics and act as a beacon for the upholding of international law.
Farewell Auld Reekie, onwards the dear green place
Rory Hamilton says his non-New Year’s resolution to carry something forward from 2025 into 2026 and to leave something behind in 2025 is no better embodied than in his moving from Edinburgh to Glasgow.