Episode 184 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Laura Young about her campaign to ban disposable vapes in Scotland and in the UK. They discuss why these devices exist, how they are marketed and what impact their improper disposal is having. They also discuss the possible role of the Circular Economy Bill in not just ensuring devices like these are recycled effectively but possibly how to avoid them reaching the market in the fi...
Sep 20, 2023•39 min•Season 5Ep. 184
Episode 183 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig plays with the format of the podcast slightly. Instead of just one guest, he's spoken to several members of the Common Weal team about last week's Programme for Government and what they would have added to it if they had written it themselves. You can read Craig's detailed analysis of the PfG here: https://commonweal.scot/programme-for-government-2023-24/ Common Weal's work is only possibl...
Sep 13, 2023•28 min•Season 5Ep. 183
Episode 182 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Mercedes Villalba MSP about her Members' Bill to apply a public interest test to anyone who owns or seeks to own more than 500 hectares of land in Scotland. They discuss the problems with Scotland's concentrated land ownership, how the public interest test would work and why it is important to address existing owners as well as whenever land is transfered between owners. You can r...
Sep 06, 2023•25 min•Season 5Ep. 182
Episode 181 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Barry Fisher from Keep Scotland Beautiful about their campaign to end litter in Scotland with a major part of that campaign now looking at Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) or the concept that the producers of devices and packaging that create waste should be responsible for that waste and that products should be designed to minimise or eliminate that waste so that litter is ...
Aug 30, 2023•39 min•Season 5Ep. 181
Episode 180 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Colin Turbett, former social worker and member of Common Weal's Care Reform Group, about the history of social work in Scotland and what lessons we can learn from the fragmentation and privatisation of social work as we consider the upcoming National Care Service. You can read Colin's paper here: https://commonweal.scot/policies/from-welfare-to-charity/ You can read his article in...
Aug 24, 2023•35 min•Season 5Ep. 180
Episode 179 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Ben Wray from the Gig Economy Project, a pan-European project to map and track insecure labour, about a recent article he wrote about Karl Marx and his views towards the gig economy - known in his time as "piece wages". They discuss the rise and resurgence of this form of insecure labour, how it undermines salaried work and how it negatively impacts and disempowers workers. They a...
Aug 16, 2023•37 min•Season 5Ep. 179
Episode 178 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Common Weal's own Rory Hamilton about his research into land reform and community buyouts in the South of Scotland. His collating of oral history of land reform in several village communities shows the difference in attitudes towards land and ownership and how they differ from areas such as the Highlands. They also discuss how current and proposed legislation could have impacted l...
Aug 09, 2023•43 min•Season 5Ep. 178
Episode 177 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Ellen Joëlle Dalzell, activist and director of community design & campaign agency Artivism Scotland , about the Scottish Government's Independence White Paper on citizenship . They discuss the positives around Scotland's inclusive approach to migration and the fact that non-citizen residents enjoy many more of the same rights and responsibilities as citizens do compared to oth...
Aug 02, 2023•34 min•Season 5Ep. 177
Episode 176 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Calum Hodgson from Green New Deal Rising about the current state of the climate emergency, what are the barriers to the solutions are are available but not being implemented fast enough and what should the Scottish and UK Governments do to get back on track towards meeting their climate targets. You can learn more about GND Rising at their website here: https://www.gndrising.org C...
Jul 19, 2023•37 min•Season 5Ep. 176
Episode 175 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Graham Smith, CEO of pro-democracy campaign group Republic about their campaign to end the British monarchy and replace the head of state with an elected President. They discuss the reasons why we need an elected head of state, how Republic have been campaigning for this via their high profile protests around events such as the coronation and their reaction to the British state's ...
Jul 12, 2023•31 min•Season 5Ep. 175
Episode 174 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Prof. Richard Murphy of Funding the Future about the UK's inflation crisis, how the Bank of England has misdiagnosed the problem, how the IMF has correctly identified the cause but thinks we should keep doing the wrong thing anyway and what the UK could be doing to bring down inflation, raise wages and reduce profiteering in our economy. You can read the IMF's report here: https:/...
Jun 28, 2023•55 min•Season 5Ep. 174
Episode 173 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Alastair McIntosh, ecologist, activist, and author of a new paper on community rights in the face of carbon capture and capital, The Cheviot, The Stag and the Black, Black Carbon. They discuss the rise of the Green Lairds, the lack of community agency embedded in current land reform strategy and how there are some early signs of better approaches towards land reform starting to em...
Jun 21, 2023•57 min•Season 5Ep. 173
Episode 172 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Kaitlin Dryburgh, Common Weal's Policy Communications Officer, about her new project for Common Weal. Common Weal Recreates is a monthly newsletter looking at sport, art and culture in Scotland with a specific focus on helping you find interesting things to do around Scotland. They also discuss our book Sorted and what it says about reshaping Scotland to give us more time to do th...
Jun 08, 2023•24 min•Season 5Ep. 172
Episode 171 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Tom Nockolds, member of Common Weal's Energy Working Group and co-founder of Loco Home, a community-led, not-for-profit, retrofitting strategy company who work with communities and suppliers to help advise and design home retrofit plans. They discuss the scale of the retrofitting challenge and why community-level actions will deliver better and faster results than simply mandating...
May 31, 2023•47 min•Season 5Ep. 171
Episode 170 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Prof. Aileen McHarg about the increasing complexities forming at the edges of devolution in the UK, the tensions that are forming as the Scottish and UK Governments cross the lines of their remits and whether or not both governments are treating these limits as a battleground for constitutional skirmishes. Prof McHarg's paper can be read here: https://www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.u...
May 24, 2023•45 min•Season 5Ep. 170
Episode 169 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig presents another collection of recent public talks from Common Weal and at some of our events. First up, Colin Turbett talks about the history and principles of care in Scotland and how this should inform the development of the National Care Service. Next, Peter Krykant recently spoke at our monthly activists' meeting where he and others discussed the policy landscape around drugs and the ...
May 17, 2023•50 min•Season 5Ep. 169
Episode 168 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Keith Baker, Abi Truebig and Alison Anderson from green skills and retraining consultancy Pattiesmuir , they discuss how the coming Green transition presents opportunities for Scotland to create green jobs but that there's still a gap in Scottish politics on how to train and retrain people to fill those jobs. They also discuss their plans to host a conference later this year calle...
May 10, 2023•46 min•Season 5Ep. 168
Episode 167 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week Craig talks to Alastair Tibbit from Open Democracy about their latest report into the funding of think tanks across the UK and in the devolved nations. They discuss why it is important that think tanks declare the sources of their funding and why the public should be wary of those who do not. Common Weal is also proud to announce that we were awarded an A rating in their report, the highest possi...
May 04, 2023•37 min•Season 5Ep. 167
Episode 166 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Rowan Lear, curator at Glasgow Seed Library. They discuss what a seed library is, how they help preserve not just the seeds that form our collective heritage but also the skills and culture required to grow them. They also talk about some of the different plants that the library has in its collection and how you can help their mission by borrowing seeds, growing them and returning...
Apr 27, 2023•34 min•Season 5Ep. 166
You can download the episode directly here . This week Rory is filling in for Craig, who is in Dundee for the Scottish Trades Union Congress Annual Conference. Rory is joined by Savan Qadir, from Refugees for Justice and the University of Glasgow, to talk about the current UK immigration system, the impact it has on refugees and asylum seekers, as well as the host communities they integrate with, and how Scotland could lead the way with a more caring and compassionate approach to immigration. Th...
Apr 19, 2023•29 min•Season 5Ep. 165
Episode 164 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week Craig talks to Simon Barrow from the SNP's Trade Union Group about the rise of trade union activities in Scotland and in the UK recently, how trade union groups within political parties work and how they advance policies, how the SNP TUG influenced the recently SNP leadership debate and what both the SNP TUG and Common Weal will be doing at the STUC conference next week. The podcast featuring the...
Apr 12, 2023•32 min•Season 5Ep. 164
Episode 163 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Dexter Whitfield, one of the UK's foremost experts in scrutiny of Public Private Partnerships, about the impact they've had on Scotland and about his new research for Common Weal showing how much of Scotland's public money is being extracted by the companies running the schemes and how much of that is being funnelled through tax havens. You can read his policy paper here . And our...
Apr 05, 2023•47 min•Season 5Ep. 163
Episode 162 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week Craig talks to Bill Johnston, mutual co-authors on their book All of Our Futures (available here ) about the new Scottish Government, the need for a Minister for Older People with a strategy for age and ageing and some comments on recent moves by the UK Government to adopt a "Mid Life MOT" and attempts to change the state pension. You can buy their book in the Common Weal shop here: https://commo...
Mar 29, 2023•42 min•Season 5Ep. 162
Episode 161 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Rosemary Harris from Platform to discuss their new report with Friends of the Earth Scotland - Our Power. This report collected interviews with offshore oil workers about their views on the future of the sector and what they would like to see happen in terms of a Just Transition into sectors such as renewables. They discuss the importance of not just a Just Transition - one that a...
Mar 15, 2023•34 min•Season 5Ep. 161
Episode 160 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Claire Peden from Unite the Union and Eryn Browning from Together Against Debt here to talk about their campaign to End School Meal Debt. The discuss the scale of such debt in Scotland, its impacts on children and which Local Authorities have already decided to waive these debts and which are still resisting calls to do so. If you would like to get involved with the campaign, you ...
Mar 08, 2023•28 min•Season 5Ep. 160
Episode 159 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast This week, Craig talks to Joe Ryle, Director of the 4 Day Week Campaign who recently helped coordinate a UK-wide pilot scheme which recently published its final report . They discuss the results of that pilot, the benefits of working less for both employees and companies and what challenges were faced by participants. Common Weal's work is only possible thanks to our generous supporters who regularly donate an average of £10 per month. If you would l...
Mar 06, 2023•32 min•Season 5Ep. 159
Episode 158 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig brings you a series of live talks from the team at Common Weal. First is Craig himself giving an overview of the Scottish Government's energy strategy to the Just Transition Partnership's Reclaiming our Energy Conference. Then Chair of Common Weal's Board Malcolm Fraser talks to residents of Glasgow's Wyndford Estate where they are trying to prevent their eviction and the estate's demoliti...
Feb 22, 2023•57 min•Season 5Ep. 158
Episode 157 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig is joined by Jonathon Shafi to discuss the breaking news of Nicola Sturgeon's resignation, her political legacy, what comes next for the SNP's independence strategy and for the grassroots independence movement. Common Weal's work is only possible thanks to our generous supporters who regularly donate an average of £10 per month. If you would like to help us build our vision of an All of Us...
Feb 15, 2023•40 min•Season 5Ep. 157
Episode 156 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, the tables have turned and Craig is the one in the interview chair as Robin McAlpine asks him about his new policy paper for Common Weal, ScotWind: One Year On. They discuss how much Scotland has lost in potential auction fees by placing a maximum price cap on the 2022 auction, how much Scotland has lost in terms of supply chain investment to other countries and what we can do to mitigate the fa...
Feb 08, 2023•51 min•Season 5Ep. 156
Episode 155 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Harriet Protheroe-Soltani and Johnathan Evershed from Welsh pro-indy think tank Melin Drafod about the case for Welsh independence, the similarities and distinctions between the Welsh and Scottish cases for independence and about their recent seminar charting a strategy towards achieving an independent Wales. You can read Melin Drafod's paper on the fiscal position of an independe...
Feb 01, 2023•41 min•Season 5Ep. 155
