Episode 214 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here. This week, and for the final time for the podcast in this format, Craig talks to Robin McAlpine about the General Election results. How did Labour win such a massive landslide despite losing voterse, what happened to collapse the Conservatives, why didn't smaller parties do better and what is next for the UK, Scotland and the SNP. You can read Robin's blog on how the SNP could revive themselves ahead ...

Episode 213 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here. This week, Craig talks to Nadia Shaikh from the Right to Roam campaign, who are seeking the same right to access land in England as we in Scotland have enjoyed by statute for over two decades and by custom for many years longer than that. They discuss how 92% of England came to be locked away from the public, some of the parallels and points of divergence between Scotland and England in this regard, th...

Episode 212 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here. This week, in lieu of a guest, Craig gives a presentation based on one of his public talks. He details what a Circular Economy actually means in contrast to the much more limited definition being used by the Scottish Government. Rather than merely "increasing recycling", he looks at the "nested loops" that make up a Circular Economy as products are redesigned, reused, repaired, and recycled. In particu...

Episode 211 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here. This week, Craig is on holiday, so it’s Rory filling in. On today’s episode, Rory speaks to Dr Franziska Paul, Lecturer in Political Economy at the University of Glasgow about a project she is currently working on alongside Professor Thomas Marois of McMaster University in Canada looking at public banks and sustainable finance. Rory spoke at a workshop organised by Franziska last week, bringing to life...

Episode 210 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here. This week, Craig talks to Frances Guy, Chief Executive of SIDA, Common Weal Board Member and the Former UK Ambassador to Yemen. They discuss SIDA's new report looking at ways that Scotland and the UK can "shift the power" away from the Global North who have caused much injustice and damage through the climate emergency and centuries of colonialisation and imperialism and to help create a much more just...

Episode 209 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here. This week, Craig talks to Rory Hamilton about two major stories in Scottish politics this week. This first is the publication of our policy paper Profit Extraction which looks at the high levels of foreign ownership in the Scottish economy and how that leads to billions of pounds being pulled out of the country every year. The second is the collapse of the SNP-Green cooperation agreement, the resignati...

Episode 208 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here. This week, Craig talks to Igor Zulaika, one of the newly elected parliamentarians in the Basque Country's recent parliamentary elections which saw his party, the left-wing pro-independence EH Bildu, gain its highest ever vote share, just one seat shy of being the largest party in Parliament. They discuss the history of the Basque national movement, the landscape of politics in the Basque Country (inclu...

Episode 207 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here. This week, Craig talks to Eilidh Keay from Living Rent about the state of the private rented sector in Scotland, what this means for tenants - especially when their rent is too high and/or their home is poorly maintained by their landlord and what the Scottish Government is about to do to bring in effective rent controls, improve tenants rights and conditions in rented homes. You can read Living Rent/...

Episode 206 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here. This week, Craig is in the hotseat for a change as Rory Hamilton interviews him about his latest policy paper for Common Weal Taxing Land in Scotland. They discuss how to reform Council Tax into a Property Tax that matches the actual value of homes and then how to extend that tax to land, bringing in around £450 million a year in additional revenue for Scottish Local Authorities. You can read the pape...

Episode 205 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here. This week, Craig talks to Prof Richard Murphy about his new report Taxing Wealth 2024. The report examines the causes of the UK's wealth inequality and looks at the policies that could be implemented to mitigate against it, including reforms to National Insurance, Capital Gains Tax and tax reliefs on savings such as ISAs and pension funds. You can read the Taxing Wealth report here: https://taxingweal...