The Common Weal Policy Podcast

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 t...

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...

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 "neste...

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...

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 thr...

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 coun...

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 discus...

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...

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...

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 sa...

Episode 204 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Andy Wightman, possibly Scotland's foremost expert on land reform, about the Scottish Government's new Land Reform Bill and his updated analysis of his Who Owns Scotland? report which shows that in the past decade or so, Scotland's already very concentrated patterns o...

Episode 203 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Kristopher Leask from Community Energy Scotland and Josh Doble from Community Land Scotland about their new call to action paper A Fair Energy Deal for Communities. They discuss the state of community owned energy in Scotland, what the benefits are compared to the privatised model w...

Episode 202 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 who report on issues affecting gig workers and platform work around Europe and internationally. They discuss the new Platform Work Directive which will regulate and improve workers' rights within the gig economy in Europe. They also talk ab...

Episode 201 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Simon Jones, a long time Common Weal supporter and activist, about a newly proposed £20 million regeneration scheme in his home town of Dumfries. They discuss the importance of Scotland's towns to our communities, the importance of long term planning in those proposals, Scotlan...

Episode 200 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to William Thomson from Scotonomics about their upcoming event The Festival of Economics which seeks to debunk and demystify economics and to explore innovations and new theories in economics as well as to explore the topics and policies affecting Scotland right now. You can buy ticket...

Episode 199 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Nick Kempe, Convenor of the Common Weal Care Reform Group, about the return of the National Care Service Bill to the Scottish Parliament within the next couple of weeks. They discuss why Common Weal campaigned for a pause to the Bill process, how we've engaged with the co-desig...

Episode 198 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week Craig talks to Heather from the direct action group This Is Rigged about their upcoming March for Scran - a protest on February 18th 2024 starting at 11am from Garnethill Park in Glasgow. They discuss the reasons for food insecurity in Scotland, the rise of foodbank demand coinciding with a drop in...

Episode 197 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Common Weal's own Nicola Biggerstaff about the various public consultations that we're currently taking part in such as the proposal for an Ecocide Bill, the UK Parliament's consultation on the sustainability of the UK's debt, work on the Scottish Circular Econom...

Episode 196 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast  You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Prof Alison Phipps, Professor of Languages and Intercultural Studies at the University of Glasgow and UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts, about the devastation of Gaza, the recent ruling by the ICJ that there was a plausible risk of genocide as a res...

Episode 195 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . Welcome to Season 6 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast. This year's theme is "Activate" so if you have a story to tell about an interesting thing happening in your community or if you're involved in a campaign to change things for the better, then please get in touch and we'll get you...

Episode 194 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast  You can download the episode directly here . This week Craig talks to Common Weal Director Amanda Burgauer in the final Policy Podcast of the year. They take you through some of the highlights from Common Weal in 2023 such as our policy work in ScotWind, the National Care Service and in independence strategy. They discuss some of our public events and...

Episode 193 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Anthony Salamone from European Merchants who is here to discuss the Scottish Government's latest independence White Paper on Scotland's accession to the European Union. They discuss where the Scottish Government has started to demonstrate deeper understanding of EU process...

Episode 192 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Sophia Georgescu, a PhD candidate currently researching how actively involving children in democratic participation can both educate and embed participation later but can also have a meaningful impact on our democracy itself. Decisions affecting everyone should not be solely left to...

Episode 191 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Stuart Donald, an electoral reform campaigner who particularly focuses on the systematic inequalities caused by the UK's First Past The Post electoral system. They discuss how this system disenfranchises voters, leads to them being less well represented in Parliament and leads...

Episode 190 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig talks to Nick Kempe who many of you will know from his work with Common Weal on care reform. His life outwith care though is spent exploring the hills and mountains of Scotland and Europe. In this podcast, he talks about the problem Scotland faces with frequent landslips and how they have be...