The Common Weal Policy Podcast

Episode 90 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig Dalzell talks to Kevin Anderson - a member of the Evidence Group of the Scottish Climate Assembly who recently published their final report listing 82 policy recommendations for the Scottish Government. They discuss the process by which the Assembly heard evidence from multiple experts (inclu...

Episode 89 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig Dalzell speaks to Mark Hooper from Banc Cambria - a mutually-owned Community Bank in the process of starting up in Wales. Banc Cambria is based on a model of community banking developed by the Community Savings Bank Association which was also adopted by Common Weal in our paper on Community B...

Episode 88 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig Dalzell is joined by two special guests. Alice Kinghorn-Gray from ERS Scotland and Will Stringer from the Sortition Foundation both here to discuss the ongoing campaign to create a Scottish House of Citizens - an upper chamber overseeing the Scottish Parliament that would be formed by residen...

Episode 87 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig Dalzell is joined by Prof Richard Murphy of Tax Research UK to discuss the G7's proposal for a global minimum corporation tax. Richard explains how the tax works and how it could be calculated then looks at the weaknesses and loopholes in the tax as well as news that the UK, having just...

Episode 86 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig Dalzell is joined by Keith Baker, member of Common Weal's Energy Working Group, to discuss the ongoing campaign to revolutionise Scotland's energy sector. They discuss the campaign for a Scottish Energy Development Agency, the revitalised interest in a National Energy Company, how t...

Episode 85 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Jonathon Shafi and Craig Dalzell discuss the first 100 days of the Scottish Parliament and the priorities that the Government has laid out to shape the upcoming Parliamentary session. They also talk about the formal negotiations between the SNP and the Greens to explore the possibility of a formal...

Episode 84 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . Update - 21/05/21 - Angus Robertson has had Migration and related topics added to his brief as Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs. -- This week, Craig Dalzell is joined by Campaigner, Activist and Creative Director for EU Citizens for an Independent Scotland, Ellen Dalzell. Ellen and Craig talk about thei...

Episode 83 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig Dalzell is joined by Common Weal's Communications Officer Becki Menzies to discuss the Holyrood election results, the successes for the Parliament in terms of turnout and increased diversity and some of the major policies that the Parliament should and could implement as a priority since...

Episode 82 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Jonathon Shafi and Craig Dalzell look at some of the party manifestos ahead of the Scottish Elections. In particular they note that many policies that Common Weal have been campaigning for years have been adopted by multiple political parties and now look more like "when, not if" Scotland...

Episode 81 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig Dalzell talks to John Young from the Dovesdale Action Group which is campaigning locally against the construction of a waste incinerator in South Lanarkshire and is campaigning nationally for a moratorium on all new incinerators in Scotland. You can join the Dovesdale Action Group's Face...

Episode 80 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig Dalzell talks to Donald McPhillimy and Callum Blackburn about their recent policy paper for Common Weal, A Mosaic of Life . The paper was part of our recent Land Reform Week and provides a vision of what a "Half-Wild Scotland" would look like if our proposals for Land Reform were fu...

Episode 78 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig Dalzell is joined by two special guests from Scotland's Climate Assembly . Iain Stewart was the Lead Communicator on the Assembly and Ellie Clarke was one of the 100 people chosen to represent Scotland on the Assembly as they discussed the issues raised by the climate emergency and what...

Episode 78 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Jonathon Shafi and Craig Dalzell discuss Common Weal's Land Reform Week . In particular, they look at our latest policy papers Work The Land - which illustrates the economic impact of creating tens of thousands of new jobs in Scotland's rural communities - and Our Land - which shows how t...

Episode 77 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig Dalzell talks to special guest Colin Turbett. Colin is a retired social worker who now writes on reform of the sector. He is a member of Common Weal's Care Reform Working Group and is currently working with the group on a blueprint for a National Care Service. Colin's upcoming paper...

Episode 76 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Jonathon Shafi and Craig Dalzell introduce Common Weal's latest Policy Paper - A Property Tax for Scotland . Our proposal to replace the outdated and unfair Council Tax with a tax based on the actual value of land and buildings. This tax would scrap the banding system and the bizarre method of...

Episode 75 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Jonathon Shafi and Craig Dalzell welcome the publication of the final report of the Citizens' Assembly , in particular their adoption of a series of policies that align well with similar policies previously published by Common Weal. They then discuss the ongoing political crisis in the US with...

Episode 74 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . Welcome to 2021 and the start of a new series of the Common Weal Policy Podcast. This week, Jonathon Shafi and Craig Dalzell discuss the new national lockdown prompted by the accelerating spread of Covid-19 and what we must now do to prevent an endless cycle of lockdowns in the months to come. They also discu...

Episode 73 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, in the final Policy Podcast of 2020, Jonathon Shafi and Craig Dalzell look back at this historic year, reflect on the impact that the pandemic has had on Scotland and on everything that Common Weal has done throughout 2020. They then look forward at our plans - as much as they can be made - for 202...

Episode 72 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week Jonathon Shafi and Craig Dalzell discuss the birth of Scotland's hydrogen economy, what it could become, where it could go wrong and how it could fit into the wider Green New Deal. The project to produce green hydrogen for public transport was reported here . The pilot scheme to test hydrogen f...

Episode 71 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week Jonathon Shafi talks to Tim Rideout of the Scottish Currency Group about the folly of Sterlingisation, the need for an independent currency and the urgency of getting a plan in place as we look towards a referendum. The Scottish Currency Group's conference can be watched here . Laurie Macfarlan...

Episode 70 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Jonathon Shafi and Craig Dalzell talk about the launch of the Scottish National Investment Bank. They discuss the history of Common Weal's involvement with the SNIB, from our early campaigning through to consulting on the development of the bank. Then, they discuss what the bank could be used...

Episode 69 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig Dalzell talks to Anthony Salamone, the Managing Director of European Merchants , about his Blueprint for an independent Scotland's accession as an EU member. They discuss some of the myths surrounding the Scottish EU membership debate including the supposed "queue" that Scotlan...

Episode 68 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig Dalzell and Jonathon Shafi discuss the Citizens' Assembly of Scotland and reports of their idea of creating a Citizens' Chamber to oversee and scrutinise the Scottish Parliament. This idea closely matches one produced by Common Weal in 2017 and meshes well with our ideas around loca...

Episode 67 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig Dalzell and Jonathon Shafi discuss the US Presidential Elections. As of the recording of this podcast, the final result of the election was not yet known but a Biden victory was looking likely. Craig and Jonathon look at the possible implications of a Biden victory and the effect that might h...

Episode 66 of the Common Weal Policy Podcast You can download the episode directly here . This week, Craig Dalzell is joined by Isobel Lindsay, vice chair of Scottish CND, to discuss the UN's Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the implications that it will have for Scottish independence and the prospect of removing the UK's nuclear weapons from Faslane. You can read John Ai...