Tag Archives: politics

Weans’ World

October 1, 2012 By in Activism, Scotland Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , 11 Comments

What would make Scotland the best place in the world to bring up children?

The Scottish Government will soon be launching their National Parenting Strategy. You can read more about it here. This is a brilliant opportunity to use our voices as parents and let the Government know what they’re doing well… but more importantly what they could be doing better.

I’ve been asked by the charity Parenting Across Scotland to do a quick post with my own thoughts, but also to help gather your thoughts. Please do feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments below, or if you’re on Twitter you can tweet using the #PAS12 hashtag.

Continue reading →

It Shouldn’t Happen Here

September 6, 2012 By in Activism Tags: , , , , , , , , , 18 Comments

Save the Children UK Campaign

Well, gosh. That’s got people talking, hasn’t it?

Save the Children launched a new fundraising appeal yesterday; the first ever one to raise money to help children living in poverty in the UK. The appeal coincides with a new report ‘It Shouldn’t Happen Here’ which details the experiences of children and parents living in recession-hit Britain.

Every time you started up your computer, opened a paper, turned on the TV or listened to the radio yesterday, there was someone in front of you, sharing their opinion on it.
Continue reading →

Can I still call myself Green?

June 30, 2012 By in Activism Tags: , , , , , , , , 11 Comments

Surfers Against Sewage campaign

I have been having a bit of a political identity crisis recently, as I question whether I can still call myself green.

I think it’s possible to say that you are ‘life-long Labour’ or ‘a committed Conservative’ even if you’re never been an activist and all you’ve ever done is vote for that party. But I’m not so sure that the same applies to Greens. I think there is an expectation that being Green means putting the politics into practice.

Five years ago I was Green with a capital G. A fully paid up member of the Scottish Party, an occasional candidate, present at every committee meeting. I knew exactly what ‘being Green’ meant. It meant knocking on doors, delivering newsletters, carrying the end of a banner at a demo, street stalls in the rain, boycotting Nestle, working for an environmental charity, wearing anti-war and pro-renewable badges on my jacket…  Being Green was about trying to make a better world possible.
Continue reading →

Scotland: Democracy, Devolution and Pandas

June 4, 2012 By in Guest Posts Tags: , , , , , , , 6 Comments

political slogan street art

Juliet Swann works as the Campaigns and Research Officer for the Electoral Reform Society in Scotland. The ERS are planning an exciting series of events to get the debate about Scotland’s democracy away from the politicians and into the hands of the people. This isn’t just a conversation about independence, it’s about what’s wrong with politics and how we can fix it, a topic Juliet blogs on below.

Maybe our democracy never really worked that well.

Maybe increased transparency and developments in technology mean that ordinary people are able to appreciate the realities of power and its misuse.

Maybe the modern age has seen an erosion of values such as public service and civic duty that have led to a loss of trust in politics.

Whatever the reasons, the truth is that trust in politics and democracy is ebbing away.
Continue reading →