Whether in recycling or energy policy, a deeper crisis in long-term thinking is apparent in Scotland. With the new Budget looming, MATT KERR wonders if we can move beyond shallow, headline-grabbing measures
THE government is on a racist offensive. They are actively seeking out ways to remove rights, dismiss lived experience and repeatedly fail to deal with undisputable evidence of institutional and structural racism.
Under this Prime Minister the scapegoating of refugees and migrants continues unabated. The Nationality and Borders Bill attempts to effectively remove the right to seek asylum, penalising people who by definition are in need of shelter.
A couple of years ago I visited the Penally Camp, an old disused army barracks the government were using as lodgings for asylum-seekers. The Welsh TUC campaigned with grassroots organisations, lobbying the Welsh government to back our calls for the UK government to shut it down — which they eventually did. At that point I struggled to imagine what could make their lives harder, but unsurprisingly this government have managed to come up with something that does just that.



