Why are we still arguing about basic decency a decade on?
You see these stories about Jo Cox's sister talking about common ground. It makes you wonder, doesn't it? We're a country that supposedly prides itself on politeness and community, yet we seem to be more divided than ever. It's like we've forgotten how to talk to each other civilly, especially when it comes to politics.
This is why I think we need to seriously look at some sort of mandatory civic engagement program for young people, maybe as part of their schooling or just after. Not boot camp or anything drastic, but something that gets them working together on local projects. Imagine teenagers from different backgrounds, different schools, maybe even different sides of a debate, having to collaborate to fix up a park or help out at a community centre. They’d be forced to see each other as people, not just labels.
who needs westminster in scottish sport
what's the point of having a scottish football association if westminster's just going to stick its oar in whenever it feels like it, I mean come on, can't we just make our own decisions for once, it's not like the scottish fa is incapable of handling a simple thing like a kick-off time.
the thing is, it's not just about football, it's about the principle of the thing, if we can't even control our own sports fixtures, what hope do we have of making our own decisions on the really important stuff, like how we run our country, and it's not just sport, it's culture, it's identity, it's who we are as a people, and if we can't make our own decisions about that, then what's the point of even having a scottish government.
Scrap the CAP, it's killing our farms
I was talking to a friend who's a farmer just outside Perth and he was at his wit's end, the EU's Common Agricultural Policy has been a disaster for his business, the paperwork alone is crippling him, and the subsidies never seem to make it to the people who actually need them.
I've seen it time and time again, small farms being squeezed out by massive agricultural corporations, it's not what farming should be about, it's not about producing cheap food for supermarkets, it's about producing good food for local people.
The Scottish parliament should have the power to create its own agricultural policy, one that supports small farms and promotes local produce, we don't need some faceless bureaucrat in Brussels telling us how to run our farms.
What do you think?
Vote on individual policies, adapt them, or write your own alternative. Good ideas should be tested.