World Children’s Day 2020 Written by Scott Reid, chief of staffEdited by Kevin Pringle, partner20 November 2020 Good morning, Today is #WorldChildrensDay, marking 61 years since world leaders gathered at the UN General Assembly in New York to adopt the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. 2020 has been a momentous – if destructive – year …
A fly in the ointment Written by Katie Stanton, associate partnerEdited by Kevin Pringle, partner9 October 2020 Good morning, Although the title might suggest it, fear not another diatribe about Mike Pence and the now viral fly that perched atop his silvery, lacquered mane during Wednesday’s vice-presidential debate – although that was pretty funny. No, …
50 years of poverty: has anything changed? Written by Martin Dorchester, chief executive of Includem6 October 2020 This week, as Scotland marks Challenge Poverty Week, I have been thinking a lot about my own childhood and the experiences that have shaped me. I was born in 1964, the youngest of nine. I was the son …
The nuclear option Written by Tom Gillingham, associate partnerEdited by David Gaffney, partner29 September 2020 Good morning, Beyond Brexit, Covid-19 and the climate emergency, there is an important issue seemingly buried under a pile of ministerial paper, and it’s a fairly fundamental one. How, exactly, do we keep the lights on? Until recently, nuclear power was …
Turning towards enlightenment Written by Andrew Wilson, founding partner26 September 2020 Good morning, On Tuesday, at 8.20pm, my part of the world turned its face towards winter, but for a moment basked with the rest of the planet. The equinox occurs twice a year when the earth’s tilt is such that the sun illuminates the …
Homemade silicon Written by Scott Reid, chief of staffEdited by Harriet Moll, creative director25 September 2020 Good morning, Scotland’s Silicon Glen, London’s Silicon Roundabout and any other European locale with a tech hub that you care to stick ‘silicon’ in front of; they all represent dreams for flourishing tech centres to compete with California’s hallowed …
Protest and be thankful Written by Malcolm Robertson, founding partner 19 September 2020 Good morning, Every week, we try with varying degrees of success to apply a theme to our weekend reading list. My only demand this week was that we lifted our sights from the ongoing chaos surrounding the constitution of the UK and …
Abenomics forever Written by Li-Ann Chin, associateEdited by Harriet Moll, creative director17 September 2020 Good morning, Last month, Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving leader, announced a rather abrupt end to his career, citing chronic illness as the reason for his resignation. Notorious for his signature brand of Abenomics, Abe’s time in office has been scrutinised by sceptics and believers alike, as he embarked on a series of rather …
The thorns in our side Written by Harriet Moll, creative director 12 September 2020 Good morning, When will there be good news? I’m afraid I can’t answer that this morning, but I hope this week’s mix of reads and listens from a wide variety of sources do at least provide some understanding and insight into some of the thorniest problems we face together as …
Is meritocracy the road to the guillotine? Written by Alex Massie10 September 2020 Meritocracy, the belief in social mobility based on hard-work and ability, is both impossible to argue against and so thoroughly misunderstood it becomes necessary, eventually, to argue against it. It is one of the foundational creeds of modern life. Yet the term …