Campaigning during May’s local elections, I found myself at the door of a small terraced house in Glasgow. The conversation I had with the woman who lived there, her children peeking round her legs to see who was at the door, has stayed with me in the months since.

The Scottish government is looking to take cash from some spending pots to give to families in need. Here are three possible sources.​

Wigtown gained its status as the country’s National Book Town in the late 1990s. The idea came from academics at Strathclyde University which had seen the success of Hay-on-Wye, the national book town of Wales, and thought Scotland should have its equivalent. Up till then, the town had been in sharp decline. After winning the competition, everything changed.

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted upon household food security across the UK, and exposed widening health inequalities. The most deprived households with children, have been particularly affected, with 2.3 million children experiencing food insecurity between August 2020 and January 2021. During this time, the voluntary sector has made important contributions in tackling child food poverty. The future sustainability of such models of funding is, however, unclear.  

The task of reversing Scotland’s falling birth rate is a project lasting decades without a straightforward solution. That means that mitigating the economic pressures – by encouraging immigration and delaying retirements – is going to be important in the short run. It is a daunting task, but one the country needs to confront head on.  

The spectre of poverty hangs over yesterday’s spring statement. 1.3 million more people will be pushed into poverty as the cost of living crisis bites. The squeeze on the standard of living will be the worst since the 1950s. With families across Scotland facing unprecedented difficulties every penny of support therefore needs to go towards those households which need it most.

Perhaps one of the most immediately visible effects of the last two years has been on Scotland’s town centres. A walk through any high street paints a depressing picture. Once bustling streets are often deserted. Family-owned independent businesses have been replaced by charity shops and nail salons. Many more lie empty, their boarded windows a crude symbol of decay.

Kate Forbes billed this as a “budget of choices”. Instead, it was a budget of zero choices. Rather than grasp the thistle of change, the meter was fed, the show trundles on and tomorrow will be the same as yesterday.

The best things in life are free. Money isn’t everything.
This hippy-dippy Scottisness is an example of the image of country that Nicola Stugeon wishes to sell to the world. Today however, her government must seek to grapple with hard tacks.