ThinkBusiness

Cormac Lucey
Is it time to consider an EU escape plan for Ireland?

Is it time to consider an EU escape plan for Ireland?

IN THE WAKE of the Good Friday/Belfast agreement, routine border checks between Newry and Dundalk disappeared. That disappearance rested on two foundation stones: peace in Northern Ireland, and the fact that the north and the ...

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Eben Wilson
Choices in the broadcasting mirror

Choices in the broadcasting mirror

THE BBC loves to flatter us with the notion of “Your BBC”; this suggests the idea that programming decisions are made by some democratic osmosis such that people will always see on their screen a ...

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Jonathan Stanley
Cutting the TV Tax is a better idea

Cutting the TV Tax is a better idea

THE PLANNED launch of a Scottish 9 by the BBC as a new channel dedicated to Scotland has been welcomed by every MSP in Holyrood as an unprecedented investment. It is of course that Brownite kind of ...

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Grant Simpson
How nationalism can sow negative perceptions towards investing in Scotland

How nationalism can sow negative perceptions towards investing in Scotland

THE UNITED KINGDOM has been a beacon of justice, democracy and fairness for centuries. A stable country and viewed as one of opportunity, borne out by the vast numbers of international citizens who have chosen ...

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Eben Wilson
The stench of public partnership economics

The stench of public partnership economics

A DANGEROUS CANKER is growing in Scottish governance. It’s surrounded by what seems to be completely reasonable assertions, but my alarm bells are sounding loudly. I sense socialist managerialism getting out of control.

...

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Liam Kerr
Nationalising the railways would be wrong on every level

Nationalising the railways would be wrong on every level

LAST YEAR, when responding to some of the severest rail delays in Scotland’s recent history, the transport minister told Parliament he had established a ‘shell company’, ready to make a public sector bid for the ...

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Jonathan Stanley
The Single Market is grossly overrated

The Single Market is grossly overrated

ALL THIS TALK of Scottish trade with the EU distracts from the reality that our trade with the UK is growing far faster than with the rest of the world and that most of what ...

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Bill Nicol
Why we need state-funded autonomous schools in Scotland

Why we need state-funded autonomous schools in Scotland

THE Scottish Government’s current review of governance, “Empowering Teachers, Parents and Communities,” assumed from the outset that it “must empower teachers to make the best decisions for children and young people”. The consultation went on ...

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Elizabeth Smith
SNP education policy: all talk and no action?

SNP education policy: all talk and no action?

NOT THAT LONG AGO, in September 2013, the Scottish Government commissioned a study into the possibility of extending philanthropy in Scottish education. Whilst the main focus of the study was a paper published by Professor ...

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Jonathan Stanley
Scottish Enrolled Nurses could solve the numbers crisis

Scottish Enrolled Nurses could solve the numbers crisis

The NHS in Scotland is struggling to recruit and retain enough nurses. It’s a UK wide problem and the causes are many. Certainly Holyrood has not shone in delivering the health service we all need. ...

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Martyn Greene
Enterprise must engage to bring about change

Enterprise must engage to bring about change

THE UK NOW HAS a number of problems far beyond the reach of the political elite and, with our economy on its knees, the traditional remedy of throwing money at them is no longer an ...

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Martyn Greene
Trump changes everything

Trump changes everything

I WAS RECENTLY sent a long and detailed blueprint, with copious references, on how to build a new political party fit for the 21st century.  The paper made a number of very good points; better ...

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