Jimmy Reid Foundation
@reidfoundation.bsky.social
Scottish think tank founded in memory of trade unionist Jimmy Reid, to continue his legacy of radical political thinking and action. His words still echo.
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Jimmy Reid Memorial Lecture 2025 – The Jimmy Reid Foundation
reidfoundation.scot
If you were unable to attend the memorial lecture or would like to hear Professor Ghassan Abu-Sittah again, you can watch the lecture on our YouTube channel or read the transcript here. reidfoundation.scot/2025/08/jimm...
Muscatelli report: What will it take to grow Scotland's economy? Note that the promise doesn't mention councils. Regional economic strategy is important, but so is the truly local economy. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Muscatelli report: What will it take to grow Scotland's economy?
Prof Anton Muscatelli's report calls for a range of reforms to planning, business rates and skills in Scotland.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Muscatelli report: What will it take to grow Scotland's economy? Note that the promise doesn't mention councils. Regional economic strategy is important, but so is the truly local economy. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Why threats to academic freedom are growing (395 documented cases) – and how universities can respond to intimidation. When scholarship is politically steered, the public loses access to evidence and the means to hold power to account. theconversation.com/why-threats-...
Why threats to academic freedom are growing – and how universities can respond to intimidation
When scholarship is politically steered, the public loses access to evidence and the means to hold power to account.
theconversation.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Why threats to academic freedom are growing (395 documented cases) – and how universities can respond to intimidation. When scholarship is politically steered, the public loses access to evidence and the means to hold power to account. theconversation.com/why-threats-...
Will China win the AI race? China’s state-led industrial policy aligns research, infrastructure and industry than the more fragmented western system can struggle to match. US has the chips, energy and computer capacity. Although, does it really matter who ‘wins’? theconversation.com/will-china-w...
Will China win the AI race?
Nvidia boss Jensen Huang is warning that China could pull ahead. Two experts offer opposing views on whether he’s right.
theconversation.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Will China win the AI race? China’s state-led industrial policy aligns research, infrastructure and industry than the more fragmented western system can struggle to match. US has the chips, energy and computer capacity. Although, does it really matter who ‘wins’? theconversation.com/will-china-w...
Muscatelli urges minsters to 'think' about tax divergence. It is unlikely that ministers are not ‘thinking’ about this, but as he concedes, “Now, we do not have really fantastic evidence on all this yet.” Speaking to ‘a few people’ is not evidence. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2560802...
‘People are being put off’: Muscatelli urges minsters to 'think' about tax divergence
Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli has warned Scotland risks deterring workers and investment if it continues to diverge too far from UK income tax…
www.heraldscotland.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Muscatelli urges minsters to 'think' about tax divergence. It is unlikely that ministers are not ‘thinking’ about this, but as he concedes, “Now, we do not have really fantastic evidence on all this yet.” Speaking to ‘a few people’ is not evidence. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2560802...
Huge amounts of plastic waste goes unnoticed – here’s what to do about it. Plastic pollution is often hidden in plain sight – behind positive “eco” or “recyclable” labels, within supply chains and under the convenience of online shopping. theconversation.com/huge-amounts...
Huge amounts of plastic waste goes unnoticed – here’s what to do about it
Plastic pollution is often hidden in plain sight – behind positive “eco” or “recyclable” labels, within supply chains and under the convenience of online shopping.
theconversation.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Huge amounts of plastic waste goes unnoticed – here’s what to do about it. Plastic pollution is often hidden in plain sight – behind positive “eco” or “recyclable” labels, within supply chains and under the convenience of online shopping. theconversation.com/huge-amounts...
When I met Jimmy Reid, his 'no bevvy' line belonged to another era. “He has been Scotland’s great rallying figure over the last four decades, and was one of the few political figures who can genuinely say that they provoked real change for the better.” www.heraldscotland.com/news/2560713...
Diehard socialist Jimmy Reid spurned the chance to be stockbroker
This week: Jimmy Reid
www.heraldscotland.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:34 AM
When I met Jimmy Reid, his 'no bevvy' line belonged to another era. “He has been Scotland’s great rallying figure over the last four decades, and was one of the few political figures who can genuinely say that they provoked real change for the better.” www.heraldscotland.com/news/2560713...
Minister talks a good game, but is he ready to act? In the real world, colleges have faced a real terms funding cut of 20% over the course of this parliament alone, and if things don’t change, then some of them are going to have to start closing campuses. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2560416...
Minister talks a good game, but is he ready to act?
Education specialist and former lecturer James McEnaney reflects on his discussion with the man overseeing the country’s colleges and universities
www.heraldscotland.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Minister talks a good game, but is he ready to act? In the real world, colleges have faced a real terms funding cut of 20% over the course of this parliament alone, and if things don’t change, then some of them are going to have to start closing campuses. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2560416...
Imagined immigration is shaping our politics. Exposes the wide-spread misconceptions about the levels and type of immigration to the country, but warn that myth-busting is not enough to alleviate people’s concerns. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
Imagined immigration is shaping our politics | British Politics and Policy at LSE
Immigration has become the number one political priority for the public. But there is one problem: this immigration is imagined, it doesn't really exist.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
November 8, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Imagined immigration is shaping our politics. Exposes the wide-spread misconceptions about the levels and type of immigration to the country, but warn that myth-busting is not enough to alleviate people’s concerns. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
Reposted by Jimmy Reid Foundation
A major protest has been held outside the offices of Grand Theft Auto developers Rockstar Games in Edinburgh, after more than 30 staff were allegedly sacked for trade union activity.
November 6, 2025 at 4:22 PM
A major protest has been held outside the offices of Grand Theft Auto developers Rockstar Games in Edinburgh, after more than 30 staff were allegedly sacked for trade union activity.
‘If there’s a free alternative, I’ll eat healthily’: how Sweden devised brilliant school meals. A pilot scheme where students eat nutritious breakfasts using donated surplus food builds on the ‘folkhem’ welfare model to boost health and sustainability. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘If there’s a free alternative, I’ll eat healthily’: how Sweden devised brilliant school meals
A pilot scheme where students eat nutritious breakfasts using donated surplus food builds on the ‘folkhem’ welfare model to boost health and sustainability
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:34 AM
‘If there’s a free alternative, I’ll eat healthily’: how Sweden devised brilliant school meals. A pilot scheme where students eat nutritious breakfasts using donated surplus food builds on the ‘folkhem’ welfare model to boost health and sustainability. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Business leaders urge Reeves to force pension funds to raise UK investments. “This policy would set the default level of UK domestic pension investment closer to that of international competitors,” As we highlighted last year. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Business leaders urge Reeves to force pension funds to raise UK investments
More than 250 bosses ask chancellor to require schemes to put 25% of assets in British firms, which could unlock £95bn
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Business leaders urge Reeves to force pension funds to raise UK investments. “This policy would set the default level of UK domestic pension investment closer to that of international competitors,” As we highlighted last year. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
MPs urge Reeves to raise gambling taxes despite ‘scaremongering’ from firms. MPs accused the sector of hiding its more “insidious” products behind traditional activities such as horse racing and seaside arcades. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
MPs urge Reeves to raise gambling taxes despite ‘scaremongering’ from firms
Treasury select committee calls for higher duties on most addictive forms, such as high-street slots and online games
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:25 AM
MPs urge Reeves to raise gambling taxes despite ‘scaremongering’ from firms. MPs accused the sector of hiding its more “insidious” products behind traditional activities such as horse racing and seaside arcades. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Scottish Parliament passes land reform bill. Welcome but measures did not "go far enough to meaningfully intervene in the land market and change landownership patterns". Desperate rubbish from landowners claiming your garden might be covered in future! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Scottish Parliament passes land reform bill
The legislation is designed to help reduce the concentration of rural land ownership among a small number of people.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Scottish Parliament passes land reform bill. Welcome but measures did not "go far enough to meaningfully intervene in the land market and change landownership patterns". Desperate rubbish from landowners claiming your garden might be covered in future! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Scotland's housebuilders launch plan to end new homes crisis. No surprise it involves no constraints and no taxes. Scotland actually needs to build more social homes and ensure rent controls apply to all homes in the private sector with no exemptions. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2559950...
Scotland's housebuilders warn 'the numbers simply no longer add up'
Scotland is in the depths of a housing emergency and barriers to building more homes remain for the housebuilding industry.
www.heraldscotland.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Scotland's housebuilders launch plan to end new homes crisis. No surprise it involves no constraints and no taxes. Scotland actually needs to build more social homes and ensure rent controls apply to all homes in the private sector with no exemptions. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2559950...
The UK’s wealth ‘timebomb’ and how to defuse it. The contemporary reluctance to tax wealth, in Britain and many other rich countries, is very unusual. Throughout history, most societies have seen this form of resource redistribution as utterly reasonable. theconversation.com/the-uks-weal...
The UK’s wealth ‘timebomb’ – and how to defuse it
The case for taxing wealth has historically come from the political mainstream – so why is it so unpalatable now?
theconversation.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:25 AM
The UK’s wealth ‘timebomb’ and how to defuse it. The contemporary reluctance to tax wealth, in Britain and many other rich countries, is very unusual. Throughout history, most societies have seen this form of resource redistribution as utterly reasonable. theconversation.com/the-uks-weal...
Mayfield review: Britain sliding 'into economic crisis' over £85bn sickness bill. Health should be viewed as "a shared responsibility between employers, employees and health services". As we recommended this year, the focus should be on employer action. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Britain sliding 'into economic crisis' over £85bn sickness bill, ex-John Lewis boss warns
The number of people who are out of work for health reasons has grown by 800,000 since 2019.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Mayfield review: Britain sliding 'into economic crisis' over £85bn sickness bill. Health should be viewed as "a shared responsibility between employers, employees and health services". As we recommended this year, the focus should be on employer action. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
University still pays off – even in lower-wage Britain. The graduate premium is £11,500 per annum. This isn’t a story about university losing its value. It’s a story about Britain becoming a lower wage, low productivity economy. theconversation.com/university-s...
University still pays off – even in lower-wage Britain
This isn’t a story about university losing its value. It’s a story about Britain becoming a lower wage economy.
theconversation.com
November 5, 2025 at 7:54 AM
University still pays off – even in lower-wage Britain. The graduate premium is £11,500 per annum. This isn’t a story about university losing its value. It’s a story about Britain becoming a lower wage, low productivity economy. theconversation.com/university-s...
Reposted by Jimmy Reid Foundation
LATEST: Zohran Mamdani has won the New York Mayoral election
Read here: www.thenational.scot/news/2...
Read here: www.thenational.scot/news/2...
November 5, 2025 at 7:50 AM
LATEST: Zohran Mamdani has won the New York Mayoral election
Read here: www.thenational.scot/news/2...
Read here: www.thenational.scot/news/2...
Scotland’s colleges warn £950m needed to fix funding crisis. Colleges Scotland outlined four potential funding scenarios and described what the sector could look like in each one. In the worst-case, 11 colleges could run out of cash next year. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2559326...
Colleges warn £950m needed to fix funding crisis as sector hits ‘tipping point’
Colleges Scotland warns it will take £950m in next year’s budget to fix a funding crisis and stop campuses hitting a “tipping point” after…
www.heraldscotland.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Scotland’s colleges warn £950m needed to fix funding crisis. Colleges Scotland outlined four potential funding scenarios and described what the sector could look like in each one. In the worst-case, 11 colleges could run out of cash next year. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2559326...
Tidal energy stymied by upfront costs. Arup report found it would require around £22 billion funding to develop the networks that would be required to transport energy produced offshore to users.
It would take around 180 years to recoup the costs. www.heraldscotland.com/politics/vie...
It would take around 180 years to recoup the costs. www.heraldscotland.com/politics/vie...
SNP Government green job failings underlined amid tidal energy setback
The SNP Government faces fresh criticism for its failure to create green jobs after experts undermined ministers' claims about the potential of…
www.heraldscotland.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Tidal energy stymied by upfront costs. Arup report found it would require around £22 billion funding to develop the networks that would be required to transport energy produced offshore to users.
It would take around 180 years to recoup the costs. www.heraldscotland.com/politics/vie...
It would take around 180 years to recoup the costs. www.heraldscotland.com/politics/vie...
Scotland’s wellbeing modestly improves but gaps remain, report finds. Some good news, “but we’re still far from a situation where everyone in Scotland has their basic needs met.” www.heraldscotland.com/news/2558990...
Scotland’s wellbeing rises modestly - but gaps persist
Scotland has seen modest improvements in the wellbeing of its population over the past two years, according to a new report from Carnegie UK.
www.heraldscotland.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Scotland’s wellbeing modestly improves but gaps remain, report finds. Some good news, “but we’re still far from a situation where everyone in Scotland has their basic needs met.” www.heraldscotland.com/news/2558990...
Home vs office working: why it doesn’t have to be a battle. The aim should be to make both options function optimally. Employers should encourage line managers and employees to review what can – and cannot – be done at home. theconversation.com/home-vs-offi...
Home vs office working: why it doesn’t have to be a battle
But homeworking throws up tricky paradoxes that need to be understood.
theconversation.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Home vs office working: why it doesn’t have to be a battle. The aim should be to make both options function optimally. Employers should encourage line managers and employees to review what can – and cannot – be done at home. theconversation.com/home-vs-offi...
SEPA records 4,000 pollution incidents — and only 118 fines. This has led to environmental campaigners calling for tougher sanctions to crack down on those poisoning Scotland’s land, air and water. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2558532...
SEPA records 4,000 pollution incidents — and only 118 fines
Environmental campaigners are calling for tougher sanctions to crack down on those poisoning Scotland’s land, air and water.
www.heraldscotland.com
November 3, 2025 at 7:55 AM
SEPA records 4,000 pollution incidents — and only 118 fines. This has led to environmental campaigners calling for tougher sanctions to crack down on those poisoning Scotland’s land, air and water. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2558532...
The ONS is using "leprechaun economics". The ONS is effectively conceding that the British state can no longer fully exercise sovereign control over the measurement and by extension, the taxation of corporate activity. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
The ONS is using "leprechaun economics"
The UK's Office for National Statistics looks like it's prepared to use similar statistical tricks to Ireland in how it measures economic growth.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
November 2, 2025 at 8:41 AM
The ONS is using "leprechaun economics". The ONS is effectively conceding that the British state can no longer fully exercise sovereign control over the measurement and by extension, the taxation of corporate activity. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
Why is Scotland’s wind energy raising North Sea oil-style alarms. Energy from Scottish wind farms is fed into the UK national grid, and critics are concerned that profits often go to private energy firms, while local communities see limited return. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2558818...
Why is there an North Sea oil-style exploitation alert over Scotland's wind energy?
They say history doesn’t repeat itself — but there are concerns that Scotland's wind energy revolution is providing echoes of the past.
www.heraldscotland.com
November 2, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Why is Scotland’s wind energy raising North Sea oil-style alarms. Energy from Scottish wind farms is fed into the UK national grid, and critics are concerned that profits often go to private energy firms, while local communities see limited return. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2558818...