Dave Johnstone
@peeblesbluesman.bsky.social
Born 12/04/1948. Desperately seek independence for Scotland before the fascists get us. Love the Blues and derivatives thereof. Used to play Bass guitar. Now take photographs with my Canon 90D and various lenses.
open.substack.com/pub/peterabe...
You can see Angus’s problem. He knows that there is no ‘Great Secret Plan’, but he can’t admit that there is no ‘Great Secret Plan’ because many people have come to believe in its existence and plan to vote SNP on that basis.
You can see Angus’s problem. He knows that there is no ‘Great Secret Plan’, but he can’t admit that there is no ‘Great Secret Plan’ because many people have come to believe in its existence and plan to vote SNP on that basis.
Hagfish remembered
Back in May of this year, I published an article titled Slippery as a bucket of hagfish. The article concerned the oleaginous evasiveness of John Swinney when questioned about the possibility of an in...
open.substack.com
December 20, 2025 at 10:47 AM
open.substack.com/pub/peterabe...
You can see Angus’s problem. He knows that there is no ‘Great Secret Plan’, but he can’t admit that there is no ‘Great Secret Plan’ because many people have come to believe in its existence and plan to vote SNP on that basis.
You can see Angus’s problem. He knows that there is no ‘Great Secret Plan’, but he can’t admit that there is no ‘Great Secret Plan’ because many people have come to believe in its existence and plan to vote SNP on that basis.
Inequality is a political choice www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/12...
Inequality is a political choice
According to the United Nations’ World Inequality Report, inequality results from deliberate political and institutional choices. This video explains what that means for the UK – and why extreme conce...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
December 17, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Inequality is a political choice www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/12...
“The top 10% of the global population's income-earners earn more than the remaining 90%.”
“The wealthiest 0.001%… control today three times more wealth than half of humanity combined.”
Wealth concentration is so great that the bottom half of the world “holds only 2% of global wealth”.
“The wealthiest 0.001%… control today three times more wealth than half of humanity combined.”
Wealth concentration is so great that the bottom half of the world “holds only 2% of global wealth”.
Inequality is a political choice – and the UK keeps choosing it
The World Inequality Report 2026 opens with a sentence that should trouble anyone who cares about democracy or economic justice:
Inequality is a political choice. It is the result of our policies, in...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
December 13, 2025 at 10:30 AM
“The top 10% of the global population's income-earners earn more than the remaining 90%.”
“The wealthiest 0.001%… control today three times more wealth than half of humanity combined.”
Wealth concentration is so great that the bottom half of the world “holds only 2% of global wealth”.
“The wealthiest 0.001%… control today three times more wealth than half of humanity combined.”
Wealth concentration is so great that the bottom half of the world “holds only 2% of global wealth”.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Human rights show the floor beneath which we must never sink, the line that should hold firm when pressure builds. Weakening that line, especially today, would not be pragmatism. It would be moral retreat.
Human rights show the floor beneath which we must never sink, the line that should hold firm when pressure builds. Weakening that line, especially today, would not be pragmatism. It would be moral retreat.
Starmer is lobbying Europe to join him in watering down the ECHR. This illiberalism will harm us all | Steve Valdez-Symonds
The prime minister and his counterpart in Denmark want a concerted effort to weaken human rights across Europe. This isn’t pragmatism – it’s cruelty, says Steve Valdez-Symonds, refugee and migrant rig...
www.theguardian.com
December 11, 2025 at 9:28 AM
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Human rights show the floor beneath which we must never sink, the line that should hold firm when pressure builds. Weakening that line, especially today, would not be pragmatism. It would be moral retreat.
Human rights show the floor beneath which we must never sink, the line that should hold firm when pressure builds. Weakening that line, especially today, would not be pragmatism. It would be moral retreat.
Westminster and Scotland's energy, fool me once... weegingerdug.wordpress.com/2025/12/08/w...
A very powerful article on why Scotland has to be in control of the energy it produces.
A very powerful article on why Scotland has to be in control of the energy it produces.
Westminster and Scotland’s energy, fool me once…
Scotland is, by far and away, the most energy rich country of the islands of Britain and Ireland. Moreover it has more in the way of energy resources than just about any other country in Europe, wi…
weegingerdug.wordpress.com
December 9, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Westminster and Scotland's energy, fool me once... weegingerdug.wordpress.com/2025/12/08/w...
A very powerful article on why Scotland has to be in control of the energy it produces.
A very powerful article on why Scotland has to be in control of the energy it produces.
Scotland should take control of its banks www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/12...
Scotland should take control of its banks
I might not feel like writing much this morning, but I have a column in The National this morning suggesting that it is time for politicians to take on banking because it is a threat to democratic con...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
December 9, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Scotland should take control of its banks www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/12...
The Magic Begging Bowl, Part 1 - The Failure Of Success
open.substack.com/pub/medialen...
open.substack.com/pub/medialen...
The Magic Begging Bowl, Part 1 - The Failure Of Success
‘One day a beggar knocked on the doors of a great king.
open.substack.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:49 PM
The Magic Begging Bowl, Part 1 - The Failure Of Success
open.substack.com/pub/medialen...
open.substack.com/pub/medialen...
MMT matters because it reveals power – and gives us back the right to choose.
MMT does not promise a utopia. It does something more important. It removes the excuses that sustain the dystopia we live in. And that is why MMT matters now more than ever.
MMT does not promise a utopia. It does something more important. It removes the excuses that sustain the dystopia we live in. And that is why MMT matters now more than ever.
MMT matters because it reveals power – and gives us back the right to choose
I think modern monetary theory (MMT) matters. That is not because it is perfect, because no theory is. Instead, it is because it explains something that almost no one in mainstream economics has ever ...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
December 1, 2025 at 2:52 AM
MMT matters because it reveals power – and gives us back the right to choose.
MMT does not promise a utopia. It does something more important. It removes the excuses that sustain the dystopia we live in. And that is why MMT matters now more than ever.
MMT does not promise a utopia. It does something more important. It removes the excuses that sustain the dystopia we live in. And that is why MMT matters now more than ever.
The UK is cursed: how finance destroyed our economy.
We need governments that choose not to curse us all, but to work with us for our future prosperity. That has to be the core of where we go as a nation, as we abandon everything that antisocial neoliberalism has delivered to us.
We need governments that choose not to curse us all, but to work with us for our future prosperity. That has to be the core of where we go as a nation, as we abandon everything that antisocial neoliberalism has delivered to us.
The UK is cursed: how finance destroyed our economy
For more than 45 years, the UK has suffered not one, but two economic curses: the resource curse and the finance curse. Both were chosen, primarily by Margaret Thatcher, and both inflated the pound, d...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
November 29, 2025 at 3:07 AM
The UK is cursed: how finance destroyed our economy.
We need governments that choose not to curse us all, but to work with us for our future prosperity. That has to be the core of where we go as a nation, as we abandon everything that antisocial neoliberalism has delivered to us.
We need governments that choose not to curse us all, but to work with us for our future prosperity. That has to be the core of where we go as a nation, as we abandon everything that antisocial neoliberalism has delivered to us.
Modern Monetary Theory, mythology and a glossary update www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
Modern Monetary Theory, mythology and a glossary update
There was quite a lot of discussion on this blog yesterday about modern monetary theory, so I thought it was worth checking whether the glossary entry on this subject was still relevant.
On review, I ...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
November 27, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Modern Monetary Theory, mythology and a glossary update www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
Why Rachel Reeves just failed the British public www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
Why Rachel Reeves just failed the British public
Rachel Reeves’ 2025 Budget has already collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions. In this video, I explain why tax rises on ordinary people, baseless growth forecasts, and a refusal to tax ...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
November 27, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Why Rachel Reeves just failed the British public www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
It has long been clear to some in the independence movement that there is not now and never can be a ‘route’ to independence through the legal and constitutional framework which has evolved over more than three centuries under the influence of England-as-Britain’s imperative to preserve the Union.
Listen to the lawyers
An open letter to readers of The National
open.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:58 PM
It has long been clear to some in the independence movement that there is not now and never can be a ‘route’ to independence through the legal and constitutional framework which has evolved over more than three centuries under the influence of England-as-Britain’s imperative to preserve the Union.
Hate fuelled politics www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
The hatred of "the other" that the Tories, Reform and Labour all now actively promote is far removed from any reasonable ethical basis for a sustainable society.
The hatred of "the other" that the Tories, Reform and Labour all now actively promote is far removed from any reasonable ethical basis for a sustainable society.
Hate fuelled politics
Labour's Shabana Mahmood MP, who is our Home Secretary, ramped up her hate-fuelled campaign against migrants yesterday.
Refugees will no longer get an automatic permanent status after five years. Inst...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
November 19, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Hate fuelled politics www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
The hatred of "the other" that the Tories, Reform and Labour all now actively promote is far removed from any reasonable ethical basis for a sustainable society.
The hatred of "the other" that the Tories, Reform and Labour all now actively promote is far removed from any reasonable ethical basis for a sustainable society.
The gilded turd
The imperative to preserve the Union and keep sacrosanct the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty prohibits the British state from ever voluntarily relinquishing its control of the means and opportunity for Scotland’s people to exercise our right of self-determination.
The imperative to preserve the Union and keep sacrosanct the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty prohibits the British state from ever voluntarily relinquishing its control of the means and opportunity for Scotland’s people to exercise our right of self-determination.
The gilded turd
I would advise Stan Grodynski to be wary of pleasingly simplistic phrases such as ‘Scotland’s Right to Decide’.
open.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:31 PM
The gilded turd
The imperative to preserve the Union and keep sacrosanct the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty prohibits the British state from ever voluntarily relinquishing its control of the means and opportunity for Scotland’s people to exercise our right of self-determination.
The imperative to preserve the Union and keep sacrosanct the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty prohibits the British state from ever voluntarily relinquishing its control of the means and opportunity for Scotland’s people to exercise our right of self-determination.
Veteran journalist Peter Oborne eviscerated the BBC this week over its shameful reporting of Gaza – and unusually, he managed to do so face-to-face with the BBC’s executive news editor, Richard Burgess, during a parliamentary meeting.
Why BBC editors must one day stand trial for colluding in Israel's genocide
In a confrontation with BBC news chief Richard Burgess, journalist Peter Oborne sets out six ways the state broadcaster has wilfully misled audiences on Israel's destruction of Gaza
open.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Veteran journalist Peter Oborne eviscerated the BBC this week over its shameful reporting of Gaza – and unusually, he managed to do so face-to-face with the BBC’s executive news editor, Richard Burgess, during a parliamentary meeting.
Does the coup at the BBC matter? www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
Those who care about economic justice, media justice, and democratic reform must recognise that truth is not a luxury. It is the essential foundation of the politics we say we want and the politics we desperately need.
Those who care about economic justice, media justice, and democratic reform must recognise that truth is not a luxury. It is the essential foundation of the politics we say we want and the politics we desperately need.
Does the coup at the BBC matter?
Is there a coup going on at the BBC, as many of its staff suggested in a meeting yesterday? Of course there is. Not only is that apparent in plain sight, as senior staff are toppled for what are, in t...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
November 14, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Does the coup at the BBC matter? www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
Those who care about economic justice, media justice, and democratic reform must recognise that truth is not a luxury. It is the essential foundation of the politics we say we want and the politics we desperately need.
Those who care about economic justice, media justice, and democratic reform must recognise that truth is not a luxury. It is the essential foundation of the politics we say we want and the politics we desperately need.
The crisis in the news www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
There is a problem behind our news media. It's crowding out care and truth and responsibility and passing us nonsense dressed up as news on things that, at the end of the day, in very many cases, don't really matter.
There is a problem behind our news media. It's crowding out care and truth and responsibility and passing us nonsense dressed up as news on things that, at the end of the day, in very many cases, don't really matter.
The crisis in the news
The news is lying to you — and Britain is falling apart behind the scenes
Every night, the lights are bright, the headlines loud — but the real news is missing.
While the media fixates on Trump, Farag...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
November 11, 2025 at 1:06 PM
The crisis in the news www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
There is a problem behind our news media. It's crowding out care and truth and responsibility and passing us nonsense dressed up as news on things that, at the end of the day, in very many cases, don't really matter.
There is a problem behind our news media. It's crowding out care and truth and responsibility and passing us nonsense dressed up as news on things that, at the end of the day, in very many cases, don't really matter.
Economic question: the Tony Judt question www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
The generation that emerged from war understood that the market could not be the sole arbiter of worth. The welfare state was born from trauma — a recognition that freedom without security was hollow.
The generation that emerged from war understood that the market could not be the sole arbiter of worth. The welfare state was born from trauma — a recognition that freedom without security was hollow.
Economic question: the Tony Judt question
This is one of a series of posts that will ask what the most pertinent question raised by a prominent influencer of political economy might have been, and what the relevance of that question might be ...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
November 10, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Economic question: the Tony Judt question www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
The generation that emerged from war understood that the market could not be the sole arbiter of worth. The welfare state was born from trauma — a recognition that freedom without security was hollow.
The generation that emerged from war understood that the market could not be the sole arbiter of worth. The welfare state was born from trauma — a recognition that freedom without security was hollow.
Where is Britain’s black hole? www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
When politicians claim there is no money left, they are lying or ignorant. Those are the only two choices we have to make about what they're saying. Fiscal fear, though, is used to silence public ambition.
When politicians claim there is no money left, they are lying or ignorant. Those are the only two choices we have to make about what they're saying. Fiscal fear, though, is used to silence public ambition.
Where is Britain’s black hole?
The government says there’s a “black hole” in the public finances — but the black hole is really in our hospitals, schools, and local councils, not the Treasury. The UK can never run out of money. Wha...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
November 8, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Where is Britain’s black hole? www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
When politicians claim there is no money left, they are lying or ignorant. Those are the only two choices we have to make about what they're saying. Fiscal fear, though, is used to silence public ambition.
When politicians claim there is no money left, they are lying or ignorant. Those are the only two choices we have to make about what they're saying. Fiscal fear, though, is used to silence public ambition.
Farage is playing on people's ignorance of the nature of money, of how it is created, of the role of the national debt in that process, and of the means by which debt interests obligations are settled, to create an environment in which panic can be induced to further his political claims.
MMT v fascism
Ignorance about money is set to become an even more important feature of UK politics, it would seem. As the FT has reported:
A former Tory minister and top bank executive have contributed to a Reform ...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
November 7, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Farage is playing on people's ignorance of the nature of money, of how it is created, of the role of the national debt in that process, and of the means by which debt interests obligations are settled, to create an environment in which panic can be induced to further his political claims.
Why is it that the rich always seem to win?
When the private sector talks about 'squeezing out', they pretend that the state is denying the private sector the opportunity to grow. But in fact, the exact opposite is true. The private sector is growing inordinately.
When the private sector talks about 'squeezing out', they pretend that the state is denying the private sector the opportunity to grow. But in fact, the exact opposite is true. The private sector is growing inordinately.
Why is it that the rich always seem to win?
Thomas Piketty called it the most important formula in economics: it's R > G , which means that the rate of return on capital (R) is greater than the rate of growth in the economy (G).
That simple equ...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
November 6, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Why is it that the rich always seem to win?
When the private sector talks about 'squeezing out', they pretend that the state is denying the private sector the opportunity to grow. But in fact, the exact opposite is true. The private sector is growing inordinately.
When the private sector talks about 'squeezing out', they pretend that the state is denying the private sector the opportunity to grow. But in fact, the exact opposite is true. The private sector is growing inordinately.