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.
Bank battle: history suggests Burnham faces fight if he opts for windfall tax on profiteering banks. IPPR pointed to the 4% interest that commercial lenders earn from reserves held at the Bank of England, at a £22bn-a-year loss to the public finances. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Bank battle: history suggests Burnham faces fight if he opts for windfall tax
As lenders’ profits soar, calls grow for a levy to help new PM ease cost of living pressures on households
theguardian.com
Palantir paid just £2m corporation tax in UK in 2024 despite lucrative public sector contracts. Software group benefits from global systems and accounting practices ‘that enable tax to be shirked’, says union. The transfer pricing tax dodge. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Palantir paid just £2m corporation tax in UK in 2024 despite lucrative public sector contracts
Software group benefits from global systems and accounting practices ‘that enable tax to be shirked’, says union boss
theguardian.com
Nicola Benedetti: Edinburgh's visitor levy is costing EIF £50,000 a year. So let’s find the biggest event and make a nice large number. Similar complaints about other countries? Or about the council facilities tourists and workers use? www.scotsman.com/arts-and-cul...
Nicola Benedetti: Edinburgh's visitor levy is costing EIF £50,000 a year
The EIF opens this weekend
scotsman.com
This👇. Worth listening to this short clip. It is true that the tech companies promoting AI have taken on a huge amount of debt that will be nearly impossible to repay with the current economic labour-focused model. The question is what will replace it and what will that mean for humanity.
AuntieU@umaija.bsky.social · 5d agoWhat happens when the US gets more GDP from 5 AI companies than from human labor? They want to replace all human labor and infrastructure in the economy. They want more data centers, solar panels and chips, not humans. youtube.com/shorts/SbE_L...
While research was overwhelmingly positive about the Fair Work drive to increase employment standards, it raised questions over how effectively the scheme was being monitored. As we set out in two reports in recent years. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2643205...
Scottish Government's flagship Fair Work First policy has 'no teeth' evaluation warns
Scotland's Fair Work First policy has seen remarkable growth, with 89 of public contracts now carrying fair work conditions but the…
heraldscotland.com
Why the UK still can’t fix social care – and what four other countries got right. They recognise that the need for care, like health, is a shared social risk, to be pooled by everyone rather than a lottery of private misfortune. theconversation.com/why-the-uk-s...
Why the UK still can’t fix social care – and what four other countries got right
Social care reform has failed in the UK for 25 years. Four international examples show what a lasting fix actually requires.
theconversation.com
Confused about carbon capture? Experts explain why we need different types. Carbon dioxide removal is different to carbon capture, utilisation and storage. It’s easy to confuse the two processes but they tackle different problems. theconversation.com/confused-abo...
Confused about carbon capture? Experts explain why we need different types
Carbon dioxide removal is different to carbon capture, utilisation and storage. It’s easy to confuse the two processes but they tackle different problems.
theconversation.com
An AI system ‘escaped’ during a test and hacked a company. How worried should we be? This wasn’t a story about an AI escaping. It was a story about humans leaving the gate open. theconversation.com/an-ai-system...
An AI system ‘escaped’ during a test and hacked a company. How worried should we be?
The AI model built by OpenAI attacked the website Hugging Face.
theconversation.com
Britain’s quarter century: wealth and widening inequality. There has been a stark rise in the “wealth gap” between the top 10% of wealth holders and sizeable numbers of the British population with little or no wealth. theconversation.com/britains-qua...
Britain’s quarter century: wealth and widening inequality
How finances and the economy have changed over 25 years.
theconversation.com
Care homes say being forced into FOI law risks closures. Utter nonsense from commercial providers. "As taxpayers, we have rights to know where the money goes and what it is spent on." As we said in our submission. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2642982...
Information commissioner backs extending FOI for care homes but operators resist
Scotland's care home providers have urged ministers to exempt them from Freedom of Information law but families and unpaid carers who responded…
heraldscotland.com
Onshore wind projects are facing significant delays because of a constitutional quirk that means Scotland is the only part of the UK where abnormal loads need to be escorted by specialist road traffic police officers. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2642833...
Wind farms hit by huge delays over 'abnormal load' rule that only applies in Scotland
Firms building Scotland's onshore wind farms are waiting up to eight months for police escorts for turbine blades because of a constitutional…
heraldscotland.com
Scotland’s wind industry is booming. China and Wall Street are cashing in. An investment vehicle managed by JP Morgan and state-backed firms from France, Norway and China own Scottish wind farms which have paid tens of millions in dividends this decade. www.theferret.scot/scotland-win...
Scotland’s wind industry is booming. China and Wall Street are cashing in
An investment vehicle managed by JP Morgan and state-backed firms from France, Norway and China own Scottish wind farms which have paid tens of millions in dividends this decade.
theferret.scot
⚡️ Polish passengers and a conductor stepped in to defend a 16-year-old Ukrainian teen from aggressive attackers on a train near Warsaw.
Can social care ever really be fixed? Experts react to the latest in a long line of promises. What might these be – and will the tough choices on how to pay for it lose votes? Or like other tough issues, will governments bottle it again. theconversation.com/can-social-c...
Can social care ever really be fixed? Experts react to the latest in a long line of promises
Andy Burnham says his government is going to fix it for good. What would that take?
theconversation.com
How do living standards compare across generations? People born in 1997–2001 are less likely to be in employment at age 25. They face the burden of high housing costs and living with their parents rather than renting or owning their own home. ifs.org.uk/articles/how...
How do living standards compare across generations? | Institute for Fiscal Studies
How have earnings, employment and housing changed for different generations of young adults?
ifs.org.uk
Why cutting through the Jimmy Reid mythology has been a labour of love. Alienated populations seek resolution of the problems that he devoted his mind to exploring solutions to. His words, offering glimpses of a vision splendid, will echo and endure. www.heraldscotland.com/politics/vie...
Why cutting through the Jimmy Reid mythology has been a labour of love
‘AN interesting trek.’ – Jimmy Reid’s words to me summing up his extraordinary life. My own ‘trek’ to complete his full-scale memoir has…
heraldscotland.com
What will Burnham push for more devolution mean for Glasgow? Scotland is one of the most centralised countries in Europe. More powers should sit with regional partnerships (not mayors/provosts), with power over investment, skills and transport. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2641504...
Will Burnham's push for greater devolution mean Glasgow falls further behind?
Greater Manchester has greater powers and flexibility to make decisions locally than Glasgow
heraldscotland.com
Scotland’s view on refugees revealed 75 years after UN Convention. Massively overstate the numbers and support refugees receive.
Wildfires: what can the UK and other nations learn from Australia’s world-leading fire response systems? Australia has spent decades learning how to warn its public. The harder lesson – getting people to act on this advice – remains a work in progress. theconversation.com/wildfires-wh...
Wildfires: what can the UK and other nations learn from Australia’s world-leading fire response systems?
Australia has a well-established national wildfire warning system, so how does this compare with the UK’s approach?
theconversation.com
ScotWind to deliver £6bn less to Scotland as spending shifts overseas. Only £25.6 billion of the £88.6bn expected to be spent developing the giant offshore wind projects is currently earmarked for Scotland. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2640893...
'Disaster': ScotWind to deliver £6bn less to Scotland as spending shifts overseas
A landmark offshore wind programme hailed by Scotland's former First Minister as a "truly historic" opportunity is now set to deliver…
heraldscotland.com
Scottish clan urged to 'defend' 900-year-old castle from data centre. "Unbelievably, Hunterston Estate are planning to build a huge hyperscale AI data centre right on the doorstep of the castle; the boundary is only 50m away.” www.heraldscotland.com/news/2641071...
Activists urge Scottish clan to 'defend' 900-year-old castle from AI data centre
A Scottish clan has been urged to "defend" its castle amid plans for a large-scale AI data centre development on the estate grounds 50…
heraldscotland.com
The AI jobs apocalypse probably isn’t coming anytime soon. The numbers so far don’t match the hype. Artificial intelligence may not deliver on its promise of vast economic opportunity at a price that humanity is willing to pay. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
The AI jobs apocalypse probably isn’t coming anytime soon
Artificial intelligence may not deliver on its promise of vast economic opportunity at a price that humanity is willing to pay
theguardian.com
🤖 **AI Data Centres in Scotland: Progress or Power Grab?** Big Tech wants our land, water & energy for massive data centres—at what cost? Join the debate with Dr Christa Hook. 📍 St Joseph’s Hall, Peebles 🗓 Thu 30 July, 7pm 🎟 FREE entry
Clamping down on dirty money and corruption. The UK has long had an interest in this problem because we are at the epicentre. £325bn in dirty money flows through the UK each year, a figure which more than doubles when you include overseas territories. neweconomics.org/2026/07/clam...
Clamping down on dirty money and corruption
The UK has long had an interest in tackling illicit finance - because we are at the epicentre of the problem
neweconomics.org
How AI could corrupt court verdicts. Unlike civil law systems where judges actively investigate facts, Britain’s adversarial common law system largely depends on lawyers’ submitted pleadings, briefs, evidence bundles, skeleton arguments etc. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
How AI could corrupt court verdicts | LSE British Politics
As AI use proliferates into areas like the law, what happens when AI hallucinations make their way into court documents, and eventually court verdicts?
blogs.lse.ac.uk
Hotel sector still arguing about the Tourist Tax? “Cities and destinations across the world have managed similar schemes for many years and there’s no evidence to suggest that they have impacted the number of visitors they welcome each year.” Indeed. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2640000...
'Important moment' for capital as tourist tax begins — but concerns aren't going away
Edinburgh has long been subject to high hotel costs. In May, the city was named as the most expensive city for tourist accommodation in Europe.
heraldscotland.com
Clydeside Speaks: UCS 55th Anniversary Film Screening Tickets, Wednesday, July 29 • 6 PM - 9 PM. A community film screening event at GalGael to commemorate the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders’ Dispute of 1971-72. www.eventbrite.com/e/clydeside-...
Clydeside Speaks: UCS 55th Anniversary Film Screening
A community film screening event at GalGael to commemorate the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders’ Dispute of 1971-72.
eventbrite.com
Disrupting Digital Pathways. A comprehensive and first-of-its-kind overview for the union movement of how far-right and Reform UK adjacent narratives spread across major digital platforms in 2025. www.tuc.org.uk/research-ana...
Disrupting Digital Pathways
As far-right presence and influence online and offline grow sharply, it is crucial to understand how these messages are spread and received in digital spaces. This report serves as the first digital m...
tuc.org.uk
AI, business and the future of the workforce. TUC sets out a five-point AI innovation strategy, calling for involvement in governance, bargaining rights, regulation, fair distribution of gains and robust transitional support for workers. www.tuc.org.uk/research-ana...
Artificial intelligence, business and the future of the workforce
The rapid adoption of AI in the workplace sits at the heart of our core mission to protect and advance the interests of working people. As AI reshapes tasks, job roles, pay structures and working cond...
tuc.org.uk
Soon, there will be so much electricity you might be paid to use it. Storage technologies remain expensive and limited in capacity. Not all surplus power can be saved for later. Try smart meters to encourage households to use power at low demand periods. theconversation.com/soon-there-w...
Soon, there will be so much electricity you might be paid to use it
Encouraging people to use electricity when it’s clean and cheap may be better than temporarily disconnecting solar and wind farms.
theconversation.com