Events of the past week have confirmed beyond all doubt that the UK political system has failed and we now need to take a different path.
WHEN the Sunday Herald launched, the Scottish Parliament was about to “reconvene” after an absence of almost 300 years. There was undeniably a buzz about Scotland at that time, with the prospect of decisions about health, education, transport and the environment being made in a democratic forum that Scotland had lacked for so long. The paper launched with a promise to be “Scotland’s independent newspaper”, a phrase which later took on a new meaning in the run-up to the referendum of 2014 when it became the only paper to back a Yes vote.
Everything about the Brexit crisis appals me.
The Herald’s political editor Magnus Gardham noted in his column last weekend: “For weeks we've been told this was the most boring Holyrood election ever. In fact, it's been the most interesting.”
In May last year, a group of students stirred things up at the University of Edinburgh by occupying its finance building for over a week. The protest grew around a simple demand. Students argued that it was unethical for a public institution to invest in the fossil fuel industry because the sector is one of the main drivers of climate change, and called on the university to divest from companies involved in oil, gas or coal extraction.
How the mighty have fallen. Volkswagen, the second-largest car maker in the word after Toyota, is now a toxic brand.
