Robin McAlpine

TO get a sense of what is happening to the Grangemouth oil refinery now it is helpful to look back at the last dispute at the plant 10 years ago. When you do you’ll realise that ­tackling climate change is not the only reason we need to accelerate a “just transition”.

IN 2011, when a surprise parliamentary majority for independence was first achieved, the question of what independence would look like had been parked since the "Independence in Europe" slogan in the 1990s.

IT was a long and intense meeting. It was in my house but I slept through it (which was fair enough given that I was only six weeks old).

AT a time when independence has become a majority view in Scotland, it is probably a good time to point out that there is no need at all for the independence movement to be sitting around passively through this moment. If you don’t believe me, join me in taking a little look at Wales.

It is nearly time to think about manifestos for the Holyrood election – at a time when the domestic agenda has never been more important. How do we rebuild from the virus, fix our social ills and tackle climate change?

COMMON Weal has today launched its new report on the economic model Scotland should pursue to recover from Covid-19, tackle poverty, inequality and insecurity – and to get ready for what we need to do to prevent the approaching environmental crises.

NO-ONE should underestimate the enormity of the decision SNP members are being asked to make about currency at their spring conference. With such a momentous choice to be made, we should all want it to be the best choice, informed by incisive debate and very careful scrutiny.

WHEN should Scotland hold another referendum on independence? The answer that I give to this hasn’t changed since September 19, 2014 – this is the wrong question. The question for me is how quickly can Scotland achieve its independence? A referendum is part of that – but it is only a part, and it’s not the first part. So to understand this, let me work backwards. If Scotland wants to establish itself as an independent country we should want to do so avoiding a “no deal” scenario with the rUK.

THERE is now clearly a debate about referendum timing among the independence movement and it is becoming polarised and heated. I want to argue that both sides are looking at this in slightly the wrong way, that we need to be a bit more clear-sighted on where we are just now but that this helps us to identify a path forward which is capable of unifying us all.