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Home  Holyrood magazine
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Our aim is to report on the business of Parliament and the Government,
to stimulate debate within both institutions and to add to Scotland's
rich democratic culture.
We will be publishing selected articles from each magazine online in our new online format, see below for the current issue. Allternatively you can subscribe here to our full print version or sign up here for premium content and receive access to the electronic version of the magazine online.
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| Editor's note | Bun fight
The weekly debacle that has become FMQs is a matter of grave concern. There have been high-level meetings with the new Presiding Officer to see what can be done. There are mumblings from MSPs that Alex Fergusson has fundamentally failed in his job, that he allows the First Minister to make mini-political speeches and lets him off with not answering the questions but Fergusson is no George Reid and it is hard walking in the footprints of a legend. The new PO is ploughing his own furrow and has a different style. The critics may be muttering about his abilities but even if he has not effectively taken control of the Chamber during a weekly Q&A, he has certainly taken control of the misgivings. It is at Fergusson’s instigation that he has met with party bosses to try and break the impas...
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183 - 28th January 2008
Interview: The Right Hon. George Reid
Insight: The future of Scotland's prisons
Focus: A Scottish Marine Act
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| Interview |
 | Beyond politics
Mandy Rhodes interviews former Presiding Officer, the Rt Hon George Reid, about what happened next
Let’s play fantasy political dinner party: Who would be there? Usual suspects; Nelson Mandela (sort of compulsory), Ghandi, Bhutto (all of them), Bill Clinton (you need someone to share a cigar with), Tony Benn, Thatcher, Ian Paisley, Martin McGuiness (well, they come as a pair now), Castro and a few others to make up numbers, add some necessary glamour and to add to the volatile mix.
The w...
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| Insight |
The future of prisons
With the Government’s independent Prisons Commission taking its first evidence last week, Rory Cahill looks at the challenges facing our prison system, and what we can learn from others
Shug is a 19-year-old man from one of the most deprived areas of Glasgow and he’s standing before the judge awaiting sentencing. The offence he’s been found guilty of isn’t in the desperately serious league of murder, rape or armed robbery, but it still involved a clear and premeditated breach of the law. ...
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| Focus |
Sea Change
Ruth Murtagh examines the debate around the need for legislation to govern our seas
The sea is a complex and multifaceted resource. So fundamental to our needs and affording so many diverse uses, its enormous value is easily taken for granted; and not least by governments. Like the sea’s physical character, its uses are fluid and seemingly infinite. From economic staples such as oil and
gas and fishing to shipping and military to nature conservation, recreation and tourism, the sea mean...
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| The national conversation |
 | The elephant in the room
Professor Iain McLean says that everyone needs to be part of a National Conversation – not just the Scots
Choosing scotland’s Future, the National Conversation document issued by the Scottish Government, is notable for what it doesn’t say. The Barnett Formula and the West Lothian Question are like two mad people in the attic: everyone can hear their creaks and groans but nobody wants to talk about them. The ‘National Conversation’ document is no exception. It has some sensible comments abou...
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