Call for Scotland’s next leaders to prioritise prevention, not firefighting As Holyrood prepares for elections, Sarah Davidson urges MSPs to prioritise prevention, resilience and long‑term vision over short‑term fixes.

Read Carnegie UK chief exec Sarah Davidson make the case for long-termism in Scotland's politics:
www.heraldscotland.com/politics/hol...

What should the future look like? How will we get there?

Thrilled to have commissioned these essays about tomorrow with our great pals @iwa-wales.bsky.social. Take a look!

Very pleasing to see Carnegie UK's work on wellbeing budgets referenced in this excellent SPICe briefing about preventative spending: bprcdn.parliament.scot/published/20...

SNP accuses Labour of lacking policy ideas and identity as Anas Sarwar poised to set out divergences A row has erupted as the SNP and Scottish Labour are poised to kickstart their bids for Bute House ahead of May’s election.

Labour party insider in The Scotsman says that we're going to have a vibes-based Holyrood election: www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

I mean this is no time for serious long-term public policy...

Ahead of this year’s election, we asked senior representatives from Scotland’s biggest political parties what kind of country they want Scotland to be 20 years from now.

We have pulled their responses together into one collection of essays: carnegieuk.org/publication/...

What should Scotland look like in 20 years' time?

Ahead of the Holyrood elections, @carnegieuk.bsky.social commissioned essays from Scotland's political leaders asking for their long-term vision. Read them here:
carnegieuk.org/publication/...

Thrilled to pull together this important project!

Future wellbeing policy: Lessons from Wales and beyond - Carnegie UK

Our new report looks at how wellbeing policy is developing in Wales & what could help it progress further. It draws on recent conversations in Cardiff, wider evidence & international examples to understand how the Well-being of Future Generations Act is working: carnegieuk.org/publication/...

New Senedd committee paper about The Well-Being of Future Generations Act ten years on: laiddocuments.senedd.wales/cr-ld17973-e...

The 'enormous' opportunity Glasgow can seize after Union Street fire Observers from the architectural and property world say Glasgow can build something ambitious at the stricken site near Central Station

Liked the tone of this by Scott Wright in The Herald: www.heraldscotland.com/news/2594169... There's maybe a loose parallell with Manchester following the devastating and tragic IRA bombing in the 90s. However if crises are opportunities in disguise, how many more opportunities does Glasgow need?

Digital ID won’t work if you live in rural areas | Letters Letters: Universal phone coverage is yet to arrive in Britain, making a mockery of the government’s planned scheme, writes Teresa Rodrigues. Plus a letter from Sarah Davidson

Read our response to the government’s plans for a citizens’ assembly on digital IDs in The Guardian today: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Digital ID won’t work if you live in rural areas | Letters Letters: Universal phone coverage is yet to arrive in Britain, making a mockery of the government’s planned scheme, writes Teresa Rodrigues. Plus a letter from Sarah Davidson

Carnegie UK chief exec Sarah Davidson has a letter in The Guardian today about a citizens' assembly to inform plans for a digital ID:
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Breaking the Ming vase: A case for state resources for manifesto development Seriousness about delivery should become part of the culture of democratic competition

How do we break the pattern of bold political promises and mediocre results? How do we close the gap between the campaigning in poetry and governing in prose?

As elections get underway in Scotland and Wales, some thinking from me:
www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article...

Six Nations on road to perdition unless chastening Celtic wake-up call is heeded | Robert Kitson Championship risks becoming a two-tier affair as Ireland, Wales and Scotland all lose on the opening weekend for first time in 26 years

Is Robert Kitson on this?

www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...

Less than Jake

Was that perhaps Scotland's greatest ever game? I'd give you 800 words on this if I wasn't smashing pints and away to watch ska punk

Breaking the Ming vase: A case for state resources for manifesto development Seriousness about delivery should become part of the culture of democratic competition

How do we break the pattern of bold political promises and mediocre results? How do we close the gap between the campaigning in poetry and governing in prose?

As elections get underway in Scotland and Wales, some thinking from me:
www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article...

Breaking the Ming vase: A case for state resources for manifesto development Seriousness about delivery should become part of the culture of democratic competition

Ahead of elections in Scotland and Wales, I've got a piece in @civilserviceworld.bsky.social making the case for some state resources for manifesto development: www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article...

Dissatisfaction with life in UK unchanged since Covid, official data shows Average life satisfaction still below pre-pandemic peak despite improving economic outlook, reports ONS

Reported here: www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Might interest @guardianheather.bsky.social and @theboysmithy.ft.com

What a chart from the ONS

Empty offices and child ‘directors’: How to augment reality and avoid tax in the process We’ve got to the bottom of that giant banner on the M8 office block

This terrific reporting about an empty property rates relief scam by the Glasgow Bell www.glasgowbell.co.uk/humanitarian... Get it sorted OSCR, GCC, and the assessor - there's a specific anti avoidance clause in the latest legislation.

42 out of 55 fiscal councils make policy recommendations, according to Sir Robert Chote in this evidence to the Treasury committee about the OBR: committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence...

Reeves aims to reassure business with ‘boring’ Spring Statement UK chancellor will argue that her plan is starting to bear fruit

FT piece here: www.ft.com/content/f961...

Would fewer Red Box moments lead to better policy? - Carnegie UK The Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt outside 11 Downing Street with the Red Box. Picture by Simon Walker / No 10 Downing Street Pictures of Chancellor Hunt covered last week’s front pages. But ...

“It will be a very, very boring Spring Statement showing the plan is working,” said one minister in the FT today.

I wrote a blog (back in the Jeremy Hunt days) arguing that fewer red box moments might be no bad thing: carnegieuk.org/blog/would-f...

I'm away to Cardiff this weekend. My mate is driving and I'm going to sing Road Rage by Catatonia for the entire 6hr journey #AsOne

Refocusing the ONS on its core statistics Permanent Secretary Darren Tierney sets out the next steps the ONS is taking to prioritise quality and strengthen core statistical outputs.

A useful update from the ONS on their priorities, if you're into that sort of thing....
blog.ons.gov.uk/2026/02/19/r...

Next parliament ‘needs committee to examine effectiveness of government’ Holyrood needs a committee specifically tasked with examining the effectiveness of the next Scottish government, MSPs are being urged. Sarah Davidson, chief executive of Carnegie UK, said that after M...

Some of our arguments written up here:
www.ireland-live.ie/news/scotlan...

Finance and Public Administration Committee | Scottish Parliament TV

.@carnegieuk.bsky.social chief executive @sarahdavidson.bsky.social giving evidence to the Scottish Parliament Finance and Public Admin committee on 'legacy' issues for the next term: www.scottishparliament.tv/meeting/fina...

Thomas Piketty: 'European countries have achieved unprecedented levels of prosperity and social well-being' COLUMN. To win the cultural and intellectual battle, Europe must staunchly defend its model, writes the economist in his column, dismantling the narrative of a 'declining' continent.

"All too often, the European debate becomes mired in outdated indicators that are completely unsuited to considering the future and social well-being in an era of climate change." - Thomas Piketty

www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/a...