Welcome to the Full Scottish from our Cowcaddens Studio in Glasgow.
Full Scottish starts at 12:00 midday on Sunday 21st July 2019
Ken McDonald of iScot Magazine is joined by guests, Rona Mackay, MSP for East Dunbartonshire and by Greg McCarra of the Scottish Independence Foundation on the panel of this week’s Full Scottish.
This week the Scottish drugs deaths statistics released by the National Records Office for Scotland reached a record high of 1,187 people who died of drug related causes. Scottish Government Public Health Minister, Joe Fitzpatrick has written to Home Secretary, Sajid Javid requesting an urgent meeting. The Scottish Government regards drug misuse as a public health matter, however, drugs policy is reserved to the UK Government who view it as a criminal justice issue and have refused to consider allowing a safe drug consumption room to be trialled in Glasgow. The Scottish Government has set up a new Drugs Task force and are planning to hold a Drugs Summit in Glasgow with all parties and stakeholders represented, including the Home Office, in an effort to tackle the rise in drugs related deaths.
Scottish income tax figures released this week showed an increase of 1.8% in revenues, however, the Scottish Government are concerned that only having limited control of Scotland’s economic levers, leaves the economy at risk from a falling UK economy which could see the threated tax trap materialise in the upcoming Fiscal Framework Review.
This week, the UK Government’s Office for Budget Responsibility issued a stark warning of recession and a £30Bn black hole in the Event of the new tory Prime Minister taking the UK out of the EU without a deal. Resignations by sitting tory ministers are expected if or most likely when Boris Johnson takes over from Theresa May whose leaves office after her last PMQs on Wednesday. With only a few sitting days in Westminster before the 31st October, will parliament have the numbers to prevent a Brexiteer Prime Minister from leaving without a deal and could they force a further Article 50 extension?
There is nothing like a war to divert attention away from troubles at home and ramping up the Iran situation to a crisis might be attractive to a populist Prime Minister, particularly if they are keen to get a trade deal with Trump in America.
Meanwhile, Trump has been hitting the headlines all week for his unrepentant racist attacks on four Democratic Party Congresswomen; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley. He has ramped up his attacks even after the House of Representatives voted to censure him for his racist language.
50 Years ago this weekend, NASA’s Apollo 11 mission, made history with the first moon landing. What would bring back that spirit of hope which was still so alive in the sixties?
Join us for in depth discussion of all this and more.