Category Archives: The Constitution

Broadcasting Should Be The Nationalists’ Holy Grail

By Stuart MacLennan | Published: January 4, 2012

A recent Scottish social attitudes survey found that 65% of Scots would back independence if they were £500 better off. The slogan “It’s Scotland’s Oil” has been the cornerstone of the nationalists’ case for independence for the past four decades, while the unionist case invariably relies upon Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) reports which [...]

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Sovereignty and Independence Lite

By Stuart MacLennan | Published: November 24, 2011

Despite the fact that my PhD is a contemporary study of the impact technology has had on international taxation law, I’ve found myself delving into the concept of “sovereignty”. The link between international taxation and sovereignty is, in fact, far more significant than it first appears however I’ll bore you with that in a future [...]

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Independence: Time for a Substantive Debate

By Stuart MacLennan | Published: October 26, 2011

There will be a referendum on Scottish independence. This fact, I fear, so many in my party have yet to grasp. It’s understandable given that the SNP have already been in power for over four years, and were presented with an offer (the sincerity of which I would doubt) of Parliamentary support for a referendum [...]

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Is the Scottish Parliament Short With Short Money?

By Stuart MacLennan | Published: August 18, 2011

The Scottish Parliament, like its mother in Westminster, operates a system of financial support for opposition parties. “Short Money” is intended to level the playing field between the government, who have the resources of the civil service to aid them in formulating policy, and the opposition. It pays the salaries of researchers and press officers [...]

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Local Government in Scotland: Initial thoughts on the case for reform

By Stuart MacLennan | Published: July 20, 2011

I’ve recently undertaken some research into the structure of Scottish Local Government. This research should, in the fullness of time, culminate in a paper in which I will make the case for reorganising Scotland’s Local Authorities however as I know readers of this blog will be squirming in anticipation of such a paper I thought [...]

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  • I’m a 25-year-old PhD candidate at Trinity College, Dublin, specializing in International Trade & Taxation Law. In a previous life I was an adviser in the Scottish Parliament and a Parliamentary Candidate, but the less said about that the better.