The Reid Foundation

Is Scotland a Fair Work Nation? The short answer is no. The longer answer is more nuanced. It has made a limited but positive contribution to improving working lives. Ambition, pilots and guidance are important, but must be followed by concrete action. reidfoundation.scot/2026/04/is-sco…

Pay gap widens as UK bosses get 130 times average worker’s salary. In its final report the High Pay Centre says the median remuneration of a FTSE 100 CEO has risen to a record £5.06m theguardian.com/business/2026/…

Why AI’s environmental footprint won’t disappear into orbit. Once you factor in the whole life cycle, from water and rocket fuel used to launching, to keeping them cool and eventually disposing of old satellites, the environmental case becomes less clear. theconversation.com/why-ais-enviro…

State Pension age to rise to 68 for 5m Britons years earlier than expected. Many physically won't be able to work. Many won't live long enough to draw the state pension, one of the worst in developed countries. Rich can retire whenever they want. independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…

#PCS general secretary @FranHeathcote spoke at the @TolpuddleFest this morning at Beyond the Pay Claim: An All-women panel on how unions can build worker and people power. She said: "Workers who have fewer protections are more easily exploited and less willing to rock the boat. That undermines every worker, because if workers are scared to challenge their employer, they’re less likely to join a union and strike for better pay or terms and conditions." Photo credit @jesshurdphoto

Glasgow is lawless? Thomas Kerr has missed the true spirit of the city. For those of us who have been around the block, this reigniting of racial tensions in our city is tiresome and terrifying in equal measure. scotsman.com/news/opinion/g…

Gordon McKee: Why Glasgow desperately needs an elected mayor. Scotland’s cities and regions aren’t benefiting from the one-size-fits-all approach being delivered from Edinburgh. Correct. But Mayors add nothing and transport is a poor illustration. heraldscotland.com/politics/viewp…

A new investigation has revealed cronyism and failure at the heart of Palantir’s £330m contract with the NHS A senior data analyst branded the spy-tech firm’s software “absolutely rubbish” ⬇️ goodlaw.social/qe1c

Burnham to scrap Starmer’s digital ID scheme in ‘reset of priorities’. Good. The costs would have exponentially risen above current estimates. We explained the challenges here. reidfoundation.scot/2025/10/digita… theguardian.com/politics/2026/…

School absence rates are reaching crisis point. How can we help young people facing ‘extreme’ social isolation? Much more needs to be done to support these young people, before the behaviour becomes entrenched and they become “invisible to normal society.” theferret.scot/school-absence…

The case for G20 coordination on wealth taxes. The question is no longer whether we can tax extreme wealth effectively - it's whether we can afford not to. neweconomics.org/2026/07/the-ca…

Workers actually have significant leverage on AI right now. Without intervention, AI disruption – real and perceived – will become ripe for exploitation by the far-right, risking the wheels of technological and social progress coming off altogether. tuc.org.uk/blogs/workers-…

Children in care die at twice the rate of others. Why are so few, around one-third, of their deaths reviewed? Campaigners say these revelations, revealed in a FoI request, mean vital lessons that could save lives are not being learned. theferret.scot/scotland-child…

“I investigated Palantir’s foothold in the British state – and what I found should worry us all”. Paid-for political access and threadbare regulations have helped to embed the US tech firm in the NHS – and beyond. But there is a way to free ourselves. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

A quarter of young children now live in the private rented sector. In fact, children are now more likely than adults to do so. 🏠 More in our last Housing Outlook➡️ buff.ly/SNjZ77G

Join @SistersACG tomorrow at Atlantic Quay at 12PM to demonstrate against the closure of a vital lifeline service for survivors of gender based violence.

Over-25s accounted for nearly half (47%) of apprenticeship starts in the last decade, up from 33% in the decade prior. Read our recent report to find out how ringfencing apprenticeship funding for under-25s could bring a better return on investment⤵️ buff.ly/jnl4E9P

Big banks 'making a killing' from the misery of the cost-of-living crisis, TUC warns. Trade unions call for windfall tax hike on the £25bn paid out to fund social energy tariff to public’s energy bills. morningstaronline.co.uk/article/big-ba…

Frustration among working people cannot be ignored. Andy Burnham’s message of hope will defeat Reform if Labour delivers the New Deal for Working People in full. morningstaronline.co.uk/article/frustr…

How do we incentivise firms to take on more young people? Some believe the problem lies with the convergence between youth and adult minimum wages, while others think we should scrap employer NICs. But we see far greater promise in expanding existing government schemes. More⬇️ buff.ly/tDv85WG

This is what Andy Burnham’s devolution plans need to consider. Broadening and deepening English devolution may well be signature policies of an upcoming government led by Andy Burnham, but how will he handle the politics of an increasingly fractured UK? theconversation.com/this-is-what-a…