Following a year of intense debate around ‘gender recognition’, five trans young people speak to Caitlin Logan about what it really means to be trans in Scotland today

CAMERON was 14 years old when he first had the language to pinpoint why his mental health had deteriorated two years earlier as puberty came knocking: he was trans. Now, an 18-year-old computer science student, he sits in a bustling coffee shop next to a table of burly men and speaks with the good-humoured ease of any other boy his age.

Writer Caitlin Logan says there may be more to lose than gain from a second EU referendum

AS SOMEONE who, without hesitation, voted to ‘Remain’ two and half years ago, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to make sense of my own thoughts on the slow motion car-crash that is Brexit and the prospect of a ‘People’s Vote’. 

SNP MP joins disability and poverty campaigners in denouncing the Tories’ approach to welfare amid newly uncovered figures  

ALISON THEWLISS, SNP MP for Glasgow Central, has accused the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) of being “intent on refusing people at every turn”, after it emerged nearly £200m in five years was spent fighting appeals by rejected disability benefit claimants.

Greens, TSSA and Common Weal say the government must do more to support a publicly-run rail service

GREEN MSP John Finnie has questioned the Scottish Government’s “determination” to see a publicly-run rail service become a reality, after transport minister Michael Matheson confirmed the government would be “giving equal treatment to all bidders”.

CommonSpace sits down with the experts to learn more about how the criminal justice system works for domestic abuse survivors 

COMMONSPACE JOURNALIST Caitlin Logan sits down with Scottish Women’s Rights Centre solicitor Sarah Crawford, clinical psychologist and domestic abuse expert Dr Mairead Tagg, and SNP councillor Julie McKenzie who was the victim in two domestic abuse cases which saw her former partner convicted.

We ask, is the Scottish justice system working for suvivors of domestic abuse, and what can happen to ensure it does?

From Brexit, to independence, to sustainable energy, the latest figures on Scotland’s revenue, expenditure and deficit are sparking debate

THE ANNUAL Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) released today (22 August) has served to underline vastly differing views on the economy and where it is and should be headed.  

The report, published by the Scottish Government, shows that Scotland’s public sector revenue, including from its geographic share of the North Sea, was £59.6bn in 2016/17 - £1.3bn of which was North Sea revenue.

Despite progress, experts say systemic change is needed to ensure domestic abuse survivors do not feel “let down” by the courts

SCOTLAND’S COURTS system must be reformed to better support domestic abuse and rape survivors who can find the process “as traumatic as the abuse”, according to campaign and advocacy organisations.

CommonSpace speaks to four women who have been through the courts in domestic abuse cases to learn how the system works for them

“HIS ABUSIVE pattern was without a doubt back in full force and I was beginning to realise it had never really gone. People were being hurt by him once again. I needed to speak the truth.”

Education secretary faces criticism for seeking tax break for local private school despite government scrapping the relief

EDUCATION SECRETARY John Swinney has come under fire for ‘lobbying’ on behalf of a private school in his constituency over concerns that it would no longer receive business rates relief after the government decided to scrap it last year.

The revelation has led to accusations of “hypocrisy” on the part of the education minister and of a lack of “vision” in the Scottish Government over the kind of education system it wants to create.