Beyond the Noise with David Jamieson is a weekly podcast with CommonSpace journalist David Jamieson, where he gets behind the 24/7 news cycle and gets to heart of issues, trying to find the substance behind the headlines.

THIS week, Jamieson is joined by CommonSpace editor Ben Wray and CommonSpace multimedia journalist Rhiannon J Davies to review 2018 in tumultuous global politics and public affairs.

They discuss:

Ronnie Cowan presented the former Catalan President with a recently published Scottish Atlas of Opportunity

SNP MP Ronnie Cowan has called on Catalan political prisoners to be released from jail after meeting exiled former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, and presenting him with a Scottish Atlas.

The MP, who is vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Catalonia, met Puigdemont in London as four of the nine Catalan political prisoners remained on hunger strike, which was announced on 1 December.

As 2018 comes to a close, the CPJ reports that jailing journalists has become the ‘new normal’, while Scottish PEN finds that self-censorship threatens freedom of speech.

A study produced by Scottish PEN and the University of Strathclyde shows the alarming impact of pervasive surveillance on writers in Scotland.

CommonSpace editor Ben Wray analyses yesterday’s draft Scottish Government budget, and looks at whether Finance Minister Derek Mackay’s attempt to position it in the centre-ground will win him parliamentary allies

MOST people aren’t paying much attention to the Scottish Budget this year, even the small minority who usually do pay attention to it. What with the severe crisis at Westminster, Holyrood’s finances aren’t getting much of a look in.

We’ve got news for you budget slackers – you aren’t missing much.

The Hungarian autocrat creates new political courts system and attacks workers’ rights – while benefiting from influx of European capital

AS Brexit chaos continues in Britain, it's easy to miss the wider crisis afflicting European society.

Nowhere is this more obvious or alarming than in Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban has for years pushed his opponents to the margins and eroded the space for dissent and opposition.

The No Confidence vote fell with 200 Tory MPs backing May to 117 against

SO she survived. Theresa May clung on to power after defeating an attempt by her own MPs to oust her, winning the vote by 200 for to 117 against. 

But winning by no means ends her problems. In fact the 12 December may be the day which really will be remembered as the beginning of the end for the prime minister.

CommonSpace identifies the three things you need to keep an eye on now to see which way the Brexit saga goes next.

Reaction to the Budget from across Scottish politics and civil society

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT Finance Minister Derek Mackay has delivered his draft Budget to the Scottish Parliament. 

Mackay has proposed to maintain income tax rates as they were, increase public sector pay by 3 per cent for those earning under 36.5k per year, and have real terms funding increases for Healthcare and Early Years & Childcare. 

CommonSpace has rounded up reaction to the budget from politicians, think tanks, trade unions and others. 

The Tory backbenchers are relics of a previous fight for rightwing hegemony in Britain – now they are causing the British elite problems

NOT a single Tory rightwing Brexiteer stood up in parliament today at Prime Minister's Questions (12 December) to attack Theresa May's leadership of her party or the country, just hours after they produced the 48 letters necessary.

Some independence supporters are expressing concern that the opportunity for independence is being missed in favour of a keeping the UK in the EU

SNP MP Angus McNeil has called on his party to prioritise Scottish independence over keeping the UK in the EU.

Housing Minister: “While we know this is an ambitious target, we have shown we can deliver on housing and we will continue to do so.”

HOMELESSNESS charity Shelter Scotland has warned the Scottish Government that it must not break its “promise to Scotland” of delivering 35,000 social houses between 2016-2021, as new data shows it has a long way to go to meet its target.

The statistics, published by the Scottish Government today [11 December] shows 5,340 social rented homes were delivered to September 2018, an increase of 19 per cent.