CommonSpace looks at the policy issue now overwhelming this year’s General Election campaign: security

SECURITY AND COUNTER TERRORISM have come to dominate the UK General Election following the attacks in Manchester a fortnight ago and London Bridge on Saturday (4 June,) which took 29 lives combined and left many injured.

CommonSpace columnist Kirsty Strickland says there is no excuse in 2017 for continued imbalance in political commentary

DURING every election campaign, there is – or at least should be – a heightened focus on balance.

This usually applies to the balance of party representation, but regularly in Scotland there are calls for it also to extend to balance across the Yes/No divide.

Writer and human rights advocate Rob McDowall explains why he's campaigning for the Scottish Government to strengthen laws to protect parliamentarians

I AM an avid user of social media and I regularly disagree with policies and policy makers on Twitter and Facebook but I always try to do so as respectfully as possible. When you try to make a political point by attacking someone personally, I believe that you've lost the argument and lowered the tone into the bargain. 

Bronagh Gallagher says it’s time to reset what we think we know

YOU are living through a revolution. One you might not notice. One that may not be visible in the streets, but one which will, no doubt, have profound implications for anyone who wants to make change in the world. 

This is a silent revolution. One that takes place at a level which is so often unexamined that when first encountered it can leave you dizzy as some long-held assumptions are fundamentally challenged. I know it did for me. 

Scottish Labour’s council election plans rocked by UK General Election announcement 

KEZIA DUGDALE, the Scottish Labour leader, has sworn to defend the party’s last remaining seat in Edinburgh South following the news that UK Prime Minister Theresa May intends to hold a UK-wide General Election on 8 June of this year.

Dugdale who had been hoping to focus on the local elections launch for the party today (Tuesday 18 April) was instead forced to state what her expectations were for her party’s performance on both sides of the border.

Upcoming elections paint a picture of extreme under-representation of women in Scottish politics

ACTION OVER RHETORIC is the rallying cry of the Women 5050, the campaign advocating 50 per cent representation of women in councils and in the Scottish Parliament, as it revealed that across 32 Scottish councils only 30 per cent of local candidates are women.

After analysing the candidate lists of all wards in all 32 councils for the upcoming May local elections, the charity found that there are 21 wards in Scotland with only men on the ballot paper.

Activists hold building in hope of pushing the Irish government to address homeless crisis

ANTI-HOMELESS CAMPAIGNERS face eviction over their occupation of Apollo House, a property owned by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) which holds the bad loans of companies affected by the property crash of 2008.

Members of the Home Sweet Home (HSH) group have taken over the building for a number of weeks demanding that Nama end homelessness across the city and wider Ireland.

MP linked to offences connected with the groups Women for Independence and the SNP Glasgow Regional Association

NATALIE MCGARRY, the MP for Glasgow East, has been charged “in connection with alleged fraud offences”, according to Police Scotland.

The alleged offences, that reportedly involve a five-figure sum, are believed to be linked to McGarry’s prior involvement with the campaign group Women for Independence (WFI).