Saman.Together

As is so often in our podcasts Lesley has just returned from one of the Nordics. This time it's Iceland where she was attending a three-day (well it was three days for most delegates Ms Riddoch) conference on how they solved the substance abuse and anti-social behaviour epidemic among its young people. Lesley discovered what we might learn from the Icelandic experience and some surprising, and heartening, facts about Scotland, particularly in the ongoing soul searching over knife crime in England. I say my piece on the tragic death of Shamima Begum’s wee boy Jarrah in a Syrian refugee camp and the moral responsibility of the UK government. Was he merely a piece in the ongoing power struggle in the Tory Party? This is the week of the three votes on Brexit and we focus specifically on the SNP amendment to tomorrow’s(currently) meaningful vote asking for the power to hold an independence referendum if the UK leaves the EU. If it fails, as inevitably it will, where does this leave the SNP's leadership in terms of Indyref2? Friday was International Women's Day and we manage to link the release of Captain Marvel, the 5000 women of the Kurdish YPJ brigade, and strike action by the Icelandic Efling union. Finally, it was Scottish Labour's annual conference in Dundee over the weekend. Once again the promise of federalism was waved tantalisingly to Scotland. We both have our opinions on that. Again.