John Cumming, senior client manager, looks at the top stories for the week ahead.
John Swinney’s Programme for Government continues to dominate headlines in Scotland, and he will be hoping a series of government-led debates in Holyrood this week on the economy, energy and community safety will allow him to get hold of the agenda once again.
However, as the £2 bus fare cap comes in in the west of Scotland today, bus operators have warned the scheme is not all it seems and have raised several questions of the government. Unions have also continued to demand answers over how public sector reforms, particularly changes to the NHS, will impact jobs – with claims merging health boards could jeopardise the investigation into deaths linked to Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
Meanwhile, prime minister Andy Burnham will mark a minor milestone this week as he surpasses Liz Truss’ 49 days in office. He will likely be feeling buoyant as he passes the 50-day mark, following Channel 4’s bombshell undercover report on Reform UK, which has seen two senior party officials resign pending the outcome of an internal investigation into claims about funding from foreign donations.
Chancellor John Healey is expected to give an update on the state of the UK’s economy today, claiming that it is “turning a corner” despite debt concerns as he takes an upbeat view ahead of his Budget next month. In a speech in Coventry, he will speak of an economy that is optimistic and “ready to seize the opportunities of new technologies and ideas”.
In Ireland, taoiseach Micheál Martin is set to welcome president Trump for a two-day visit later this week. As was the case with his visit to Scotland, the Irish government will be seeking to advance key economic interests with the president.
In brief - Scotland's economy and business
In an exclusive sit-down discussion with The Herald, Sarah Boyd, chief executive of the Lothian Group, discusses the future of Edinburgh’s public transport network following the integration of Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Trams. She highlights the network’s scale, with 131 million journeys in 2025, and stresses the importance of reliability, integration and customer-focused services. She welcomes the Scottish Government’s proposed £2 bus fare cap but calls for detailed modelling, a clear reimbursement system and ticketing arrangements that reflect contactless travel. She also argues that the policy must protect existing value for passengers while supporting wider ambitions to create a world-class, integrated public transport system.
The Times has highlighted the Scottish Government’s plans to expand its overseas ‘Scotland House’ network from nine locations to more than 40 by 2031, combining Scottish Government and Scottish Development International offices. The expansion aims to boost trade, attract investment and strengthen Scotland’s global relationships. However, costs associated with the expansion remain unclear, with the piece noting that existing overseas offices cost around £7 million annually. While opposition parties have criticised the plans as wasteful and politically motivated, ministers have cited the significant inward investment and export opportunities secured by the network over the last decade.
In an article published in The Scotsman this morning, Heather Johnstone, a KTP associate and peatland management project officer for RWE, argues that renewable energy development and peatland protection can be mutually beneficial. The piece notes that Scotland’s peatlands cover around 20% of its land but approximately 75% are degraded, threatening their ability to store carbon, support biodiversity, regulate water and reduce flood risk. Johnstone highlights a project involving RWE and the University of the Highlands and Islands, testing whether excavated peat from wind farm construction can be meaningfully incorporated into restoration. Beginning in Caithness, the project aims to develop techniques that combine habitat restoration with renewable energy development. If successful, the project could strengthen community support for developments and establish Scotland as a global leader in nature-positive energy development.
OpinioNation - columns of interest
Writing for the FT, Anand Menon, director of the UK in a Changing Europe think-tank, argues that strong hostility towards Reform UK presents Nigel Farage with a difficult strategic dilemma. Menon notes that Reform’s support has fallen from around 30% in late 2025 to 25%, with recent by-elections demonstrating how anti-Reform tactical voting can overcome its polling advantage. He suggests that Reform could be tempted to moderate its policies to broaden its appeal. However, this would cause it to risk losing supporters firmly on the right. Making the right strategic choices will be key for the party, especially as tactical voting becomes increasingly significant in Britain’s fragmented political landscape.
In a piece for The Scotsman, CodeBase’s head of international, Anaïs Guillemaud, argues that Scottish tech startups must adopt a global mindset from the outset, given the limited size of the domestic market and the scale of opportunities in the US and Asia. Drawing on CodeBase’s Techscaler programme, Guillemaud highlights how international missions help founders build relationships, understand markets and secure commercial opportunities. She concludes that Scotland’s next generation of technology successes will depend on competing internationally, instead of only succeeding at home.
Ahead of Donald Trump’s visit to Ireland this week, the former Irish ambassador to the United States, Daniel Mulhall, has written a piece for the Irish Times in which he argues that Ireland should adopt a pragmatic, diplomatic approach to Donald Trump’s forthcoming visit, prioritising the protection of Irish interests over public confrontation. Mulhall says that despite significant policy differences, Ireland has maintained strong economic and political ties with the US, with investment and exports continuing to grow. His analysis could equally be applied to Scotland’s engagement with the Trump administration, with the former ambassador highlighting how Trump’s fondness for Ireland, which is also partly underpinned by investments in golf courses, can be used as an effective piece of diplomatic leverage.
Shifting the dial - recent research
New findings from Scotland Food & Drink’s Knowledge Bank have shown that 84% of consumers in Scotland want to buy more Scottish produce. The research also highlights the strong appeal of Scottish produce across the UK, with 52% of all UK shoppers saying they prefer Scottish products.
The week ahead - fill your diary with key events
Monday
- Economy: chancellor John Healey to deliver speech on growth
-
House of Commons:
- Housing questions
- MPs to debate the Health Bill
- Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayor Paul Bristow to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to discuss English devolution
- Nominations close to select a new chair for the housing, justice and women and equalities committees
Tuesday
-
Holyrood:
- FMQs (backbench members)
- Scottish Government debate: Programme for Government – An Economy Fit for the Future
- Kate Clark to lead a members’ business debate on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s service delivery review
- Industry figures including Scottish Financial Enterprise chief executive Sandy Begbie to give evidence on AI at a meeting of the economy committee
-
House of Commons:
- Treasury questions
- MPs to continue debating the remaining stages of the Health Bill
- Ukraine: defence secretary Wes Streeting to virtually co-chair a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group alongside his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius
- PM: Andy Burnham officially outlasts Liz Truss’ tenure as prime ministerTrade: Canadian retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. come into effect
Wednesday
-
House of Commons:
- PMQs
- Women and equalities questions
-
Holyrood:
- Ministers to take questions in the chamber on issues including finance, public service reform, external affairs and energy
- Scottish Government debate: Building Stronger, Safer and Inclusive Communities, Together
- Labour: party’s candidate confirmed for the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, called following the resignation of Keir Starmer from the Commons
- US: President Trump to address the Republican midterm convention in Dallas
- Norway: funeral of King Harald V, following his death last month
Thursday
-
Holyrood:
- FMQs (party leaders)
- Scottish Government debate: Scotland’s Energy Opportunity
-
House of Commons:
- Business statement from the leader of the house
- MPs compete in the Westminster dog of the year competition
- Greens: candidate selection hustings for the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, with the winner set to be announced on 11 September
- Bayeux Tapestry exhibition opens to the public at the British Museum
- US: New York Fashion Week begins
Friday
- The 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City
- Economy: GDP estimate for July published at 7am
-
House of Commons:
- MPs to debate the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, brought forward by Labour MPs Lauren Edwards
- Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year, begins
Saturday
- Trump: US president begins his two-day visit to Ireland including a meeting with taoiseach Micheál Martin and president Catherine Connolly
Sunday
- Unions: TUC conference kicks off in Brighton
- Sweden: parliamentary elections
- Tennis: men’s singles finals of the US Open in New York