Milly Hean, associate, looks at the top stories for the week ahead.
Scottish rugby fans enter this week licking their wounds after a heartbreaking loss to the All Blacks, dashing hopes of an historic win.
Battling her own opponent, Scottish finance secretary, Shona Robison, took to the airwaves, saying she has requested an urgent meeting with Rachel Reeves following speculation the chancellor could raise income tax and cut National Insurance contributions. Robison echoed the first minister’s comments late last week, hinting the Scottish Government could “revisit” its pledge not to increase income tax.
The BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, and chief executive of news, Deborah Turness, have resigned following rows over its reporting. The double departure is unprecedented, with Davie saying the controversy was causing damage to the BBC and the “buck stops with me”. The latest criticism concerned its Panorama program on the U.S. Capitol attacks in January 2021, where the BBC was accused of selectively editing footage to insinuate Trump would fight alongside supporters. The BBC’s chair, Samir Shah, is expected apologise on behalf of the broadcaster and give a written statement to the Westminster culture committee today.
In foreign affairs, UK military personnel will be sent to Belgium after last week’s drone incursions on the low country’s airspace. While there is not yet clear evidence of responsibility, more serious airspace incursions in Eastern European countries in recent months are fuelling suspicions of Russian involvement.
In the US, lawmakers in the Senate have passed a deal aimed at ending the record-breaking government shutdown. While there are still hurdles to clear, this is the first positive sign of a compromise to get federal workers back to work, which has begun impacting travel in and out of the country.
Meanwhile, global dignitaries are descending on Belém, the Brazilian city at the mouth of the Amazon river, for the start of COP30 today. Keir Starmer and Prince William have travelled to represent the UK at what appears to be a less conventional climate conference, also notably marked by the absence of Donald Trump. Keir Starmer shared fears that “consensus is gone” in fighting climate change and the UN says it’s now “virtually impossible” to keep global warming 1.5ºC below pre-industrial levels.
In brief - Scotland's economy and business
Scottish firms are calling on the first minister to resist rolling back on his commitment to not increase income tax. Spokespeople from organisations, including Scottish Financial Enterprise and the Scottish Retail Consortium, told The Scotsmanholding firm to the previous pledge would create the conditions to attract new jobs and investment, increasing Scotland’s overall tax revenues and international competitiveness.
Housebuilders warn that the Scottish Government’s plan to tax new homes to fund cladding repairs will worsen the housing emergency (£) by making new developments “unviable”. If passed, the Building Safety Levy (Scotland) Bill will introduce an additional levy on the cost of building a new home of around £3,500. The Scottish Property Federation said it does “not believe that government policy should be designed to constrain the supply of new homes at this time”.
One in six employers will use AI to reduce its workforce over the next year in response to higher costs imposed by the UK government, according to research from the Chartered Institute of Personal Development, The research also found hiring intention was among the weakest since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
OpinioNation - columns of interest
In the Observer, Kenan Malik asks whether the UK is becoming a more violent nation. Despite a decline in violent crime across several measures, YouGov tracking data shows that three times as many people see crime as the most pressing national issue compared to 10 years ago. The key influences appear to be the rise in ideological violence and perceptions of an eroding social order. In response, Malik argues that the crime debate has become a magnet for “wider anxieties about a wider set of failures of policy making and statecraft”.
Glenn Campbell examines the strategies of Scotland’s political parties in the run up to May’s election. He proposes Farage will be used as a “bogeyman” in the SNP’s campaign to mobilise the anti-Reform UK vote. On the other hand, Scottish Labour will likely draw on the SNP’s poor record and an apparent decline in public trust in the government. However, the party faces the challenge in distinguishing Anas Sarwar from his Westminster counterpart. Regarding Reform UK, its lack of track record is proving to be an advantage, though the party is yet to publish its Holyrood policy – a process former Tory MSP Graham Simpson has been tasked with.
Scotland’s rivers, including the Spey, are running dangerously low every summer, wrote David Leask for The Sunday Times. Our drier climate intensifies competition for water between hydroelectric power, farmers, whiskey distilleries and wildlife. As the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) declared that 2025 saw the earliest and most prolonged water scarcity on record, we must adapt our water management systems and make difficult choices over sharing a resource long assumed to be limitless.
Shifting the dial - recent research
What question are Reform and Green Party members more closely aligned on?
A new study by Ipsos and King’s College London found that the majority (58%) of Reform UK supporters perceive the country as “very divided”, followed by Green Party supporters (46%) then Conservative (33%) and Labour (31%) supporters.
Overall, 84% of UK adults feel the country is somewhat divided, up from 74% five years ago. Two-thirds (67%) say these divisions stem from “culture wars”, with immigration, cultural change, and attitudes toward so-called “woke” issues among the main flashpoints.
The week ahead - fill your diary with key events
Monday
- Belém: COP30 begins
- Booker Prize for Fiction winner announced
- Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to meet President Donald Trump in the White House
- Scotland: Workers at Macallan and other Edrington distilleries are due to begin a seven-day strike
- CIPD Labour market outlook
Tuesday
- Remembrance Day
- G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting begins in Canada
- British Retail Consortium October Retail Sales Monitor
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In the Holyrood chamber:
- Topical Questions
- Stage 1 Debate: UEFA European Championship (Scotland) Bill
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In the Holyrood committee rooms:
- Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee: evidence on the Ecocide (Scotland) Bill at Stage 1
- Finance and Public Administration Committee: evidence on the Building Safety Levy (Scotland) Bill
- Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee: evidence on the Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations
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Scottish government data
- Modern Apprenticeship Statistics, 2025-26, Q2
- Scottish Household Survey, 2024: Local Health Services and Local Authority Sport and Leisure Facilities
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Westminster
- Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee: evidence from the housing secretary Steve Reed on housing delivery
- Culture, Media and Sport Committee: evidence on Children’s TV and video content
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UK Government data
- Claimant count rate; unemployment rate; retail sales
Wednesday
- In the Holyrood chamber:
- Portfolio Questions: Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and Parliamentary Business; Justice and Home Affairs
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In the Holyrood committee rooms:
- Economy and Fair Work Committee: evidence on the economic potential of artificial intelligence
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Consulting Scotland
- Digital Assets (Scotland) Bill consultation closes
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Westminster
- Prime Minister’s Question Time
- Opposition Day debate
- Environment and Climate Change Committee: Drought preparedness
- Energy Security and Net Zero Committee: evidence on unlocking community energy at scale
- Glasgow: World of Film International Festival starts
- Taylor Wimpey trading announcement
- SSE interim results
Thursday
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In the Holyrood chamber:
- General Questions
- First Minister’s Questions
- Portfolio Questions: Education and Skills
- Ministerial Statement: Winter Preparedness and National Planning Priorities for Health and Social Care
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Westminster:
- Oral questions: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (including Topical Questions)
- Public Accounts Committee: Oral evidence on faulty energy efficiency installations
- Q3 preliminary GDP and productivity estimates
- Persimmon trading update
Friday
- Brisbane: G20 Summit commences
- Resident doctors in England are due to begin a five-day strike