Jimmy Reid Foundation

10/10/2026

Just over a week until the 2026 Jimmy Reid Memorial Lecture, at Glasgow City Chambers on Tuesday 20 October 2026 starting at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-GB/ticketing/jimmy-reid-memorial-lecture

07/10/2026

Thanks to everyone who attended yesterday’s Build a Local Scotland event in Parliament, to discuss local government reform. There was strong support for powerful community authorities rather than centralising power into regions.

06/10/2026

We need a food redistribution revolution. The vast majority of the food waste, about 850m meals, comes from farms, food manufacturing with 178m meals, 71m from the hospitality and food service sector, and finally the retail sector accounts for 12m meals.

A billion meals a year are wasted in this country. We need food businesses and government to make redistribution the default route, says Charlotte Hill, chief executive of the food redistribution organisation Felix

04/10/2026

Another example of the radical poetry we can expect at this year’s lecture. Get your tickets here, https://www.zeffy.com/.../tic.../jimmy-reid-memorial-lecture

27/09/2026

Just one example of the radical poetry we can expect at this year’s lecture. Get your tickets here, https://www.zeffy.com/en-GB/ticketing/jimmy-reid-memorial-lecture

26/09/2026

The Scottish Government has opened the debate about local government reform in Scotland with a bold initial proposition to replace the current 32 councils with 6-10 regional authorities and 120-160 community authorities. In this briefing, we examine the proposals and look at how they could support stronger communities.

The direction of travel towards councils based on actual communities of place, with shared and regional functions within national frameworks, reflects the many papers we have published in recent years. However, the key issues will be getting the balance of services right, with subsidiarity as the principle. Services must be properly financed, and this must also be part of the discussion.

Local Government ReformSeptember 26, 2026September 26, 2026Briefing, Scottish Policy The Scottish Government has opened the debate about local government reform in Scotland with a bold initial proposition to replace the current 32 councils with 6-10 regional authorities and 120-160 community authori...

22/09/2026

Thanks to the University of St Andrew’s Debating Society for inviting our director to talk about political and economic alienation as Jimmy Reid highlighted in 1972. Lots of topical incisive questions about local government reform after yesterday’s announcement.

19/09/2026

Poet and author Jackie Kay will deliver the 2026 Jimmy Reid Memorial Lecture on Tuesday 20 October 2026 at 7 pm in Glasgow City Chambers.

Tickets are available from: https://www.zeffy.com/en-GB/ticketing/jimmy-reid-memorial-lecture.

One example of her poetry books is May Day. These poems cast an eye over several decades of political activism, from the international solidarity of Glasgow in Kay’s childhood, when she accompanied her parents’ Socialist campaigns.

"At the core of this vital and wonderful book are Jackie’s activist parents, and the book is filled with marches, demos, protests, dreams of Peggy Seeger and memories of Hugh MacDiarmid pushing a pram. Here’s a beautiful writer at the top of her game and if I ran Britain I would give out copies on the NHS. It’s a sublime, joyous, pot-banging volume of genius." (Andrew O'Hagan)

19/09/2026

87% of the public support extending FoI to private sector companies that provide public services.

14/09/2026

Tickets are now available for the 2026 Jimmy Reid Memorial Lecture, at Glasgow City Chambers on Tuesday 20 October 2026 starting at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased here:
https://www.zeffy.com/en-GB/ticketing/jimmy-reid-memorial-lecture