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Ali Payne

@alipayne.bsky.social
426 followers 722 following 21 posts

Trying to figure out life as a (relatively) young widow. Busy with kids, politics, box-sets, baking, Eurovision & Lego. Think tank Research Director @reformscotland.bsky.social

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Ali Payne @alipayne.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
We’re about to collectively congratulate ourselves for 20yrs since smoking ban, but we’ve had our heads in the sand about the dangers of vapes, esp to kids. These shops are popping up all over our high streets promoting vapes as if they’re not bad for you. We need to change our attitude to vapes
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Research director @alipayne.bsky.social has contributed to @hepi-news.bsky.social's Scottish week reflecting that without an education system firing on all cylinders, the many other problems facing Scotland cannot be fixed
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
"why don’t we do more? Is it because dementia & caring affect women more than men? Or because women’s unpaid labour has long been treated as an inexhaustible resource-natural, expected, & therefore invisible" Greg Stevenson's powerful piece for #NHS2048 www.enlighten.scot/nhs2048/the-...
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Research director @alipayne.bsky.social writes for @thescottishsun.co.uk on why the current HE funding system is unsustainable, and why we need a graduate payment. Up-front fees can be avoided & tuition free-at-the-point-of-use maintained if we act asap. www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/1582007...
thescottishsun.co.uk
Top uni boss suggests Scots DITCH free tuition sparking major debate over fees
EYEBROWS were raised last week when Edinburgh University’s principal suggested some students could pay towards their tuition. Unlike the rest of the UK, most undergraduates in Scotland get the…
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
“Vaccination uptake is plummeting in rural communities and areas of high deprivation, creating a stark health inequality that threatens to divide our nation’s children into the protected & the vulnerable” A worrying article from Dr Ross Jaffrey #NHS2048 www.enlighten.scot/nhs2048/has-...
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Ali Payne @alipayne.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
“One day, unless this changes, we could be sitting in our own waste crying alone in a care home” A really important read from @neilmackay.bsky.social. Social care should be dominating discussions ahead of the election. www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/2551...
heraldscotland.com
'This care system is everyone's problem - we all get old'
As Scotland’s care system teeters on the brink, a damning undercover report and personal reflections expose the moral crisis at the heart of how…
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
The strikes at some Scottish universities about redundancies today are symptomatic of the broader issues around the unsustainability of Scotland’s higher education funding structure. Audit Scotland warned in 2019. We can’t keep ignoring the problem.
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
We have news... www.heraldscotland.com/news/2516953... @heraldscotland.bsky.social @chrisdeerin.bsky.social
heraldscotland.com
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John Swinney @johnswinney.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
The Prime Minister’s statement on immigration today will damage our economy, the NHS, social care and our universities. It ignores the need to boost Scotland’s working age population. This sort of divisive language only plays into Nigel Farage’s hands. Not in Scotland’s name.
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Joanna @joannab24.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
See this from the head of Scottish care which represents care providers. Scotland has an ageing population,the best care worker pay in UK(though still not enough)& can't recruit local workers,particularly in rural areas. bsky.app/profile/drdm...
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Ali Payne @alipayne.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
This is a hugely important & must-read article in today’s @heraldscotland.bsky.social from @neilmackay.bsky.social featuring @drdmacaskill.bsky.social So much change & reform is badly needed, as article stresses. We also cant fix NHS without fixing care www.heraldscotland.com/news/2506728...
heraldscotland.com
'No scare-mongering' Entire Scots elderly care system faces collapse in three months
Dr Donald Macaskill runs Scottish Care. It represents the care industry in Scotland and today he tells our Writer at Large that the system is broken…
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
New blog from Johann Lamont who responds to Russell Findlay's 'attention-seeking' education policy, calling for more thoughtful, long-term solutions for Scotland’s education system and young people. Read now: www.reformscotland.com/hard-to-get-...
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
If the dreadful news from Dundee University isn’t a wake-up call on the unsustainability of Scotland’s higher education funding system, then we need to ask ourselves what will be? Tuition 'free at the point of use' can be maintained, but only if we act now www.reformscotland.com/publication/...
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
If we are to maintain university tuition free at the point of use, we need to change the funding system. Read about our proposals for a graduate payment here: www.reformscotland.com/publication/...
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
The substantial job losses at Dundee are the latest reminder that the university funding system is unsustainable. Tuition can still be free at the point of use if we consider a graduate payment. Read our chapter in @hepi-news.bsky.social report on HE funding: www.reformscotland.com/publication/...
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
With substantial job losses announced at Dundee University, it is clear that our tuition funding system is unfair & unsustainable, as research director @alipayne.bsky.social set out in a recent speech for @hepi-news.bsky.social www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/01/18/w...
hepi.ac.uk
WEEKEND READING: Why Scotland's student funding system is "unfair, unsustainable, unaffordable" and needs to be replaced with a graduate contribution model - HEPI
Thanks to the CDBU and to HEPI for the invitation to attend and take part in today’s discussion.  My speech today has been titled ‘A graduate contribution model’. Of course, for UK graduates not from ...
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Ali Payne @alipayne.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
“Yet the false notion that men are getting a raw deal as a direct consequence of women being treated more equally has a worrying degree of traction” Really important & powerful article from @becmcq.bsky.social in today’s @heraldscotland.bsky.social ⬇️
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Neil Mackay @neilmackay.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
‘My heart broke, she was just six’: Inside Scotland’s safe house for child sex crime victims I was given the privilege of talking to the bravest young people I’ve ever met and the staff helping them recover I tell their stories in @heraldscotland.bsky.social www.heraldscotland.com/news/2497435...
heraldscotland.com
‘My heart broke, she was 6’ Inside the secret safe house for child sex crime victims
Our Writer at Large gains unprecedented access to the hidden facility where the lives of broken children are put back together again
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Ali Payne @alipayne.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Today’s lesson…always make sure your multi-formulae multi-sheet spreadsheet is in fact saved as an excel doc and not inexplicably as a csv one 🤯😭
media.tenor.com
a man in a suit is standing in front of an untitled spreadsheet page
ALT: a man in a suit is standing in front of an untitled spreadsheet page
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Ali Payne @alipayne.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Was on @bbcradio4.bsky.social on the wonderful #BridgetJonesMadAboutTheBoy Every1 grieves differently & has their own experiences but for me so much of the film resonated. It’s also prompting discussion about young widowhood & children’s grief which is good www.widowedandyoung.org.uk/news/bridget...
widowedandyoung.org.uk
Bridget Jones as a young widow: A WAY member’s review of Mad About the Boy
To mark the launch of the new Bridget Jones movie that shows Bridget as a young widow, we asked Scottish WAY member Alison to preview it for us…
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Ali Payne @alipayne.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Finding myself in Bridget’s shoes once again, I wrote a review of the utterly brilliant #BridgetJonesMadAboutTheBoy for @widowedandyoung.org.uk. The film is an uplifting mix of raw grief & sadness as well as joy and hope, and how these can coexist www.widowedandyoung.org.uk/news/bridget...
widowedandyoung.org.uk
Bridget Jones as a young widow: A WAY member’s review of Mad About the Boy
To mark the launch of the new Bridget Jones movie that shows Bridget as a young widow, we asked Scottish WAY member Alison to preview it for us…
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Ali Payne @alipayne.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
Scottish Labour wants to maintain our broke HE tuition funding system- it’s unfair, unaffordable & unsustainable, as I said this recent speech for @hepi-news.bsky.social. It also leaves our colleges underfunded. www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/01/18/w...
hepi.ac.uk
WEEKEND READING: Why Scotland's student funding system is "unfair, unsustainable, unaffordable" and needs to be replaced with a graduate contribution model - HEPI
Thanks to the CDBU and to HEPI for the invitation to attend and take part in today’s discussion.  My speech today has been titled ‘A graduate contribution model’. Of course, for UK graduates not from ...
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
As the ONS publishes data showing alcohol-related deaths in Scotland are at their highest for 15 years, @alastairmacg.bsky.social from @shaapalcohol.bsky.social writes for #NHS2048 on the pressing need for progressive alcohol policy to reduce levels of harm www.reformscotland.com/nhs2048/alco...
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Hepatologist & chair of @shaapalcohol.bsky.social , @alastairmacg.bsky.social, has written an important contribution to our #NHS2048 discussion. Read his full article here: www.reformscotland.com/nhs2048/alco...
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
Catch up on our fascinating discussion about knowledge based curriculum. In this clip Professor Paterson explains to @chrisdeerin.bsky.social how we learn ⬇️ The full event can be watched back on our website youtu.be/vtM8SUTYJaU
youtu.be
The Psychology Behind a Knowledge-Based Curriculum
YouTube video by ReformScotland
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Neil Mackay @neilmackay.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
‘My relative was executed for a crime they didn’t commit. We can never bring back the death penalty’ This was a difficult - painful and intimate - column to write. But I felt I had to speak as calls grow for the reintroduction of capital punishment in Britain www.heraldscotland.com/politics/vie...
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Dan Neidle @danneidle.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
This is the HQ of Avis Capital. It claims to be one of the largest companies in the UK, with £58bn in assets and 31% returns promised to investors. Except it's all a lie. Here's how regulatory failures are letting international fraudsters create massive fake UK companies.
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Read the latest contribution to our #NHS2048 discussion forum www.reformscotland.com/nhs2048/a-pa...
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
"Knowledge and skills are complementary. Skills are knowledge in action" Read our new report from Prof Paterson and Bruce Robertson on how a knowledge based curriculum could transform Scottish education www.reformscotland.com/publication/...
reformscotland.com
How a Knowledge-Based Curriculum Could Transform Scottish Education - Reform Scotland
Reform Scotland, the independent, non-partisan think tank, has today published a new paper written by Professor Lindsay Paterson, professor emeritus of
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Helen McArdle @hmcardleht.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
That's all folks! My last Saturday analysis column looks back on 16 years at @heraldscotland - what's changed, and the stories that stand out❤️ ANALYSIS What have I learned from 16 years in journalism? www.heraldscotland.com/news/2485404...
heraldscotland.com
Helen McArdle: What have I learned from 16 years in journalism?
After 16 years as a journalist at The Herald, including eight covering health, Helen McArdle reflects on that stories that stood out and what she's…
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Ali Payne @alipayne.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
Was delighted to be able to talk about HE funding in Scotland as part of @hepi-news.bsky.social / CDBU event this week. www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/01/18/w...
hepi.ac.uk
WEEKEND READING: Why Scotland's student funding system is "unfair, unsustainable, unaffordable" and needs to be replaced with a graduate contribution model - HEPI
Thanks to the CDBU and to HEPI for the invitation to attend and take part in today’s discussion.  My speech today has been titled ‘A graduate contribution model’. Of course, for UK graduates not from ...
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Dani Garavelli @danigaravelli.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Thread. I’m not going to post in depth about the excoriating determination of the FAI into the suicides of Katie Allan & William Lindsay. I’ll be writing about it anon & at length. BUT what runs through it is a sense of the perceived disposability of young people the state is supposed to care for
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Marina @marstrina.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
Stephen correctly identifies the root cause of the failure to protect girls from sexual exploitation in "a cocktail of misogyny and classism." Tragically for current & future victims¹, that cocktail is a 2-for-1 mainstay of populist Happy Hour, & Badenoch is properly tipsy on it.
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Dr. Jeevun Sandher MP @jeevunsandher.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
In the UK, a third of us can’t earn enough to afford the basics. People simply *can’t* afford a decent life. Find out why on my new Substack Winning Formulas: jeevunsandher.substack.com/p/why-cant-e...
jeevunsandher.substack.com
Why Can’t Everyone Earn Enough To Live?
And why is there so much anger around
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Neil Mackay @neilmackay.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
‘Deplorable’: Scotland’s school curriculum accused of being so woefully inadequate that it has ‘permanently harmed’ the education and prospects of children - particularly working-class children My long read in today’s @heraldscotland.bsky.social www.heraldscotland.com/news/2485038...
heraldscotland.com
Scotland’s schools are accused of ‘harming pupils permanently’ with curriculum
Professor Lindsay Paterson talks to our Writer at Large about the decline and fall of the once great Scottish school
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Every brilliant, quietly angry word of this by @roberthutton.co.uk:
thecritic.co.uk
The sketchwriter’s gift | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine
Kemi Badenoch rose in the House of Commons to challenge the prime minister with a vast range of possible targets. The cost of government borrowing had risen to the highest level since the financial…
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Geoff Barton @realgeoffbarton.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
"The 20th century was the greatest age of reading the world has ever known: newspapers, magazines, self-help books, popular classics, airport bestsellers. Literacy is now declining for the first time on record": @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social on a disappearing world www.thetimes.com/article/0f9f... [£]
thetimes.com
We’re seeing the end of the long 20th century
From the crumbling of liberal democracy to epochal shifts in culture, tech and relationships, a page in history has turned
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
"If we are serious about reducing health inequalities and adversity experienced in childhood I believe we must look to provide proportionate pastoral support to parents throughout childhood not just the early years" Rhona McLeman writes for #NHS2048 www.reformscotland.com/nhs2048/earl...
reformscotland.com
Early Intervention & Pastoral Care Key to Addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences - Rhona McLeman - Reform Scotland
From the moment of birth a million connections are made within a baby’s brain every second; beginning to hard wire everything from how that wee person
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 07/01/2025
How low will British politics go? Ask Elon, master of the Muskoverse – he’ll decide | Marina Hyde
theguardian.com
How low will British politics go? Ask Elon, master of the Muskoverse – he’ll decide | Marina Hyde
The unedifying spectacle of would-be strongmen bickering over how to protect women and girls is just the beginning Can it really be three weeks ago that Nigel Farage and Elon Musk were posing adoringly at Mar-a-Lago, in front of that hilariously naff…
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Ali Payne @alipayne.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
Annual Christmas Eve stories. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night (or the John McLane version!)
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Ali Payne @alipayne.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
I have now been widowed longer than married.Another reminder of the life he’s missing & how I miss sharing it with him.I wish he could know this version of me.But his influence stays with me & when in doubt I ask what would Jude do-though just as in life I don’t always listen💚
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Ali Payne @alipayne.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
The BBC referenced a report today that @reformscotland.bsky.social published in 23. It used FOI data showing a worrying trend of growing school absence levels & covered 28/32 councils. Because it is in the news an academic has decided to question my background, re-sharing old online rubbish.1/6
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Audit Scotland @auditscotland.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
The Scottish Government continues to take short-term spending decisions. This has been effective in balancing the budget. But it risks disrupting services and restricting progress towards better long-term outcomes. Auditor General's report: bit.ly/Fiscal_Sustainability_and_Reform_in_Scotland_2024
Text says: Fiscal sustainability and reform in Scotland.

Image: Close-up view of a set of wooden blocks arranged in a 3x3 grid. Each block has a small, stylized person icon in a different colour printed on its surface and each icon is surrounded by a black circle.

Black lines connect each icon to a central icon. The central icon is red and it is the largest icon.

The blocks are light brown and have a natural wood texture. 

The background is a clean, off-white surface. There's a subtle reflection visible beneath the blocks at the bottom of the image.
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Ali Payne @alipayne.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Nine years. I wish I could hold you. I wish you could see the kids. I wish I could talk to you for hours. I wish I could hear you pestering me for a cup of tea and see that twinkle in your eye. You left a huge hole in our lives, but we carry you with us always 💚
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Ali Payne @alipayne.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Important report from @auditscotland.bsky.social published today which needs to be widely read. All politicians & parties have a responsibility to be honest with the public about the scale of reform needed & the difficult choices ahead. These issues cannot be fixed in one electoral cycle
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Rosie Lockwood @rosielockwood.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Would you like to follow the voices of brilliant women working in policy, politics, research, media and more across Scotland? If so, I have a starter pack for you 🌟⤵️ go.bsky.app/TyaxnV5
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 19/11/2024
Gisèle Pelicot says ‘macho’ society must change attitude on rape
dlvr.it
Gisèle Pelicot says ‘macho’ society must change attitude on rape
French woman repeatedly drugged and allegedly raped by dozens of men makes final statement to court in Avignon Gisèle Pelicot, who was drugged by her husband and allegedly raped by dozens of men he invited into her bedroom for more than a decade, has…
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Ali Payne @alipayne.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
Our NHS is badly in need of reform if we are to preserve a service free at the point of use. I’m quoted in this article today on behalf of @reformscotland.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/article/bf2b...
thetimes.com
SNP’s failure to reform has left NHS in Scotland flatlining
In England Wes Streeting is demanding change in return for extra funding but north of the border the service continues to stagnate under Neil Gray
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enlighten @enlightenscot.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
There is at least recognition in England that the NHS is in critical condition & needs reform. We seem to have a health secretary refusing to admit a crisis despite warnings from Audit Scotland. Research director @alipayne.bsky.social quoted in today's @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/bf2b...
thetimes.com
SNP’s failure to reform has left NHS in Scotland flatlining
In England Wes Streeting is demanding change in return for extra funding but north of the border the service continues to stagnate under Neil Gray
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