tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79089956725794560512011-07-08T10:00:58.918-07:00life & law from a public interest perspectiveMike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.comBlogger181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-7451826845646151352009-08-28T21:49:00.000-07:002009-08-28T21:54:11.788-07:00

Scotland’s First Minister says Abdelbaset Ali Al-Megrahi’s release ‘was the right thing to do in terms of the Scottish justice system’. But Scotland’s justice system did not release Mr Al-Megrahi, nor did it send him back to Tripoli.While our law makes provision for the release of prisoners on compassionate grounds it’s a political decision whether to do so. Professor Alan Miller is right to call

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-41932965716030421212009-06-10T03:19:00.000-07:002009-06-10T03:28:13.636-07:00

‘You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning’. In 1980 Margaret Thatcher refused to change her economic policies which saw jobs and communites sacrificed for a free market mirage. The 1980 recession hurt a lot of families in Britain and many communities still bear the scars. Three decades on and we have another recession and another lady who was not for turning.Over the last year

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-44993285524320430232009-05-18T09:26:00.000-07:002009-05-18T09:32:56.007-07:00

When Scots receive legal aid to prevent the repossession of their homes, the legal aid board expect them to pay all of that money back if they have made a notional capital gain in saving their home.When I met Housing Minister Alex Neil recently, I argued that this was unfair as financially poor households were being told to pay back hundreds of pounds in legal aid when they were living on

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-47810811920632153702009-05-06T02:27:00.000-07:002009-05-06T02:35:58.013-07:00

From the descriptions given, none of the 16 people named, shamed and banned from the UK are folk you would want to meet. While denying someone entry to the UK on opinion alone would be manifestly unjust, the Home Secretary has relied on evidence from intelligence agencies. Assuming that evidence is robust, the UK public interest has been well served.But we need to exercise caution. We all

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-75748494107579962642009-04-29T06:31:00.000-07:002009-04-29T06:40:40.145-07:00

This afternoon, Glasgow MP Mohammad Sarwar will launch his Prevention of Excessive Charges Bill in the House of Commons. The Bill has full cross-party support. Govan Law Centre has been working closely with Mr Sarwar to campaign for stronger legal protection for UK citizens against unfair default charges. The culture of charging in consumer contracts has become an insidious and unethical

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-61980533845360578122009-04-22T14:52:00.000-07:002009-04-22T14:57:53.170-07:00

The announcement yesterday (21 April) that the UK Government's Mortgage Support Scheme is now in force with most lenders co-operating, and sub-primes coming on board, is the best news we've heard in a long time during this dark economic period.The ability to defer up to 70% of a mortgage for two years will provide a vital respite which could save thousands of Scottish homes from being repossessed

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-54153541657405798292009-04-14T06:09:00.000-07:002009-04-14T09:41:17.128-07:00

Science tells us that if you give a million chimpanzees a million typewriters they will eventually reproduce the entire works of William Shakespeare. Until they do so, they will definitely thrash out more workable housing policies than the Scottish Government. In one fell swoop the Scottish Government has closed off access to its Home Owners' Support Fund for homeowners facing repossession in

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-1985509224794228932009-04-07T11:16:00.000-07:002009-04-07T11:27:11.176-07:00

At the recent Law Awards in Edinburgh, Lord Paddy Ashdown made a telling observation that reckless bankers and Al-Qaeda have flourished because they operated at a global level which circumvents the nation state; a global environment where the rule of law is all too often absent. Protecting the financial security of Scottish citizens will require the type of new international legal solutions as

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-53622592978746814852009-04-01T01:45:00.000-07:002009-04-01T02:00:59.472-07:00

The wrangling over the GHA's repair contract is but another chapter in the life of the UK's most dysfunctional social landlord. I can give you another one. The Scottish Government has rightly put £35m into the Mortgage to Rent Scheme so that homeowners facing homelessness can become a secure tenant with a housing association. Yet the GHA won't participate in this scheme. It uses obfuscation

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-50130909686776113102009-03-31T10:46:00.000-07:002009-03-31T11:09:01.316-07:00

There is a worldwide phenomenon of ‘paper rights’. By that I mean people are given a right or entitlement as a matter of law but in practice those rights are ignored by public bodies or are rarely accessible in practice. To give a couple of examples.I’ve acted for vulnerable female refugees with young kids who were placed in grotty bed and breakfast accommodation populated by single, violent,

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-89583225870098622702009-03-25T07:56:00.000-07:002009-03-25T07:59:10.308-07:00

Although born and brought up in Dundee I’ve always felt at home in Glasgow. I’ve now spent more of my life – 21 years - in Glasgow than my home toon. The people, the spirit, the history.Glasgow’s a fantastic place to live, work and raise a family. Indeed my late Mother loved her trips to Glasgow so much so no further evidence is needed in my book.In many ways Dundee and Glasgow are very similar:

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-43292795285349472832009-03-18T10:12:00.001-07:002009-03-18T10:16:15.505-07:00

It’s time for UK lenders to keep their hand on their ha’penny and get their mitts off ours. Scots law gives lenders a blank cheque to hit customers with almost limitless fees, costs and legal expenses if they miss a payment.And I reckon this creates a perverse financial and strategic incentive on lenders and their advisors to take homeowners to court for repossession often unnecessarily. An

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-88072091764279731342009-03-12T08:57:00.000-07:002009-03-12T09:43:06.717-07:00

The work-life balance can be difficult at the best of times but the last few days have been tricky.Managing a full caseload and an organisation is always a challenge but try being the only bloke at ante-natal classes (I can now master the pelvic-floor exercise though). Then there’s a very long list of drafting projects and campaigns to deliver on time. So the blog has fallen behind and I might

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-24612083696017876262009-03-02T05:03:00.000-08:002009-03-03T00:49:24.047-08:00

It's difficult to take the SNP's new culture minister, Mike Russell, seriously. I'm told when he travels he has to book an extra seat for his pomposity. A few years ago he wrote a book on Scottish culture which trashed the residents of most of our towns and cities. Scotland’s former European City of Culture, Glasgow, was described by Mr. Russell as 'closes smelling of urine and rubbish,

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-38711636817403338782009-02-25T01:32:00.000-08:002009-02-25T11:40:22.021-08:00

Tough economic times presents a golden opportunity to build more houses for affordable rent in Scotland. While there may be political argument over where the money will come from, it strikes me there is an immediate source in Glasgow.The Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) made a profit of more than £50m last year and is still receiving Scottish Government grants of around £50m per annum. In these

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-12604176557873889582009-02-25T00:56:00.000-08:002009-02-25T01:31:22.382-08:00

Cheeky bankers at the Royal Bank of Scotland did a volte-face this week in plans to award themselves £1bn in bonuses. I say cheeky because senior executives would have largely been on the dole if the UK Government hadn’t taken a 70% stake in their company. A total of £175m will now be paid out in bonuses. Don’t get me wrong I’m sympathetic to the front-line workers who rely on these payments to

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-50792012934192646512009-02-24T13:14:00.000-08:002009-03-03T14:46:11.459-08:00

Ask anyone who has ever lived in a tenement about property factors and you'd better make sure you have a flask of tea and chocolate hobnobs at hand. You'll be in for a woeful story of poor service, dodgy repairs, and rip-off charges. Can anyone think of an industry that is as unregulated as Scotland's property factor market?An industry where the good, the bad, and ugly roam free on the prairie.

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908995672579456051.post-88690665549098586732009-02-24T10:16:00.000-08:002009-03-03T14:45:13.740-08:00

When a lacuna in the law obliges a public authority to do something unjust we can either watch all lemmingesque while citizens fall into that chasm or we can do something about it. Scotland’s legal aid system is failing vulnerable people facing repossession and homelessness. And this at a time when mortgage repossessions have soared by 92%. The diagnosis isn’t good.You’re a single person or

Mike Daillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921280401272719223noreply@blogger.com0