Scotland: Portal

Welcome to the Scotland Portal

Welcome to Scotland Portal on Powerbase - your guide to networks of power, lobbying and deceptive PR. Since devolution, corporations and business groups have been very active in Scottish politics. This helps explain the emergence of numerous pro-corporate think tanks, lobbyists and corporate/state partnerships across Scottish public life. The problem with a small country such as Scotland is that big companies can exert a disproportionate influence on the political system. They have colossal lobbying influence and produce information and advice that is used by the administration to frame and formulate its policies. However this is not impartial advice from disinterested observers of the political - economic scene. This is special pleading from very interested participants who have much to gain. Powerbase has a policy of strict referencing, and is overseen by an editor and several Associate Portal editors. Scotland’s top 20 Super-rich, 2006 Sir Tom Hunter Property and sports goods Lord Laidlaw Conferences and media The Grant and Gordon family Whisky Keith Miller Construction David Murray Property and football Sir Ian Wood Oil services and fishing Harry Dobson Mining and football Joanne Rowling Novels and films Brian Souter and Ann Gloag Transport Sir Arnold Clark Car sales Jim McColl Engineering The Thomson family Media Jim Morrison Mobile phones Freddie Johnston Newspapers Brian Kennedy Double glazing and property Stewart Milne Construction Robert Adair Property and oil The Duke of Sutherland Land and art Richard Emanuel Mobile phones and property Graham Wylie Software and racehorses

Elite Networks and Corporate Power Lobbying and PR Industry bodies Association of Scottish Public Affairs - ASPA Institute of Public Relations Scotland Professional and Scientific bodies Association for Science Education in Scotland [1]. Institute of Physics Royal Pharmaceutical Society (Scottish branch) [2]. Royal Society of Chemistry [3]. Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish Science Advisory Committee Chief Scientific Advisor to the Scottish Executive Elite Social and networking clubs Entrepreneurial Exchange New Club Insider Elite Awards 2008 Corporate Social Responsibility Agenda Scottish Business in the Community Enviros Corporations Halifax Bank of Scotland Royal Bank of Scotland Scottish American Investment Company Economic Consultants Frontier Economics Governing Scotland Corporate/Government partnerships Centre for Confidence and Well Being Financial Services Strategy Group Financial Services Advisory Board Futures Forum Forward Scotland Laidlaw Youth Project Scottish Leadership Foundation Scottish Parliament Business Exchange Governmental bodies Communities Scotland Scottish Development International Scottish Enterprise Scottish Executive Scottish Parliament Scottish Water Regulatory Bodies Water Industry Commission (WIC) Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) Waterwatch

Priority pages on Scotland Association for Science Education in Scotland Their website is: http://www.ase.org.uk - What are its lobbying connections? Royal Pharmaceutical Society (Scottish branch) Their website is http://www.rpsgb.org.uk - Does it engage in lobbying? Scottish CBI - What is its relationship with the Scottish Government? Communities Scotland Scottish and Southern Energy Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) - Is it protecting the environment or influenced by big business? Peter Clarke - the right wing former Scottish correspondent of the Economist: Where is he now? Entrepreneurial Exchange, the corporate networking club set up by Tom Farmer what does it do? (This is a list of pages that need work - See more...) Scottish Categories Scotland Scottish Government MSP Scottish PR firms Scottish lobbying firms Scottish lobbyists Water: Advocates for Privatisation of Scottish water Scottish Corporations Scottish Think Tanks Scottish Corporate Lobby Groups Scottish Corporate Elite Scottish_Elite_Networking_Groups Scottish_NGOs Scottish_Journalists Recent Changes to pages on Scotland Scotland Scottish Government MSP Scottish PR firms Scottish lobbying firms Scottish lobbyists Water: Advocates for Privatisation of Scottish water Scottish Corporations Scottish Think Tanks Scottish Corporate Lobby Groups Scottish Corporate Elite Scottish_Elite_Networking_Groups Scottish_NGOs Scottish_Journalists Resources Network diagram from The Real rulers of Scotland by Thomas Burns, published in Glasgow by the London Scots Self Government Committee, 1940

Getting Started Looking for somewhere to start? To learn how you can edit any article right now, visit Powerbase:About, Welcome, newcomers, our Help page, Frequently Asked Questions, A quick guide to editing or experiment in the sandbox. Or contribute a new article: go to Quick Guide to Getting Started. Research and Writing Tips How to research front groups | Resources for studying propaganda | Research using the web Can you help? Powerbase can be made more effective if more people join the project. If you have research or writing skills or just spare time, you can help. If you are unsure where to start, you could expand some of the recently created but currently very brief articles. (If you look at the recent changes page you will see some noted as being 'stubs' - articles that may just be a line or two and needing to be fleshed out). So if you would like to add to some of those you would be most welcome. There is an automatically updated page which includes the pages which have been signalled by Powerbase users as most wanted. In addition there is a page which includes a list of Things you can do to help. Or if you would like some other suggestions closer to your interests you could drop Powerbase editor, David Miller an email. His address is editor AT Powerbase.org Start Here View The Latest Articles View Articles By Category View The Most Popular Articles Create An Account Or Log In Change Your Preferences Write a new Article

Powerbase history Powerbase is a collaborative venture initiated by Spinwatch in collaboration with Lobbywatch, GM Watch Red Star Research and Corporate Watch, but put into effect by a wide variety of volunteers and independent researchers. Contributors are now working on 19,417 articles. Disclaimer: Powerbase is an encyclopedia of people, issues and groups shaping the public agenda. It is a project of the Spinwatch—email editor AT Powerbase.org. Antispam note: To avoid attracting spam email robots, email addresses on Powerbase are written with AT in place of the usual symbol, and we have removed "mail to" links. Replace AT with the correct symbol to get a valid address. We regret the inconvenience this entails. Campaign for more effective antispam regulations. Read the full disclaimer Notes