Common Weal is a Scottish pro-independence think tank and advocacy group which campaigns for social and economic equality in Scotland. It launched in 2013 and regularly publishes papers and works exploring an alternate economic and social model for Scotland. The organisation is not affiliated to any political party and is funded by individual, small monthly donations.
Common Weal launched May 2013 as part of the Jimmy Reid Foundation. A group of academics and economists proposed a model based on co-operation and mutual benefit, attempting to avoid social exclusion.[1] The following month, further work from the project cautioned against proposals of monetary union between an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK.[2] In July 2013, founder Robin McAlpine was invited to present the project's economic concepts to the First Minister and the SNP's 65 MSPs.[3] A few months later a conference of SNP councillors showed some support for the ideas around fairness within society.[4] The concepts had also been scheduled for discussion at conferences organised by Radical Independence Campaign and the Scottish Green Party.[5] By the end of the year they had a new website and a distinctive look.[6]
On 1 June 2014, Common Weal launched a 180-page book that drew upon policies from Germany and Scandinavia.[7] This explored an economy with the features of highly skilled workforce receiving high wages within a 30-hour working week.[8]
Common Weal had developed its own identity[9] and in October 2014 it split from the Jimmy Reid Foundation and became an independent organisation under the leadership of Robin McAlpine.[10]
In October 2015 they published a book, 101 ideas to transform Scotland.[11]
In October 2016, they ran an event in Glasgow that coincided with the Scottish National Party conference.[12] This unofficial fringe event included around 40 organisations and was intended as a place for less mainstream ideas to be discussed.[13]
Between 2017 and 2020, Common Weal published more than 100 policy papers, all of which are available on the Common Weal website.
In January 2021, Robin McAlpine changed role to head up strategic development for the organisation and the board appointed Amanda Burgauer as Interim Director to lead a program of organisational change. Amanda was appointed as Executive Director in a permanent role in December 2021.
Common Weal has research in many sectors of policy, with a focus on how the state can put all of us first when developing social, economic and environmental policy:
Common Weal is funded through subscriptions, individual donations and through selling published works.
In November 2022, the funding transparency website Who Funds You? rated the "think and do tank" as A, the highest transparency rating (rating goes from A to E).[14]
