Celebrating the Queens platinum jubilee’s perfectly proper but some of the empire jingoism that accompanied it was frankly nauseating. It’s a remarkable length of reign but her 70 years have straddled the end of the colonies and seen a re-assessment of what it is to be British, with racism and even the union challenged. Yet the red, white and blue… Read more »
Born in Leith and with the river visible from my flat, the Firth of Forth matters. So does the Clyde, its beauty never failing to please and its history , whether told through the tears of emigrants or through shipbuilding, is burned in the soul. But the Tory privatisation of ports in the 1990’s threatens the well-being of what are Scotland’s two principal firths,… Read more »
Further scandals befell Westminster last week and its damaging to our democracy, not just the institution. One MP resigned due to watching pornography and another was charged with serious sexual crimes. But the rot sets in from the top. The cavalier attitude that the Prime Minister has for probity sets the tone. There’s a crisis in Northern Ireland brought about… Read more »
Talk of tunnels between Scottish islands by a UK Minister are to be welcomed. It’s neither fanciful to imagine nor impossible to deliver. Indeed, he’s not the first politician to be arguing that as Angus Brendan McNeill of SNP and himself a resident of Barra has been doing so for quite some time now. The Scottish Office Minister’s road to… Read more »
A healthy democracy should reflect a wide spectrum of political views. Scotland was unrepresentative in 1997 with the Tory wipe-out, ironically requiring the Scottish Parliament to restore them. But it was right, as they represent a significant strand of Scottish political opinion. Similarly, the election of both Greens and Scottish Socialist Party members added to the political debate. Since 2014, the main… Read more »
COP 26 now seems eons ago. It never produced much but what little it did seems to have long since dissipated. Instead, a cost of living crisis and war in Europe have overshadowed it. Yet, the issue hasn’t gone away, instead it’s worsening and our societies aren’t ready to deal with what’s coming down the road. Just a few weeks… Read more »
Simply announcing that you intend to hold a referendum’s not a strategy for independence, especially when neither a date’s specified, nor any other plans detailed necessary for it to progress, let alone succeed. Instead, the latest clarion call from the First Minister echoes the trumpeting that “Scotland won’t stand for Brexit” made by her Westminster colleague Ian Blackford, yet Scots… Read more »
“It’s not the crime it’s the cover up that gets you” and that applies as much to the Scottish ferry fiasco as in other scandals. The illegality here, or rather threat of legal challenge, is largely a red herring but it’s what it led to that matters. For there was nothing really new in the supposed lost document produced in… Read more »
The civil service isn’t just absurd in its timing but a denigration of hard-working staff. My office, like every other MPs office, has been inundated over recent years, not just months with requests for assistance from constituents. From the Foreign Office when covid first afflicted through DVLA and now to Passport Office there’s been real worry and concern. It’s not… Read more »
Scotland’s seen its oil and gas revenues go south and its maritime boundaries changed in England’s favour. Now as the renewable revolution kicks in she’s being ripped off yet again and this time cabled up. For cables are being laid that will take the newfound bounty south and with neither revenue nor work benefitting either the country or communities. Anyone… Read more »