The big political issue at Westminster was the arrest of demonstrators at the Coronation Events in London. Now, I literally headed for the hills with my dog as whilst I respected the Queen the time has now come for a Republic. London resembled Ruritania with its flags and buntings. No expense seemed spared, but meanwhile hunger and homelessness increase. Stopping… Read more »
Former Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill MP has today (Tuesday) called for the Scottish Government to establish a judge led inquiry into the role of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) following revelations in the Scottish media that the COPFS may have delayed by up to two weeks the granting of a warrant to carry out a search into the home… Read more »
Scrolling through social media, I came across extraordinary statistics contained in short, even anodyne tweets. Even a momentary reflection on the posts by a journalist from the news outlet ProPublica showed the extent of the gun tragedy continuing to unfold in America. The first relayed that as of May 7 – 125 days into 2023 – 13,900 had been shot to… Read more »
Local election results were disastrous for the Tories and good, but not great, for Labour. It’s resulted in thoughts of taking power for the latter and among the SNP of being kingmakers. But it’s still wishful thinking as Labour look well short of an overall majority and the SNP in Westminster have shown little ability to negotiate their way out of… Read more »
I was sorry to miss the John P Mackintosh lecture, but commitments precluded it. Remembering a great man’s right and a lecture is a fitting tribute. In addition, Gavin Esler ‘s not only a very erudite journalist but a gifted writer and his thoughts I’m sure would have found favour with the late MP. Gavin Esler and I may not… Read more »
Joe Biden’s announcement that he’s running again for US president and the visit, if that’s what it can be called, of former President Trump prelude the start of the race for the White House. My old friend Harry Benson has the distinction of having photographed every president since Eisenhower and along the way he’s gathered some tales and insights. His favourite… Read more »
The latest iteration of the Scottish Government’s criminal justice legislation is a mixture of what should have been done a while back, what maybe doesn’t need done, and something that just shouldn’t be done at all. Scrapping the not proven verdict, I agree with. The debate has always been what should replace it and I prefer the question juries are asked: is… Read more »
There’s a cost of energy crisis that’s not gone away and that’s now compounded by a cost of food crisis. A Parliamentary debate on the cost-of-living crisis allowed me to detail the shocking extent of food poverty in East Lothian. The information provided by the stalwarts at the foodbank is both shocking and shameful. They’ve been experiencing their highest ever… Read more »
For many unionists, Scotland’s a political and economic basket case. Why then, they should ask themselves, does the British Establishment want to keep hold of Scotland? After all, many senior Tories eagerly await a border poll in Ireland, so they can get shot of the six counties. Of course, there’s the geopolitical implications with the threat to status, never mind… Read more »
“We didn’t know at all, We didn’t see a thing, You can’t hold us to blame, What could we do? It was a terrible shame, But we can’t share the blame, On no, not us, we didn’t know” The chorus of Tom Paxton’s wonderful song ”We Didn’t Know” that condemns silence in the face of wrong doing and injustice came… Read more »