Category Archives: Press Release

“TIME FOR LEADERSHIP, ACTION AND UNITY” – MACASKILL – 30 December 2021

  

ALBA Depute Leader Kenny MacAskill MP has called for an Independence Convention to break the logjam between the Westminster and Holyrood Governments over Scotland’s right to choose her constitutional future in an Independence Referendum.  In a statement Kenny MacAskill MP for East Lothian said: “The right of Scotland’s people to determine their constitutional future is theirs and theirs alone. 2022 must be the year when… Read more »

MACASKILL TO QUIZ UK GOVERNMENT OVER BBC SPENDING IN SCOTLAND AS HE CALLS ON THE BBC TO STOP “SHORT CHANGING” SCOTTISH LICENCE PAYERS – 23 December 2021

  

ALBA Depute Leader Kenny MacAskill is tabling written parliamentary questions to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the funding of BBC Scotland compared to other nations and regions in the UK.  Previous figures published by the BBC have shown a clear discrepancy between the amount which the BBC raises from TV licence payers in Scotland and… Read more »

East Lothian Courier – 23 December 2021

  

A damper has come down upon the Festive Season as another coronavirus variant strikes. Yet the Omicron variant has hardly come as a bolt from the blue. With so many billions in the undeveloped world unvaccinated and where the UK and US have been complicit in restricting the ability of poorer countries to acquire them, it was always a threat…. Read more »

Jury Less Trials – Scotsman Article – 23 December 2021

  

Should every criminal trial be held before a Jury of your peers? There’s certainly good arguments to be made for it. I’ve also been sympathetic to the concept of community justice where the decision on punishment for minor infractions should be localised. I’ve always found communities to be far less retributive than people think. It would also allow for far… Read more »

War in Ukraine – Scotsman Article – 26 December 2021

  

An old Tory buffer spoke in a question on the Ukraine in Westminster making it clear that for him Ukraine wasn’t worth the life of one British soldier. It went down like a lead balloon in a Chamber where many contributions not just from Tories but shamefully Labour and even SNP, were more akin to lines from the old hit… Read more »

A Century On – Scotsman Article – 16 December 2021

  

In December 1921 Irish elected representatives were in London negotiating the Irish Free State’s establishment. A century on SNP MPs still seek to administer the British State. Johnson should go because he’s a complete charlatan with no moral compass. His jaiket’s on a shoogly peg at Number 10 but then what? In the 2014 referendum I joked to audiences about… Read more »

East Lothian Courier – 9 December 2021

  

Last weeks winds were frightening. My stairs roof was damaged and driving south to Newcastle for a train, the carnage of trees was obvious. For long Scotland’s climate has been a nuisance, even dangerous. But there’s one aspect in which it’s now a boon. Scotland has 25% of Europe’s offshore wind capacity. All across the county there’s evidence of offshore… Read more »

The Age of Repression – Scotsman Article – 9 December 2021

  

A dark cloud hangs over our democracy and it’s not restricted to actions abroad and taken by totalitarian or authoritarian regimes. Internal repression, as well as brutality, has been a hallmark of China and Russia. It’s grim and worrying, we know all that. But western democracy was supposed to be not just an alternative but a beacon of hope for… Read more »

A Different Perspective – Scotsman Article – 9 December 2021

  

It’s fascinating to get a different perspective on historical events. Reading the biography of Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuanian President who led them out of the USSR, his take on Boris Yeltsin and Mikhail Gorbachev was significantly different from the orthodox take. That’s of the former being a drunken buffoon, the latter a great statement who sought to steer the Soviet Union… Read more »