Month: November 2015
A tale of two situations
To mark the day that we both appeared in the Herald’s “Power 100″ list of “The leading Scots who shape our lives” – and she had another go at trolling us – we’d like to dedicate this wonderful tune sincerely to the popular children’s author JK Rowling: We’ll try to …read more
Labour still hasn’t found what it’s voting for


Wee Dougie Alexander, the political patron saint of holy wullies, has got himself a new job after being booted out by the voters of Paisley at the last election. The Guardian described Wee Dougie’s debacle as a shock defeat for the Labour party, but the only people shocked by it …read more
Interesting times
From tonight’s Evening Times: We’re not aware of a single elected Scottish Labour official previously expressing unequivocal public support for independence. Is this a small, self-interested one-off, or just the first cracking of the dam? We can only wait and see. …read more
Lhanbryde kids raise dog mess issue
CHILDREN at a Moray school are urging dog owners in their community to clean up after their pets. …read more
Cringe Of The St Andrew’s Day
Chris Deerin in this morning’s Daily Mail: That’s okay, Chris. We’re embarrassed that you’re Scottish too. …read more
How can YES win a 2020 independence referendum?
IT SEEMS to me the social and political situation is evolving to open the door to an early independence referendum, possibly as soon as September 2020. Firstly, the promise of more powers, so crucial to securing a No vote, is falling apart as the Scotland Bill’s lack of clarity on …read more
The Tories are shrinking the state while Labour go back to the 1980s
The Tories are shrinking the state while Labour go back to the 1980s
Gerry Hassan
Sunday Mail, November 29th 2011
These are tumultuous times.
Chaos in Syria. Complex and shifting alliances. The Turks shooting down a Russian plane. There is disarray in the Labour Party on Syria and Trident. And all in the week …read more
RISE Now


Ahead of the RISE conference, Jonathon Shafi welcomes the prospect of ‘a parliament shaped by the voices of the independence movement at its best’. The upcoming Holyrood election will be strikingly different from others before it. Why? Because it comes just twenty months after the biggest mass movement in Scottish …read more
The 70,000 moderate rebels are mostly cavalry. On unicorns.
Distillery kits out designated drivers
A DISTILLERY is offering visitors little samples of its unique malts to take away so that drivers don’t miss out. …read more
The monstrous detriment of women
We were considering having a day off today, readers. There’s absolutely nothing of note happening in Scottish politics news, and the Sunday papers have been reduced to scraping up all manner of barely-reheated leftover dregs to fill their pages. But then someone drew our attention to a story in Scotland …read more
Wow
I think you can measure the death of democracy by the sheer audacity of the propaganda that government can get away with. Michael Fallon today on the Marr programme churned out the “70,000 moderate rebels” lie with a smooth bland face, and mentioned only the Free Syrian Army when pressed …read more
Warm Moray welcome for refugees
REFUGEES arriving in Moray will each be given a handmade blanket as a lovingly-made symbol of welcome. …read more
I despair at Celtic’s antics over the living wage | Kevin McKenna


Celtic FC is wonderful, but the club needs to rethink its wage policy
The football column I turn to first on a Sunday morning resides in the Observer’s sports section, tucked away beneath the fold, often on a left-hand page and after the main business of reporting on the Saturday matches …read more
Great British double standards


There are two kinds of people in the United Kingdom. There are those who divide people into two kinds of people, and there are those who don’t. If you’re one of the former you can also divide people in the United Kingdom into two kinds, those who are …read more