I came across the above title when I was reading a piece by Francis McKee in this week’s Sunday Herald; he had read this on a placard in George Square Glasgow. I read it carefully as it was about the literature put out by the Yes Campaign and the No Campaign, and the No literature was duller but repetitive – and the word “Better” was suspect in my view, after all the whole No programme was “Better Together” but it was a Yes slogan.   The Anniversary of the Referendum has now passed and still the press is full of the plaintive message from theRead More →

I had the pleasure of hosting an event for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accident, RoSPA, on their “Scotland’s Big Book of Accident Prevention” and am even more delighted to have written the forward for the book. My own interest in Accident prevention was sparked, sadly, by the death of my 15 year old niece in a road traffic accident. It prompted me, a non- professional in the area, to ensure that as an elected member I would try to raise awareness and progress Accident Prevention. It was then that my education began, from Chair of the Scottish Accident Prevention Council Home SafetyRead More →

The Refugee Crisis – Scotland’s response attracts U.N. praise Scotland has led the way in highlighting the inadequacy of the UK Government’s response to the refugee crisis and has established a multi-agency Refugee Operation Task Force comprising local government and other stakeholders who are working to ensure services across Scotland are ready to welcome refugees into our communities. Scotland has shown that it stands ready to take its immediate fair share of refugees from the current crisis with the majority of Scotland’s councils, faith groups, community organisations, schools and ordinary citizens offering to help. Scotland’s Minister for Europe, Humza Yousaf MSP, has welcomed the hugeRead More →

Following reports that the UK has sold military equipment to countries that regularly use child soldiers or where children are targeted in warzones, the SNP’s Defence spokesperson Brendan O’Hara has called for immediate clarification on the breaches of UN protocol.As the Defence Security and Equipment International (DSEI), the world’s largest arms fair, begins tomorrow (Tuesday) in London, new figures have revealed that out of 23 countries listed by the UN for grave violations against children or where child soldiers are used the UK sold military hardware to 19.The UK has sold £2.4 million worth of military hardware to the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2010,Read More →

The SNP Constituency candidates have all now been chosen and the Regional List selection procedures are well underway throughout the country. Up here in the Highlands, Fergus Ewing was reselected to stand for Inverness & Nairn with Orkney’s Professor Donna Heddle from the UHI’s Centre of Nordic Studies standing against LibDem Liam McArthur for her home seat. We are sadly losing two well respected and experienced parliamentarians as they retire – Dave Thompson, the MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch and Rob Gibson, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland & Ross although their successors look likely to be a popular choice for the electorate. Replacing Dave isRead More →

I was taught by a former Sales Manager that God gave us two eyes, two ears and only one mouth. And that we should learn to use them in proportion. “When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know; but when you listen, you may learn something new.” She was talking about learning what our customers really wanted but I was reminded of these wise words often as I watched the comedy which is the Labour Leadership elections play out. Strangely enough, it was thinking about the referendum campaign which first formed the link. There is ample evidence that the Unionist forces hadRead More →

What is the hostility to taking refugees into the UK? Today I have heard all sorts of excuses, some of the most pathetic were “well we know some of them are criminal gangs, we don’t want them” and “we can’t afford to keep our own people so why should we keep them?”. Basically we are far too well off and far too comfortable on this European Island. We simply cannot connect to these people who are having to flea their own countries to survive. Why else would you risk taking babies and toddlers on such dangerous journeys unless you really had no hope in yourRead More →