The justification for calling a second referendum has been largely based on the SNP’s manifesto commitment in 2016 which stated “We believe that the Scottish Parliament should have the right to hold another referendum if there is clear and sustained evidence that independence has become the preferred option of a majority of the Scottish people – or if there is a significant and material change in the circumstances that prevailed in 2014, such as Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will.” It’s obvious to the most casual observer that the first condition has not yet been met. Sure, there are positive signsRead More →

Many of you will be aware that keeping a newspaper going is a challenge. There is not a newspaper in the land that has escaped, particularly the financial challenge. Even the online digital versions have to ask for donations to keep them going. The Scots Independent has been very fortunate over many years in the support it gets. Not only from the subscribers but from the volunteers who write for, produce and circulate it. To get the Scots Independent on the news shelves is really a no go area. Not only would we suffer the same fate in many shops as the National does (beingRead More →

It’s astonishing to watch as events continue to unfold in Catalonia. The news from there seems increasingly incredible. We are watching the Spanish state blow it’s international credibility to pieces in front of us, as they repeatedly and meticulously aim at their feet and pull the trigger. There are so many different things happening that almost defy belief. We have the peaceful leader of a civic nationalist movement being kept in prison without trial because he wont recant his pro-independence views. Amnesty International are now calling for the release of Jordi Sanchez, calling his continued imprisonment “excessive” and “disproportionate”. He is the leader of theRead More →

Looking back over my blogs of the last year, they have mainly featured Brexit, Trump and even Duterte in the Philippines. There is a common thread running in all of these – a new form of Politics which seems to be based on stirring up resentment –the politics of blame and resentment. A world wide wave of populist politics which have successfully gained traction by playing to the basest of instincts – Xenophobia, protectionism and authoritarianism. The “Blame Game” would be an accurate description of the new politics. In the case of Brexit and Trump, immigration is the main hate tool, in the case ofRead More →