On:
In: Stephen Bird

Because we are moving home and I’ve been making full use of the wonderful NHS, I’ve been a spectator rather than an activist but as we move into the final phase of this abnormal election campaign, 4 things stand out for me. Hypocrisy of media over breaches of Ministerial Codes I wrote in my last piece of my concerns about how this might have played out to the serious detriment of both the campaign generally and on Nicola in particular. But this has been a dog which did not bark in the night and perhaps the reason lies a few hundred miles to the south.Read More →

On:
In: Margaret Hamilton

We are 2 weeks from polling day. I have voted. It’s going to be a long wait now.  Somehow I have managed to hear most of the main parties election launches listening to the radio while I work. There seems to be a heavy emphasis on how to fill in your voting papers. This could be construed as thinking we are stupid but I’ll err on the side of caution and assume it’s because there has been a big increase of first time postal voters What about the council who sent out voting papers that did not include instructions as to what gets put inRead More →

On:
In: Stephen Bird, Uncategorized

This really is turning into the strangest election campaign I can recall in 55 years in the SNP. What was looking like a fairly routine campaign with the prospect of a possible SNP majority 12 months ago has developed more twists and turns than a Stephen King plot. First, we had the Alex Salmond trial, which so many of us feared would leave a major doubt in voters’ minds about the whole campaign for Independence. Then came the acquittal on all charges and we breathed huge sighs of relief and awaited the return of Alex to the fold and an eventual peace deal being brokered.Read More →

On:
In: Margaret Hamilton, Uncategorized

What a scunner the last week has been. I had been concerned about behaviour on mainstream media and social media for some time. Last week there was a surge in the use of bad language, aggressive posts and comments and a total lack of respect for other people’s point of view. I was amazed at how many people had suddenly become experts on our voting system. I am fairly sure that they cannot all be correct, but people have convinced themselves they are right. As we discovered in the council elections when we tried to ask the electorate to vote SNP 1 and 2 (ifRead More →

On:
In: Maureen MacGregor

There have been several dilapidated buildings in the centre of Wick for as long as I can remember; old buildings of importance that have been left empty for decades, falling into disrepair and becoming an eyesore on the most visited parts of the town.  Boarded up, deteriorating slowly, the once proud and beautiful buildings from the photographs did nothing to alleviate the reputation of Wick as being dark and unkempt.  Local feeling was strong; they were an eyesore and something had to be done but as they were privately owned and the buildings would periodically be made safe, there seemed nothing that anybody could do. When ourRead More →