On:
In: Jim Lynch

I watched the first  debate with the Scottish party leaders on Tuesday this week. It was in Edinburgh, giving Jim Murphy the chance to make a very sour comment  that Nicola was not talking to an English audience, last week’s debate in Manchester which Nicola won hands down.  Jim of course would like to have been at that event but he wisna asked.   Nicola had the edge and the audience was more enthusiastic about her, Ruth Davidson was the usual flag waving Tory – union flag, not the Saltire, and Willie Rennie just seemed to meander from one topic to another.  Ruth was notRead More →

On:
In: Jim Lynch

I am very pleased with the refreshed Flag in the Wind and even put a comment on it.  It was sair needing updated but was beyond my competence so my congratulations to Margaret Hamilton and her team for the efficient and effective way it has been done.  Read More →

On:
In: Jim Lynch

Well, not exactly for my vita sua, but there are no valid Latin words for failure to update my computer system, seeing as how the Romans never got around to inventing computers. In any event over the past couple of weeks any messages sent to me at scotsindependent.org have not transferred to scotsindependent.scot, so I have not been able to respond to what I haven’t seen! Things have now been fixed so send messages to jim@scotsindependent.scot What went missing in the last two weeks cannot be recovered and I’ll have to re-create my Address BookRead More →

On:
In: Guest Blogger

Saturday 28 March 2015, it’s an unremarkable date in many ways but a significant one for me. What happened, well I went to the rostrum and spoke at the SNP Conference. For those unfortunate to know me over the years that will seem completely normal, I’ve been speaking at Conference etc for many, many years. But six months earlier, on September 19 2014, I was ready and willing to up sticks, sell the house, stand down as a Councillor and move permanently to Tenerife. I had woken that morning to utter despair, we had lost, Scotland had bottled it once again, grasped defeat from theRead More →

On:
In: Clare Adamson

I recently attended the second Cunninghame Graham Society dinner celebrating one of the most remarkable figures in Scottish political history. Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham, along with Keir Hardie and others, founded the Scottish Labour Party, the Independent Labour Party in 1897 and later played an active part in the establishment of the National Party of Scotland in 1928  and was elected the first president of the Scottish National Party in 1934.  It was wonderful to hear Angus Robertson MP make reference to him in his opening remarks at Conference this year. How very different we are from the early days with a handful of foundingRead More →

On:
In: Political News

This week a new survey for NSPCC ChildLine has found that one in five of nearly 700 youngsters said they had seen pornographic images that had shocked or upset them.  The findings of this survey tie into the campaign by Scottish Women’s Aid against revenge porn. This issue was debated in the Scottish Parliament in September 2013.  In bringing the motion and leading the debate, Christina McKelvie MSP said; “Decades ago, domestic abuse was not talked about or recognised—women walked into doors or fell downstairs. Things have moved on, although sadly there are still people in abusive relationships who are too frightened to come forward.Read More →

On:
In: Political News

This week we have also seen an intervention from businessman Jim McColl, who has called for Holyrood to have full control over its finances by 2020. In an interview with the BBC, Mr McColl said; “If you have capacity to raise your own bonds – like a tartan bond or a Caledonian bond – that’s to smooth over the downturns, when you raise government finance. “And then when it’s running well that’s when you fix the roof and you tuck the money away – you don’t waste it”Read More →

On:
In: Political News

From today, 1st April, the Scottish Government new agency comes into effect.  For the first time in 300 year the Scottish parliament has the authority to set taxes which will be administered by Revenues Scotland. The two new taxes which will be collected are Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, which replaces Stamp Duty, and Scottish Landfill Tax which replaces the UK Landfill Tax.  The powers to set and collect these taxes follow the passing of the Scotland Act 2012 Deputy First Minister John Swinney MSP said of the launch of Revenues Scotland; “Today is historic.  For the first time in 300 years, with the launchRead More →