There have been numerous theories advanced in the month since December’s general election to explain why Labour did quite so badly. Mostly they revolve around the idea that Jeremy Corbyn was unelectable as an individual, that he was viewed as sympathetic to terrorists, unpatriotic or that Labour’s manifesto was simplyunbelievable. There is however a far simpler explanation and I tend to the general principle that the simplest explanations are often closest to the truth.It has little to do with Corbyn, good or bad. It has little to do with Labour’s manifesto. It is simply this; England is simply becoming a more right-wing country! As theRead More →

Pretty much all General Elections are described as “historic” and “the most important of our lives” etc at various points in their individual campaigns. Every once in a while, it’s actually true! December 12 2019 will undoubtedly be one of them for a number of reasons. Firstly, it will undoubtedly lead to the UK leaving the European Union for a number of years. There is no doubt in my mind that Johnson and his tories will pass the Withdrawal Act within weeks and we will “get Brexit done” by January 31. Whatever that most vacuous of phrases actually means. The hard work of trade dealsRead More →

One of the side effects of the lunacy which is Brexit, is that it has highlighted just how differently Scotland and England view Europe and everything about it. We’ve always had the idea, perhaps because of the Auld Alliance etc, that we take a much more positive approach and are more amenable to Europe and Europeans than our Southern cousins. Perhaps because England has tended to view Europe as a source of threat rather than support. Allied to the fact that, especially after the last war, England tended to think that it had no need of foreigners far less to accommodate their needs and developRead More →

There is a re-colonization of UK politics taking place before our eyes. As the more “one-nation” Tories leave the zealots behind and, like an alien life force, take over the Lib Dems. Think Heidi Allen, Sam Gyimah or Philip Lee. What they all have in common is a policy agenda and approach to politics which is shared by the new LibDem ”leader” Jo Swinson. They are all supporters of the broad thrust of anti-social policies so enthusiastically pursued by not only David Cameron’s Tories but by Nick Clegg’s LibDems through the five horrendous years of the coalition. Little wonder that people who still think ofRead More →

Brexit n The undefined being negotiated by the unprepared in order to get the unspecified. When I first started to print this on shirts, mugs etc way back in 2017 little did I realise just how apt the words were. Sure, we knew that the Government had no strategy, vision, plan or destination in mind but most of us assumed that there were enough adults in the Civil Service to ensure that something semi sensible would emerge and be accepted by the Government. Oh how wrong we were! It’s perhaps worth recalling that in 2016 one of the aims of the Leave campaign was toRead More →

Over recent years more and more questions have been raised about whether or not there is a future for the UK. Never mind questions about quality of life, earnings, employment prospects housing, or education etc. The simple question has been can the UK survive? For most, that question has been centred around politics here in Scotland and especially with the success of the SNP in Government. Our party has undoubtedly gone from being a “movement” to the natural party of Government. However, I suspect that there may well be major changes afoot in some of the narrative. It’s not widely appreciated that the “Unionist” bitRead More →

A little while ago in a post on this blog, I recalled the words of the late, great Margaret Ewing that she knew when “Scotland would win Independence when the people started to march for it”. The recent march in Galashiels however suggests to me that we may well now know when the forces of Unionism also know when Scotland will win Independence; when they resort to unthinking violence. Whoever the numpty or numpties were who decided that spreading screws and nails across the road on the route of the YES bikers has demonstrated that they are rapidly running out of arguments and we areRead More →

And so it begins again! That mad dance of mutual destruction which lies deep in the festering heart of the Conservative body politic. For all of my adult life the tories have been tearing each other apart over the issue of Europe. From MacMillan, through Heath, Thatcher, Major, Cameron and now May. Each has faced the dilemma of knowing that Britain has lost its empire but not the allusion to still “rule the waves”. The latest episode of this seemingly never ending saga is about to begin with the civil war which to elect of Theresa May’s successor. Over the decades the right of BritishRead More →

Last Saturday we had the great pleasure of welcoming the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Derek McKay to Donoch to speak to the local Branches. Derek, as usual was an articulate, informed  and passionate speaker but also has the gravitas which comes with having to make some hard decisions in power. As is normal, questions were concentrated on how we win Indyref2 and especially when it would happen. However for me, one of the key moments came when he referenced the lessons learned about the pensions debate in 2014 and that the Treasury admission that pensions were guaranteed had come too late in the debate. WeRead More →

In recent months we have seen the scourge of football hooliganism rearing its particularly ugly face again. With a bottle and coins being thrown at players and most recently “fans” invading the playing area in both Scotland and England. This fall in behaviour comes on the back of the decision to repeal the Offensive Behaviour at Football Grounds Act. I was not a big fan of this law but I would not have called it “mince” or a “stain”. One thing it did highlight though is that we should not create new legislation just because the Police say we should, a rather more serious basisRead More →