Jim Lynch (Page 8)

On Sunday mornings I usually get up around 9 am and hesitantly approach my letterbox with a degree of trepidation. My normal Sunday papers were the Sunday Herald and the Sunday Post. A week or two back I was so incensed by the Sunday Post cartoon showing Alex Salmond in the dock being grilled by a scholarly legalistic Alastair Darling, that I cancelled that paper. It had been my parents’ choice in my younger days, and after I got married I just carried on; as my sons grew up they avidly scanned the football pages. So after probably over 60 years readership (these last 10Read More →

This is not a heart and flowers appeal from the Flag – this is about Tory Prime Minister David Cameron urging the peoples of England, Northern Ireland and Wales to get on the phone, or the Internet  or even Interflora to tell the Scots they are universally loved and cherished, at their own expense of course. Reminds me of the American millionaire who had a Chinese cook.  One night after a dinner with some friends he wished to impress, he summoned his cook and told him he would double his wages .  The cook was somewhat surprised so asked his employer why he was doingRead More →

Commemoration  Day This publication date is the first anniversary of the death of Jimmy Halliday.     Aspiration and Inspiration I am about one third of the way through reading the White Paper, and I am in no hurry to finish it, but finish reading it I will.  One friend who read the introduction commented “It says it all”, but I like the detail.  So far I find nothing to disagree with, and I do not anticipate any fault finding. To put this into context for readers; I joined the SNP in 1966, when I was living in Peterhead.  Up to then I had noRead More →

The other night I watched “A Christmas Carol”, the film of the novel by Charles Dickens.  While the poverty of the Londoners of that era tugged at the heartstrings, it is difficult to accept that the same situation is developing in the 21st century United Kingdom.    We are told by a beaming Scrooge, called George Osborne, that the bad times are past and happiness and prosperity are returning.  The finance bigwigs are licking their chops, positively drooling at the prospect of big fat bonuses;  on the other hand payday loan companies are thriving at a rate never before seen in this country, and we areRead More →

The ancient, and probably best known of Chinese curses is the wish “May you live in interesting times”, and this can be fairly applied to Scotland today.  The latest bombshell for Scotland is the loss of 835 jobs at Scottish shipyards. This has to do with Royal Navy orders, which may or may not come to Scotland.  The reason is that work on the two aircraft carriers will be completed in the next two years and there are no orders to employ all the workforce;  in fact the elusive orders for the Type 26 frigates are causing alarm and despondency in the ranks.   Firstly, theRead More →

This does not refer to the Common Weal issue being highlighted by the Jimmy Reid Foundation, but to the Royal and Ancient Commonwealth of the former nations usurped by the British Empire – well ancient in the sense that the United Kingdom lost an Empire, but translated it into a Commonwealth, since it consist of some 54 countries which have mainly become independent since the Second World War.  Please note that this group does not include the United States of America or the Republic of Ireland, both countries which gained their independence after taking up arms against the British state.   We have now beenRead More →

Durham When watching TV I saw the procession at the Durham Miners’ Gala – Len McLuskey was speaking at it, and I recalled a piece on this Gala some years back, in the Observer I think.  I paraphrase; One of the comments was  that this was the greatest democratic demonstration in the world, and the report went on: “ “If you vote Tory up our way, you get a brick through your window” quoth one democratic miner.”   A9 tragedies I am never surprised by the hypocrisy of our Unionist MSPs;  whenever there is an accident on the A9 involving loss of life you canRead More →

A wee bit of confusion of compilers ( could be a collective expression!)  this week with many causes. Start with the stunning  achievement of Andy Murray in winning at the All England Tennis Club, attaining the highest rated award in tennis;  beats even an Olympic Gold – in English eyes certainly.  The Scottish Parliament is now in recess, and Scotland is basking in sunshine with soaring temperatures. So a bit of a hotch potch this week.    Some items from the Scots Independent newspaper Labour contradictory over Bedroom Tax Kevin Cordell   Policy pursued by a Westminster Government Scotland  rejected in 2010. The weapons ofRead More →

At the start of the Lunch, Denholm Christie, Acting Chairman of the Scots Independent newspaper, paid tribute to the late Jimmy Halliday, the former Chairman, who died on 3rd  January this year; a photo of Jimmy appeared on the screens as Denholm spoke. After introducing the top table, SNP President Ian Hudghton MEP and his wife Lily, Una Ozga, daughter of the late Oliver Brown, Finance Secretary John Swinney MSP and Jim Lynch Scots Independent Editor, Denholm admitted that he himself usually preferred to remain anonymous. SI Editor Jim Lynch presents the Oliver Brown Award to “Sean’s representative in Perth” – SNP President Ian HudghtonRead More →