Aileen Orr

Nothing like a dark Scottish wet day to focus the mind on hiding under the duvet. Makes you wonder how big the Starmer bedcover is. With his popularity ratings falling, the mask has slipped and I’m reminded of the Thatcher rhetoric about how good England is to Scotland. Aye right. Here is a greyness over the UK just now, it hung over us all from the 1970s, but this feels different. The gloom is on us and the nights are drawing in but it all seems familiar, or are we moving into a transition stage where we take control and move onto our own path?Read More →

In all honesty, the shooting of Donald Trump was no joke because to kill him would have martyred him and I suspect there would have been civil riots if the worst had happened.  Though not sure Trump as President is better than bumbling Biden.  But we have gone through our own problems with the Labour surge, with Westminster back in the hands of the Unionists.  Or course it is, it’s London!  The centre of the universe, ok it has twice the population of Scotland, but to be honest, and having lived there, it has its good points, but it is a cauldron which could bubble up at any time.Read More →

Yes, it’s that time again when we all join in the mayhem of a General Election.  Well, maybe not all of us.  There are those who choose not to vote, not to watch political programmes and who are as far away from the whole situation by just ignoring it all.  However, having spoken to a few of these non voters or NVs, on being pressed, they seem to have woken up to the fact, their views are not being considered because they cannot see anywhere on the TV or radio, these specific topics being discussed.  How, then you ask, do they know they are notRead More →

For those of us who marvelled at the Northern lights lately, it took us away from the dullness of the ongoing political and media agenda.  Plus the sheer terror of current economic failure. Colour it is said gives us hope, it takes us out of ourselves and lifts us.  I got that with watching the amazing light show which transcends understanding but fills the heart. What’s more we could all share our experiences on Social Media.  A kind of group therapy, and wonder, and it united people from all around the world just in the beauty and awesome overwhelming power of a living rainbow. Meanwhile, inRead More →

I know you’re thinking here we go, but actually I’m concerned about campaigning for the next election.  For those who brace the elements, gather intelligence, and attend branch and campaign meetings.  Then proudly put up on social media about where you’ve been and how much fun you had.  Only to be met with a barrage of Unionist hatred.  Well, that’s what we are fighting against, but it would be good not to join in. We are expected to act in a respectful and intelligent manner, however, there are times when the red mist descends and the normally calm and considerate amongst us just can’t takeRead More →

I can’t really say anything this week which would ignore George Galloway.  Dear old George, he’s made it to the benches far far away in the turrets of craziness.  He doesn’t want independence for Scotland but Independence for Gaza and just about everywhere else in the World.  So what do we do with these Scots who just can’t see the hypocrisy in all of these calls? With George it’s just politics.  He has hit on a hot topic and milking it.  He is not mad, he has just manipulated a situation ripe for a rebel, he just morphed into the void that needed filling, byRead More →

So when the newspapers cried from their front pages in England that “flagship blue counties” could go bankrupt, the view in Scotland was, so why do it?  When the Tories were lambasting Humza for freezing council tax, it was partly because so many councils were writing off so much council tax debt, it was hard to factor in the waste. The so called trigger in England of this fantastic budget was exactly as many stated, too little too late.  Also not understanding the problem that real people are experiencing, and the core problems being put on immigration.  The real world problems of day to day living doesn’t existRead More →

It’s tempting to navel gaze in the light of by election losses, but let’s not talk about the Tories.  The fact is we have wars erupting around the world, and we seem to be sleepwalking into the maelstrom’s tentacles in our own homes. With nightly updates, media led, we are fed exactly what they think we need to know.  What we often forget is the extensive history to these events.  Which includes the partitioning of places like India and Pakistan, Palestine and Israel and our own Ireland.  So many more to mention, but all resulting in harboured resentment for generations and horrific bloodshed.  We should be wary of accepting theRead More →

Well round one and the courts have ruled no Independence attempts at any cost, or similar!  But, as we all know, justice isn’t exactly what the scales portray.  The very heart of democracy lies in good governance.  Good governance relies on fair justice.  Unfortunately, we now have a system, throughout the UK, where only deep pockets buy equality of fairness. Courts supply a voicing of grievances, highlighting the process of legal speak which most find bewildering. More bewildering sometimes are those chosen by their peers to judge the courts, with their wigs and gowns, high office can open many doors.  While the rest of us sit outside looking in. TheRead More →

I joined the SNP in 1969, that would be five minutes after I was born!  Sadly no, but my teacher was John Gair and I had quite a few other close influencers who did inspire me to become an activist.  At an early age I absorbed anything I could about everything I couldn’t access in school books about Scotland.  My Grandfather and Father were members of the local Burns Club, and their enthusiasm was infectious.  I joined the local pipe band and learned to play the pipes.  I wrote poetry and became fascinated by my own history through local historians in the Borders through songRead More →