On:
In: Margaret Hamilton

So that was another embarrassing week by our Prime Minister. Goes to Brussels for a meal and a chat. He had tried to have separate talks with the individual leaders of EU countries. They didn’t play his game and remained a unified unit. Split and divide is what the tories do best. Some Yes campaigners need to waken up to this. Rather than behave in a statesmanlike manner at the dinner he decides to play the bullish clown and make some crude and tasteless jokes about some of the EU countries. Then the following day, at a press conference with Ursula von der Leyen, heRead More →

On:
In: Stephen Bird

We’re now a full month past polling day in the US and still we await the final results, just how is it that they cannot organise a simple straight forward count of votes yet can put people in space and bring them back? Seems simple that if you want to vote then that vote must be in by close of polls and then all votes are counted. One thing the current US situation does highlight however is the need for a written constitution and one which is capable of adapting to changing circumstances which the US model is not. However long it takes the trumpetRead More →

On:
In: Jim Lynch

As I am starting to write this on Monday 30th November I take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy St Andrew’s Day – I am a slow writer at the best of times. SNP Conference The SNP Conference is on at present, and I have it on Zoom, but I am not able to watch and write The Flag at the same time. However I did go through to the next room to watch Nicola’s Speech, which I followed avidly, and one part jumped out – £500 for every member of the NHS payable in this financial year. The master stroke is that sheRead More →

On:
In: Maureen MacGregor

With National Conference taking place this weekend on a virtual platform for the first time, I am eager to see how it works as I cannot envisage how it will all come together and am sure that there will be many nervous moments in the run up to it. For me, conference was always a wee holiday, a break away from the kids and a chance for me not just to be someone’s mam but someone in my own right however a new job put paid to that and I have been unable to attend for the last few years, missing it greatly.  The coupleRead More →

On:
In: Grant Thoms

As we approach the festive season, we are often told it’s more important to give than to receive. As far as the Prime Minister is concerned, he is the gift to Scottish independence that keeps on giving. In a private Zoom call to Northern English Tories, he pronounced that “devolution has been a disaster” and poor we Dougie Ross is left apoplectic. However, to the diehard Unionist cause, it is manna from heaven. They hate devolution and believe now that abolishing the Scottish Parliament is the answer. Meanwhile, the rumour mill over the past week has been strong on suggestions the Scottish Tories are re-shapingRead More →

On:
In: Margaret Hamilton

We had been feeling the pressure for a while. The daily briefing from the First Minister. The lack of briefing from the Prime Minister. The weird numbers being thrown around by the Westminster cabinet and their advisors. The negators on social media and given space on mainstream media. The Council leaders, business owners, union leaders constantly shouting the negatives and ‘we need help’. We all need help. The people making the best of the situation, changing operations to keep going, helping others out were not being noticed or heard. Then the US presidential elections. The lying, the bullying, the threats. The inciting of hatred andRead More →

On:
In: Stephen Bird

Four years ago, millions of Americans decided to stay at home on polling day because they didn’t like Hilary Clinton, as a result we have seen the worst President I have ever known. Inactions have consequences. Like millions of others across the globe, I am hoping and praying that by the time you read this, Joe Biden will be the 46th President-Elect. If not, I really do fear for the world we know and for the people of America who will have shown a level of stupidity which has stripped them of all credibility and respect. There will be no free world left for theirRead More →

On:
In: Jim Lynch

I just had my 86th Birthday, Fri 23 Oct, so I am waxing philosophical: “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,Creeps in this petty pace from day to day until the last syllable of  recorded time.And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death.Out out brief candle, life is but a poor player , who struts and frets his hour upon the stage , and then is heard no more.It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” I used to think this was from Hamlet, who seems to soliloquise a lot, but it is from MacBeth;  IRead More →

On:
In: Maureen MacGregor

On 30 October, the final post office in Wick closes after a 6 month extension to the previous closing date in the hope that a solution would be found.  Over the last couple of years there have been many changes with both dedicated town offices, one serving each side of the river, closing.  A local shopkeeper initially opened a counter in two of his shops and a community premises established a third in their premises but it did not take long before two shut their doors both citing the fact that it was costing them more in running costs than they were receiving recompense for. Read More →

On:
In: Grant Thoms, Uncategorized

A new poll by Progress Scotland has created a stushie with a resounding message: the vast majority of Scots want decisions about Scotland to be made in Scotland. As SNP Depute Leader, Keith Brown says: “This poll confirms that we are winning the economic argument over Scotland’s future. More and more, people across Scotland believe that independence will not only give us a stronger voice in the world but will also benefit our economy. The threat to jobs and living standards posed by Brexit has eroded any remaining confidence voters had in Westminster having control over Scotland’s finances.” So with a stronger, more compelling caseRead More →