Who, I wonder, is the biggest liar? Is it the “Government spokesperson” who creates a fabrication to cover the humiliation of their boss? Or is it the media commentator who, knowing the truth, chooses to go along with, and repeat as “fact” the fabrication and in so doing deliberately deceives millions of viewers or listeners? I was watching the recent utter and total humiliation of the current occupant of the job of UK Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, at the hands of Russia’s Sergey Lavrov. Lavrov, in case you had forgotten, dismissed Truss as “like talking to a deaf person”. Given that he has been aRead More →

So there is a wee shuffle around in Downing Street. We really are being taken for fools. Same faces, different titles and the new leader of the Commons is under investigation for how he treated a female, Muslim MP. As I heard a comedian state on the radio ‘they are doing me out of a job’. The really scary thing though is how the ordinary working people are being treated. We already have the lowest paid having to choose between food and heat. Remember these are not skivers, they are very low paid and often juggling more than one job. People who pay up frontRead More →

2022 is here. Forty nine years ago we joined our European partners and began building relationships. How many remember what life was like prior to 1973? The vegetables and fruit you ate were seasonal and mums and grannies preserved some for when they were not in season. Family members going to work abroad often lost touch if they couldn’t find time to write. Macaroni cheese was exotic and people like my dad didn’t like it. Slowly over the years my age group expanded our horizons. It became easier to travel abroad, especially the European Union countries. As technology developed so did all sorts of agreementsRead More →

So Douglas Ross, once more, prefers petty political point scoring to actively co-operating in getting us through this turmoil. His, and Westminster’s attitude continue to strengthen the case to be running our own affairs, completely on our own. The levels of the new strain of the virus are galloping way ahead of it’s predecessors. The science is the only fact we have as the movement of the virus cannot be seen till people test positive. The UK government are ignoring the facts as best they can. The rebellion of the Tory MPs, refusing to bring in further restrictions, was despicable and showed what they reallyRead More →

It would be so easy to write about the Owen Paterson debacle, UK Government’s failures at COP26 or Boris Johnson’s irrelevance on the world stage, demonstrated by his address to a near empty hall.  However, I have attended several meetings in the last couple of weeks organised by various organisations putting together their submissions to the United Nation’s Periodic Review of the UK’s Human Rights Record.  This is the first review since 2017 when the UN Special Rapporteur Mr Stig Langvad, wrote his scathing report which said that he had found evidence that the UK Government had committed “grave and systematic violation of the rights of personsRead More →

I’m not long back from a week in London with my daughters that has been postponed several times in the last 18 months and spent the prior week panicking in case any of us were infected with Covid as once again rates in Wick were proportionately the highest in Highland. An abundance of masks, hand sanitiser and lateral flow tests packed to save time hunting for them when down there, we took the train to Inverness before flying south. I don’t think I’ve ever been on the train since masks were made mandatory without the majority complying and on the plane, it appeared to beRead More →

Just as many of us are mulling over the new SNP Green alliance, I’m thinking dung.  This has no reflection on my support for green issues or any relationship which means a move to total Independence from all quarters.  But my daily existence as a farmer is looking at what is expected of the industry by the decision makers.  As agriculture, horticulture and all areas of the food and drink industry are the most regulated industries on the planet, we are not free to do as we like right now. Quite rightly so, as when we become an Independent nation food security should be given top ten billing,Read More →

Making news, telling stories and getting a message across is the daily workhorse of the public relations profession and something that I have been practising for over 20 years.  A headline today on Facebook News caught my attention: “Protestors claim to ‘seize’ Edinburgh Castle citing Magna Carta”. My first thought was some English nationalist group is making a bizarre claim for publicity purposes. However, delving into the article reveals that this was a group of independence supporters suggesting they were making a dramatic attempt to re-claim the iconic bastion of military dominance in the historic capital city. Well for a publicity stunt it certainly grabbedRead More →

As from the 9th of August most restrictions are to be lifted. We are being asked to continue with masks indoors and crowded places, as well as distancing when appropriate and good hygiene practices. It would seem that Douglas Ross, Conservative leader, cannot understand why we can’t just dismiss all precautions. He wants to Follow Mr Johnson’s lead. Well Douglas, I will tell you precisely why. Last week an online friend in Wales had to go into the office in an English city. She had been working from home for more than 18 months. She survived the office and a meal out with her colleagues. TheRead More →