On:
In: Margaret Hamilton

The end of an era has arrived. I have never been a slavish fan of anyone or anything. I mix things up depending on my mood. But even I have to acknowledge that the band Runrig were one of a kind. At the Last Dance the story of the band was told in song and film that played on the screens. The young Macdonald brothers started in music, like so many, doing traditional dance nights in local halls. I remember there was a cringe factor to this type of event. Wasn’t helped by the BBC’s presenting of shows like the yearly Hogmanay event. I rememberRead More →

On:
In: Grant Thoms

REVIEW: First Snow / Première neige It takes a little while to figure out why this drama is so titled. But then the main character, Isabelle, explains that the day after Quebec’s second referendum, which Federalists narrowly won, the ‘first snow’ of Winter landed on the deserted streets of Montreal. Fallout from the nuclear shock of a second defeat in fifteen years? Or a telling aide-memoire that you only get two chances in life. Make a mistake once but make it again and you’re a goner. So this is a dramatic piece co-written by Davey Anderson (yes, of City Limits fame), Phillippe Ducros and LindaRead More →

On:
In: Jim Lynch

  Timing – no matter how up to date you attempt to be, news these days moves so fast it is out of date before you finish writing.   Halleluia – or the Scottish equivalent? SNP Councillor Chris McEleny was one of the candidates for Deputy Leader, and worked as an electrician at MoD munitions site in Beith.  In the course of his campaign, the MoD took away his security pass and suspended him. National Security officials interviewed him at his home and queried him about a speech he had given to the SNP Conference.  Chris took his case to an industrial tribunal. The Judge,Read More →

On:
In: Maureen Forbes

The day had started dark and wet. Heavy rain was showing no sign of easing and, for a split second, the thought of not going crossed my mind. The girls were grumping and a social gathering the night before had been a bit too enjoyable meaning we were running behind schedule but I then thought of the buses that I knew were coming up the A9 and decided that they had no choice about attending in the rain so why should I have it any easier. Thankfully by mid morning it had eased and Inverness was reporting brilliant sunshine once again. The bus was surprisinglyRead More →

On:
In: Stephen Bird

That old Chinese curse of “may you live in interesting times” has rarely seemed so apt as it is today. With both the US and UK facing major government crisis and even “Mutti” Merkel looking less than secure the Western world has more than enough going on to make things interesting. I was struck recently by just how much these crises have in common. The root cause seems to be the alienation being felt by huge sections of the population as Governments struggle to develop any kind of coherent response to the impacts of industrial change and what they mean for our social, economic andRead More →

On:
In: Kay Ullrich

I trust that you all have recovered from the disappointment that the World Cup is not, in fact coming “home.” Well done France, and commiserations to plucky, wee Croatia. So what’s been happening in the crazy world of UK politics? Well, to say that it has been an eventful couple of weeks, is putting it mildly. We had the Chequers Agreement – to use the word “agreement” has proved to be a contradiction in terms. Firstly David Davis jumped off the sinking ship, leaving Boris between the devil and the deep blue sea – he eventually swam for shore – leaving Captain May to go downRead More →

On:
In: Uncategorized

We’re looking for volunteers to help us hand out flyers about the paper at the forthcoming rally in Inverness on 28 July 2018. If you would like to help contact us either through the contact page, email ian@scotsindependent.scot or phone on 01542 840551 . The more people we have the less for each person to hand out and the job gets done quicker.Read More →

On:
In: Steven Marwick

I was tempted to write about the unfolding crisis engulfing Theresa May’s Government but the story is moving so fast that my article would almost certainly be swiftly overtaken by events. Instead I will focus on Catalonia. The tide of events is a little more sedate there at the moment than in London but there have been a great many waves recently. Quim Torra was inaugurated as the President of the Catalan Generalitat on 15 May after the Spanish State refused to allow Carles Puigdemont to take up the post, even though he had the backing of a majority of the elected representatives. Puigdemont is,Read More →

On:
In: Grant Thoms

It was intended to make Britain Great again but the Brexit victory for Davis, Fox and BoJo is increasingly looking like being on a Pyrrhic scale unseen in modern electoral politics. Firstly, according to the official Leave campaign’s former Chief Executive, they have been found guilty by the Electoral Commission on four counts: made an inaccurate return of campaign expenditure is missing invoices and receipts failed to comply with a statutory notice exceeded its spending limit In a rare move, the Vote Leave campaign has gone public based on receiving a draft report from the Electoral Commission. Quite why Vote Leave it felt it hadRead More →