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 →

On:
In: Margaret Hamilton

I tell the story often of the Scout trip to Norway for an international jamboree. The Group Scout leader was also the local school janitor. A lovely man but Labour was for the working class. No argument or example my father offered him that voting SNP for independence worked. The Scouts were to spend the first week in camp and then would be housed with families of the local Scout troop. The same for the leaders. During this week the Group Scout Leaders eyes were well and truly opened. This was the early 70s when things were quite different from now. The school janitor wasRead More →

On:
In: Jim Lynch

This week we will have the Annual Oliver Brown Award, going this year to Lesley Riddoch.  As I followed the cantrips at Westminster I was reminded of one of Oliver’s quotes regarding the Westminster Parliament  “The Lord Privy Seal is neither a Lord, a Privy, nor a Seal”. We still have Black Rod, whatever that is, and ‘Strangers in the Gallery’, all outmoded and belonging to another age.  I am particularly aghast at the voting system; when a vote is called the Division Bell rings and MPs have about 15 minutes to get to the voting lobby, where their names are marked off by aRead More →

On:
In: Stephen Bird

Two things have struck me quite forcibly in recent weeks. The outstanding attendances at the AUOB marches and the reactions to the Growth Commission report. Many years ago, the late Maggie Ewing would tell anyone who would listen that she knew when Scotland would win Independence. “When the people start marching for it”. The Glasgow rally I was prepared to be sceptical about, possible one off, big city attractions, novelty value etc. Plus the fact that we were moving house and that was taking all my attention. I readily admit to being stunned at the turn out and the enthusiasm evident in the numerous videosRead More →