On:
In: Margaret Hamilton

The United Kingdoms of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had an advisory referendum in June on whether to leave the European Union. 51.89% of the public who bothered to vote, did so to leave. 48.11% of these voters wanted to remain. This meant that the government were going to remove us from the European Union on a vote with a majority of 3.78%. In my book that is hardly a decisive majority. I would say it was too close to call! So we all panicked. Argued over what it was going to mean to our different sections of society. Scotland’s First Minister immediately startedRead More →

On:
In: Kay Ullrich

Well, that’s the end of summer (what summer?)  Be fair, the kids went back to school and we had a few days of glorious sunshine – it was ever thus!   Summer is usually the dull time for us political junkies, but boy, has this year been an exception.  We have been deafened by the sound of dragging feet from the Tories following their Brexit debacle (what a jolly wheeze that was!)  To add to the seasonal delight, the “once great” Labour Party have kept us all amused as they publicly beat themselves to death.  As if this was not enough for us sad anoraks,Read More →

On:
In: Maureen Forbes

The summer holidays have come to an end; hair is cut, bags are packed and bedtime battles once again ensue.  The family holiday was a few days in Fife, an area of the country that I had not visited for many years and a welcome change of scenery.  The children delighted in fruit farms and go carts, horse riding and play parks whilst I marvelled at the lack of travel time needed between towns.  When you are used to travelling several hours to the nearest city, 15 minutes commute from one large town to another takes a bit of getting used to and we wereRead More →

On:
In: Grant Thoms

John Mason stirred the Unionist nest the other week with his statement that he personally boycotts Barrhead Travel following its Tory owner’s intervention in the 2014 Referendum when said owner wrote to each individual staff member calling on him or her to reject the Independence question. Deputy Tory Leader, Jackson Carlaw MSP, called John’s political statement in a tweet, ‘petulant beyond belief’. Nothing like a touch of faux outrage with your cornflakes of a morning. The official SNP response was dismissive in its usual anonymous manner: personal trivial statements, not the party line. What would have been more helpful all round is if there hadRead More →

On:
In: Stephen Bird

This piece tries to capture my thoughts over a four week visit to family in Canada over July. It covers conversations with family, their friends and in some cases complete strangers. Long story short; my parents divorced when I was a toddler and just 5 years ago, at the age of 60, I discovered that I have two brothers and a sister in Canada. Fortunately, we all get on well and over the last few weeks, the Boss and I have been visiting them for a family wedding in Calgary with stops along the way. But I wanted to take the time to have aRead More →

On:
In: Margaret Hamilton

As I continue to fill in for Jim Lynch (who is mending well) I noticed that on Monday of this week he had a rather long letter in the Herald. Told you he was mending. As it was about oil and given that today (Tuesday) the oil workers are striking, I thought I would share JIm’s letter for those who haven’t seen it. Margaret.     I have to confess that, unlike John- Paul Marney, I am not an oil production expert (Letters 19 Jul 16) so would not regard the Wood Mackenzie report on shale extraction as bedtime reading.  However I am well awareRead More →

On:
In: Margaret Hamilton

What is Trident. I mean, apart from the obvious weapon of mass destruction. Everything I have read leads me to the conclusion that it is merely a way of the big boys measuring their worth. The ‘would be important’ peoples’ version of ‘mine is bigger than yours’ Why would you want to have weapons of mass destruction? Bear in mind we invaded another country our UK government felt had no right to have them. What makes us so special we should have them? Although Trident was designed as a strategic deterrent, the end of the Cold War led the British government to conclude that a sub-strategic –Read More →

On:
In: Kay Ullrich

As I watched David Cameron announce his resignation on the morning of the 24th of June, the words of an old childhood game came to mind. Do you remember playing Hide and Seek? When you were about to be caught, you quickly crossed your fingers and said “keys no het”. That is exactly what Cameron was doing after the EU Referendum result. To put it another way, in words I often heard as the social worker at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court – it wisnae me, I wisnae there, a big boy did it and run away” That “big boy” was of course Boris, and run awayRead More →