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In: Uncategorized

Welcome to those who have shown an interest in getting your Scots Independent in digital format. You need to click the shop button above this post. Once on the shop homepage, click newspapers button and click either option in the drop down menu. For the current edtion click on the October issue and click add to cart.(back issues will also be available for a period of time i.e. Septembers issue is also available) You then click the shopping cart button on top right of page, a box appears, click checkout in bottom right corner of box. You will now be asked if you are aRead More →

On:
In: Stephen Bird

I’m sure that you all know the feeling when someone tries to insult you but in your eyes actually compliment you. When you’re accused of putting Scotland first (Ed, are we still allowed to say Scotland?), and you proudly plead guilty. When you’re accused of being stuck to your principles and you have no excuse, yes you are guilty of saying what you mean and please m’lud I also mean what I say! That’s roughly how I’ve been feeling over the last few months! And the reason is the accusation that we are somehow now a “one party state”. Note that none of our unionistRead More →

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In: Political News

The Scottish National Party has welcomed reports Labour now intend to vote with the SNP against the UK government’s fiscal charter this week, but have called for absolute clarity from the party and a commitment that all Labour MPs will oppose the charter. Nicola Sturgeon challenged Labour at the weekend to join the SNP in the vote against austerity as she published a set of alternative proposals.  Labour’s shadow Chancellor had previously said Labour would vote for Osborne’s charter. The SNP condemned Labour for considering voting with the Tories – committing to further austerity and unnecessary ideologically driven cuts. SNP Westminster Leader Angus Robertson MPRead More →

On:
In: Margaret Hamilton

In the past week or so communities in Scotland have been having local services and unveilings of memorials to local lads who served their king and country in World War 1 and received honours for their bravery. Thanks to my father-in-law’s hard work with the family tree we knew Ian was related to Robert Anderson Dunsire, VC, of Buckhaven, through both their mothers. We learned through friends that the Methil Heritage Centre (http://www.methilheritage.org.uk/content/) were putting on an exhibition based around his life. We went along and spent some considerable time there. Although the volunteers in this group had designed the exhibition around a central character, thereRead More →

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In: Political News

NO CORBYN BOUNCE AS LABOUR VOTE CONTINUES TO FALL The SNP has today celebrated wins in six by-elections across Scotland. Overall the SNP won almost 45.9 per cent of the vote across all seven of yesterday’s by-elections – representing a 5.7 per cent swing from Labour. By contrast Labour’s vote fell by nearly 5 per cent. In the Glenrothes West and Kinglassie by-election in Fife, Julie Ford was elected for the SNP with 55.3 per cent of the vote – an increase of 8 per cent since a by-election in the same ward just one month before the 2015 general election. In the Irvine ValleyRead More →

On:
In: Grant Thoms

If you haven’t seen the images of two million Catalans taking to the streets of Barcelona then you haven’t lived. Our political friends in the north east of Spain can show the Scots a thing or two about how to demonstrate on the streets. But each to their own. Every political culture has its own particular customs and marching is at the top for independistas from Ripoll to Palma. So all this public display of political yearning had a purpose. To raise the temperature in the Catalan Parliamentary elections held on Sunday. And it worked. The alliance of the two biggest independence-supporting parties (which hasRead More →

On:
In: Jim Lynch

I came across the above title when I was reading a piece by Francis McKee in this week’s Sunday Herald; he had read this on a placard in George Square Glasgow. I read it carefully as it was about the literature put out by the Yes Campaign and the No Campaign, and the No literature was duller but repetitive – and the word “Better” was suspect in my view, after all the whole No programme was “Better Together” but it was a Yes slogan.   The Anniversary of the Referendum has now passed and still the press is full of the plaintive message from theRead More →

On:
In: Clare Adamson

I had the pleasure of hosting an event for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accident, RoSPA, on their “Scotland’s Big Book of Accident Prevention” and am even more delighted to have written the forward for the book. My own interest in Accident prevention was sparked, sadly, by the death of my 15 year old niece in a road traffic accident. It prompted me, a non- professional in the area, to ensure that as an elected member I would try to raise awareness and progress Accident Prevention. It was then that my education began, from Chair of the Scottish Accident Prevention Council Home SafetyRead More →

On:
In: Clare Adamson, Political News

The Refugee Crisis – Scotland’s response attracts U.N. praise Scotland has led the way in highlighting the inadequacy of the UK Government’s response to the refugee crisis and has established a multi-agency Refugee Operation Task Force comprising local government and other stakeholders who are working to ensure services across Scotland are ready to welcome refugees into our communities. Scotland has shown that it stands ready to take its immediate fair share of refugees from the current crisis with the majority of Scotland’s councils, faith groups, community organisations, schools and ordinary citizens offering to help. Scotland’s Minister for Europe, Humza Yousaf MSP, has welcomed the hugeRead More →