On:
In: Jim Lynch

The ancient, and probably best known of Chinese curses is the wish “May you live in interesting times”, and this can be fairly applied to Scotland today.  The latest bombshell for Scotland is the loss of 835 jobs at Scottish shipyards. This has to do with Royal Navy orders, which may or may not come to Scotland.  The reason is that work on the two aircraft carriers will be completed in the next two years and there are no orders to employ all the workforce;  in fact the elusive orders for the Type 26 frigates are causing alarm and despondency in the ranks.   Firstly, theRead More →

On:
In: Clare Adamson

By general agreement, the 2013 SNP Annual Conference, the last before the Referendum was a great success! Held in the most difficult of circumstances, in the shadow of the dire threat to the Grangemouth workforce and possible blow to the Scottish Economy that the closure of Grangemouth would deliver and the Dunfermline by election, the Conference displayed a confident, positive party enthused by the up and coming European and Referendum campaigns.  As someone who lived through the closure of Ravenscraig in my own home community and the mass unemployment caused by the deindustrialisation of Motherwell, I was deeply concerned for the people of Grangemouth andRead More →

On:
In: Grant Thoms

Whilst the YES Scotland campaign sums up the 2014 Referendum as the biggest grassroots/community campaign Scotland will have ever seen (I wonder if John MacCormick would be throwing his arms aloft with copies of the National Covenant, saying ‘beat me’!), quietly in the ivory towers of Scotland’s universities there are a number of research programmes taking place looking at devolution, independence, post-independence and all their public policy implications. A recent blog post about an event held in Edinburgh gave an insight into some academics thinking about the economics of constitutional change. “Speakers from Ireland, Belgium, Lithuania, Catalonia and Spain, Quebec and Canada, explored the constitutionalRead More →

On:
In: Margaret Hamilton

The Editor of the paper has just shared a link on Facebook, as I write this, from Business for Scotland’s webpage on why the No camp really don’t want a Scottish Oil Fund. I thought I would share it with you to let the editor see that I do get his communications…..http://www.businessforscotland.co.uk/articles/ where you can find not only the piece on the oil fund but the article on the poll vote after last week’s Business for Scotland meeting and a few other interesting pieces not supplied by the main media. I really do despair of the “talent” in the U.K. parties and their approach toRead More →

On:
In: Uncategorized

With the Yes Scotland campaign boosted by the hugely successful Independence March and Rally, the ‘no’ side would appear still to be floundering in their attempt to put a case – any case – for staying in the Union. They don’t even seem able to find someone to make that case, as David Cameron has declined yet again to debate with Alex Salmond. Letters have been zipping back and forth between the two, with Cameron finding all kinds of reasons to dodge the debate. Correspondence quoted in The Herald from Cameron to Salmond states that: “…it is right for you and Alistair Darling, as theRead More →

On:
In: Clare Adamson

There could only ever have been one topic for this week’s flag and I hope I can do justice to the 30,000 marchers on Calton Hill on Saturday. Our day began with a meet at 9.15 at Motherwell Station.  I was mindful that if we each had a plus one on last year then we could double the numbers.  I was delighted that not only had our Branch members, volunteers from Yes Motherwell and Wishaw, and the Lanarkshire Forum for Independence turned out in force but that the platform was full of YES badges and T-shirts on people that I had never met before.  IRead More →

On:
In: Grant Thoms

I had thought that Alastair Darling, as a seasoned politician, would have risen above any personal slight on his status as a leader of the No campaign. However, his assertion that he should face the First Minister in a televised debate is quite wrong. What is Alastair Darling’s position within our body politic? Firstly, he is an MP for an Edinburgh constituency. Secondly, he is merely the chairperson of the Better Together organisation and is very welcome to be challenged by his equally eloquent and distinguished opposite number, Dennis Canavan. No one voted to make Alastair Darling the leader of the opposition in Scotland, ifRead More →

On:
In: Margaret Hamilton

We have just spent last week in a small independent country. It was a popular wee place with tourists from all around the world. Some were tracing their roots and discovering where their fore bearers came from. Others, like us, just enjoy the country for its scenery, history, culture and the warmth of the people. We were in a very rural part of Ireland and it took till the middle of the week for me to make the most obvious comparison with Scotland. Each small community had everything it needed with no need to travel great distances for the essentials. There were Tesco stores inRead More →

On:
In: Uncategorized

I was really interested to read the report from the Electoral Reform Society’s Democracy Max inquiry, which was published this week. It coincides with the ongoing debate around independence for Scotland but doesn’t come down on either side of the argument. Some of the ideas brought forward in the report could begin today but I personally feel though that there’s very little opportunity for radical change should the Union continue; independence is the chance to bring real change at all levels of society and the report is an excellent starting point. Sovereignty of the people – as enshrined in the claim of right – isRead More →

On:
In: Jim Lynch

This does not refer to the Common Weal issue being highlighted by the Jimmy Reid Foundation, but to the Royal and Ancient Commonwealth of the former nations usurped by the British Empire – well ancient in the sense that the United Kingdom lost an Empire, but translated it into a Commonwealth, since it consist of some 54 countries which have mainly become independent since the Second World War.  Please note that this group does not include the United States of America or the Republic of Ireland, both countries which gained their independence after taking up arms against the British state.   We have now beenRead More →