On:
In: Clare Adamson

  One might imagine that during a Parliamentary recess that the Scottish Parliament building would go into a mothballed state, with a vacant, voiceless chamber and unlit, unused committee rooms. But not so for Mirralles’ masterpiece!  As the doors open to release the MSPs retreating to their constituencies for the long break, the Scottish Parliament breathes in new life, new visitors, new ideas and new wisdom.  Always a place where people are welcome, indeed often cried the Peoples’ Parliament, this summer the Scottish Parliament welcomed the world at the inaugural International Culture Summit.  A joint venture between the Scottish Government, the UK Government, the BritishRead More →

On:
In: Garry Knox

In so far as these things can be measured, London 2012 was undoubtedly a huge success.  We could be picky and point to ticketing problems during the first week and we should not forget the tragic death of a cyclist caused by a collision with a bus serving the Olympic Park on the very day Bradley Wiggins won his hugely impressive time trial gold medal.  But, all in all, we enjoyed a great festival of sporting endeavour.   Never Mind the Ball, Get on with the (predictable) Game There were many magnificent performances, not least from Scottish participants, to celebrate.  It does a disservice toRead More →

On:
In: Jennifer Dunn

Watching the footage of Ian Davidson on Newsnight earlier this week, it’s difficult to conclude that it’s anything but a masterclass of how not to give a TV interview. In case you haven’t seen it already, Davidson was being interviewed by Isobel Fraser about the Scottish Affairs Committee report into the referendum. The interview degenerated into Davidson accusing the presenter and program of being biased towards the SNP. You can see it for yourself here –www.youtube.com It starts off badly. Davidson’s ranting about lawyers seems quite silly. The interview really begins to go downhill at Davidson’s repeated use of “Newsnat Scotland”. It’s cringeworthy. But weRead More →

On:
In: Jim Lynch

Being of sound mind – well sometimes – I did not watch any of the fanfare of the opening of the Olympic Games, but the newspaper reports  reminded of a famous Scots quote of yesteryear, no doubt apochryphal: “Ah dinna ken if it was a wedding or a funeral – but it was a grand affair”. The other quote which sprang to mind, possibly more apt, was from the journalist Chris Baur  after the 1979 Referendum.  He said it was “the last kick of the dying horse”, a quote which will go down with Lord George Robertson’s one that a Scottish Parliament would “kill ScottishRead More →