Category Archives: Scottish Independence Referendum

The alternative title is, ‘Things to do in Scotland before you die’. This list is by no means a comprehensive, detailed agenda of priorities to follow once Scotland reinstates its autonomy. Asked in a recent interview what structures I’d like … Continue reading →

A nation betrayed Looked at dispassionately, the poor and the downtrodden of Glasgow and Dundee voted overwhelmingly Yes to improve their lives under an independent Scotland. The well off and the highly influential tended to vote No, and won, thus … Continue reading →

  “For as long as a hundred of us remain alive, never will we, on any conditions, be subjected to the lordships of the English. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, … Continue reading →

Listening to Mary Lou Macdonald in a television interview, leader of the Irish social democratic party, Sinn Fein, I was struck by how unselfconsciously she used the phrase English nationalist, rather than British nationalist. She was not, after all, referring to … Continue reading →

“A referendum that has a clear legal basis, agreed to between governments, that is regulated by law and consistent with democratic and rule of law values, is the surest – perhaps the only – way to deliver a result that is fair, … Continue reading →

An act of resistance is a moral act. When you take a moral stance, you are acting out of conscience. Your imperative, your motivation is to attain justice for a group or an individual, not for the political or the … Continue reading →

I was certain we would lose the first independence referendum, so certain that I placed a £100 bet in William Hill at 7 to 1, to win the vote. I did the patriotic thing, the futile sacrifice. And why not, … Continue reading →

The question I put is this, can a newspaper be truly impartial in colonial Scotland? How does it put neutrality into practice, even when its neutrality refers solely to partisan politics? How can it function as a truly Scottish newspaper … Continue reading →

Boris Johnson, prime minister of mirth, with a slogan fit for the side of a bus I cannot think of a worse time in this planet’s history, a pandemic, for so many countries to be landed with a right-wing demagogue … Continue reading →