While it can be gratifying to watch the performances of the best in any area of human endeavour, it can also be a jarring reminder of one's own deficiencies. As I watched and listened to Craig Murray address assembled well-wishers and by way of various media, the world on his release from HMP Edinburgh yesterday … Continue reading Bearing up
I wonder if Keith Brown is as nostalgic as I am for the days when speeches such as the one he's reportedly addressing to the SNP conference-like-thing sparked enthusiasm rather than soporific ennui. I wonder if he's even aware of the negative effect the "rallying cry" now has on those who were once positively affected. … Continue reading Reading the room?
A photograph (above) posted on Twitter by Alex Salmond and shared by Joanna Cherry has prompted some speculation about the latter making a move to join the former in the Alba Party. The photograph shows a smiling Joanna Cherry standing between former First Minister Alex Salmond and senior Alba member Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh. As one individual … Continue reading What do you see? What do you hear?
One of the more cheering developments of the past decade is the greater prominence now being given to Scotland’s official national day – St Andrew’s Day. It’s the day of the year – 30 November – set aside for a celebration of all that is Scotland and all that Scotland is. A celebration in which … Continue reading St Andrew’s Day March for Independence
Gerry Hassan's column in The National today offers an interesting analysis of the relationship between the SNP and the wider independence movement as he tries to answer the question posed in the headline, How do we resolve tensions between SNP and the wider Yes movement? It's an issue I've addressed repeatedly over the last few … Continue reading The meeting point
We didn't have gender dysphoria when I was a boy. We had to make do with ordinary puberty. I'm not saying it was better in those far-off days. Only that it's how it was. It should be possible to note that we thought 'darkie' was the polite way to refer to people of colour without … Continue reading Gender Fascism
Let's be realistic! I realise that opening an article with an exhortation to be realistic is likely to deter Alba fantasists and SNP loyalists alike. But how many of them would be reading my blog anyway? Realism is no more welcomed in the constitutional debate than scrutiny and criticism. Those who examine, analyse and comment … Continue reading A million to nothing
My intention this morning was to write an article prompted by the headline over Richard Walker's column in The National - Yes movement has to come together and recapture the spirit of 2014. It's one of those very sensible-sounding things that people tend to agree with having given the matter little or no thought. It … Continue reading No way back
The National's headline over its report of some positive press for Nicola Sturgeon in an American newspaper (Washington Post hails Nicola Sturgeon making a role for herself at COP26) seems designed to prompt shrill allegations of a 'personality cult' from the dunces' corner of the Yes movement and mindless British Nationalist fanatics alike. So let's … Continue reading A very Scottish personality cult
To be a Unionist in Scotland, one must be prepared to accept humiliation, not as an insult to be stoically borne or desperately rationalised, but as a natural part of one's condition as a subject of the British state. To be a Unionist in Scotland, one must be so persuaded of the superiority of the … Continue reading To be…
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The people's campaign against the Union
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A blog by Iain Lawson
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