Alex Salmond is doubtless correct to say that the grotesque anomaly of being an energy-rich nation that gets poorer during a time of energy supply pressures is the “biggest single economic and social issue linked to the constitutional question since the poll tax”. Although I might have said since Brexit. I would, however, question whether … Continue reading Three or four questions
I never cease to be taken aback by the number of people who voluntarily join discussions on social media fully determined that they will not be influenced by the discussion they're joining. What is the point? Those who are open to having their views modified through engagement with others seem to be the exception. But … Continue reading The millstone of policy
Attempting to sum up the SNP/Alba false dilemma within the confines of a single Tweet I recently stated that the SNP is not currently effective in terms of restoring Scotland's independence but is the only party that can be effective within the relevant time frame. Alba Party is not currently effective in terms of restoring … Continue reading Time is tight
Gerry Hassan aspires to a "shared, pooled, dispersed version of sovereignty which cascaded power throughout Scotland, rather than hoarding it to Edinburgh" and insists that it's a mistake to suppose we can't begin to realise the aspiration this side of Scotland's independence being restored. I fear it is he who is mistaken. And it's a … Continue reading Collective strength and effective power
Personally, I felt that the Mail on Sunday piece about Angela Rayner using her womanly attribute to distract the malignant child clown occupying the role of British Prime Minister was too ludicrous to be taken too seriously. I understand that to the extent that it is symptomatic of entrenched sexism it must be condemned. But … Continue reading Handicapping women
Chris McEleny says "I think that’s what people are sick of in politics, the entitlement.". I think Chris will find that people are just as sick of the hypocrisy. The entitlement to which he refers is nowhere more evident than in Alba Party's attitude to elections and voters. Alongside the fantastical nonsense about a 'supermajority', … Continue reading Entitlement and hypocrisy
It's been a confusing morning so far. First I read a piece by Pete Wishart in which he actually talks sense. Then, as if that wasn't bewildering enough, I encounter Gerry Hassan's column and some perplexingly shallow thinking that all the latte-sipping lefty pomposity in all the cafe districts in all the world can't rescue. … Continue reading Ends and ends
Fourteen hundred words to tell us Douglas Ross is a fool. Which surely most of us had already noticed. We might wonder how such an obvious bungler manages to attain even the very minor prominence of being leader-like-thing of the British Conservative and Unionist Party in Scotland (BCUPS). I think I may know the answer … Continue reading Machiavelli in the mirror
We were assured that support for Yes would get a massive boost from Brexit. Six years on from the EU referendum, three years after the UK was originally supposed to leave the EU, more than 15 months on from the UK actually quitting the EU, we are still waiting to see that boost. We are … Continue reading A movement slumbers
The difference between a Unionist and a British Nationalist is that the former has never questioned the Union while the latter insists that the Union must never be questioned. I was reminded of the above apophthegm when I saw the headline on a piece in The National today - Do Unionists still think we are … Continue reading The target
Peter A Bell 