Notes for speech Check against delivery I'm not quite sure why I'm here. Usually, for events like this, they want speakers who'll tell the crowd what they want to hear. That's certainly not me. I tell it the way I see it - good or bad. Right now, there's more bad than good. They usually … Continue reading AUOB March & Rally Glasgow 26/11/2022
When All Under One Banner (AUOB) organises an event such as the one tomorrow in Glasgow, they invite us to 'March for independence'. They don't urge us to 'Plod for independence'. When we attend such events ─ as I hope thousands will tomorrow ─ we imagine ourselves striding determinedly towards the restoration of Scotland's rightful … Continue reading I shall not plod
Clearly, the First Minister's hope of "clarity and legal certainty in a timely manner" has been frustrated by reality. It was always no more than empty rhetoric anyway. An attempt to justify a plainly foolish 'strategy'. The complex permutations described by Andrew Tickell are neither new nor newly discovered. It was always the case that … Continue reading Just say f*** off!
In response to Stan Grodynski's long letter in the Sunday National, I would like to point out that while I cannot speak for Kenny MacAskill or Kevin McKenna, my "political aspirations for Scotland" are ending the injustice of the Union and restoring Scotland's independence. Perhaps Mr Grodynski would care to explain why he wants me … Continue reading Political aspiration versus partisan interest
I am honoured to have been asked to speak at the All Under One Banner (AUOB) rally outside the BBC's Glasgow headquarters on Saturday 26 November. I have accepted that invitation. Some may suppose this hypocritical given my comments regarding other such rallies being held to coincide with publication of the UK Supreme Court's judgement … Continue reading BE AWARE! BE ANGRY! BE ACTIVE!
It is almost physically painful to hear the SNP bleating about the consequences of Brexit (UK accused of 'outrageous power grab' as experts sound alarm over EU law bill) when it was the choice of that party's leadership to let Scotland suffer those consequences. They promised that they would not let Scotland be dragged out … Continue reading Outrageous!
I don't know this David Clark. He may be every bit the foreign affairs expert John Drummond says he is. But I still need to pull him up on a couple of points. The reason federalism is a "non-starter" is even more "simple and straightforward" than Mr Clark suggests. A federal settlement acceptable to the … Continue reading If you want it broken, break it!
You were warned! (UK could bypass Scottish Parliament in devolved areas, MSPs warn) Even before the first referendum it was obvious that the British establishment considered devolution to be an experiment which has not just failed but seriously backfired. There was already considerable opposition to tis experiment when it was first embarked upon in an … Continue reading Sort yourselves out!
There's something in today's National that we don't often see in "the newspaper that supports an independent Scotland" ─ an article taking a pop at a leading figure in the SNP. I guess it's fair to say that Pete Wishart is a leading figure in the party of independence. Although the term 'leading' seems particularly … Continue reading Wishartian censoriousness
Alba will get no disagreement from me that we've had enough and it's time for independence. But I'd like to know how they intend that this should happen. Getting answers to such questions from Alba is no easier than getting a sensible response from the SNP to criticism of Nicola Sturgeon's 'plan'. We've had eight … Continue reading Where’s the plan?
Peter A Bell 