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
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
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
I tend to react very negatively to commentators speculating or pontificating about Scotland being independent while disregarding all but totally the not so very small matter of Scotland becoming independent. The headline over Gerry Hassan's column - "UK establishment’s contemplating life after indy, Scotland must do the same" - was always going to irk me. … Continue reading The big league
The somewhere was Dunfermline. Greynbow is my agonisingly contrived but even more painfully appropriate term for the assortment of speakers assembled to address a gathering of independence supporters and activists at the Duloch Leisure Centre yesterday afternoon (Sunday 10 April). All credit to the organisers, they did well to get these people to share a … Continue reading Somewhere under the greynbow
It occasionally happens that as you read a newspaper story a phrase will leap off the page and smack you so hard that you are unable to focus on the remainder of the article. As you attempt to read on your mind keeps dragging your attention back to that phrase. Very occasionally a piece of … Continue reading Worrying words
Whoever wrote the headline on George Kerevan's column in The National today (Cost of living horrors should be launchpad for fresh Yes push) did the man no favours. A headline suggesting a "fresh Yes push" as a reaction to the "cost of living horrors" sits uncomfortably with an article in which George is highly critical … Continue reading We and we alone!
Nicola Sturgeon insists that the process - which she has yet to identify - by which Scotland's independence is restored must be "legal and constitutional". Her view appears to be that the international community is eager to avoid recognising Scotland's status as an independent nation and that they will therefore seize on any excuse to … Continue reading The binding
I shall start with a couple of confessions. This article isn't really all about James Kelly. Filling an entire blog post with stuff about him would be a challenge even for someone as famously verbose as myself. I don't like the guy. That's my second confession. I'm not prone to instant dislikes. As far as … Continue reading James Kelly: Stupid or dishonest?
Peter A Bell 