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
So, the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) has issued its judgement and it is that the Scottish Parliament doesn't have the competence to authorise even the pretendy referendum that Nicola Sturgeon proposes. This was, you will recall, a referendum that had been stripped of all its legal and constitutional effect so that it was no more … Continue reading Rightful anger
The choice in a new independence referendum should be much bigger than in 2014, as Sir John Curtice puts it. But we are not being offered a choice. The referendum as proposed asks only for a preference on the basis that the expressed preference doesn't actually change anything. In 2014, we went into the referendum … Continue reading The judgement and what matters more
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!
Despite the fact that it is dated three months ago, I had not previously seen the Tweet from Mhairi Hunter pictured above. As you would probably expect, Ms Hunter has blocked me ─ doubtless along with all other voices that dissent from the Sturgeon doctrine. I am grateful to Stu Campbell (Wings Over Scotland) for … Continue reading Where is the anger?
I am not picking on Kirsty Strickland. I have selected her column in today's National only because it so neatly exemplifies the fallacy that has gripped a substantial part of the Yes movement. I could have taken the First Minister's appearance on Sophy Ridge on Sunday and her conclusions regarding the latest anti-democratic pronouncements from … Continue reading Fallacy and folly
Today marks the fifteenth anniversary of what I regard as a highly significant day in Scotland's history. 15 years ago today, Scotland got its first government of the democratic era. On Monday 3 September 2007 the Scottish Executive became the Scottish Government ─ officially even if not legally. Some dismiss this as a mere cosmetic … Continue reading On my calendar
Peter A Bell 