Scotland
Radical Independence & The Jamaican, Ugandan & Pakistani UKIP candidates
Tweet With all the furore over the Radical Independence protest at the UKIP press conference in Edinburgh (ahead of the Aberdeen Donside Scottish by-election on June 20) I couldn`t help but notice the rather vociferous use of the words Nazi, Racist, Bigot, Scum & Fascist aimed at Nigel Farage. The Belfast News Letter website has a [...] more »
No parallels with Ireland as a pro-union strategy in Scotland begins to emerge at last
Tweet There were risks in sending a posh English boy like George Osborne to Scotland to warn that it might be no doddle for an independent Scotland to continue using sterling as its currency. The move might yet backfire among thrawn Scots if the English try to put the frighteners on them. Like pointing out [...] more »
Political Drama: What Drama?
Tweet As part of its 15th anniversary celebrations, Stratagem hosted a political drama film and discussion event at The MAC. Stratagem Director, Quintin Oliver, explained how he was motivated by a gift request from his son for a box set of the West Wing series. “He said it would be educational. I realised it was [...] more »
Scotland – will the Orange Order save the Union?
Tweet From the Herald comes the news that the Orange Order are mobilising for a “No” vote in the September 2014 referendum on Scottish Independence: THE Orange Order has begun the mobilisation of its members across Scotland as part of its campaign against independence. It has applied to join community councils and is involved in [...] more »
“But we’re still part of the UK…”
Tweet The DUP’s Jeffrey Donaldson, MP, and Sinn Féin’s Alex Maskey, MLA, appeared separately on UTV Live this evening to give their thoughts on the 15th anniversary of the 1998 Agreement. Apparently Alex Maskey hadn’t arrived at the studio in time for the first segment… Whether by accident, or design, it was left to presenter Seamus [...] more »
SNP must fight their campaign, not rely on foibles of #IndyRef opponents
Tweet Great piece from Lallands Peat Worrier, who is, erm, worried that the SNP is too quick to dismiss the possibility of the Conservatives, Lib Dems and even Labour of making good on hints that some form of Devo Max could be on the table if the Scots reject independence. Yes, the British state is [...] more »
Robinson tells Cameron he’s playing a ‘powerless-inside-the-union card’ on Scotland…
Tweet I was asked yesterday why neither of the two leaders in Northern Ireland said much on the subject of Scottish independence. This may be one reason. Expressing his frustration with the lack of progress on corpo tax, the First Minister said this: “What, effectively, you are saying to the people of Scotland is that [...] more »
The pro-Union wheels are starting to turn in Scotland. But they could still come off the bus
Tweet Not before time, the wheels may be turning at last in the creaking pro-union machine to craft an effective reply to the SNP’s delivery vehicle for Scottish independence. The leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson has done a U-turn (£) to explore the idea of more and greater taxation powers for Holyrood. I wonder [...] more »
What will become of the May 2015 UK Parliament if Scotland votes “Yes” on independence?
Tweet Every so often – but not very often – a major theme enters political debate which nobody noticed much at first but when attention is drawn to it, it becomes completely obvious. This topic is one such I’m posting here on how a referendum vote in favour of Scottish independence in September 2014 could greatly complicate [...] more »
Scottish Independence campaign certainly knows how to tell a good story…
Tweet Picked this up this evening from Bella Caledonia (via James Bailey on Google Plus)…. Whatever about the capacity or otherwise of the Scottish economy to easily pick up the tab for its two pillar banks (and there’s nothing in the public domain heretofore to suggest that it would not have happened), this is a [...] more »
Salmond prepares to let Westminster take the hit over post-Leveson press regulation
Tweet It may surprise you to learn that a separate Scottish response to the Leveson report on press regulation is looking unlikely. Stage One was a separate report by an “expert group” headed by the former Scottish judge Lord McCluskey who recommended “draconian “ powers and a regulator appointed by the Scottish government. If the [...] more »
“unless it’s because politicians in Northern Ireland want to be able to sue newspapers more readily…”
Tweet Some interesting added detail in the News Letter report following up on the story of the Northern Ireland Executive’s failure to consent to the Defamation Bill going through the UK Parliament. To begin with, it’s claimed that it wasn’t the Executive after all… Last Wednesday, the News Letter revealed that the Defamation Bill – [...] more »
So what went wrong in the first half against Ireland?
Tweet Wonderful day…in Cardiff anyway ! more »
Embarrassment over Stormont Executive’s shameful failiure to support UK wide free speech and libel reform
Tweet I’m obliged to Jeff Dudgeon for drawing attention to the latest failure by the Executive. It has come to light that the Stormont powers that be failed to agree on bringing Northern Ireland into line with the English Defamation Bill and so bring much needed reform to the libel laws – if the Bill isn’t [...] more »
Ulster Presbyterians and the endurance of principle…
Tweet If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. Numbers 30:2 If you didn’t see Will Crawley’s evocative first spisode in a new three parter [...] more »
USPCA: 90% of horses channelled through NI end up as meat..
Tweet Valerie Cox just now interviewed a spokesman for the USPCA on Pat Kenny’s show on RTE… He talked an operation which horses were found to be being channelled from the Republic through Northern Ireland and into Scotland. With them horse passports and false microchips. The cheaters kit for passing off common or garden horse [...] more »
Cardinal O’Brien accused of “inappropriate behaviour stretching back 30 years.”
Tweet I was going to write a nicely nuanced piece on the Ballycastle born, Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s interesting pitch to return to secular priests in the Catholic CHurch the right to marry. Instead when I looked him up on Google, this is what I got from The Observer, via BBC Scotland: One of the complainants, [...] more »
Unionists be warned. Negative campaigning against Scottish independence is not enough
Tweet A warning shot against unionist complacency in Scotland… Backing for independence among voters aged 18 to 24 stood at 58 per cent, according to the latest Ipsos MORI survey on voting intentions for the 2014 referendum…There were 34 per cent who supported Scotland leaving the UK, the poll of more than 1,000 people interviewed [...] more »
Opening shots muffled in UK government’s fightback against Scottish independence campaign
Tweet Significantly as PM and not as Conservative leader David Cameron launched on Sunday a “heart and head” campaign against Scottish “separation” as unionists like to call it, with a upbeat image of four happy partners. Britain is admired around the world as a source of prosperity, power and security. Those glorious Olympics last summer [...] more »
An Irish Borgen?
Tweet Dyspeptic Scots columnist Kevin McKenna (now where did that name come from?) is so right when he says Scottish politics are too boring to mount a drama like Borgen. But then, Alex might reply that Scotland is not an independent country – yet. Staying glued to Borgen though fits perfectly into Scottish culture. Manfully, [...] more »
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Books
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Kevin Myers’ ‘Watching the Door’: Book Review
Tweet This reads as if a mad picaresque tale. Myers as first a reporter for RTÉ and then as a freelance journalist with no real experience, finds himself wandering into savagery as he hastens north as the Troubles explode. A soldier dies next to him; he witnesses an IRA ambush; he sees children shot to [...] read our review »
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Philip Orr’s New Perspectives – Politics, Religion and Conflict in Mid-Antrim, 1911-1914: Book Review and Website Launch
Tweet A valuable resource on local history went digital last week with the launch of a new website called ‘New Perspectives’ on Home Rule,hosted by the Braid Mid-Antrim Museum in Ballymena. The content of the website is based on a book by Philip Orr, New Perspectives: Politics, Religion and Conflict in Mid-Antrim, 1911-1914, published last [...] read our review » -
What Ireland did right (and what it needs to do)…
Tweet It is difficult to believe now that one country recently sent 19 delegations to Ireland to study how well our economy was managed. The revelation that our model of economic management featured positively in political and economic discussion in countries including Estonia, Greece and Scotland may also come as a surprise. As we survey [...] read our review »
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