Alex Salmond
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 »
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 »
Bold alternative urgently needed to Scottish independence
Tweet In Scotland the Better Together campaign has deservedly come in for some stick. The pro-Union cause has so far failed to agree on devo-more, the alternative to independence many politically aware Scots seem to want. (Incidentally if it ever comes to an NI referendum, their website is not the model to follow: remarkably for a [...] more »
“For the first time, Alex Salmond has been made to look ridiculous”
Tweet Alex Salmond has had his worst week in years. The SNP annual conference revealed a split over continuing membership of Nato. Then he was exposed for, shall we say, stretching a point to its limits by claiming he had legal approval for insisting that an independent Scotland would smoothly inherit EU membership from the [...] more »
Opening skirmish in Independence campaign
Tweet On the day, the YouGov poll commissioned by Alistair Darling was quite an effective spoiler to the launch of Alex Salmond’s Independence campaign, at least for the largely pro-Union press. The YouGov poll of 1,004 people found that only 33% of Scots would opt for independence, while 57% would reject it, findings which are [...] more »
DevoMax may be more disruptive to English regions than Independence…
Tweet Great piece by Mark Hennessy who digs into a part of England where they probably have a more nuanced understanding of the Scots instinct for greater autonomy than any other. …the northeast of England worries about the powers that the Scots already have, let alone the possibility that they might get powers over corporation [...] more »
Will the referendum debate go two way at last today?
Tweet Adds at 2pm. David Cameron’s speech ( in full here, courtesy of the Scotsman) was a constipated affair. Like Eric Morecambe and the Grieg piano concerto, he played all the right notes but not necessariily in the right order – and without enough colour and tone . He talked nervously into the middle distance, not to the [...] more »
Scottish referendum no further forward
Tweet “Spin” the Telgraph acidly calls it, while the home- based Herald labels it “confusion“ There are different views, of course, on the timescale that the Scottish Government has set out. I don’t think that is a serious argument any more.” However, Mr Moore later insisted that he timing question was far from settled and [...] more »
Maybe the referendum question is not so simple
Tweet I may have spoken too soon about the clarity of Alex Salmond’s preferred referendum question : do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country? The Today programme took the trouble to ask a professor in Arizona who had never heard of Big Eck if the wording was fair. Sure, it was completely [...] more »
‘Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?’
Tweet Well, the essential question proposed by Alex Salmond in his consultation paper is surely good enough to satisfy the UK government’s requirement for a clear question on independence. That’s one stumbling block out of the way, I reckon. But Westminster ‘s rival paper is clearly opposed to a second question on anything like devo max. [...] more »
Paxman: the gowk goes over the top.
Tweet Playing the man I know but needs saying: Not Newsnight’s finest hour. After a twee introduction from a whisky sampling reporter then came Paxman’s interview with the Times’s Briton of the year. You can see some of it here. Zimbabwe, Mugabe, One party State?? Opting out of the BBC? the cheek of it all. [...] more »
Salmond invades Dublin in pursuit of Glasgow’s Labour vote?
Tweet A couple of years ago we took a taxi from the centre of Glasgow to a friend’s wedding in Pollockshields. I asked the driver who was a Celtic fan (Rangers fans had taken beating the night before and apparently hadn’t shown that morning) what he made of Alex Salmond. “Ah, he’s a fly *……..” [...] more »
Unionist forces begin to muster
Tweet So it’s game on for the early rounds of the referendum campaign. The Westminster government says Alex Salmond can have a binding referendum provided he sticks to a Yes, No question on independence. No fudging over devo max. The UK parties are uniting to save the Union, although the others would like Cameron and the [...] more »
A constitutional crisis over a Scottish referendum?
Tweet Just how serious is the new stand-off between Westminster and Holyrood over a referendum on Scottish independence? I take the view that it’s largely shadow boxing. The two governments will do a deal in the end, even though there’s quite a way to go before it’s clinched. Many believe Cameron boobed badly yesterday by [...] more »
Cameron to Salmond: “Right, now I’ve got you right where you want me…”
Tweet As noted here a few months back, the Conservatives are struggling to maintain relevance outside England (and to a lesser degree, Wales). It’s tough job when you barely have any elected representatives to bring some political capital to the literal party. It’s not even an English thing. For reasons not entirely within their control [...] more »
Why the Tories are constitutionally all at sea in Scotland
Tweet Alex Massie is Scotland’s man in the seried ranks of Tory thinkers in London. He’s not exactly unique, but there are few Unionist commentators who, like him, get a respectful hearing amongst the increasingly confident Scots nationalist blogosphere. In response to a well meaning, but inevitably London bound leader veiw from his own paper [...] more »
Alex’s New Year Message….it’s time !
Tweet Super stuff from Alex. Watch it all – it ain’t long – quote below. Our universities, colleges and scientific institutions are working on cures for the illnesses that beset humankind as well as the renewable energy machines and environmental initiatives that will make human progress compatible with the future of our planet.” But he [...] more »
Scotland – it’s time – why wait?
Tweet With the latest opinion polls showing the SNP at a sensational record 51% for Holyrood, and a pretty impressive by-election win in Lanarkshire, it’s getting tempting for Alex to go for an early independence referendum. The context is key – the Scottish government and SNP are acting like history is working their way. We have: The [...] more »
“Are the Scots more the Greeks or Germans? I couldn’t possibly say.”
Tweet “It’s starting”, is it? [Whatever 'it' is - Ed]. The Guardian’s Michael White spots a flaw in Alex Salmond’s cunning plan. [Does it involve turnips? - Ed] Neeps. From the Guardian Politics Blog The SNP and the Tory Eurosceptics have much in common – and I don’t mean that as a compliment, decent people [...] more »
Salmond says “the…Lib Dem(s)….cannot act as the Tories’ front men in Scotland and at the same time present themselves as Home Rulers – they have to choose.”
Tweet From the BBC Nick Clegg attacks the SNP’s delay on calling an independence referendum Clearly I am opposed to Alex Salmond’s ambition, which seems to be his sole ambition in Scottish government, to yank Scotland out of the United Kingdom. I think it is not good for Scotland. I believe passionately in a strong [...] more »
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Books
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The Irish political journalist’s problem with partial disclosure…
Tweet The nod and wink politics of Ireland’s last two or three decades as practised par excellence by Bertie, Albert and Charlie is ultimately what has the Republic in the stew it’s in. Don’t get me wrong, the effective monitoring of those exercising of power does not demand full disclosure of everything all the time. [...] read our review »
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Help me with the West Wing: Essential viewing or Party Political Broadcast?
Tweet Having somehow managed to avoid watching a single episode of the widely praised West Wing TV series I was delighted to discover the entire Box set in my Christmas stocking – and with enough spare time over the holidays to give it a good lash. But with 10 episodes of the first series under [...] read our review »
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Debating the Churches’ Role in the Peace in Northern Ireland
Tweet This morning’s Sunday Sequence featured a substantial debate (about 35 minutes into the recorded programme) on a new book,Religion, Civil Society and Peace in Northern Ireland (Oxford University Press 2011), written by sociologists John Brewer, Gareth Higgins and Francis Teeney. The debate was framed in an opening vignette by presenter William Crawley in uncompromising [...] read our review »
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