Scottish independence
Ireland visit “her greatest achievement” says Charles. But is the Queen an argument in favour of the Union or a distraction?
Tweet Is the Queen a drag - (wait for it) – on developing a rational and newly articulated sense of Britishness that may be needed to preserve the Union? The very civility she attracts from opponents of Britishness from Alex Salmond to Martin McGuinness may have an anaesthetising effect on the great middle who somehow [...] 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 »
Scottish independence: Can Alistair Darling at the head of the pro-Union campaign match Alex Salmond?
Tweet Alistair Darling is to spearhead a Save the Union campaign of all the pro-union parties in Scotland, according to a Mail on Sunday scoop. The former Chancellor has just confirmed the story on the Marr show, although the BBC website has still to catch up with it.The report says the plan was hatched in true [...] more »
“The last thing the Northern Isles want is to be ruled by Glasgow trade unionists and Edinburgh lawyers…”
Tweet At the Guardian’s Scotland Blog, Severin Carrell notes the independently-minded Shetland and Orkney Lib Dem MSPs Tavish Scott and Liam McArthur’s attempt to play Alex Salmond at his own game – with a joint, “at best provocative and, in constitutional terms, at least playful”, submission to the UK government’s consultation on the independence referendum. Short [...] more »
How to win a Scottish Referendum – ten iron laws…
Tweet Leaving aside the politics of the upcoming referendum, for a moment, however hard that is, let me explore the ten iron laws of referendum campaigning: Referendums are not elections – they encapsulate issues and ideas in theory, rather than people and personalities; that is why political parties find them so hard – because parties [...] more »
Scottish referendum: the unionist case is still all over the place
Tweet The unionist split shows no sign of closing. The Aberdonian Tory cabinet minister and Surrey MP Michael Gove echoes my “England is sulking “ theory and delivers some pretty sharp words to his own side. …While there is a threat posed by Scottish separatism, he added, “there is also a threat, under-appreciated, from [...] more »
Scottish referendum: ‘Devo more’ could be a unionist runner
Tweet On the subject of greater powers for Holyrood, there’s something of a right wing split between the Telegraph newspapers and the darling of the Tory grass roots, blogger Tim Montgomerie of ConservativeHome. The Sunday Telegraph leader dealt with the subject with a knowledge of the subject that would disgrace an unpaid intern: To concede [...] more »
It’s the English question now, stupid
Tweet The Scottish media were a PhD dissertation about chippiness all unto themselves,” reflected Mr Blair in his memoirs, the Times editorial (£) recalled. By those standards, it seems Dave’s nervous apologia for the Union in Edinburgh fitted the bill after all, presentation wise. Substance was more problematical. In the Times (£) the august Scots [...] 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 »
How ‘conservative’ Unionism lost its footing in Scotland?
Tweet Graham Walker’s been reading beyond the reported remarks of Reg Empey in the Lords recently: Indeed, the part of his comments given less attention concerned the need for Unionists to get the ‘tone’ of their contributions right, and to avoid appearing to ‘bully’ or ‘hector’ the Scots. Amen to that. And, yes, people in [...] 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 »
Will Scottish football decide the referendum?
Tweet Is Scotland’s football team good enough for independence? Let’s look at the facts by comparing electoral support for independence, in so far as that can be measured as support for the SNP, with the performance of the Scottish football team. A number of points are worthing noting here: Qualifying for the finals of tournaments [...] more »
Another Post on Scotland…..
Tweet A few things: 1) A letter to the Scotsman from Lord Kilclooney (John Taylor): As an Ulster Scot I know there would be concern in Northern Ireland should Scotland vote to leave the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland is not only geographically close to Scotland but shares more with Scotland than with any other country. When [...] more »
Only a fool would call the Scottish independence referendum at this distance
Tweet “Scots, wha hae wi’ Wallace bled – Scots, wham Bruce has aften led – Welcome to your gory bed. Or to victorie!” Punditry is not an art that suits the modest. Anyone asking people to take time and trouble to read their writing, let alone expecting them to pay for the privilege, is usually [...] more »
David Cameron has transformed the SNP’s long game of Scottish independence into a penalty shootout
Tweet David Cameron has hugely raised the stakes over Scottish independence by planning to give the Scottish Parliament legal powers to hold a binding referendum, provided it takes place within a tighter time frame than that envisaged by the SNP government. See the chess analysis by the doyen of Scots commentators Magnus [...] more »
“Very well, alone?”
Tweet Interesting to see how the future of the Union is gradually being linked to the future of the European Union and the UK’s relations with it. In a farewell interview in the Daily Telegraph, the retiring Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell places it high among the “enormous challenges.” Over the next few years, there will [...] more »
Does Tory eurosceptics’ nationalism boost UK breakup chances?
Tweet The Financial Times (£) is alone today among UK national papers in spotting how the English nationalism of extreme Tory eurosceptics feeds Scottish separatism, in spite of all the fears for small nations’ survival in the gales of the eurozone crisis. First, the news story Alex Salmond, first minister and leader of the Scottish [...] 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 »
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Books
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Patrick McGinley’s ‘That Unearthly Valley: A Donegal Childhood’: Book Review
Tweet In Bogmail and Foggage, Patrick McGinley sent up the Irish (could he or it be otherwise?) murder mystery genre. He scooped dollops of encyclopaedic wit and mordant satire into these entertainments. A later saga proved more somber and meditative, the Black and Tan War ending as The Lost Soldier’s Song, while The Trick of [...] read our review »
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Round up of Tuesday’s Political Studies Association conference
Tweet If you want to get a flavour of the proceedings at the Political Studies Association conference on its opening day, then the Storify collation below will bring you some of the images, tweets and sounds of the day. Particular highlights included: the Opening Plenary with David Blunkett, Peter Riddell and Matthew Flinders; and the [...] read our review »
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The Creative Class and Northern Ireland
Tweet As part of NICVA’s series of masterclasses from its Centre for Economic Empowerment project, there was a morning seminar on the topic of the “creative class” (as popularised by Richard Florida) and its applicability to Northern Ireland. The agenda was to: Explain Richard Florida’s idea of the “creative class” and the link between economic [...] read our review »
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