“planning doesn’t distract us from the grave issues in front of us. Indeed, it is an essential part of the solution.”
Scotland Rises
Even heroes have heroes.
“At the end of a turbulent, desperate and – let’s be honest – hellish year, this week was proof positive that Scotland is increasingly comfortable in its own very distinct political culture and worldview. Support for normal democracy amongst Scots nudges sixty percent. And it will only grow.”
So. Brexit.
“And in the middle of a pandemic. An act of wicked, unconscionable, wanton vandalism that will take generations to repair.”
Winning Isn’t Everything
“The biggest Pyrrhic victory since Asculum is about to be “won” as the UK crashes out of the European Union without a deal, only a year after its own Prime Minister said that such an outcome would constitute “a failure of statecraft”.
Gradually, then Suddenly
“a government that tried to temporarily shut down its own Parliament for political expediency wouldn’t think twice about shutting down someone else’s for the same nefarious reasons.”
Some Thoughts on the Booker Prize
“Some things irk me possibly more than they should. This is one of those things. “
Unguarded Moments
“The people of Scotland hold the keys to how they are governed, and no-one else, and every single statement from our leaders must reflect this. The rhetoric should shift away from that of supplication to one of confidence and trust in the people who put them there.”
For The People
“Whatever transpires, events in America can only further reinforce our belief that Scotland can only flourish by doing what our stateside friends did two hundred and forty-four years ago. And make our own Declaration of Independence. “
No Great Mischief
“No great mischief should they fall”, wrote Wolfe, dismissively, of the Highland soldiers at Quebec. Little changes. We are expendable. For Scotland it was ever thus. As a historian you will know this.
Letter to Annette
“I think what people sometimes don’t appreciate is that the UK that joined the EEC in ‘75 was a wholly different beast to the one leaving the EU in 2020, because we now have a devolution settlement that is inconveniently getting in the way of the hard Brexit that has been the objective of these disaster capitalists from the start.”
