“If you can imagine a debate raging in a bubble, well there are a few of those fragile things floating around back and forth over the border. List parties, George Galloway, English Nationalism, raving mad back-benchers with a penchant for Covid scepticism, the Withdrawal Act and other hideously cataclysmic Brexit related futures to name but […]
Media
This Is Not Over
There’s another layer above the real and fantasised darkness, and it’s a good one. It involves people working away at the grass roots with and for their community. BBC Radio Scotland’s Kaye Adams lives in a world where it’s fine to introduce her “Rule of 6” call-in with the comment “I know dozens of people […]
The World Through A Window
There’s a wistfulness in the air. We’re no longer marvelling at clear skies above China and translucent blue canals in Venice. We’re watching from behind the sofa as death rates continue to rise around the globe, and fluctuations occur, leading to second, or even third wave and Lockdown periods, such as in Hong Kong and […]
A Plague on All Your Houses
Dominic Cumming’s epic confessional puts a new spin on the term “A plague on all your houses.” Well, quite a few of them anyway. Not to mention a few fuel station pumps, public toilets and benches. Correct. He did not mention them. Oh my eyes! The sight of blustering, near sobbing, begging “Svengali” Cummings was […]
The Tories, Jingoism and The NHS
“Over the next three years, we must look at that NHS and what is left of our welfare state , and ensure it comes out of this nightmare stronger.” I loathe the propaganda around WW2. It really should be a subject of study. When did it start? I remember the 50th Anniversary. It was at […]
Isolation Policy Too Late for Some, as Pandemic Warnings were not taken Seriously
The news that an unknown virus which caused breathing and respiratory problems was spreading rapidly in Wuhan at the end of last year caused little alarm at first, and people could be forgiven for paying it no attention. The other news stories of January and February 2020 included the assassination of one of Iran’s leading generals by the US and the horrific Australian bush fires. In the UK, Labour had suffered its worst […]
The Journey into Progressive Politics and Progressive Media
Like most Scottish young people my journey into politics started with a simple question. Should Scotland be an independent nation? When presented with this at age 15, I said well of course it should. Sad irony however, dictated that I’d been born a few months late for voting age and be one of the only […]
Say it Ain’t So Jo
This is a story of denial, delusion and illusion: All themes that ran through the 2019 General election campaign. Jo and The Libs The rise, or rather the inflation of Jo Swinson is not the only story in town, but the themes are strong in this one. I’d have been hard pushed to pick Jo […]
Christmas Borders…
Available FREE on iTunes and Podbean The UK Christmas Election is highlighting how awful the binary sloganeering of the right really is – and how much the power of the Billionaire owned press and media still is killing democracy. Let this be your antidote. Help us continue to podcast, publish and campaign… a few quid keeps […]
Representing Robert…
Our History has been written by the victors and they are not going to loosen their grip over their narrative of our past. When I started the history police, it was in response to obvious misrepresentations of Scotland’s history. This was mainly down to the subtle use of language such as English titles for British […]