Left voices, unfiltered, unedited, Ungagged.
By Neil Scott Back in 2018 when I spoke at a NECE conference about my journey from the partitioned landscapes of Ireland to the streets of Glasgow, I was thinking about how borders act as psychological -and physical – fences. I argued that our job as educators is to help young people climb over those […]
By our Political Correspondent It began not with a grand manifesto or a flurry of corporate white papers, but with a humble sandwich shop in the heart of Edinburgh. In 2012, Josh Littlejohn and Alice Thompson looked at the jagged edges of our society and decided that “business as usual” was no longer an […]
By Damien Donnelly Tory/Reform No-Show… Almost exactly ten years ago (March 2016), I attended the first ever ‘LGBTI+ hustings’ for Scottish Parliament elections in Edinburgh. It was at this event that Nicola Sturgeon stated the SNP’s intention to reform gender recognition in Scotland, including recognition of non-binary identities. The legalisation of same-sex marriage was just […]
“The news emerging today regarding the latest victory by Scotland’s largest and most formidable teaching union is a staggering testament to the power of collective action. It is a reminder of what happens when we refuse to be silenced and instead stand together as the singular, strongest voice for educators in Scotland. The headline is […]
By our Education Correspondent. I have taught in schools in Ireland, England and Scotland for over thirty years (Scotland for just over 20 of those). I have worked at management level; but for the past ten years, have returned to the classroom as it is my passion. I feel the upcoming EIS industrial action on […]
By our Health Correspondent. It is a common mistake to view the current state of our people in Scotland as a series of unfortunate biographical accidents, or perhaps as a collective failure of what the nineteenth-century novelists used to call “character.” When one actually walks through these post-industrial landscapes today, it becomes difficult to avoid […]
By Neil Scott I’m off work with covid. Imagine those words 5 years ago. Imagine a friend messaging that to you back then. Covid still can be dangerous for many people- and was deadly for many more half a decade ago. It killed family and friends -and work colleagues- and the devastating footage of people […]
By “Gael” Reclaiming October 31st a Day for the Fierce Women of Scotland Last night when I was out walking our firework frightened dog, I watched women (mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts) and some men, trailing after children knocking doors for candy- doors sometimes decorated with those cheap hangings that are becoming the symbols of what […]
By Jock Mulligan Allow me to introduce old Bricriu Nemthenga, or Bricriu Poison-Tongue. He’s a character from the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, particularly famous in the tale of Fled Bricrenn (Bricriu’s Feast). He was a wealthy hospitaller, a man of means who was expected to provide hospitality, but his true nature was one of […]
By Karen Orr Our public discourse is a rotting corpse. A pernicious blight infects the way we consume news and understand our society. It is the toxic marriage between the billionaire-owned press baron model and the hunger for anger clickbait. This alliance doesn’t seek to inform; it seeks to inflame, to divide, and ultimately, to […]