Fay Young

Category: Politics

  • In memory of Kerry Napuk

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    I am very sad to report the death of a good friend, Kerry Napuk.  He was the inspiration for a community venture in Leith which survives as a testament to his vision, leadership and constant cajoling. This is one of those times when there is no clear dividing line between my private and public worlds…

  • Sometimes the facts get in the way of a good story

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    An odd story caught my eye yesterday. A photograph posted on Facebook claimed to prove that Jim Murphy, the Labour MP  for East Renfrewshire was ‘egged’ by his own ‘minder’. According to rumours flying round Facebook this was a set up intended to smear the Yes campaign whose tactics had forced him to abandon his…

  • Borders of the mind: the great distraction of nationalism

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    Raindrops smear a blurry, bleary view of the Borders. I’m on the train, hurtling through what is still (so far) UK countryside, crossing the invisible line that divides Scotland from England. A red mist gathers as I flick through the Guardian, headlines on every page proclaiming why the independence referendum is (to me) such a…

  • Knock knock: who’s there?

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    No fear of sleeping in these mornings. By 8.30 there’s a lusty knocking on the bedroom wall, nothing personal you understand, just a purposeful hammering and banging, drilling and pounding. I’m not complaining. They are knocking the old house into new shape and it’s good to hear sounds of life next door again.

  • The ghost of Christmas present

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    Food banks are brimming with good will this Christmas. The Trussell Trust has delivered food parcels to 60,000 people in desperate need of help during the festive season. While the government resolutely denies that welfare reforms are causing a dramatic increase in food poverty, the Department for Work and Pensions admits that delays to benefits…

  • Nothing up my sleeve

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    At San Francisco airport we are offered a choice.  We can go through the bodyscanner or opt for a ‘thorough pat-down’.  Without giving it much thought we follow everyone else through the microwave. My man’s scan triggers an alarm which means waiting for a male security officer and a ‘pat-down in the soft parts’.  

  • Let’s get armed with information

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    I wrote this book because I got really really pissed off with people with lots and lots of money telling people without any money they need to pay shit back. Mark Blyth, author of Austerity, The History of a Dangerous Idea.

  • Cameron’s poll tax?

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        On a bleak, finger-chilling day, some heart-warming moments.  At the demonstration against the bedroom tax outside the Scottish Parliament,  a young Edinburgh student stirs the blood with invective against Holyrood Palace: will they be paying tax on unoccupied bedrooms? Like f*** they will. And, a trade unionist raises hopes: “This will be Cameron’s…

  • Give us statues we can look in the eye

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    I might have known better. Getting into the taxi in Queen Street Station one rainy day I couldn’t help commenting on George Square. Looking a little tidier today, I say, but what’s happening to the statues?

  • All the world’s a market place

    All the world’s a market place

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    “I hope you don’t mind”, says Kerry, “I’ve put you down for leading a workshop on Open Space Community.”  I’ve just arrived at the conference and within minutes I find myself sitting with a microphone in my hand in a circle of people of all ages from all over the world inviting them to join…

  • Into the unknown

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    Another step into the unknown, I’m on a train hurtling south from Edinburgh to London. Of all unlikely things I find myself an ambassador for Leith Open Space on my way to take part in an international conference of open spacers, more precisely the World Open Space on Open Space (WOSONOS) for participants of this…

  • The mystery of the Hogwarts Treehouse

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    A new book burst on to the scene this week, a best seller on Amazon before the shops opened on Thursday. And no, I’m not talking about Ray’s book this time, I’m just grabbing a sneaky chance to revisit the mystery of the Hogwarts Treehouse.