Category: Politics
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HBOS: how banks became big, bad news
Monday morning, no time for coffee. The week is off to a sprinting start already. Ray’s new book arrived in a cardboard box at the weekend. The Scotsman plan a feature this week and the Telegraph covered it yesterday. Anyone would think banks were big, bad news.
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The price of freedom (and pizza) is eternal leafleting
Perhaps all is not lost for Labour tomorrow. At lunchtime I was out leafleting in an attempt to catch the folk who were not at home last time I called. From experience of campaigns past I have learned that if you want to get into a tenement it’s best to give a bland message to…
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Take Four – a view of Scottish politics from cyberspace
Perhaps it was just a slow night on telly. Perhaps I was cheered to hear that David Tennant had lent (if that’s the right word?) his voice to Scottish Labour. Whatever the reason, fortified with only a small glass of wine, I sat down to watch four short YouTube films one after the other. It…
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The price of feeling good
A great night in the museum: how much was it worth? Tickets are going fast, the press release says. If you want to enjoy the next Museum Late you better book soon. Sorry, I missed out three vital letters, this is the second of the RBS Museum Lates at the National Museum of Scotland.
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Turning Pirates into Philanthropists?
He never writes, he never calls. Now more than a week since I emailed Stephen Hester chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland and still no reply. Of course I did not really expect an answer from him, still less that he would buy the idea of transferring £500 million RBS bonus payouts to…
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Royal Housing for the Poor?
Stop Press: Monday 9 Jan. No reply yet from RBS but this idea has provoked great response from young people and sympathetic support from Malcolm Chisholm MSP and Mark Lazarowicz MP so I will be posting an update as soon as possible… The Skinny Magazine has wickedly bestowed Stand Comedy Club comedians with magic powers…
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Where exactly is the centre of Edinburgh?
Just wondering, in the event of revolution where would Edinburgh crowds gather, where is the city square, where the city’s heart? (Twitter Mon 21 Feb 17.50) It was an impulsive question on Twitter. I didn’t really expect a response. During the Arab Spring it occurred to me that Edinburgh lacks a true centre. In the…
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Beware landslides, they bury hopes as well as fears
The morning after. Through my window I see a lampost spattered with red, orange and green and none of those colours will make much of a splash in the new Scottish Parliament. As a Labour supporter I take some comfort from the posters taped to our living room window. Malcolm Chisholm has survived what looks…
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Let them be afflicted
So, no more Mr Nice Guy then. David Cameron’s Britain looks set to become an unforgiving kind of place. Welcome immigrants – but only the right kind of immigrants and not too many of them. And lets stop wasting tax on wasters – drug addicts, alcoholics, and the overweight – so they get off benefits…
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A is for alcohol
Politicians can’t do drugs and drink. Pandering to the Daily Mail and the drinks industry means they are irrational about one and evasive about the other. While government policy slips and slides around the price (too low) and social cost (too high) of booze, I am enjoying the memory that I once managed to sneak…
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Into the unknown
Our first Open Space event took place in a very open space, a cavernous place, at the top of a shopping centre overlooking Leith harbour, one cold Sunday in November. There was no heating, no lighting, no floor covering but there was a fabulous view of the Forth. It seems a good place to start.
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Anyone for the Big Society?
Harder than it seems, members of the audience get involved in Change earlier this year (picture by Kasia Raszewska) At the dress rehearsal I find myself on the edge of my seat. Why is Alice not gathering information and support from her local councillors, MSP, housing associations, neighbourhood groups? Who the hell is funding this…