May 2011
43 posts
Independence - the Bruce, The Scotsman - and Jim... →
Donald Trump says he’s an environmentalist; others... →
Why Jim Sillars is dead wrong about... →
The next trouble-zone is Sillars’ check-list of “cross-Border functions”. This is one area which requires detailed and vigorous debate among independence supporters, and certainly not some imposed fiat from the high command of the SNP. I guess I’m revealing myself as a “fundi” - and maybe a Green fundi - in this debate, as I find myself unwilling to think that...
More wishes for the Holyrood fairy « A Burdz Eye... →
Hearts and mines: Council Tax freeze and local... →
Firstly look at the figures. It’s estimated that the current saving for a Band D householder is around £1.20 per week. Those with bigger houses save more and those with smaller houses or on housing benefits a lot less. That’s not the way I like to see tax changes to apply.
Compare this to other changes to household budgets. A teacher or other public service employee on around...
A Beginner’s Guide to Scottish Independence and... →
What does the election result mean for Scotland’s... →
After the majority government that was supposed to be an electoral impossibility, Scots are starting to get their head round what the new SNP administration means for them. In the third sector – Scotland’s charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises – we are watching intently as the newly elected MSPs take their seats.
Guest blog: The social cost of big biomass -... →
I saw that Greener Leith is dealing with the proposed biomass plant in Leith. Another is proposed for Grangemouth near where I live. I am glad that the sanity of growing trees abroad for import to run a power station is being questioned. It’s a lunacy which just compounds the problems caused by our over consumption, the pillaging of third world resources and the removal of land from habitat...
Scots Whay Hae!: You Have Been... →
How I became a poster boy for Lib Dem misery «... →
Revealed: how the Yes2AV campaign malfunctioned... →
First days as a new Green MSP →
The Poor Still Have No Lawyers Land » Land... →
Donald Dewar’s Glasses →
The SNP won through faith; now they must make it... →
Suitably Despairing: Edinburgh A Step Closer To... →
“Asked if Scotland or England & Wales benefited more from the Union, Scottish...”
– UK Polling Report
Gaian Economics: Will the UK Abandon its Climate... →
Why selling off allotments is not localism | the... →
Dear 'The State is Too Big' people. Yes, You. -... →
So, once we’re saving our share of the £130bn to replace Trident, £7bn to build aircraft carriers (with no planes to fly from them), Billions in Tax Dodging and so on, we shouldn’t have too much of a problem funding our education, health and social care needs.
Alba Matters: Questions, questions, questions →
A Scottish Watershed Election! →
“On the Regional List vote the Libdems total was 103,472. In 2003 the Scottish...”
– Did I Say Remarkable? « The Ben Lomond Free Press
Leith Decides to do it again - Greener Leith News... →
Last year, the Leith Neighbourhood Partnership, embarked on a unique pilot, in participatory democracy. £25,253 from the community grants fund was allocated not by a small grant panel largely made up of local councillors. Instead, the money was allocated after a vote that involved 350 local people in deciding which grant applications should receive funding.
The Leith Neighbourhood Partnership met...
“The demise of independent bookshops, and the dominance of certain chains whose...”
– Scots Whay Hae!: Some Things Mean More Than Cars and Girls: An Interview with Alan Bissett…
Howden Park Centre’s new programme →
A SUMMER of entertainment is on the cards at Howden Park Centre in Livingston. The centre’s new programme features a mix of music, theatre, dance and visual arts. There is a new ticket offer for full time students of just £6 for a whole mix of shows and West Lothian’s phenomenal artistic talent is celebrated under the banner of “Homegrown” with concerts by singer Adriana Spina, folk band RURA,...
No photo finish this time in West Lothian -... →
Ms Mulligan took her defeat on the chin after 12 “wonderful” years as Linlithgow’s MSP. She said: “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it and I’m very proud of having the opportunity to represent Linlithgow constituency. “I’m obviously disappointed tonight. I think it’s too early to say if the national campaign had an effect at the moment but clearly...
Windfarm consultation - WestLothian Courier →
THE public are being invited to have their say on plans for a new multi-million pound windfarm. Fauch Hill Sustainable Energy Ltd (FHSE) are hosting a meeting of the Fauch Hill Windfarm Liaison Forum on Tuesday, May 10, at West Lothian College. The forum, whose membership consists of representatives from local groups, will provide an arena for further discussion on proposals for the windfarm...
The Big Count (2): Bellweathers, seats to watch... →
Linlithgow
Another brilliant seat to watch with very interesting factors in play and the third of my “can’t they both win” seats. Mary Mulligan is, in my opinion, an underrated MSP and one I think Labour could make better use of at Holyrood. She is up against Fiona Hyslop who, after some difficulties in her previous role as Education Minister seems more at home with the culture brief. I think...
A Time of Change and Hope in Scotland →
That strikes me as an election worthy of calling interesting, even one with a degree of drama, excitement and theatre. It has also been one in which a politics of hope, no matter how vague, has managed to articulate itself in the SNP campaign, and be heard and recognised by many voters, and seen as distinct from its opponents. We cannot let such mildly momentous times be glossed over as ‘dire’...
A Scottish Liberal: "Independence" is not a four... →
As I’ve been out in my own prospective constituency, I’ve been impressed by how much Green issues matter to local people. I’ve had so many conversations on renewable energy and tackling the problems associated with climate change. I’ve also had many conversations about animal welfare, recycling, the future of the charitable sector, unemployment and the NHS. People are clearly concerned about...
Tax property, not people, for a fairer society |... →
The Red Under The Bed » Blog Archive » Why I’ll be... →
A common response when I mention that to people is along the lines of ‘are you a tree hugger?’ but ironically, it is not the parties directly ‘green’ policies that have attracted me. I care deeply about the environment and am constantly frustrated by the lack of political will to address issues that I was learning about 25 years ago in primary school. That was my main reasoning behind my vote in...
Beyond Broken Britain | Bella Caledonia →
Great post about actually thinking about sort of country Scotland could be.
“I want to live in a society, not a market”
– The Student speaks to Patrick Harvie
Election could be big crunch for Labour and SNP →
The Scottish elections have been shaped by two diametrically opposed campaigns, with two different themes and moods, one SNP and one Labour.
Suitably Despairing: It Was A Dark And Stormy... →
In an ideal world we would have “stored” the excess energy for those times when the wind doesn’t blow, but battery technology isn’t that advanced yet. Energy storage isn’t as sexy as energy production, so it sees relatively little in the way of R&D funding.
Scotland the big loser in BBC Scotland leaders’... →
For all that Labour and the SNP have stolen each other’s policy clothes during this campaign – Labour far more and far less cannily, it has to be said – the Scottish media don’t do us any favours either. For they have condensed this election’s key talking points into a handful of areas. Tonight’s topics which came from audience questions were free bus passes and their affordability; public...
Lallands Peat Worrier: Kinlochbervie Chronicle:... →
Another Highland party worker who did not wish to be named, John Farquhar Munro, 5’7”, told the Chronicle, “Tavish’s lost it. He’s a sheep at the wheel.”
April 2011
123 posts
Suitably Despairing: The Week In Green Numbers →
11,314
UK homeowners who had solar panels installed in the first quarter of 2011
Camera vs. bulldozer: film crew takes on Donald... →
You’ve Been Trumped is a chronicle of American greed, hubris and stupidity. Trump’s arrogance, familiar and cartoonish to North American audiences from his performance on the reality TV series The Apprentice, seems absurd and dangerous in the tiny corner of Scotland where he has chosen to flaunt it — ironically, exactly the same place where Scots director Bill Forsyth uncannily predicted an...
Suitably Despairing: Zombies vs Vampires: Which is... →
And the overall winner has to be…the Zombies. They out-green Vampires in almost every department, and are themselves the very definition of slow food! Want to add something or think I’m too quick to tar Vampires with an un-green brush? Leave a comment!
Scotland’s Future Story of Hope: How we Defeat the... →
How do we go about creating Scotland’s new story? Robert McKee in the landmark ‘Story’ (3) identifies three important elements to a story: character, risk, and what kind of risk people are prepared to undertake? A new story which combined these three elements would be centred on the potential of self-government as a nation and its relationship to self-determination as a society. It would...
Taking democratic reform beyond electoral reform |... →
In 2004, as the centenary project of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, an inquiry was begun into the state of Britain’s democracy. The Power Inquiry, as it was known, finally reported, after hearing the contributions from hundreds of academics, politicians, institutions and individuals, in February 2006.
They made a total of 30 recommendations to improve the state of our democracy and give...
Stephen's Liberal Journal: Seven Days before the... →
What we have in the UK is a representative democracy. We the people elect our representatives, they in turn vote for or against the Government of the day. What we are doing when we vote for MPs is elect the person we think will represent the needs of our area best. That is what AV will ensure that each voter in all of the constituencies will have, an MP with the backing of 50% of the valid...
Battlegrounds 2011 : Scottish National Party -... →
The real question for the SNP will be how many of their defence seats can they hold (which read as a list of “How on earth did Labour lose that?”) Almond Valley (the new Livingston constituency) according to the calculations only went SNP by four votes in 2007 and if Labour cannot win that then Iain Gray will have serious problems on his hands. The latest polls suggest that on the...