Tag Archives: Scotland

Politics is the continuation of war by other means is to rather mangle Clausewitz but expresses a truth that the SNP and most other Scots missed yesterday.  The SNP may have won a tactical victory, but they suffered a strategic defeat. The SNP goal of creating an independent Scotland, depends on …

The main lesson to take from the EU referendum in 2016 is that a positive, hopeful, patriotic argument beats a negative, pessimistic anti-British argument. The Remainers were unable or unwilling to make a positive case for the EU. They rarely told us of the benefits that the EU brings. There …

In 2015 I campaigned for the Lib Dems in Gordon. I signed up to the tactical voting campaign that some Pro UK people support. There was a graphic showing which party we should vote for in each constituency to keep the SNP out. The whole thing was chaotic. Labour, Lib …

There is a conventional wisdom in Scotland about politics that everyone agrees on. It doesn’t much matter which party the Scottish establishment support, they still hold the same assumptions. The problem is that this same Scottish establishment has been wrong about everything ever since they came up with the idea …

I have long held the view that Better Together ran a terrible negative campaign that nearly cost us the referendum in 2014. For this reason my response to the SNP’s latest attempt to encourage more Scots to support independence is not going to be to explain why Scottish independence is …

One of the most puzzling aspects of the EU Referendum campaign was the enormous support for the EU by the Scottish voters and the SNP. The main reason for the demand for Scotland to be independent is that money flows out of Scotland to the South East of England.  The …

The Labour Party’s genius plan to “unite the nation” by further Balkanising the United Kingdom The Labour Party and the British Left in general just don’t get it. With the honourable exception of a few Cassandra-like voices warning that the Left must learn to re-embrace patriotism in order to reconnect with …

The passing tourist of Scottish politics can be pardoned for presuming Scotland to be a land of excitable swivel-eyed devotees of the European integrationist project, where attitudes towards mass immigration and its cultural and economic benefits are a pole apart from the primitive tribalism expressed by our backward southern neighbours. …

Will the New Britain survive? Despite the absence of consent to the 2014 referendum, the country went to the polls in 2015 knowing that the SNP had received a surge of support since losing the independence referendum. When the referendum result was announced, Alex Salmond said the independence issue had …

The colloquially called “Edinburgh Agreement” was signed on 15 October 2012 AGREEMENT between the United Kingdom Government and the Scottish Government on a referendum on independence for Scotland. The United Kingdom Government and the Scottish Government have agreed to work together to ensure that a referendum on Scottish independence can …

Auld Lang Syne! A saying made famous by Scottish poet Robert Burns to commemorate past experiences as well as new beginnings. Scottish Chefs have been inspired by celebrated poet Robert Burns since his Address to a Haggis was first published in 1787. Haggis, a dish that is lamb offal in a casing …

A very Happy New Year to you all. We all say it don’t we? With such an air of optimism, a new spring in our step. Out with the old and in with the new. As midnight chimes on December 31st we kiss and shake hands with loved ones, friends, …

The right of self-determination is enshrined in international law. Should it even be allowed to be put as a question before the British people? After all, referenda were held in Gibraltar (1967 and 2002) and the Falkland Islands in 2013 on whether these territories wanted to remain overseas territories of …

1. The flag Many argued that the result of the independence referendum was irrelevant to the continuation of the name and flag for the current United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. If Scotland became independent, it had promised to retain a “Social Union” with the rest of the …

It is time for a Believe in Britain campaign. Purpose In recent decades we have seen the growth of regional and national identities. There is the obvious growth of SNP and demands for Scottish independence, but also in Wales – Plaid Cymru now take part in UK-wide general election TV …

Winning the referendum was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I’ve been fighting for Brexit for a long time and winning was one the grandest of satisfactions. I see fantastic opportunities for the post-Brexit United Kingdom. However, before those Brexit opportunities are realised we need to address the …

The threat of a second Scottish Independence Referendum (IndyRef2), coming about as a result of the Brexit vote in the UK-wide EU Membership Referendum, is fallacy. It’s spin.  It’s deceitful.  It’s divisive.  It’s complete nonsense. There is no way we are either going to see a second Scottish Independence Referendum, …

The EU referendum is about remaining or staying in a union. For those of us who live in Scotland there are obvious comparisons with the Scottish independence referendum. But there are differences too. Leaving the EU is not about creating an independent, sovereign nation state called the UK. We are …

There’s a moment in Walter Scott’s Redgauntlet that sums up where we are in Scottish politics at present. The novel describes the fictitious Jacobite Rebellion of 1765. The not so Young Pretender and not quite so Bonnie Prince Charlie has returned to Scotland for one last go. But there are …