Scotland
Cameron’s wee trip to Edinburgh
Posted on February 18, 2012 by Adam Ramsay | 3 Comments
Cameron ended his trip to a porridge factory with a wee speech from Edinburgh’s Grassmarket. Shrouded by a carefully chosen view of the castle, he launched, American tourist style, into a lecture on Scottish history. He missed one tale: Just round the corner is Greyfriars Kirk, where the Convananters gathered on 28 February 1638 to [...]
Scottish Independence: the no campaign and how to deal with it
Posted on January 25, 2012 by Adam Ramsay | 12 Comments
It is becoming clear what the strategy of the ‘no’ to independence campaign will be: confusion. So far, we’ve had a few opening shots: lines which the UK nationalists presumably hope will ricochet down the next couple of years: what will currency be? What about the Scottish army? Even, ‘who will own Rockall‘? OK, maybe [...]
The Scottish Independence Debate and England
Posted on January 24, 2012 by Mark Ballard | 14 Comments
I’ve just finished listening to a particularly unenlightening discussion of the UK’s constitutional future on BBC Radio 4 and, once again, I’m left despairing at the shallowness of the analysis. For a start, this is not just a debate about Scotland and England. There are two other nations in the United Kingdom which the BBC [...]
Sometimes We Win
Posted on January 20, 2012 by Alyson Macdonald | 3 Comments
After the heartbreaking defeats of several popular anti-cuts campaigns in the last few months, we can sometimes forget that campaigning isn’t always a futile activity. But yesterday, after a six-month-long campaign by local residents, the City of Edinburgh Council voted to reject proposals to privatise two major service areas. The proposals were part of an [...]
Three more thoughts on the Scottish independence shenanigans
Posted on January 12, 2012 by Adam Ramsay | 9 Comments
On Tuesday I wrote up three thoughts on the scrap over Scottish independence. Here are three more. First: PMQs this week saw Cameron and Miliband attempt their opening gambits on independence. As the long campaign effectively kicks off, they both stumbled a little. Miliband pointed to the need to ‘have the discussion about the serious [...]
Three things about the independence referendum scrap
Posted on January 10, 2012 by Adam Ramsay | 21 Comments
First: let’s get one thing straight. Nations have a right to self determination in international law. David Cameron may quibble about the devolved powers of the Holyrood Parliament under the Scotland Act. He may even, if it came to a battle in the international court, win. In my experience the arc of judicial rulings bend [...]
Cuts and Privatisation: Still on Edinburgh’s Agenda in 2012
Posted on January 9, 2012 by Alyson Macdonald | 3 Comments
In November 2011, the City of Edinburgh Council took the decision not privatise environmental services (that’s waste and recycling, street cleaning, and parks maintenance), following pressure from a local grassroots campaign. I’ve been involved in the campaign from the early stages and it has been amazing to see how a little bit of public scrutiny [...]
Nov 30: Greens call Holyrood out on strike
Posted on November 16, 2011 by Gary Dunion | 2 Comments
“Pick a side,” urged the Green members of the Scottish Parliament, Patrick Harvie and Alison Johnstone, as they voted against scheduling business during the multi-union pension strike.
Privatisation and the SNP
Posted on October 27, 2011 by Alyson Macdonald | 1 Comment
While Alex Salmond received a hero’s welcome at the SNP conference in Inverness last weekend, controversy has been brewing back in Edinburgh. On Thursday, the City of Edinburgh Council – led by a coalition of the Liberal Democrats and SNP – will be taking the first of a series of votes on whether council services [...]
Food Revolt
Posted on October 18, 2011 by Mike Small | 2 Comments
Interest in local food has been booming in recent years, even through recession (while sales of organic and fair trade food can take a hit). That maybe tells us that the local food revolution is more than people wanting to know where their food comes from after decades of crumbling crisis amid our dysfunctional food [...]
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