Blog

The blog is our main discussion forum with with an eclectic selection of authors and thought-provoking articles. Grab a cuppa and join the debate, your contribution is always welcome.

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The time is now

Posted by: Editor in EU July 9, 2016, 5:07 p.m.

The Yes movement never went away and yet there is a feeling in the air that a resurgence is on-going. It might be that recent events have further strengthened the case for independence or that our opponents have weakened or a combination of both factors. The biggest influencing event is, of course, Brexit, which at a stroke demolished one of the pillars supporting the union between Scotland and England. During the previous IndieRef Better Together, and their supporters, argued that an independent Scotland would, at best, take years to get back into the EU. Those of us on the Yes side countered that the real threat to Scotland's membership was an impending in-out EU referendum. The Chris Cairns' Bull Bridge cartoon, published in January 2013, neatly encapsulated both of those arguments.

Heart of Europe

Posted by: Editor in EU, Humour July 3, 2016, 4:33 p.m.

SwissScotSwap is on the cards

Following on from Nicola Sturgeon's highly successful EU diplomacy in Brussels last week the FM has been conducting innovative talks with Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann. The talks, referrred to as SwissScotSwap in diplomatic circles, will see Scotland brought geographically to the centre of the EU. We are indebted to the respected investigative media outlet Der Postillon (German) for breaking this vitally important story.

Where's George?

Posted by: Editor in Economics June 26, 2016, 6:20 p.m.

UK in shambles yet the Chancellor has gone missing

An astounding referendum result will take the UK out of the European Union, the Pound is in free-fall, the stock market has plummeted, there are hourly announcements of major employers leaving the UK and the Prime Minister has resigned. An omnishambles doesn't even begin to describe the mess the UK is in and yet George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, hasn't been seen in public since before the EURef.

News where you are

Posted by: Editor June 25, 2016, 11:30 a.m.

The newspapers on the day after Brexit

We take a quick look round the main Scottish and rUK newspapers on the day after Brexit to gauge how the referendum result is being presented. We have also included a few continental European newspaper front pages, just for fun.

Have EU heard?

Posted by: Editor in Constitution, EU June 24, 2016, 9:51 p.m.

Britain out, IndieRef back, Dave going

Well, for a campaign that started off as uninspiring and lacklustre the EU Referendum has turned into one of the most fascinating political events ever. The polls predicted that it would be close and it was with 52% Leave and 48% Remain. In Scotland, however, Remain scored an emphatic 62% emphasising, yet again, how different the political scene is here compared to rUK. All of Scotland's 32 local authority areas voted Remain although some, like Moray at 50.1%, were much closer than others.

Too close to call

Posted by: Editor June 21, 2016, 12:43 p.m.

EU Referendum result on a knife edge

There is only one campaigning day left before the referendum is held on Thursday and the UK result seems to be too close to call. The financial markets and the bookies (Betfair on Monday were offering 5 to 1 for Brexit) seem to be suggesting that Remain had it in the bag but the UK's only known psephologist, John Curtice, warned against discounting a Leave majority. The pollsters are all over the place.

Death knell

Posted by: Editor June 14, 2016, 1:22 p.m.

The Sun: they think it's all over (in England)

The Sun newspaper likes to be seen on the winning side of any political decision as it is good for their circulation figures. In the last few days there have been some strong polling suggesting that the Leave campaign would be victorious a week on Thursday. Polls are just snapshots of opinion at a given time and there are nine days of scaremongering campaigning still to go.

Watching you, watching everyone

Posted by: Editor April 29, 2016, 3:43 p.m.

Take two

In 2013 Edward Snowden leaked documents which disclosed the extent of global surveillance mostly carried out by the USA but also assisted by the governments in the UK, Canada and Australia. The disclosures made it clear that the surveillance was attempting to capture everything that anyone was doing online or on their mobiles.

A wee reminder

Posted by: Editor in Constitution, Defence, Economics March 20, 2016, 5:09 p.m.

A snippet from "Scotland's Future"

This incoming Thursday is the 24th of March, 2016. Had a Yes vote prevailed in the referendum, March 24th would have been Independence Day. The following is a quote from "Scotland's Future" also known as "The White Paper".

Next referendum announced

Posted by: Editor in Constitution, EU Feb. 20, 2016, 5:22 p.m.

Erm, EU referendum, that is

A short while ago David Cameron announced, from outside Downing Street, the date of the EU referendum: Thursday, June 23rd, 2016. He stated that following his "deal", secured late last night,

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