Blog

Viewing posts from July, 2016

Type 26 frigates: "indefinitely delayed"

Posted by: Editor in Defence July 20, 2016, 1 p.m.

Another No campaign broken promise

The Guardian is reporting that the order for the Global Combat Ship, also known as the Type 26 Frigate, due to be built at the BAE yards on the Clyde is to be "indefinitely delayed". Originally, 13 of the GCS ships were to be built on the Clyde but that was then reduced to just 8 ships and now the order is possibly cancelled completely. This comes scarcely two days after the controversial vote to renew Trident at a cost of £205Bn.

A reality check

Posted by: David Ashford in Education, Youth July 14, 2016, 7 p.m.

Just imagine a highly intelligent creature landing on Scotland from a distant planet (not England!) with a name like Curious. Let's say it has come to examine the prospect of young people being able to cope with the complex challenges of our pre-independence society. Doubtless Curious would be impressed by most of our educational institutions – some of the finest in the world. However tuition is just one part of a young person's life. It's unavoidably structured with pressure to maintain routines that can at times be alien and therefore devoid of any sense of natural ownership.

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.