India’s 80th Independence Day
Image of salt protestors led by another famou Kamala, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay. (Image created with the help of AI) We are hearing a lot about the USA’s 250th birthday – what…
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Ossian was not a hoax
The chorus of Gaelic singers for Through the Shortbread Tin – which is selling out fast On Friday, I saw Through the Shortbread Tin at the Edinburgh Fringe, an enjoyable…
Movement brings hope for refugee children
Here is a guest post from an old friend, Magnus Wolfe Murray. I have known Magnus from youth. In his early twenties, Magnus went pretty much overnight from exuberant skateboarder…
Why Andy Burnham should introduce a Shetland tariff for electricity
Viking – the UK’s most productive onshore wind farm – on Shetland, photo by Rob Bruce When I visited Shetland recently on holiday, I read and enjoyed Marianne Brown’s book…
Witness
Donald John Morrison I took a trip to Benbecula to visit Donald Morrison, a chief witness in the case of Willie McRae, a prominent Scottish lawyer who was found dying…
Why Norway plays more freely than Scotland
Guest post: William Kemp Bruce Win or lose, the fact that Norway is playing England in the quarter-finals of the World Cup is a major triumph for a country of…
Dissecting Shetland’s Farmed Seafood
Oyster catchers at St Ninian’s beach, photo by Rob Bruce On Shetland last week, I found myself in an outhouse watching a man brandish a gleaming knife over a corpse….
The Scot who brought us Brexit – and possibly more
I’ve been working my way through the coverage of the 10th anniversary of the Brexit vote this week, most of which focuses on the damage to the British economy. In…
Guest post: Gilly McArthur
First, a couple of events: Jackie and Vicky Allan are at Fittie Community Hall in Aberdeen on Sunday, July 12, at 2 pm, as part of the Festival of the…
A new exhibition of pro-Roman bias
Curator Dr Fraser Hunter with an altar to the god Mithras excavated in Inveresk If you strolled up to Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin and encountered an information board that asked…
How are the seafarers in Strait of Hormuz faring?
First, an appeal – I am fundraising here to help our friend, Tanzanian environmental activist Mathias Lyamunda, to speak up for his country at the international Zero Waste Forum 2026…
What would happen to a Finnish Peter Murrell?
Peter Murrell will soon be sentenced to a jail term – probably of a few years. Whatever the sentence. the red top tabloids will say that it is not enough….
Is it time for the English left to reclaim the flag of St George?
Of course, it is not ‘north’ for us here in Scotland I have been enjoying catching up with Andy Burnham’s book Head North this week, which he wrote with Liverpool…
Manchester v Glasgow
Squnty Bridge, River Clyde, Glasgow, image SwaloPhoto via Flickr ACC Andy Burnham’s route to power is built on Manchester’s success. It is seen as the UK’s best example of urban…
Catching up with the Scottish election result
“We just need to get over the border to Scotland to escape this neo fascist government” It was quite frustrating trying to catch up on the Scottish election results and…
Scotland is Energy Rich – so why do Scots Suffer Three Times More Energy Poverty Than England?
Photo by Rob Bruce Energy is a big issue for many who will vote in the Scottish Parliament election this Thursday – even though Holyrood has no power over energy….
Labour has lost its way in Scotland
Storm clouds gather for Scottish Labour – and over Glen Coe, photo by Rob Bruce The laddie doth protest too much The most talked about moment of the Holyrood election…
Scotland is doing the low commotion
Lampost banners in Nairn Scotland’s mood as the Holyrood election approaches seems calm rather than excited. John Swinney is expected to be returned as First Minister. He is a moderate…
The Highlands and Islands – New Work
Dundas Street Gallery, Edinburgh24–28 April, 10am–5pm, free. Honesty, from Ann’s cottage garden, in a red jug I have been helping to organise a joint exhibition by my old friend Ann…
Why is Britain’s Energy Reform Plan so Bad for Scotland?
Wind turbines on Orkney, photo Rob Bruce (Dundas Street gallery, Edinburgh, April 24-28) (First, a correction – I wrote in this blogpost about the forthcoming Scottish election that the two…