One of my most deeply-held convictions is of the benefit of having a secular state. It is the best protection against excesses committed in the name of a belief system, which applies as much to the oppressions of atheism as to those of any religion. Let’s distinguish between secularism on the one hand and anti-religion on […]
Former First Minister Jack McConnell recently dismissed the surge in SNP support as a “protest movement”. Hearing that brought to mind a scene from a Mel Brooks film[1]: Count De Monet: It is said that the people are revolting. King Louis: You said it; they stink on ice. In October 2014, not long after the referendum, I heard […]
Comrade, I’ve been a Labour Party member for some decades now. I should probably mention that I voted Yes in September’s referendum. Note that I didn’t preface the second statement with “despite that” or any qualification of that kind. That’s because I didn’t see any contradiction there, and I still don’t. Indeed, I think that […]
As a Celtic fan married to a Jambo, I’m used to sole ownership of the football bragging rights in our house, bar the occasional blip. The announcement that Heart of Midlothian FC intends to pay its employees a minimum of the Living Wage has rather spoiled that settled arrangement, however. I won’t ever be allowed to […]
Alex Massie’s recent blog entry for The Spectator has an excellent analysis of the current Labour leadership crisis. Massie quips that “If, as Diderot nearly put it, Scotland cannot be free until the last Labour councillor is strangled with the last copy of the Daily Record then, blimey, on both fronts the country is closer to national liberation than […]