Independence Archives - Aberdeen Voice

Greens Grapple with ‘Sadiq’s’ Scotland

Mar 022017

With thanks to Guy Ingerson.

This weekend Scotland learned that the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, and possible future contender for Labour leader, thinks the Scottish Independence movement is on par with the rise of far-right nationalism across Europe and the election of Donald Trump.

While the war of words in both the press and social media raged on, Aberdeen Greens grappled with being lumped in with the likes of the BNP.

Aberdeen Branch Co-Convenor and candidate for George St/Harbour ward Guy Ingerson said:

“Waking up of a morning to see Sadiq Khan compare pro-independence parties like ours with Donald Trump was frankly baffling and enraging. We Greens have been leading the fight against Trump and people like him since our inception. We seek to build bridges between communities, not burn them.

We call for Aberdeen Council and Labour leader Cllr Jenny Laing to clarify if she agrees with Sadiq Khan? Does she really thing pro-independence voters are bigots?”

Branch Co-Convenor and prominent independence campaigner Myshele Haywood said

“The vast majority of the independence movement has been internationalist and opposed to racism. We want an independent Scotland in order to be an example to world of what a sustainable and socially just society can look like. The movements Sadiq Khan is comparing us to are the polar opposite.”

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Rally To Oppose Austerity And Welcome Refugees 13.09.15

Aberdeen City, Opinion No Responses »

Sep 102015

With thanks to Radical Independence Aberdeen.

An anti-austerity rally is planned for Sunday 13 September, with an additional refugees welcome message in light of the ongoing crisis in Calais.

Last year, on the Sunday before the referendum, a flashmob of over 1000 people gathered in the Castlegate in support of a Yes vote for Scottish independence.

This year’s event calls for people on both sides of the independence debate to come together against austerity, and in support of refugees.

The event’s organisers, from the Radical Independence Campaign (RIC), explain the connection:

“it’s all part of the same problem, the same mind-set where rich politicians get to decide the fates of people who are less fortunate. Thousands of people are dying in the Mediterranean. Thousands of people are dying within weeks of being declared ‘fit for work.’

“Thousands of families are relying on food banks and charities to survive, both in Calais and right here in Aberdeen, one of the richest cities in the UK. This can’t continue.”

The event is strictly non-party-political, though politicians are encouraged to attend. Speakers will represent a range of charities and activist groups, including Community Food Initiatives North East (CFINE), Future Choices, Aberdeen CND, Aberdeen Anti-Fascist Alliance and RIC Aberdeen. There will also be people sharing their personal stories of how austerity has affected their lives.

In addition to speakers, there will also be a food bank collection by CFINE, information stalls from local charities, and music from Guarana Drummers.

The event will take place on Sunday 13 September, at 2pm, in the Castlegate. For more information please contact ricaberdeen@gmail.com.

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SNP Strategy On Trident: CND Host Public Meeting

Aberdeen City, Information No Responses »

Jul 162015

Aberdeen and District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament will be hosting a debate entitled ‘The SNP strategy on Trident at Westminster and how the local CND group can support this’. With thanks to Jonathan Russell.

Jonathan Russell Chair of Aberdeen and District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament stated ‘that given the SNP’s large numbers at Westminster and their strong commitment to oppose replacing Trident we consider it important that all those opposed to Trident get involved with our elected representatives in working out the best strategies to stop any decision taking place at Westminster in 2016 to replace Trident.’

Speaker: Stuart Donaldson, MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine

Meeting to take place at 7.30pm on Friday 24th July at Unite the Union 42-44 King Street Aberdeen

All Welcome.

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Banff And Buchan MP’s New Year Message

Aberdeenshire, Articles No Responses »

Dec 312014

Dr Eilidh Whiteford. MP for Banff And Buchan.

By Dr Eilidh Whiteford MP.

As the festive season draws to a close, it’s a good time of year not only to reflect on our personal goals for the year ahead, but to consider those for whom Christmas has been a difficult and frugal time.

While many of us will have enjoyed the company of friends and relatives- and more good food and drink than is necessarily good for us – for others Christmas will have been stressful or lonely. For families on low and middle incomes, Christmas can create real financial pressures, especially when youngsters want to keep up with their pals’ clothes, games and gadgets.

Cuts in tax credits and freezes in child benefit have eaten into the finances of many families, and it will have been a lean festive season for many.

During the Winter months it’s more important than ever look out for elderly, disabled or vulnerable neighbours.

Over the last year, the use of food banks has grown by around 400 per cent around Scotland. Our local food banks in Banff and Buchan are run by voluntary groups and churches, who support those referred to them. They deserve our ongoing gratitude for the lifeline support they offer to those in our communities who need them.

It’s a disgrace, though, that that in a country as rich as ours, food parcels are necessary at all, especially when much of the increase in demand for food aid has been driven by changes to taxes and benefits.

Just before the House of Commons rose for Christmas we debated a motion to repeal the pernicious Bedroom Tax. Although the Scottish Government has mitigated this measure for every affected household in Scotland (8 out of 10 of which are the home of a disabled person) the legislation remains on the statute book, and tenants remain liable in law.

Of course, I voted to end this deeply unjust piece of legislation once and for all, but it was voted down by the Tories and their Lib Dem allies, who claim – in Scotland- to oppose it, yet file through the lobby to support their Tory friends. Actions speak louder than words

I would like to wish everyone in Banff and Buchan a happy New Year going into 2015. I look forward to the next parliamentary session, where I will continue to do my best for all my constituents.

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Old Susannah 165 – Salmond and Carbuncle

Opinion, Satire and Humour 2 Responses »

Oct 312014

Voice’s Old Susannah takes a look over the past week’s events in the ‘Deen and beyond. By Suzanne Kelly.

Tally Ho! And Happy Christmas and Season’s greetings while I’m at it. Halloween costumes sit next to Christmas cards in all the stores; hope you’ve finished writing your cards and wrapping your presents.

Despite this being the season of peace on earth, good will to men, etc, etc. there seem to be a few bad-tempered people patrolling Aberdeen’s vibrant streets these days; quite a departure from the peaceful scenes we’re used to.

One man seems to have been provoked past endurance of late at the Bridge of Don area.

I’m sure the disagreement he had with a lady must have been over a spectacularly important issue, as he concluded his best course of action was to use his car to pin her to another car.

To be fair, he did threaten her with his staffie first (I’m sure that dog must have a great existence), so she should have backed down. When he gets his eventual day in court all will become clear.

Elsewhere a man jumped a street sweeper on the green (or Merchant Quarter if you prefer). I’m certain the cleaner must have started it. Believe it or not, drink may have been involved. All was caught on camera by a nearby restaurant mogul who stepped in to stop the beating. Never step into a violent fight; you may risk getting hurt. Do call the police ASAP – and ensure you film all either for a court case or better yet, for youtube.

And for all those people who violently oppose restrictions on air rifles and bb guns, a champion arises. Thirty something (age, not IQ) Aleksandrs Kolosovs apparently said he might shoot a judge after bringing an air gun to an Aberdeen pub.

Our gunslinger was in court charged with threatening to shoot a judge and having an offensive weapon – a BB air gun – in his possession at the East Neuk Bar in Aberdeen. Good tempered Kolosovs is also accused of assaulting a man earlier this year who was shot twice in the head.

Remember, as we’re so often told, guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Of course if you make it easy for violent tempered people to get guns, it makes it that much easier for them to kill people. Remember, having a weapon that can maim or kill is within your reach and you’re allowed to have them.

Funny though that on hearsay, Dod Copeland had his flat trashed and was taken into custody because some unknown witnesses said he had a rifle inside his flat. These witnesses must have peered (with no reason) into the flat which is off the beaten track, seen a gun, decided it could not have been an air gun or BB gun, convinced the police to launch a massive raid, and thereby trashing Copeland’s home and health.

Let’s not forget that the police later wanted Copeland to say that his feather duster looked like an assault rifle; a mistake any serving police officer could have made when lauching a siege on an empty property. So let’s leave our excellent, clear-cut gun laws as they are, and let’s let the police escalate if they want. What possible harm can come of it?

He’ll see first hand how transformational the hand of Donald Trump has been

Thankfully there are tales of great generosity to balance things out.

The largess of Scottish Enterprise with our tax money to some big companies is particularly heartwarming.

There may be a small conflict of interest given that a Scottish Enterprise executive had shares in some of these companies, but nothing for us to worry about (more on that later).

Alicia Bruce had a wonderful reception at Woodend barn where her new photographs following a residency there were adored by all visitors. A few Menie Estate residents were on hand; her portraits of these people which mirror well-known paintings have become world famous. The Moorings continues to bring excellent music legends our way; The Men They Couldn’t Hang and the Anti Nowhere League being recent guests.

Easter Anguston Farm had some Halloween celebrations, and Old Susannah bought a wonderful pumpkin from their shop.

But the big news this week is all the leadership changes and challenges taking place. Exit Alex Salmond, who will now have more time to spend with his constituents.

His overdue visit to the Menie Estate residents will no doubt be scheduled soon. He’ll see first hand how transformational the hand of Donald Trump has been, and if he acts soon, he may get his hands on a discarded Trump hotel bedstead, complete with Trump family crest. Of course the actual origins of the Trump family may be open to some speculation, despite The Donald having a granny from the Western Islands.

And with that it’s time for some definitions.

Salmond: (Scottish proper noun) Former Scottish National Party Leader; MSP for Banff and Buchan. Not to be confused with Alex Salmon, as Wikipedia advises.

I’m tempted to swallow the bait and do some fish jokes about Salmond and Sturgeon, but we’ve already done that, so I’ll clam up. Apparently some readers find bad puns give them a haddock, but I do like to throw some in now and then for the halibut.

Always reliable, Wikipedia will give you the gen on Mr Salmond. It’s been a remarkable career from independence campaign to unannounced visits during by elections to closure-threatened schools. From dinners with the Donald to singing at Balmoral Castle. Now that he has more time to spend in his constituency, his visit to Menie will be well received indeed. It may be about a decade overdue, but he’ll be coming.

Salmond’s heir apparent (also know as Fiona to Salmond’s Shrek, as a colleague reminds me – though I can’t think why) Nicola Sturgeon is off to a flying start; she’s insisting that any referendum on EU membership continuing should be voted on by England, Wales Scotland and Ireland as individual countries, not by a UK wide vote as a whole.

Hats off to Nicola for bringing up a constitutional crisis her first fortnight on the job

Funny, when we had the independence referendum, also having impact on the future of the entire UK, she was happy for that to exclude the other 3 nations. Scotland has 5.3 million people; Wales 3 million; Ireland 4.5 million and England England 57 million .

It will be really easy to manage a vote split up by nation. Will residence outweigh place of birth? If you work in Scotland but live in England, where will you vote? No better to split everyone up, have separate votes taken, and then see if 3 of 4 countries agree and we leave – irrespective of the numbers of people involved. Hats off to Nicola for bringing up a constitutional crisis her first fortnight on the job. She’ll have her cake and eat it, too.

We really should stay in the EU; look at all the peace, stability and economic prosperity it’s brought us. Funny, the often used phrase ‘value for money’ never gets mentioned when polititicans talk about the EU.

What has the EU done for us anyway? We’ve given lots of money to countries to keep them stable, like Greece. We’ve had lots of nice farming subsidies, even if no one in Italy, Spain or Portugal can explain exactly where the money’s all gone over the years. In fact, the EU has yet to have a single one of its annual budgets successfully approved and signed off by an auditor. Whistle blowers get interesting transfers.

Carbuncle: (English Noun) An infection, boil or growth signaling illness; an unpleasant site (see also ‘Aberdeen’)

The Deen may somehow have lost the city of culture bid we were all so desperately praying for, but take heart! We are probably about to win something big after all. It seems no one does carbuncles quite like we do.

We are certainly ahead of the field in the Carbuncle Award list. A bit more help from our planners, title-proud officers, ACSEF and the rest, and no one will be able to touch us. When it comes to thinking outside the box, we don’t. If it’s a glass box or a concrete box, it gets planning permission. If it’s a historic building like the Lord Provost’s house, ignoring the importance of setting or agreeing to a few little nips and changes is fine.

If it’s a building like Westburn House, we’ll let it fall apart. If it’s an important historic site like Thomas Glover’s house, we’ll allow the trustees (including former Lord Provost Stephen) to flog the important contents, and still let the place go. Result!

Urban Realm editor John Glenday said:

“Aberdeen has a rich granite heritage and in the Victorian era the city was built to last, sadly the same can’t be said of the flimsy, ill-considered buildings going up across the city today.

“Despite its riches Aberdeen has become the poor relation of the Scottish cities.”

Glenday is wrong; this is proved by all the city council reports that clearly state in black and white that we are forward-looking, vibrant, dynamic, etc. etc. That’s good enough for me.

See you this Christmas at the tree in Union Terrace Gardens, surrounded again no doubt by guards, festive people barricades and holiday anti-climb paint. Perhaps Rockefeller Centre could learn a lesson or two from us on the real Christmas spirit.

We’ll see what happens across from Marischal College in due course; perhaps it will make us yearn for the beauty, majesty and proportion of St Nicholas House after all.

Happy Christmas and Happy New Year! Remember, tis the season for shopping.

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Smith Commission Needs More Voices Says MP

Aberdeenshire, Opinion No Responses »

Oct 242014

By Banff & Buchan MP Dr Eilidh Whiteford

I’ve been back in Westminster this last week after the long Summer recess, and it’s been back to business as usual in more ways than one.

Following the Referendum, a debate was held in the Commons last Tuesday, which quickly became dominated by the so-called West Lothian question, namely the fairness of Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs voting on legislation that applies only to England, and on which the devolved parliaments legislate in their respective countries.

‘English Votes for English Laws’ has been the rallying cry, and I have quite a lot of sympathy with that view.

It can’t be right that I should be voting on, say, English policing, when equivalent decisions affecting policing in Scotland are made by MSPs in Edinburgh. I (along with my SNP colleagues) already abstain on such issues at Westminster, unless there are clear knock-on impacts on Scotland, but not all MPs from the devolved nations observe this self-denying ordinance.

Most people would agree that devolution has strengthened democracy in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and I think it’s important that decision making in England is brought closer to the people too. There were some interesting contributions on how that might be done on Tuesday from English MPs of all political persuasions.

But the real disappointment of the debate was how little time was dedicated to debating the extensive further powers promised for Scotland. Indeed, the party leaders who abandoned Prime Minister’s Questions in the week before the Referendum to make their celebrated ‘Vow’ to the people of Scotland didn’t even show face at the debate. How quickly they forget.

Nevertheless, change is underway. The Smith Commission, established to determine the ‘extensive new powers’ for Scotland, has already received submissions from the political parties. While the outcome will fall far short of independence, it has the potential to bring new powers to Scotland that can improve our society and economy.

For me, the test of the Commission’s proposals will be whether they contain the powers to create jobs and boost our economy, build a fairer society, and improve Scotland’s voice in the European arena. All this can be achieved short of independence. It’s also important that the process is not dominated by politicians, and I’d encourage civic organisations and individuals to make their voices heard.

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Referendum: 5 Weeks On – A View From The Taxi

Aberdeen City, Opinion No Responses »

Oct 242014

By Fin Hall.

The galvanisation of the people is only growing stronger, with groups like ‘The 45’, Women for Indy and The National Collective, working to achieve more powers, as promised by all WM leaders and has been, Gordon Brown.

Surely it is only a matter of time afterwards, that if the powers promised are granted, or if they are not, the populace will realise that we can either ‘manage quite well thank you’, or, if the latter prevails, ‘let’s ditch these liars.’

Meaning the indy situation will come round again.

Right, now I know these comparisons aren’t exactly equal, but the theory, I believe holds up.

When that fateful day in September came around, and over 80% of us trotted off to our local polling stations, to cast our vote, ( ok, I am aware that many had already put in a postal vote, but you know what I mean) we went in there with hope in our hearts and a smile of determination on our faces.

The country, as we know, was invigorated – young and old – many of us staying up all night as the results came in.

But as the night went on, it became apparent that us YES voters were in for a disappointment. A surprising disappointment.

Despite the polls, most people presumed that the independence vote was going our way.

Why else would Aberdeen council have erected double barriers around all the statues in the city centre? Actually why did they do that? Did they expect the victorious YES supporters to attack them in their celebrations with sledge hammers and pneumatic drills?

Not at all. They were just going to be sore losers and block people from perhaps climbing on them and draping them with saltire flags.

In the end it was an un-necessary waste of funds, as silent depression was the order of the day, not celebration.

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Scots Wha Hinna

Creative Writing, Opinion 4 Responses »

Sep 262014

By Bob Smith.

Scots wha hinna voted yes
Scots wha left Eck in a mess
Scots wha widna settle fer less
Wint on ti victory
.
Wee Eck tho wis affa calm
Wis unnerneath tho blast an damn?
Maybe he took a wee bit dram
As No’s claimed victory
.
Fit noo wull wee Eck dee
As fowk refused Yes aims ti see
Apairt fae Glesga an Dundee
Maist regions voted No
.
The Yes voters they war cheesed
A fyow o them war fair displeased
Some o them widna be appeased
Cos No claimed victory

Lit’s hope Yes an No can be pals
An nae protest ootside toon halls
Nae kickin each ither in the balls
Jist accept it’s aa noo ower
.
Wee Eck his hid ti resign
Aat tap table nae langer dine
An somewye farrer doon the line
A new leader SNP wull embrace
.
Bickerin fowk a wid send ‘em
Far awa fae onything referendum
The “referendum his become the neverendum”
Fan wull it ivver bliddy eyn?
.
A really hope things settle doon
Some faces tho still weer a froon
Peace an quairt wid be a boon
Noo Scotland’s voted No

©Bob Smith “The Poetry Mannie” 2014
Image Credit: Kay Roxby. Use via Creative Commons Licence.

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Old Susannah No.162 – Isms It Is

Opinion, Satire and Humour 7 Responses »

Sep 262014

Voice’s Old Susannah takes a look over the past week’s events in the ‘Deen and beyond. By Suzanne Kelly.

Tally Ho! For a city with no beating heart and collapsed lungs awaiting a granite web transplant, Aberdeen is somehow managing to hold its own on the cultural front. The Techfest 2014 events are very impressive and are still ongoing. Aberdeen gets ready to welcome Billy Connolly next week; if the city isn’t rolling out the red carpets, it should be.

The Big Yin will be at the music hall; tickets sold out instantly. Post referendum, this will be quite a show. That underused shady green garden is going to have an Oktoberfest. It’s all happening.

Referendum fallout is everywhere, and shows no signs of abating. Both Yes and No camps still cry foul; queens are accused of purring; political parties are accused of breaking their promises, something I can assure worried readers will never happen.

Two years on, and Aberdeen’s own referendum on Union Terrace Gardens show no sign of abating, either. The P&J, Tom Smith, ACSEF and Sir Ian Wood are still banging on about how a granite web is the city’s only salvation and how it must be built over our only existing city centre green space (coincidentally owned by you and I, and worth tens of millions).

The canals of Venice. The Eiffel Tower.The Taj Mahal. The granite web to nowhere. Yes, that would have worked. These tenacious people of course have no selfish interests as they campaign on and on and on.

In the news this week are various movements – various ‘isms’. Women are bleating on about wanting rights. Campaigning journalists closer to home are drumming up support for their advertisers’ projects – sorry – important local causes. Time for a look at some of these ‘isms’.

Feminism: (Modern English movement) – belief that women and men should have equal opportunities, equal rights and equal pay.

Well, I am just a weak, helpless female, so I got one of my male colleagues to explain to me what’s wrong with this feminism business. Apparently, it’s all about unshaven women who want to look like men, or something like that. It’s just too complex for me.

On the other hand, I did some research. You will be surprised to learn that there may indeed be instances where there is a small amount of discrimination.

For reasons known only to herself, actress Emma Watson – actress and academic scholar is trying to tell us that feminism isn’t a dirty word. For some reason, she thinks that women are not treated as well as men. I wonder why she’d come to such a wild conclusion; she’s probably just looking for headlines.

Of course Watson may object to a few inconsequential facts. Women around the world do not earn as much money as male contemporaries for the same work. Women are being forced into marriage around the globe including here in the UK. There is also the small matter that in the western world, a mere one in 4 women can expect to experience some form of sexual abuse or violence.

Women are being trafficked against their will to be used as prostitutes. Police routinely ignore women’s pleas for help with domestic violence, and yet another woman in the UK was killed by a stalker the police had been warned about many, many times before.

That ought to prove that women aren’t subject to exploitation

In short, I’ve no idea why Emma thinks that campaigning for equal treatment of women in society is something we need to do. But wouldn’t it be wonderful if she turned her efforts to something worthwhile, like backing the Aberdeen City Garden Project?

To disprove Watson’s case, some charming, anonymous people have started a countdown online as to when they plan to release nude photos of her. That ought to prove that women aren’t subject to exploitation to everyone’s satisfaction. Releasing any photos will also put her back in her place, intimidate her, and then we girls can forget all this silly feminist stuff.

For further examples of the fair treatment the fair sex gets, the 25/9 P&J carries a tale we can all have a good laugh along with.

Offshore worker Andrew Thomas has unfairly been put on the sex offenders’ register for a whole year, and will have to do some community service. He was just being a lad after all when he snuck into his female offshore co-worker’s room, set up a phone to spy on her, and saved photos of her changing and washing. It’s even funnier because he pretended to be her pal.

Any red-blooded offshore worker would have done the same. Spoilsport Kerry McKnockiter doesn’t get that this was just good fun, and somehow feels she’s been violated. Go figure. At the same time, a man who grew something called ‘marijuana’ at his home has rightly been locked up for 12 months, a splendidly fair sentence, and a great use of taxpayer money. Good on us.

As to this equal pay business that feminists want resolved, what do you need money for once you’ve got a husband, hopefully the richest one you could snare? I’d recommend pretty young girls enter beauty contests – look at the great catch Sarah ‘Face Of Aberdeen’ Malone landed when Damian Bates married the lucky girl?

Still, some women insist on working, taking jobs away from our boys. It’s only right that girls don’t get the same money as men do; after all, they’re not as strong or as smart as men are. All public sector pay was meant to be levelled out years back; this is still in progress. In fact, Torry was once asked to sell huge tracts of land it controlled to help Aberdeen City level out its pay issues.

If Old Susannah recalls correctly (remember, I’m just an old woman) – the city made a fine job of equalising pay – by lowering the salaries of some men, rather than raising women’s pay. Sounds pretty reasonable to me. More on all this here. Of course pay and pension are still wee problems (well, if you’re a girl anyway) today. All I can say is ‘calm down dear, it’s only your living wage.

We’ve had wimmin academics heckled, threatened with rape and other forms of violence.

It couldn’t be that the ‘writers’ are slavishly regurgitating whatever press releases it gets

I guess when you have extremist feminists like Caroline Criado-Perez (a foreigner, note) who wanted Jane Austin put on a bank note, then trying to frighten the weaker sex is a good strategy to get them in line.Perhaps a nice cup of tea and a pat on the head is all that these feminist type ladies and Emma Watson need.

That, and perhaps a box of chocolates and a new hat.

Yellow Journalism: The use of sensationalism, bias, and exaggeration in order to attract and/or influence readers.

“There are no concrete plans to breathe new life into the heart of Aberdeen – two years after the city Garden Project was controversially scrapped.”

– So wrote the P&J’s Dawn Morrison this week for the P&J’s Wednesday cover story, dramatically illustrated with an ornate gold picture frame with nothing inside of it. I’m sure this factual, un-emotive opening sentence will have us girls weeping into our ice-cream tubs.

I’m equally sure that, coincidentally of course, some of the P&J’s biggest advertisers do indeed have concrete plans for Union Terrace Gardens.

Well, perhaps granite-clad concrete is what they want, but there are some people who just want that green space taken over, which will magically put the business rates in the area within the reach of local shopkeepers, will reduce the unfair advantages multinational competitors have over homegrown businesses (buying power, advertising, brand recognition, and of course the use of cheap if not slave labour abroad to create projects).

It’s also very reassuring that all P&J writers, off their own bats of course, use the exact same description for Aberdeen – breathing new life into it, its beating heart, etc. etc.

It couldn’t be that the ‘writers’ are slavishly regurgitating whatever press releases or directives they get. It wouldn’t be like helmsman Damian Bates to dictate to his minions what to write, what not to write about (Anthony Baxter and his Trump-related documentaries for instance) or how to write it.

A google search on ‘breath new life’, ‘heart’, ‘Aberdeen’ and ‘Ian Wood’ will give you all the breathing, beating and throbbing you could ever hope for. It’s just amazing everyone uses the same metaphors – not that these stirring words and phrases are getting at all tedious or worn out, mind you. This whole business may have started with Sir Ian himself; and a regular breath of fresh air he is, too.

The P&J is a bastion for free thinking, freely-writing intrepid investigative journalists whose high ideals lead to balanced articles such as this empty picture frame one. Some might think that such a blatant piece of editorial belongs tucked away inside the issue, but that’s another matter. Some also think that the press shouldn’t exist to serve its advertisers’ interests or indeed the financial interests of the people who edit the news. But that is, I suppose, nit-picking.

Alas, that’s all there is time for this week; I feel the need to shop coming on, and my weakly female constitution can’t possibly continue without a new pair of shoes to cheer me up. More next week.

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Scotland’s Future – Battle For Britain?

Articles, Featured, Opinion 2 Responses »

Sep 212014

Annoyed by Niall Ferguson’s description of the Scots as devils in skirts, Duncan Harley takes umbrage.

Some months ago I interviewed various folk who were extremely concerned about stray dogs in far off Romania.

At first all seemed well. After all who amongst us dislikes puppies and which one of us supports the killing of mans best friends.

Dead dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu had decided to centralise the workforce and forcibly move crofters to the cities. The dogs and indeed most rural animals were left behind in the countryside.

Packs of hungry dogs ruled the streets and open bounty hunting was declared on the unsuspecting cuddly pooches.

The result was of course a wave of horror amongst animal lovers. A traffic in Romanian canines developed and, for around £600 a pop, folk in Scotland could adopt a Romanian street hound. No questions asked and delivered to your door for a fee.

Having been asked to report on the trade I soon discovered that there were insider interests at work who perhaps felt threatened by outsiders looking in. I of course backed off. At 10p a word who in their right mind wants to get shot or worse? The nutters had made their presence felt.

I digress.

Fast forward to Wednesday 17th of September.

In today’s pre-referendum debate things are hotting up in the battle for the hearts and minds of the voters of the Garioch.

A group of Better Together Campaigners are hiding up a lane near Marks and Spencer’s in the hope of ambushing affluent but undecided locals.

The No folk are nowhere to be seen having left for better climes.

A flash mob of Yes campaigners is due to assemble outside the town hall at 7pm on pre-referendum night. However, having alienated local media, they may be in danger of being completely ignored. Comments such as “prick bastards” and “won’t be helping line the pockets of so called journalists” has led to a press boycott.

Yet again, the nutters have made their presence felt.

Fast forward to Thursday 18th of September.

Wakened at dawn to thunderous drizzle.

Friend Joe needs help, cats need fed and it’s bin day.

I need a haircut and I need to vote.

Inverurie Town Hall is not renowned for good lighting so I pause to put my glasses on before writing a cross within that wee box above the no vote.

A wee box for yes and a wee box for aye came into view.

Which one should I tick?

My line to the Dalai Lama has proved fruitful. He was kind enough to say that he thought that Scotland’s future should be decided by its people and not by its politicians. What a nice man.

A friend sent me a link to McGlashan. How us Scots invented everything from chairs to frogs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaJPOVGlEPs&feature=youtu.be

A son sent me his latest parody on the Scottish question: http://www.flockofink.co.uk/comics/67/1

And from the grave Michael Marra sang: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOwH9hmjNrM

By the time you read this it will all be over either way. The Yes and the No will have gone whichever way and the other half of those of us who make up the population of our purple and pleasant land will no doubt be feeling quite bereft.

The black vans which have been touring the land will have been stripped of their campaign slogans and placed on a forecourt near you to be sold as new to unsuspecting customers. Loudspeakers silenced and engines turned off they will be sad reminders of what could have been. Status quo or new Scotland, who can tell at this historic moment.

In last weeks Times, Niall Ferguson writes about the “Battle for Britain”. A well formed but sadly misinformed piece if ever I saw one.

Described as Scotland’s leading historian, Niall tells tales of failures to enter the world cup and suggests that the Proclaimers 1986 letter from America hit has relevance in today’s Scotland. Describing Scottish regiments as “devils in skirts” he suggests that since most Scots live abroad and claims that 6 million of us, yes 6 million, live in the USA.

Nothing of course could be further from the truth. Yes there are many Scots living abroad. Most of them are either ex-pats or second generation folk with Scottish ancestry. Can they vote for Scotland’s future? I hope not. When they left our shores most of them resigned from the voting register.

As a professor of history at Harvard, Niall Ferguson is of course entitled to have an opinion about Scotland. He is not of course entitled to tell the voters of Scotland how to vote. Neither is he Scotland’s leading historian

It has so far been a rocky ride.

Roll on Independence is all I can say.

Duncan Harley is a writer and photographer currently living in rural Aberdeenshire. Well travelled both in Europe, the Middle East and Tibet he has a keen interest in local history and is constantly on the lookout for new stories and tales to tell.

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