Something I have noticed about the Glasgow North East by-election is amount of innovative online coverage there has been from the media. All Media Scotland has reported on interesting methods of covering the election which have been adopted by three Scottish newspapers. The Scotsman has invited the candidates from five of the main parties to […]
Anyone but the Tories?
This is the accompanying article / transcript to my contribution to this week’s edition of The Pod Delusion, a humorous lefty / skeptical podcast. You can listen to the full podcast below. This year’s party conference season has now finished, and attention turns to the General Election that will held some time between now and […]
Debating the leaders’ debate
There has been a fair bit of chat in recent weeks about the prospect of a televised leaders’ debate in the run-up to the next general election. This sort of chat always comes up in the run-up to any election, but there appears to be an extra momentum this time round. It seems as though […]
Labour play the SNP’s territorial game over the budget
What a stooshie there is over the Scottish budget and John Swinney’s plan to scrap the Glasgow Airport Rail Link. I have found the reaction from Labour very interesting. Their strategy appears to be to attempt to paint it as an anti-Glasgow policy from an Edinburgh-centric party. Jeff thought that Steven Purcell may have jumped […]
Product placement — contributing to The Pod Delusion
I’ve been thinking about getting involved in podcasting for a while now. So when I saw a favourite blogger of mine asking for contributors to a new podcast he was setting up, I thought it was the ideal opportunity to dip my toe in the water. The podcast is the idea of James O’Malley, a […]
Where is our referendum on face-slapping?
Last week the SNP set out its legislative plan. The headline grabber was the long-promised independence referendum bill. Today I saw Caron’s post asking, “why bother with a referendum?” She has a good point. It is widely recognised that the result of any referendum would almost certainly reject the SNP’s favoured proposals. “Ah, but!”, say […]
General election night: the distasteful sport of politics
I see there has been a frisson of activity over the suggestion that some councils are looking to hold their counts on a Friday rather than the traditional Thursday night / Friday morning when the General Election comes round. The Sunday Times has reported that the BBC believes that up to a quarter of councils […]
The failing economy of Kirkcaldy
It was revealed yesterday that Gordon Brown will spend part of his summer doing voluntary work in Kirkcaldy, the town where he grew up which forms the major part of his constituency of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. It is also my home town. Some uncharitable people have suggested that his job may involve digging holes, something […]
“Tartan Hero” Grant Thoms on deleting your blog
Here is the full text of an article written by Grant Thoms for his Tartan Hero blog on 24 November 2007: Wendy’s in a ‘spin’ again It should have been third time lucky for Wendy Alexander and a head of communications for the Labour Group. First, Brian Lironi left within days of Wendy’s coronation. Then […]
Scottish Euro election results
A bit like the UK-wide result, but even more so, the result in Scotland was very static. In fact, in many ways, the outcome was totally predictable, and no seats changed hands. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t any stories though. Indeed, it was historic because it is the first time the SNP have got […]