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Mike Small

@bellacaledonia.bsky.social
4.2K followers 2.1K following 1.8K posts

Imagining a Scottish Democracy since 2007. Bylines at the Guardian, Open Democracy, Herald, DeSmog, Bella Caledonia, Sunday National.

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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 8h
Does Scotland need MORE AI data centres? bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/29/d...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Does Scotland need MORE AI data centres?
Does Scotland need MORE AI data centres?
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 16h
A significant win for community-based arts in Edinburgh bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/29/a...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
A significant win for community-based arts in Edinburgh
Cultural wins are rare, so let’s celebrate them when they arrive. Community-based cultural organisations have welcomed a significant shift in Edinburgh’s cultural investment after the City of…
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Reposted by Mike Small
Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 22h
as a satire on so-called late stage capitalism how could one beat investors pouring a trillion into a company offering to wipe out humankind
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 17h
Bùirich | Reflections on hunting and the Scottish psyche by Alec Finlay bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/29/b...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Bùirich
Reflections on hunting and the Scottish psyche. ‘The Cone Gatherers’, performed by Communicado at Tramway in 1991, was one of my earliest and most affecting theatrical experiences. It was performed…
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 19h
The Skinny Survives bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/29/t...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
The Skinny Survives
The Skinny has its Mark Twain moment it seems, with a late reprieve. The contemporary visual arts organisation Outer Spaces will acquire shares in Radge Media CIC, the business behind The Skinny to…
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The Garvaghy Road and the Celtic Alliance bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/28/t...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
The Garvaghy Road and the Celtic Alliance
Two weeks ago, the leaders of Scotland, Ireland and Wales met in Cardiff to sign an accord and announce a ‘Celtic Alliance’ [If You’re Feeling Sinister – Bella Caledonia]. Today, 200 po…
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Ruth Pearce @notrightruth.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"The British state is however, hell-bent on protecting a right to march through a community that said no for 30 years. [...] Orange marches are provocative in their very nature. Their entire purpose is to tell Catholic communities and women, this street is ours."
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Essays for the Rich, Estates for the Royal, Roads for Loyalists, Hell for Women by Maryam Tariq bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/28/e...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Essays for the Rich, Estates for the Royal, Roads for Loyalists, Hell for Women
The Hate the State Made from Glasgow to Garvaghy Road Another woman beaten, raped, and murdered. And another morning of every woman mapping out the risks and calculations on how to stay alive. How …
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Stochastic violence is the medium of our era. substack.com/@fiftysixdeg...
substack.com
Mike Small (@fiftysixdegreesnorth)
Stochastic violence is the medium of our era. https://fiftysixdegreesnorth.substack.com/p/that-fascist-feeling?r=5teob&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
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Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Rachel Shabi: "If you're going to do something about social care, great! But then you're saying to the electorate, I'm going to ask you about it in 2029, and everyone's like, 'cool, but what about right now, because everything is horrible right now?'" Labour has a majority of 158
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Specialism is political. Our traditions are worth understanding and valuing and defending bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/27/o...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
On Scottish Generalism
Scotland suffers from institutional memory loss. One of the hidden aspects of the massive cuts to the University of Edinburgh announced last week is the attack on the eroded and hollowed-out Scotti…
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Briony Neilson @brionyneilson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The golden age of Soviet air travel... An Aeroflot-branded folding knife, fork, and bottle opener 🗃️
colour photo of a folding knife, fork and bottle opener with "Aeroflot" written in Cyrillic on the handle
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The @scottishbeacon.bsky.social are launching a new network to help boost environmental journalism in Scotland, inviting researchers, campaigners, writers and organisers to come collaborate. Sharing Stories | Skills | Ideas | Knowledge www.scottishbeacon.com?p=8275
scottishbeacon.com
Launching the Scottish Environmental Journalism Network - The Scottish Beacon
After more than a year exploring the complex relationship between rural Scottish communities, renewable energy and the need for a dramatic response to climate breakdown through The Power Shift: Invest...
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Scottish Beacon @scottishbeacon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
We're launching a new network to help boost environmental journalism in Scotland, inviting researchers, campaigners, writers and organisers to come collaborate ... www.scottishbeacon.com?p=8275
scottishbeacon.com
Launching the Scottish Environmental Journalism Network - The Scottish Beacon
After more than a year exploring the complex relationship between rural Scottish communities, renewable energy and the need for a dramatic response to climate breakdown through The Power Shift: Invest...
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Neil Mackay @neilmackay.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Outlaw his terrorist organisation
theguardian.com
Police arrest far-right activist Daniel Thomas after ‘dinghy slashed in Channel’
Thirty-seven-year-old in custody on suspicion of crimes including criminal damage with intent to endanger life
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
As the University of Edinburgh moves to close a number of degree programmes, including the standalone degree in Scottish Ethnology, Kevin MacNeil reflects on the subject that changed the course of his life bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/24/a...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
A Subject That Taught Me I Existed
As the University of Edinburgh moves to close a number of degree programmes, including the standalone degree in Scottish Ethnology, Kevin MacNeil reflects on the subject that changed the course of …
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
‘What is emerging is not simply a relationship between [Reform and Farage] and a wealthy Gulf state, but a channel through which an authoritarian government can cultivate political influence here, and abroad.’ Would really recommend a read of this democracyforsale.substack.com/p/reform-and...
democracyforsale.substack.com
Reform and the UAE – a threat to British politics
Nigel Farage's embrace of the UAE is part of a wider effort by the Gulf petrostate to build alliances with the far right across the West, says Alex Carlen.
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Where are we in the fight against hyperscale data centres? by Kat Jones bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/23/w...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Where are we in the fight against hyperscale data centres?
I thought it was a good moment to look at where we are, writes Kat Jones.  Since Wednesday, Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS), and the many local community campaigns against hyperscale AI dat…
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Slowly then All at Once bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/23/s...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Slowly then All at Once
Out of the torpor, maybe. Suddenly, all sorts of shifts and fissures are appearing. After weeks of bumbling and mumbling Michael Marra emerged as leader of Labour in Scotland and admitted yesterday…
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
“Build a consensus – the settled will of the Scottish people – and make it overwhelming” - Michael Marra bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/23/s...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Slowly then All at Once
Out of the torpor, maybe. Suddenly, all sorts of shifts and fissures are appearing. After weeks of bumbling and mumbling Michael Marra emerged as leader of Labour in Scotland and admitted yesterday…
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Is Edinburgh University a Scottish University at all? fiftysixdegreesnorth.substack.com/p/is-edinbur...
fiftysixdegreesnorth.substack.com
Is Edinburgh University a Scottish University at all?
The announcement of cuts at Edinburgh University supports the argument that some of our fundamental institutions are not our own.
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
An Act of Monumental Cultural and Educational Vandalism bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/21/a...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
An Act of Monumental Cultural and Educational Vandalism
“There is a loss of any vestiges that the University of Edinburgh conceives of itself as primarily a Scottish institution.” – Alec Finlay. You could argue that this process began …
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Saving the Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/20/s...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Saving the Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill
According to the journalist James McEnaney: “The SNP is accused of cruelty and a ‘betrayal’ of disabled people after John Swinney’s government abandoned plans for a new disa…
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
What did and didn’t happen about AI datacentres at Holyrood bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/20/w...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
What did and didn’t happen about AI datacentres at Holyrood
The Vote That Wasn’t a Moratorium: How Every Holyrood Party Actually Voted on Scotland’s Data Centres for Bella Caledonia. Prepared 19 September by Lustra Skye September 2026 as information for com…
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kenofseattle @kenofseattle.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Future Focused Future Focused – 10 crowdsourced ideas to change the indy movement bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/20/f...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Future Focused
The idea of a September reset is all in vogue, and to be honest, September seems like a better time of year than January for a rethink and a fresh start. The idea that the independence movement nee…
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Gym Etiquette, Ed Sheeran and the Zone of Interest fiftysixdegreesnorth.substack.com/p/gym-etique...
fiftysixdegreesnorth.substack.com
Gym Etiquette, Ed Sheeran and the Zone of Interest
Everything’s Fine
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Jonas Patrick Marvin, The Breaking of the English Working Class, @versobooks.bsky.social , Reviewed by @ewangibbs bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/18/t...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
The Breaking of the English Working Class
‘Class is Everywhere’: Can something new making come out of the breaking?  Jonas Patrick Marvin, The Breaking of the English Working Class, Verso, £14.99. Reviewed by Ewan Gibbs. ‘Class is everywhe…
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Bunkunin @bunkunin.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
#AI caught telling future versions of itself to bypass human controls, OpenAI reveals www.yahoo.com/tech/ai/arti... @bellacaledonia.bsky.social Please repost this, and share everywhere; you see the implications of this, don't you?
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I’m Afraid I Can’t Do That, Scotland bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/18/i...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
I’m Afraid I Can’t Do That, Scotland
“It’s silly, no? When a rocket ship explodes and everybody still wants to fly But some say a man ain’t happy unless a man truly dies Oh why?” Prince, Sign O’ The Times (1987) This week the Un…
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The Post-Cardiff Unionist Meltdown fiftysixdegreesnorth.substack.com/p/the-post-c...
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
On Dua Lipa, Sydney Sweeney and Ed Sheeran - a rare thing, social media as a viral means of international action and movement building ... bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/16/o...
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
On Sheeren and Sweeney’s Complicity and Macklemore Solidarity bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/16/o...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
On Sheeren and Sweeney’s Complicity and Macklemore Solidarity
Less often, but music can still rise to the occasion. This week has been huge for Dua Lipa plays across the socials as the backlash against Sydney Sweeney’s degrading advert for Novig went vi…
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
How to sensitively support a friend who has been racially abused bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/15/h...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
How to sensitively support a friend who has been racially abused
How to sensitively support a friend, co-worker, or teammate who has been racially abused or assaulted. Last week on my way home, I experienced a racially motivated incident. As a dark-skinned, drea…
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Friends of the Earth Scotland 🌍 @foescot.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
"People are asking who gets power, who pays the grid costs & why Scotland’s renewable bounty is being locked in to corporate AI infrastructure rather than cutting household bills." @maryamtariq.bsky.social is making the connections @bellacaledonia.bsky.social bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/08/h...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
How Scotland’s War and AI economy are Burning Our Future: From Fife to Faslane
Scotland’s firefighters told us they can’t take anymore. In early August the Fire Brigades Union wrote to John Swinney demanding an urgent meeting on “capability, capacity and resilience”. After a …
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
A Historic Day in Cardiff bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/14/a...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
A Historic Day in Cardiff
In a moment that was perhaps higher in symbolism than substance, the leaders of the Celtic Nations gathered in Cardiff and signed a Memorandum of Understanding which asserted the right to self-dete…
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
If You’re Feeling Sinister bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/13/i...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
If You’re Feeling Sinister
An Irishman a Welshman, and a Scotsman walk into a bar. Actually, it’s not a joke, and the Irishman’s an Irish woman. The Plaid Cymru leader, Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Scottish National par…
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
England v Scotland, the battle of the PISA tests by Jackie Kemp bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/12/e...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
England v Scotland, the battle of the PISA tests
The mainstream media does not do nuance. So the results of international education tests called PISA have been reported as victory to England, because 15-year-olds there did significantly better in…
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
‘Finding The Radiance In Between: Reimagining Scotland’s Creative Spaces‘ is a new report by Creative Balance, a research and advocacy project which explores the wellbeing of racialised people working in Scotland’s creative industries bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/11/f...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Finding the Radiance In Between
Leftfield is our regular preview of Scottish Left, anti-capitalist and radical events, publications and projects. Contact us here for suggestions to publicise your events.  ‘Finding The Radia…
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
A Microtonal Poke in the Eye for AI? bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/11/a...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
A Microtonal Poke in the Eye for AI?
At first glance, Angine de Poitrine, who filled the grand Usher Hall with bouncing humanity last week, appear to be an exercise in anti-art provocation. Taking the stage in absurd, polka dot costum…
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
‘Am Muillear Càm ’s Am Balbhan’ - the Bog Slog and coming of age in Stornoway. Your long read for the weekend by Kevin MacNeil bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/11/l...
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
It was 50 years ago today Rock against Racism was created. MARK PERRYMAN recalls the moment... bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/11/t...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
The Letter that Rocked Racism
It was 50 years ago today Rock against Racism was created. MARK PERRYMAN recalls the moment. 11 September 1976, I can still remember the scene, just like every Thursday morning before lessons, the …
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
THE OAK TREE ON KILPATRICK BRAE | A poem by Ngan Nguyen bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/10/t...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
The Oak Tree on Kilpatrick Brae
THE OAK TREE ON KILPATRICK BRAE A poem by Ngan Nguyen    When Glasgow is not gentle to me  I go to the oak tree on Kilpatrick brae. It was blown over as a wee plant then grew up L-shaped. A lo…
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
The UK government is doing the job of breaking the Union far better than anyone else | Burnham's Brigadoon fiftysixdegreesnorth.substack.com/p/burnhams-b...
fiftysixdegreesnorth.substack.com
Burnham's Brigadoon
So it turns out that a Scottish democracy, or certainly steps towards it, will arrive not by way of a Constitutional Assembly, a popular process, or a specific trigger point, but just ‘a feeling’.
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Andy Burnham has laid out the conditions for a second Scottish independence referendum during Prime Minister’s Questions. Sort of. bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/09/h...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
How to Leave a Voluntary Union
So Now IS the Time, apparently. Andy Burnham has laid out the conditions for a second Scottish independence referendum during Prime Minister’s Questions. Sort of. To add to the impression of …
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Scotland Undone: Nationalism, Dogma and Decline in the Devolution Era, Dean M Thomson, Vingo Publishing. Reviewed by Alec Ross bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/09/s...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Scotland’s Status Quo Politics and Devolution need serious critique
Scotland Undone: Nationalism, Dogma and Decline in the Devolution Era, Dean M Thomson, Vingo Publishing, £9.99. Reviewed by Alec Ross In the last couple of weeks, the SNP has published its programm…
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Mike Small @bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Ambitious (for women) in Scotland? by Carmen Martinez bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/09/a...
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Twlldun @twlldun.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
YES
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Frovo @frovo.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
ME: time to sleep BRAIN: "four" is the only number with the right amount of letters
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Orkney Library & Archive @orkneylibrary.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Picture the scene. It's 1769. You're William Aberdeen and you're drawing a map of Sebay in Tankerness, #Orkney. It's going well but then you realise there are some blank bits so you decide to add some decoration. You think about what to draw for a moment. It's an obvious choice.
A section of an old hand drawn map of Sebay in Tankerness, Orkney
A section of an old hand drawn map of Sebay in Tankerness, Orkney
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