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Mark Stephenson

@markonline.bsky.social
535 followers 437 following 121 posts

An ex Marine, I Iove spending time on the water whenever possible. Politically, I have what is considered traditional left of centre views. I support Scottish self-determination and am a supporter of the Scotland Rugby team and the Toronto Blue Jays.

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Reposted by Mark Stephenson
Ally Tibbitt @allytibbitt.me · 27/08/2026
Single UK Market latest... cc @davidgreen4csr.bsky.social @mareetodd.bsky.social @ariane-burgess.bsky.social wonkhe.com/blogs/the-tr...
wonkhe.com
The Treasury is bankrupting three nations' universities
With funding reviews underway in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Justine Pedussel and Jim Dickinson worry none will examine the hidden accounting rules driving the crisis
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
www.theferret.scot/what-makes-a...
theferret.scot
What makes a data centre 'green'? One major developer has lobbied for its own definition
The Scottish Government has been supportive of controversial green data centres and is liaising with the industry. But critics argue there are environmental considerations and companies must not be al...
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Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
NEW: I can't get this story out of my head. And I know I'm not alone. The attempt to cover up the complicity of the UK media's role in Jason Arday's death may be its sickest move yet. broligarchy.substack.com/p/the-jason-...
broligarchy.substack.com
The Jason Arday Reckoning
The attempts to cover up the complicity of the UK media’s role in his death may be its sickest move yet
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The National @scotnational.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
EXCLUSIVE: The UK Government has blocked the release of files on a shadowy Israeli firm caught meddling in the Scottish parliament elections 🚨 Downing Street cited an exemption that allows documents to be withheld if they would 'prejudice relations' with another state
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Ronnie Barbour @ronniebarbour.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
open.substack.com
Inside Britain's university crisis
As teaching staff face job loss, their bosses have netted pay rises and bought advice from a “vampiric” management consultancy, writes Prof. John Heathershaw of the University of Exeter
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
A complete lack of accountability. "­Politicians rejected by the electorate ­acquire titles, legislative power and, ­occasionally, executive office without ever having to trouble the public again for permission to rule over them." www.thenational.scot/politics/264...
thenational.scot
Let us remember Anas Sarwar, the narcissist who presided over an era of failure
AFTER the last Holyrood election, I found myself in an oddly lonely position
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Reposted by Mark Stephenson
Leona Scream @editor.scot · 25/07/2026
love that they’re going ‘we must be more like Zohran! how does he do it?!’ and they‘ve focused on his comms strategy but missed the part where you have actual socialist policies to underpin it
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Never mind what other politicians in other parties are doing. Yessers are running of patience with the lack of progress on the Independence front. SNP were elected to deliver on a mechanism that would bring this to the forefront. Time is ticking.
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Fair comment.
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
In addition to environmental and energy consumption concerns, AI is advancing faster than current laws, standards, and governance frameworks can keep pace. Most experts agree that some form of oversight is necessary to ensure that AI remains safe, fair, transparent, and accountable.
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Clare M @clamc.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
The article this image comes from (an xray showing a bullet lodged in a child’s brain) is available to read here. It documents witness reports of a chilling pattern of injuries inflicted on children in Gaza by the IDF: www.europeanpressprize.com/article/what...
europeanpressprize.com
What the wounds are telling us - European Press Prize
To view the full article in English in its original layout, including all images and graphics, please follow this link. Please note: the original publication contains explicit and disturbing images an...
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
I saw this clip, and it reminded me to buy her book, which I did. uk.bookshop.org/p/books/care...
uk.bookshop.org
Careless People: A story of where I used to work
The number one global bestseller and Book of the Year 2025 for Audible, The Times, Cosmopolitan, The Economist and more.‘Amazing: of all the books in all the world Mr Free Speech Zuckerberg wants to b...
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The Ferret @theferret.scot · 28/06/2026
“I was horrified to see that there could be a risk to tourists”  theferret.scot/spaceport-shetland-r…
A rocket engine test firing at SaxaVord Spaceport on Shetland during dusk. Bright flames and exhaust emerge from the base of a tall vertical test stand, with the sea and coastline visible behind. Overlaid text reads: “A spaceport plans to dump tonnes of rocket junk into the sea north of Shetland, posing a risk to tourism and fishing.”
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Neil Mackay @neilmackay.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
It says much about these divided times that an organisation like the Citizens Advice service, a byword for old-fashioned kindness & decency, has decided it must now fight the far-right in our poorest communities to stop the demonisation tearing society apart My @heraldscotland.bsky.social long read
heraldscotland.com
Citizens Advice Scotland's fury at far-right 'demonisation' in our country's schemes
As extremists target Scotland’s poorest areas, the Citizens Advice service tells our Writer at Large of its plans to tackle demonisation and…
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weegingerdug @weegingerdug.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
With Holyrood voting for an independent inquiry into the finances of all parties, the eagerness of Labour and the Tories to weaponise the Murrell scandal has bitten them on the arse. Anas Sarwar just got a lesson in the law of unintended consequences. weegingerdug.wordpress.com/2026/06/11/s...
weegingerdug.wordpress.com
Sarwar learns the law of unintended consequences
Anyone with two functioning braincells knows that the only reason the anti-independence parties and the SNP’s enemies are so keen on an inquiry into the Murrell scandal is because they seek t…
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Reposted by Mark Stephenson
Al Jazeera English @aljazeera.com · 09/06/2026
Award-winning Somali referee, Omar Abdulkadir Artan, has been removed from the World Cup roster after being denied entry to the US despite holding a valid visa.
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Patrick Harvie @patrickharvie.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
It should be shocking, but this is becoming normal. They make speeches in Holyrood riddled with racist dogwhistles, they go online to incite violence, and their followers take that violence onto the streets and abuse and threaten journalists. Anyone still refusing to call it fascism is in denial.
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Here's @theguardian.com peddling misinformation online, while asking readers to support them in their "urgent work", presumably against the spread of misinformation.
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Andrew Sharpe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿|🇪🇺 @andrew.sharpe.scot · 26/05/2026
One immediate thought on the independence debate in Parliament: how small minded the London parties are. They oppose everything, but present no aspiration for Scotland in return. Be happy with what the UK gives you, they say, whilst ignoring the majority that just voted for better.
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Scottish Greens @scottishgreens.org · 21/05/2026
Scotland's best future is as an independent nation back in the European Union. #bbcqt
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
I've never liked it. I feckin hate it now!
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Has the Overton window shifted so far that Starmer's Labour is now considered being on the left?
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weegingerdug @weegingerdug.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
If Labour really expects the Greens to do them a big favour by not contesting the Makerfield by election maybe it should promote some policies the Greens are in favour of and attack Reform more than it attacks Zack Polanski.
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weegingerdug @weegingerdug.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
In 2014 during the indyref, Labour's Golden boy Andy Burnham said he opposed Scottish independence as he "didn't want to drive up the M6 and get my passport out or have to drive on the right when I want to drive on the left". If this is the guy who's going to save Labour, it's game over already.
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Bylines Scotland @bylines.scot · 15/05/2026
The SNP got the largest number of votes in the Holyrood election, so why is that not seen as a mandate to change the constitution? | Alec Ross
bylines.scot
Democracy, the constitution, and the meaning of victory - Bylines Scotland
The SNP got the largest number of votes in the Holyrood election, so why is that not seen as a mandate to change the constitution?
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Owen Jones @owenjones.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
A cause for national shame. This is the Rainbow Map for LGBTI+ rights across Europe. Until 2015, the UK was top. We've now collapsed down the rankings - and are the worst in Western Europe. We're now near Albania.
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Zarah Sultana MP @zarahsultana.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Please retweet.
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Ballot Box Scotland @ballotbox.scot · 12/05/2026
There absolutely should be sackings at the Electoral Commission over this. A fake party that does no campaigning, will have spent £0, and whose own holocaust denying leader acknowledged is only there to confuse voters, came 7th, only explainable if it did indeed confuse voters.
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Several senior cabinet ministers should also be weighing up their options and think about resigning. The problem is larger than Starmer.
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Despite the shortcomings of the SNP voting strategy, the election returned the highest number of pro-independence MSPs in the history of devolution. In my opinion, this super majority constitutes a mandate to hold a referendum on Scottish Independence. Discuss!
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
As predicted, the blanket advice to vote SNP for both their first and second choices enabled non-independence-supporting parties to win more seats.
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Reform UK did not perform as well as the polls and media had anticipated. If the election had been conducted entirely under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, as in Westminster general elections, Reform would have won ZERO seats.
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
The Conservatives won 12 seats, performing better than many had predicted. The Lib Dems secured the final spot with 10 seats.
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
The Scottish Greens also did well, obtaining 2 seats from the constituency count and 13 from the Regional list. They could have potentially done better, but apparently, some voters mistakenly put their X against a party called 'Independent Green Voice,' which is a far-right, holocaust-denying party.
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Reform UK did not win any seats in constituencies but secured 17 seats on the Regional list.
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
The Labour Party, despite spending significant sums on advertising and being portrayed by much of the media as the saviour of the Union, had a disappointing election. They gained 3 seats from the constituency vote and 14 from the Regional list.
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
The SNP performed well, winning 58 seats, although this is 6 fewer than in the 2021 election. They secured 57 seats through the constituency vote and 1 seat from the Regional list.
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Now that the dust has settled on the Scottish Parliament elections, here are my thoughts.
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
"Sarwar is drunk on his own supply....The reality is he’s an entitled, bad tempered millionaire nepo-baby who is nowhere near as good at politics as the Scottish press, desperate for a saviour of the Union, tells him he is." weegingerdug.wordpress.com/2026/05/10/l...
weegingerdug.wordpress.com
Labour and the British media, stuck in the first stages of grief
They’re not taking it at all well are they. Ever since the SNP handsomely won the Holyrood election, for the fifth time in a row, winning more seats than all the branch office parties combine…
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
This election also returned the highest number of pro-independence MSPs in devolution history.
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The National @scotnational.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
BREAKING: Pro‑independence parties have secured a majority at Holyrood. A majority was reached after the Greens won two list seats in Glasgow.
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Me and my family too.
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Mark Stephenson @markonline.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Yay!
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Reposted by Mark Stephenson
Casket Based @cineblah.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Labour could and should have - Repealed voting ID law. - Cut ties with Israel. - Cut ties with Nazi tech bros. - Ended SLAPP - Pushed through Leveson 2. - Rolled out healthcare/protections for LGBTQ+ people. - Opened up safe routes. - Rent caps. - Proper living wage. But they didn't.
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Scottish Greens @scottishgreens.org · 07/05/2026
🚨 The polls are open! 🗳️ Everyone in Scotland can vote Scottish Greens on the peach ballot paper ✉️ If you have a postal vote you can hand it in 🪪 You DON'T need photo ID This is our chance to vote for hope over hate. To demand better. To vote Scottish Greens.
Polls open! 7am-10pm. Let's demand better. A graphic of a ballot paper for the Scottish Green party with the logo highlighted.
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Gerry Hassan @gerryhassan.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
As people get ready to vote in the Scottish Parliament election please be careful of the spoiler operation which is 'Independent Green Voice'. They are listed second on the regional ballot paper in South of Scotland with the Green Party further down. IGV is a right-wing spoiler operation.
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weegingerdug @weegingerdug.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
5 polls out today, the SNP on anything from 59 to 66 seats, the Scottish Greens around 15 to 18. A pro independence majority is looking highly likely, but all independence supporters need to get out and vote. The ghouls of Reform UK are waiting around the corner.
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The Ferret @theferret.scot · 06/05/2026
You probably haven't heard of him, but £1 in every £5 banked by Scottish parties came from the fortune of one businessman made in the obscure industry of gas generators for science labs. He’s this election's biggest money man www.theferret.scot/meet-the-donors-…
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