The Guardian has reported this morning that: Ministers are working up sweeping plans for welfare changes including scrapping a key disability benefit for under-25s and replacing it with a multibillion-pound package of support to get into work, the Guardian has learned. They added that: The plans are still awaiting the conclusions of reviews by...

I’m still struggling to walk following the recent fall and have developed a massive bruise on my left leg. Due to the pain I’m not sleeping well, but things are definitely going in the …

Scientists and entrepreneurs knew the dangers of AI a quarter-century ago. But animated by curiosity and profit, they went ahead anyway

Looking toward November 3

Politicians and economic commentators constantly talk about “taxpayers’ money”. In this video, I argue that this phrase fundamentally misrepresents how government spending and taxation work. The conventional story says that the government collects taxes and then uses that money to pay for schools, hospitals, pensions and other public services. I argue...

Social media and digital storage are radically changing our concept of time and consciousness of death, writes Peter Jukes

Scotland has had a drug crisis for so long that we have learned to live alongside it. But 1,133 deaths in a year should not be something we simply learn to accept.

I was supposed to have been going to Lochgilphead today to do an event for Aye Fyne, but here I am at home nursing a very painful ankle and hirpling gingerly about the house – but only when I…

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 …

The Financial Times has reported that billionaire Peter Hargreaves, co-founder of Hargreaves Lansdown, has warned against increasing taxes on wealthy people because, he says, Britain cannot afford to lose more of its biggest taxpayers. His argument is straightforward. Hargreaves apparently paid £210 million in tax last year. He says that if...

A politician has been mocked for calling for the abolition of prisons, but our prisons are definitely failing. Could ‘abolish prisons’ make any sense - and what would it look like?

The Scottish Government’s sudden push for local government reform should be welcomed but their proposal as it stands needs a lot of work to make sure that it’s not a chaotic mess or a recipe for corruption and centralisation.

Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at:  by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 …

I don’t normally mention the Lib Dems in a blog piece, for much the same reason that I don’t mention the Monster Raving Loony Party, because they’re irrelevant, although unlike th…

An audio podcast version of the above video can be heard HERE , and will soon be available on Apple Podcasts HERE . *  *  * If you'd like ...

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…

THE new Scottish Labour leader has an image problem.

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…

“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…

Heather Cox Richardson, in her Letter from an AMerican on Substack, which I recommend subscribing to, said over night: According to the American Automobile Association, diesel hit its highest recorded average price today at just above $6.44 per gallon. Diesel moves most of the consumer goods in the United States. Iran’s...

Jason Arday’s was a death that should make us stop and think. Sadia Sikander reflects on the tragedy one month on. Being an immigrant, I am upset, heartbroken, and speechless by the death of Jason …

There is a sudden, alarming rise in experts warning of an apocalyptic ending for our AI adventure in only a few years. It is only onerous example of why we literally can’t let tech sociopaths control our society, and why Scotland must act now

The Guardian has reported that: UK inflation has returned above 3% as soaring fuel and transport prices triggered by the Iran war heap renewed pressure on British households. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show inflation as measured by the consumer prices index rose from 2.9% in July to 3.1% in...

If Scotland Is Such a Burden, Why Do They Fight So Hard to Keep Us? The more you look at English-based commentary on the gathering of pro-independence leaders, the more you recognise something fund…

Alex Wickham, who is usually a reliable source of economic data and who is based at Bloomberg, has suggested that information he has received indicates that UK domestic energy prices will increase by at least 25% by early in the New Year. As a consequence, it is highly likely that...

The flag waving We’re not nationalists we’re British brigade are seriously rattled by the Celtic Alliance, although of course they’d never admit to it, they’re currently doi…

Britain’s sanctions on Israeli settlements are welcome. But stopping settlement expansion will not, by itself, resolve the political reality created by decades of occupation, dispossession and unequal power.