By Molly Pollock Following on from our last article on Tory seats in Scotland Molly Pollock challenges John Lamont’s recent scare stories about a border between Scotland and England after independence. Three of Scotland’s Conservative seats run the length of the border. The MPs in these seats are all of the same ilk telling us we will be poorer just as they told India which has now pushed the UK down from fifth largest economy in the world to sixth place. Scottish independence would mean a border across the south of Scotland. Not something to get in a fankle about. There need be little change ..read more

By Russell Bruce There is no question the size of the poll and the work done to calculate what the 2019 results would have been on the new boundaries are broadly indicative of where voting intentions of those most likely to vote are at this moment in time. The indications as of January are the Labour party could well help the Conservatives hold on to their six Scottish seats and there is little, if any understanding, that this has dawned on the SNP. All polls have a margin of error and in speaking to YouGov I did not get an answer to what they thought the margin of error was on this poll. They ..read more

In an unusual departure for Newsnet we are promoting the petition below by Europe for Scotland. Newsnet is pro-Independence and profoundly pro-European. Whatever the personal affiliations or non-affiliations of individual writers may be Newsnet is non-political and covers stories it believes need to be told. We urge readers to to sign this petition if you have not done so and to share on social media. Editor This week, the European council in Brussels delivered a historic decision. Sidestepping the opposition of Orban, EU leaders agreed to begin accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova and gra ..read more

By Russell Bruce In Part 1 we covered the potential of Sweden’s Saab JAS 39 Gripen Mach 2 fighter jet to help Ukraine attain improved air security in addition to the long awaited F16s promised by other European countries. We know Ukrainians have been training on Gripens with other team members learning how to maintain and service these sophisticated jets Sweden developed to provide jets capable of taking on Russian jets. Progress on delivery remains uncertain despite considerable support from the Swedish population who are very much behind their country doing everything it can to support Ukrai ..read more

By Russell Bruce Sunak has doubled down on his ‘flagship Rwanda policy’ tied to the mast of a sinking ship. For an administration with many ministers the offspring of immigrants who came here on a boat the policy and the determination to push his policy to its limits flies in the face of rational political thinking. For the far right it does not go far enough, but the moderate One Nation Tories are also unhappy as it attempts to pick and choose what bits of Human Rights it will seek to ignore. A policy is either compatible with the International Human Rights Law (OHCHR) or it is a pick and mix ..read more

By Russell Bruce The news of Michael’s impending appointment as Chair of The Scottish Land Commission came as a bit of surprise but then again not totally. Michael has long been a supporter of the Commission and this is perhaps the right time for a new challenge in which to direct his energy. In the 15 or so years my wife and I lived in Argyll and Bute we got to know two remarkable men. Michael Russell and the late Professor Sir Neil MacCormick. Argyll is the heart of a Westminster constituency that has seen many changes over the years. For most of the 20th century Argyllshire was firmly Conse ..read more

By Lorne Anton Members of YES Berwickshire attended the REVIVE Conference in Perth last week. Given the importance of this conference to the future of land use across the Scottish Borders, rural areas beyond the Central Belt and the Highlands. the day was a timely event! REVIVE campaigns against the use of Scotland`s land for single purpose grouse shooting and for more effective and productive economic use, and community control, of that land. The event was chaired for the second time by the well known media presenter and environmental activist, Chris Packham. A wide range of speakers were pre ..read more

By Russell Bruce Starmer talks big about growth but the UK is predicted to have the lowest growth of the G7 plus India and China in 2024, behind real European countries Italy, Germany and France, all of which have their own growth issues. Big talk from Starmer without laying out how he is going to change this represents the hollowness of the Starmer project. If Labour thinks it can change the outlook for 2025 we need to know more than his repeated assertions to to Victoria Derbyshire on Sunday that he is ‘confident’. It was confident, confident, confident con….!! The headline graph is from Sta ..read more

By Russell Bruce That is not to underestimate the very considerable support from the Biden administration for Ukraine but to place the support from Europe in context. Despite the work of the Keil Institute in Germany this is little understood by the public and the media have shown no interest. Ukraine is in our backyard and ‘The Gates of Europe’ which is also the title of Professor Serhii Plokhy’s history of Ukraine. Professor Plokhy is a Ukrainian and US citizen and is the Mykhailo Hrushevsky professor of Ukrainian history at Harvard University, where he also serves as the director of the Har ..read more

By Alexander Bruce Alexander Bruce campaigned in the November 1967 Hamilton by-election won by Winnie Ewing with 18,397 votes (46%). Labour’s Alex Wilson, the overwhelming favourite, came second with 16,598 votes (41.5%). This was a constituency that had been solid Labour where they had taken two-thirds of the vote at every general election from 1945 to 1966. The Conservative candidate came third with 4,986 votes (12.5%). Winnie won with a swing of 38%. By-elections do produce some surprises but this was nothing short of a lightning strike to Labour by the SNP, a party that in the 1950s had ta ..read more