I recently watched a programme where a TV architect revisited the Grand Tour to look at where Britain’s architectural inspirations came from. On the tour, he visited Paris and Rome, and he explained how the wonderful layouts and architectural achievements of the two great cities were effectively down to strong-arm planning.
Who would be a politician? A couple of weeks ago John Swinney was being portrayed as the axe-man of the East as he single-handedly hobbled poor old Glasgow’s chances of hosting a successful Commonwealth Games by scrapping the airport rail link.
The Glasgow North East seat may be next door to the Glasgow East seat, which Alex Salmond with typical bombast proclaimed to be the site of a political earthquake, but there the similarities end…
Quite an interesting exchange between the committee and the OFT witnesses who were giving evidence; or at least it might have been…
Interesting fringe event today up here in sunny Inverness, which saw a particularly provocative topic raised; namely, is the SNP becoming comfortable or even complacent?
Hmmm, MPs as victims – it just doesn’t sound right does it? The public have become so full of antipathy towards our representatives that much respect has drained away, taking with it any chance of public sympathy.
From a Scottish point of view, the fact that the SNP’s promised referendum on independence has taken centre stage from the UK conferences speaks volumes….
A cultural melting pot of bagpipes, dim-sum and pizza marked the opening of the Scotland China Chamber of Commerce today. Amid the dignitaries present was the Consul General Lipei Li, Tom McCabe MSP and sundry great-and-good from the worlds of business, finance and tourism.
As with all these inaugural events, there were a lot of ceremonials …
Reports that the new high speed rail-line that will run from Edinburgh to Glasgow might be called the Union Railway have caused a bit of a stir among some nationalist MSPs.
Leaving aside the fact that current estimates for completion are 2030, we can all assume that it won’t be finished till at least 2035 – …
I am currently reading Christopher Harvie, and his Short History of Scotland – and the repetitive nature of the history of the Scots-UK relationship is something that has struck me.
The Stuarts, that most regal of dynasties who came to power in the UK via Scotland. The irony then when King James VI & I, and …