Malfeasance – a word to be disassociated with The Alex Salmond debacle provided evidence of serious shortcomings in the SNP government led by Nicola Sturgeon and there are growing concerns her government has become distracted by the pursuit of controversial political doctrine with result that it has lost its way in the efficient provision of […]

Jurisdiction over appeals to the sovereign (1876- 2009) The House of Lords had authority over appeals from the lower courts since all such matters were to the Sovereign-in-Parliament, and she was represented by the Lords. Commoners did not participate in judicial matters. The House of Lords did not necessarily include them but would be attended […]

The Porteous Affair 1737/38 The affair brought Scots of all political persuasions together under the “Patriot” banner to protest against Whig government abuse and disrespect of Scottish legal and political autonomy. It began in the spring of 1736 when two habitual burglars were done for breaking and entering and robbing the Collector of Customs building […]

January 2021 High Court Edinburgh Craig Murray, faced a contempt of court hearing after posting information on his blog in advance of Mr Salmond’s trial. The contempt proceedings at the High Court, Edinburgh, before Lord Justice Clerk, Lady Dorrian, heard Alex Prentice QC, for the Crown argue that information Craig posted on his blog in […]

Kirsty Wark is a BBC commentator, correspondent, journalist and political progamme maker. She is a close friend of senior Labour Party officials and office holders. Connected and powerful her influence over public opinion in Scotland is accepted by some as being absolute. She speaks the public listens and follows her lead. Is she impartial. Not […]

Oliver Mundell – Dumfriesshire is the Mundell family dynasty Oliver Mundell is to stand for re-election in tomorrow’s Scottish Parliament Election.  He is confident that his strong stance in defence of the Union, in the South of Scotland will count in his favour with voters. education & early employment After leaving school in Moffat, he […]

The decline of the Liberal-Democratic Party in Scotland 2007: In the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections, the party won one fewer seat than in the two previous Scottish elections. The outcome led to criticism of the party’s election strategy. Although it was arithmetically possible to form a majority coalition with the Scottish National Party and the […]

The Newly Built Events Complex Aberdeen (TECA) Aberdeen’s replacement exhibition centre, built using  finance borrowed from the London Stock on a long term loan, cost £425m to build has been devalued by KPMG and is now worth only £318.7m.  A whacking great financial loss from which it doubtful the council will ever recover. Alex Nicoll […]

Fishing – what are the Tories and Lib/Dems up to ? In Scotland, quotas for species such as herring and mackerel have been bought up by a handful of families. Two-fifths of the entire Scottish catch by value and 65 per cent by tonnage was landed by 19 powerful super-trawlers in 2016. More than half […]

Douglas Gordon Ross: He was born in Aberdeen in 1983 and educated at Forres Academy and the Scottish Agricultural College. His early years were spent on a dairy farm near Forres where his father worked as a cattleman. On completing his secondary education he completed a 4-year course at Agriculture College returning to dairy farming […]