I Think I May Have It! – Teaser

Back in September 2012 when the first episode came out, podcasts weren’t so big in Scotland, Scottish politics podcasts certainly weren’t, and anything in favour of Scottish independence was rarer than an honest Tory, so it wasn’t massively difficult to provide new and refreshing content, even if a lot of work had to go into it, and it was done on a budget of near zero.

However, in the intervening period, and particularly in the last few years, everyone and his dug has started a podcast this is one major reason why the show has been on hiatus for so long – I didn’t want to come back and just do the same thing.

Another factor is that in the last few years I’ve been very busy with a young child, lots of work and moving house and some other very important things in life.

For the last 6 months however, I’ve been looking to get back into it, waiting for the right idea to come along. I had a few bad ones that I rejected in the meantime, but now I think I’ve got it.

I hope to start back soon with a kind of interview based series on a very specific theme. Scottish politics people should be interested, pro-indy people should definitely be interested, but this time, we’ll be going quite worldwide with it too.

Watch this space, more specifics to come soon, and hopefully the first couple of episodes in the next few weeks.

For the record, I am still not a member of any political party, and have no intention of joining one. My intention is to help independence along any way I can. The fact that I seem to have got back into this at the same time as various announcements are being made (whether they come to something or not), is possibly just because given the fact that there has been a lot of chat, I sat down and had a think about it.

A Fun New Game

The UK government has recently brought back an old idea about plastering “Funded by the UK government” on lots of things in Scotland, with a big Union flag somewhere.

This is supposed to make us forget about the various disasters that the UK govt seem to be hoping will just miraculously disappear by themselves.

However, sticking “Funded by the UK government” on lots of things does seem like a fun idea. Anyone can play, it’s free and it doesn’t take up much of your time.

For example, here are 11 of them I managed to knock out in lunch break. Feel free to download.

The Scottish Independence Podcast 187 – Odes To Our Adversaries

Just occasionally in all the years I’ve been doing this, mostly for laughs, I’ve made a few little, ahem, tributes, to some of our political adversaries.

The 187th episode of The Scottish Independence Podcast is a run through of some of the best of these, because I think most of us are in need of a laugh at the moment.

Hope you enjoy.

You can download the show directly if you click THIS LINK.

You can listen online at the show’s spreaker webpage, or you can subscribe with itunes. We can also be found on youtube and on facebook.

We are also now available on Spotify, Podcast Addict, iHeartRadio and GooglePodcasts.

These podcasts are independently minded and independently funded, you can help to keep them going by making a donation.

The Scottish Independence Podcast 185 – Billy Kay on Scotland and Identity

The 185th episode of the Scottish Independence Podcast is a talk by Broadcaster, writer and activist and former guest on the show, Billy Kay, about Scottish identity.

Have you ever noticed when you go abroad that the locals always seem to know what happened in 1437 in every wee nook and cranny of their town. Have you also noticed that this often isn’t the case in Scotland? Why would that be? Kay explores this idea in the talk, but also provides some great stories from Scottish history, and there are a few revelations as well. For example, which UK Prime Minister may well have supported Scottish Independence?  Which SNP MSP alledges that she was followed around the Houses of Parliament in the dark by Scottish Labour MPs.

Also, there’s something about the special branch meddling in the Scottish Independence Movement.

All that and more, hope you enjoy.

You can download the show directly if you click THIS LINK.

You can listen online at the show’s spreaker webpage, or you can subscribe with itunes. We can also be found on youtube and on facebook.

We are also now available on Spotify, Podcast Addict, iHeartRadio and GooglePodcasts.

These podcasts are independently minded and independently funded, you can help to keep them going by making a donation.

Scotland Calling Estonia

This the latest in a wonderful series of films by Phantom Power.

Estonia is proof of what happens when a nation takes control of its destiny and embraces the future. Just over 30 years ago Estonia freed itself from a broken Soviet Union to finally realise its true potential. This incredible wee nation of just over 1 million people committed to a new adventure in digital and has never looked back. Estonia is now right up there with its Scandinavian neighbours as amongst the very top places to work and live in the world. We trace the country’s history, difficult transition to full nationhood and focus on how its highly advanced IT savvy citizens are taking on the global Covid19 pandemic – a crisis Estonia is better placed than many to deal with – an example we can all learn from.

In Case You Had Any Doubt

The supposedly impartial Civil Service gave itself an award for interfering with a democratic vote, working for a No vote in the 2014 referendum.

This is not at all surprising, people should just be more aware of it next time round.

The  original article is here.

The Scottish Independence Podcast 184 – How Has Any of This Changed?

The Queen, God, the EU (in and out), your mate’s dug, Alpha Centauri, cherry tomatoes, wind, Nigel Farage, xylophones, Bungle from Rainbow – whatever it is, if you listen to some people, it’s a reason against Scottish Independence.

The latest they are using is the virus, so for the 184th episode of the Scottish Independence Podcast I have taken some pieces of talks from before the coronavirus and I’m asking to you to think about if they still apply, or even, are they more urgent questions than before?

And it finishes with an idiot for good measure.

Hope you enjoy.

You can download the show directly if you click THIS LINK.

You can listen online at the show’s spreaker webpage, or you can subscribe with itunes. We can also be found on youtube and on facebook.

We are also now available on Spotify, Podcast Addict, iHeartRadio and GooglePodcasts.

These podcasts are independently minded and independently funded, you can help to keep them going by making a donation.

The Scottish Independence Podcast 182 – The Clyde-Built Constitution

“A mendacious drunkard’s promise, made to convince his wife not to leave him”, yes you guessed it, The Vow.

However, the 182nd episode of the Scottish Independence Podcast is, thanks to Independence Live, a talk given by Mark McNaught with an intro by John Drummond (former convenor of the Independence convention).

It’s about the importance of making a draft consitution for Scotland BEFORE a second referendum. It also gets into the problems with the constitutional situation in the UK “Arguably the most incoherent and feudal political system on Earth”.

The project, which seems to be on hold at the moment, can be found at Scottishconstitution.com

Hope you enjoy.

You can download the show directly if you click THIS LINK.

You can listen online at the show’s spreaker webpage, or you can subscribe with itunes. We can also be found on youtube and on facebook.

We are also now available on Spotify, Podcast Addict, iHeartRadio and GooglePodcasts.

These podcasts are independently minded and independently funded, you can help to keep them going by making a donation.

Apparently Scottish and Welsh People Can Just Die

I could write a lot about this but frankly, I’d rather not. We are simply “lesser breeds” as a blogger I know puts it, and therefore to be thrown to the dogs if the going gets tough.

This is from BBC Scotland, not known for being supporters of independence, quite the opposite in fact. Whatever their (institutionally mandated) leanings, they are also not known for being conspiracy theorists…

Questioning the Questioner

During the 2014 referendum campaign, the Better Together campaign, in such a way that it was difficult to decide whether it had been done with a lot of copy and paste or on the back of a cigarette packet in the pub, produced a list of 500 questions. It was complete with typos and grammar mistakes too.

Some of them were ludicrous, such as “How much would a first class stamp cost in a separate Scotland?”, or “What is the Scottish Government’s strategy for achieving a separate Scotland’s membership of the World Meterological Organisation?”.

As another blogger pointed out, most of them could be answered by “we’ll fill in the application form” or “we’ll do the same as every other country”. However, I took a quick glance at the list again and think about where we are now. Where necessary, play around with the names of the countries and nationalities involved and see where that takes you.

All of the following is their content…

1. Does the Scottish Government recognise that an independent Scotland would not continue to enjoy a share of the UK European rebate which equates to around £135 for every Scottish household?
2. How would the Scottish Government fill the financial gap left by the loss of around £135 per Scottish household of the European rebate?
3. What will happen to contracts involving Scottish legal entities in the rest of the European Union?
4. What assessment has the Scottish Government done on the impact on whisky producers and other manufacturers if they have to pay import duties to sell their products in other countries during the period in which an Independent Scotland would have to negotiate accession to the World Trade Organisation?
5. What would be the governance arrangements for the financial services regulator(s), and what degree of independence from government would it have?
6. What assessment has the Scottish Government made of the likely impact on the cost of mortgage and credit card borrowing from Scottish independence?
7. How many votes would a separate Scotland have at the Council of Ministers for Agriculture and Fisheries if it becomes a separate member of the EU?
8. What assessment has the Scottish Government made of the speed of EU direct payments, given that at present for new member states direct payments to farmers are phased in gradually?
9. What assessment has the Scottish Government made of whether a separate Scotland would be able to be part of the Common Agriculture Policy and Common Fisheries Policy and if it accepts it would be required to accept the acquis communautaire in this respect?
10. What would happen to those areas of Scotland currently covered by mobile telephone masts located in England? How would you ensure people using these masts don’t face international call roaming charges?
11. Would you have to pay for a separate Scottish passport and how much would it cost?
12. Charities benefit from access to EU structural funds, if Scotland separates from the rest of the UK what assessment has the Scottish Government made of the impact of independence?