In 1962, Prince Phillip insisted on going ahead with a Tiger hunt, despite protests from British and Indian politicians. He defended his decision to shoot a tiger following the incident, saying they were not endangered. By 1972, the Tiger population of India had almost been wiped out. At the time of the shooting, the Prince was ‘helping to found’ the WWF. In his book “Queen of the World,” royal author Robert Hardman detailed the incident. The Maharajah was very clear about the main purpose of the visit: The Duke of Edinburgh was going to shoot a tiger. At the very moment … Continue reading ‘A decent man who did a lot of good’ Iain Macwhirter

Is that choice of words a tell-tale sign that the both the Duke and his boy knew that he was far from the lovable rogue being portrayed ad nauseam this weekend? I won’t get into the details here, but the Duke’s fondness for the very Germanic style at Gordonstoun suggests a hard form of parenthood most of us would be shocked by. Perhaps he didn’t know then about the full horror of the place but we do now: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/apr/12/child-abuse-at-prince-charles-former-school-scotland So, readers, I leave it you to tell us your not-so-fond memories of the ‘People’s Duke.’ Continue reading Because he he was the kind of man to send his kids to ‘Colditz in kilts?’

The rioting in Northern Ireland by groups fundamentally believing in the holy meaning of the Union and traumatised by the death of the Duke, has excited the Herald writer’s imagination. The pictures editor has let him down this time. That quiet, wet, mundane border looks too damp to light. Now, four men, a tabard and a big dug, that could kick off! MacGlashan, sorry, Macwhirter, opens with: There has never been a direct read across from the troubles in the province to Scotland. But Northern Ireland is only 12 miles away, and closer culturally and politically than we’d like to … Continue reading The ‘Troubles’ will not trouble Independent Scotland, Iain ‘Red Hand’ Macwhirter

Former adviser to Jack McConnell, Susan Dalgety, writing in the right-wing Tory rag, the Spectator, once edited by Johnson, casts doubt on the First Minister’s progressiveness and at the same time looks down her nose at a council house / comprehensive school background in North Ayrshire. There was a time when coming from a ‘modest background’ and getting on was perceived as something to be proud of in the Labour Party. I claim a modest background. Susan Dalgety has a trail of nasty personal attacks on Sturgeon. In November 2020, she dissected the body of cancer victim, Tracey Emin, to … Continue reading Sturgeon’s ‘modest background’ and the nasty snobbery of Blairites

Ignoring the news of death rates falling below, and vaccination rates rising above, other parts of the UK, the National joined the others in jumping the gun to trumpet the attainment of the record BBC Scotland has waited for. Just over a week ago, in an anti-Sturgeon tirade, their Michael Fry repeated the outright lie that Scotland had had more Covid deaths over the pandemic. In October 2020, they stated that the FM had admitted to a lack of clarity over cafe shutdown exemptions. She had not. It comes from the top: Their first editor Richard Walker said in 2015: … Continue reading The National: Still proudly critical of the SNP

Our Science Correspondent, Jurgen MacGlashan, has written to the authorities to suggest that ‘sex pheromone traps’ be placed in the toilets of food serving areas in airports, ferry terminals and roadside services, in an effort to keep out the new variants of Covid which the PM has warned will soon be washing up on our shores. This would be a replication of the currently successful traps keeping Halyomorpha halys, the Stink Bug, out of Scotland. From The Scottish Farmer yesterday: The stink bug can already be found on every continent in the Northern Hemisphere, including North America and mainland Europe, … Continue reading Calls for sex pheromone traps at Scottish border and in ports to keep new variants out

From reader Gordon: On the day that The Duke of Edinburgh passed, BBC television, as could only be expected, revised their schedules in order to focus on the royal death. Across almost all of the channels, planned programmes were replaced by rolling news and documentaries relating to the wonderful life and works of the Queen’s consort. It was interesting to note that the planned televising of a Scottish Championship football match was cancelled (although the match took place). Presumably such a program was deemed to be not in keeping with the solemnity required. On the other hand, on the red … Continue reading England’s women disappoint mourners of Duke

At the end of the year, the new vaccine could even be called just the ‘Oxford’ vaccine. Boris and Matt wondered if we could get a Union flag on every vial. In early January, it was still England’s vaccine gifted for BBC Scotland: Even on April 1st, as those sneaky Europeans stopped using it, it was still from Oxford: On the 7th April 2021, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency did not recommend age restrictions in COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca vaccine use but did say that the data suggest there is a slightly higher incidence reported in the younger adult … Continue reading Let’s just drop the ‘Oxford’ bit now?

On this day of all days, the SNP Government in Edinburgh has shown disregard for the feelings of the family of the Duke, whose city they have the nerve to rule from, by deliberately pushing Covid deaths down to the lowest in the UK: Holyrood candidate, George Galloway, is expected to tell reporters that BBC Scotland’s plans to report overall deaths in Scotland as much lower, is based on Nationalist fabrications: Not satisfied with this republican attack on the Royal Family, the SNP Government in the place where the Duke’s heart lay, has also, cunningly, pushed vaccination levels above that … Continue reading SNP accused of inappropriately forcing death rate to lowest in the UK on this day

In Energy Voice today: The final push for the world’s largest floating wind farm off Aberdeen is underway, with a giant foundation making the first leg of its journey. Boskalis said transportation of the third giant foundation from Spain to the Netherlands last week, later destined for Aberdeen, begins a phase which will see the six-turbine Kincardine Offshore Windfarm “take shape in the coming months”. The Kincardine Floating Offshore Wind project, 15 km off the coast of Aberdeen, is the world’s largest array of floating turbines. It establishes Scotland’s leading position in both development and deployment of offshore wind farms. The … Continue reading World’s largest offshore windfarm for Scotland