“The bracken is part of an ecosystem. There are shrews and voles and moles in there as well as millions of spiders at every level of the bracken. There is funghi under the canopy. The rhizome root system is linked to the trees and the other plants. The ground is not compacted under bracken as it can be in bare fields. The organic matter that falls on it enriches the soil and the top soil is thin here so that matters. We believe in working with the ecosystem – not trying to poison it.”
Time up for Scotland’s hereditary landowners?
“There are some areas where communities have been helped to buy the land they live on. But Scotland still has the most inequitable land ownership in the developed world. This month, the Scottish Government issued a consultation paper suggesting that a public interest principle should be applied when large estates change hands…”
BoJo’s callow cuifs will decide on Scotland’s laws
“Westminster has decided that all sovereignty rests with itself and it only lends powers to Holyrood – powers that these London-based pipsqueaks will now get to sit in judgement over. So much for the promise that Scotland would have “the most powerful devolved legislature in the world”.”
Glasgow’s LEZ kills off Sylvia
Glasgow, with low car ownership, has inaugurated its low emission zone so how have drivers and pedestrians for that matter reacted? Surprisingly positively finds Jackie Kemp.
Will Scotland switch to Labour in a big way?
“..the old saw that long periods of Conservative rule are a price worth paying to remain in the UK, and that Labour will fix everything when they get back in, has worn too thin for me. I want to see Scotland take responsibility for its own future, build and manage its own democratic institutions. So at some point, England will have to get ready to do the same.”
What’s going on at the SNP?
“History may judge the police search and arrests to be over the top – or justified. We don’t know yet. But I think the interests of justice would be best served by a speedy decision from the Procurator Fiscal on this.”
Rolling stone of destiny
Fate of the Stone of Destiny – and the UK. Same old ‘tartan gesture politics’? or meaningful role in Charles III coronation?
Scotland does not need nuclear energy
Contrary to what you might have heard…, nuclear power is an outdated technology. Scotland can build a strong, resilient energy supply based on renewable energy.
The rules of the road in the Highlands
“Sometimes at night, when the rain is coming down like iron spikes and the road is as dark as a werewolf’s armpit I feel that the brown signs directing you to local services are a sick joke. The signs don’t contain any information as to distance, so you could come off and find it is a 20-minute drive..”
ChatGPT, you’re fired!
“The quotes were generally ideal, exactly what I was looking for, so I searched a little harder. But after fouterin for literary hours, I realised that it just makes the damn things up.”