EU referendum
Scotland’s EU outlook worsens as indy options narrow
“In meetings of the Council of Ministers, insiders say that no one now listens when UK representatives talk. The UK still has a vote – but without good allies in other member states to work…
Sturgeon’s lonely decision on #indyref2
“Nicola Sturgeon’s decision on the timing of the independence referendum is likely to be the most important of her leadership. If she gets it right her place in Scottish history is assured but if she…
Toxic referendums and territorial constitutions
“People often talk about federalism as if it were a solution for the UK. In truth the UK is already moving beyond it, to a more confederal solution. But a confederation needs policies and institutions…
Canny tactics or Brexishambles?
“Brexit may well mean Brexit, as our leaders are fond of telling us, but there is much more to it than waving goodbye. There are good tactical reasons not to trigger Article 50 immediately, but…
Brexit: no easy way out
“Scotland voted decisively to Remain, England to Leave. Their interests do not coincide.” In the second of our podcasts three leading experts from the David Hume Institute discuss the implications – and examine what Scotland’s…
May throws down gauntlet to Scotland
“Any options for Scotland to stay, at least partly, in the EU while rUK leaves were always going to depend on political will as well as technical feasibility. Theresa May has made her position clear.…
‘My whole day is Scotland in Europe’
“Scotland would fit right into an axis of cooperation that goes from Ireland to Iceland to Norway and Sweden and to Denmark and Finland. There’s a clear axis into which Scotland fits. There is a…
Sovereignty, 1707 and saving the other Union
“One of the arguments of the Leave campaign, after all, was that sovereignty should be repatriated from Brussels to Westminster, not to No.10 Downing Street.” So: parliament(s) should have the last word on leaving the…
Hard Brexit lessons for US Democrats
“Hard Brexit, soft Brexit, Brexit over easy on rye, nobody’s quite sure what they ordered.” But the US is facing a similar binary choice to that of the EU referendum when they elect a new…
Poetry with a European twist in Portree
“For when it comes down to it, this, for me, is what it is all about. Hope for the future – as long as mountains stand and rivers run – lies in our interconnectedness. Across…
Still time for MPs to overturn Brexit
“Had the referendum been a court case, there would surely be a re-trial scheduled already.” The public was singularly ill-informed when it went to the poills in the June 23 EU referendum. Time for MPOs…
Sturgeon’s diminishing timeframe for Scottish indy
Nicola Sturgeon is about to launch the SNP’s much-delayed “summer” initiative to win over No voters to support independence and, maybe, #indyref2. But two books by two prominent Scottish professors, reviewed here, suggest she has…