The bike suits her as a way to get around, supporting an injured ankle and allowing her to travel independently under her own steam. “I’m really loving the travelling. I’m comfortable with the rhythm of it, the self sufficiency and transient friendships of strangers meeting.”
March for our lives: letter from Boston
“The opposition will call you snowflakes. But do you know what in Massachusetts we call thousands upon thousands of snowflakes rising on a wind of change? We call that a blizzard!” Jackie Kemp reports from March For Our Lives in Boston
Top spy’s “intelligence” on #indyref2 and Brexit…
The author hears Sir John Sawers, ex-MI6 chief, tell a Harvard audience how Scottish independence won’t happen even though the UK will be diminished by Brexit – and that includes its voice in Washington.
Curtains up for Tories and Labour
‘I hope the parties do split. This is a time when the country needs some people prepared to step out of the shadows and offer leadership, and a vision that moderates from both sides could share. It could be the best thing for Britain and Europe…’
Tale of two tax reforms: Scotland v USA
‘While the Scottish government is introducing more progressive taxes, the US is in the process of passing a controversial bill which cuts tax bigly for the rich’. Jackie Kemp, now based in Boston, Mass., saees merits in both systems…
Talkin’ about self-driving cars
In the corner apartment overlooking the city Elspeth was unpacking a Whole Foods bag, in between flipping a clean towel onto the bathroom rail and kicking her gym shoes under the sofa. She greeted them at the door. “Jim! How lovely.” After Jim had admired the view – two windowed walls overlooking the nexus of […]
C for E: grading a Big Idea
‘In Scotland, we perhaps put too much emphasis on formal, externally assessed exams – and is it really necessary for students to take them every year for the whole three years of the senior phase?’
Scenes from Highland life – and thoughts on land reform
Rather than trying to unmake history, Scotland should build on it. Rich landowners, whether native-born or from elsewhere, who cherish Scotland’s wild places, can use their resources to help to care for for it and to protect it from the challenges of the future.
Art of yesterday’s newspapers
Artist Jane Couroussopoulos finds a novel use for the pile of old Guardians she keeps in her studio, turning them into works of art. Jackie Kemp visits the artist at work in newly reawakening Leith.
US health care is sick – a bitter foretaste for us?
‘The wasteful and inefficient system pushes unnecessary treatment at the worried well and has no cap on cost. One aspirin cost my insurance firm $400’. From Boston Jackie Kemp reports on what lie in store for the UK if the NHS p[rivatisers get their way…