Jeremy Corbyn’s election as leader of the historically formidable and well established Labour Party is particularly troublesome to those in power at Westminster due to his strong anti-establishment outlook matched together with a distinctly farther-than-usual left agenda.  Scotlan’s reaction has been cautious and mixed.  Corbyn is anti Nuke, which speaks favorably to a growing consensus in Scotia against the renewal of the Trident nuclear submarine program housed in Scotland.  Indeed, the Conservative UK government has suggested that the Corbyn victory has created a UK wide risk to national security, economic security and every family in the Union.  Probably a bit of over reach, but it does express the degree of discomfort the established political organizations in the UK are experiencing.

Scottish Indy. On the other side of the coin, Corbyn is a Unionist and has not in the past supported Scottish Indy.  Indeed, there is an argument that a Corbyn led and potentially resurgent Labour Party could stifle the recent surging support for a Scottish exit from the United Kingdom by fueling some hope of an alternative to the wave of recent Tory Conservative majorities in the UK Parliament at Westminster.

The seeds of SNP and Labour cooperation were sown earlier during the Labour leadership campaign when Corbyn signaled that, unlike his predecessor at the Labour helm Ed Miliband, Corbyn would be willing to work with the SNP at Westminster if it meant the opportunity to defeat the Tories and create a coalition UK government.  Although that position raised criticism from Corbyn’s own party in Scotland, the SNP’s Alex Salmond, now an MP at Westminster representing a Scottish constituency, welcomed the sea change saying that he could work with Corbyn on a range of issues such as welfare reform and abolishing Trident.

Scottish Culture and Heritage.  Regarding preservation and enhancement of Scottish heritage, there are a few things to remember about Labour.  The Labour Party in Scotland is a “branch office” of the UK Labour Party, ultimately taking direction across the board from Party leadership in London.  The influence of “Corbynism” will be strongly felt in Scotland.  The Labour Party has never proven itself to be a very interested partner in the Scottish Diaspora’s expressions of Scottish heritage, preferring a more completely forward looking agenda.

The most current Labour Party Manifesto (2015) does not focus on heritage issues at all and fails to mention Scottish native language revival. Labour’s 2015 Charter for Culture and the Creative Industries  includes the basic statement,  ”[T]he beauty of our cities, towns and villages, including exceptional monuments, churches, cathedrals and historic houses should be protected and enhanced.”  Not a resounding and deeply thought commitment but a place holder at least.  There is little reason to expect the election of Jeremy Corbyn to alter that outlook.

The post Landslide victory for Jeremy Corbyn in the UK: What will election of a new Labour Party leader mean for Scotland? appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

Today a second poll was released, showing similar results as last week’s Ipsos – Mori poll. Significantly, the TNS poll utilized a different approach and methodology than the Ipsos – Mori poll which adds encouragement to the independence movement. One commentator has labeled the effect of this fresh TNS poll as earth shaking (“Political earthquake as TNS agrees with Ipsos-Mori : there is now a majority for independence” ).

Here are the big numbers: Favor Independence?  47% Yes, 42% No, 11% Undecided.  Excluding those who are undecided, the poll puts the Yes side ahead by 53% to 47%.  Recall that last week’s Ipsos – Mori poll was remarkable in that its finding of 53% in support of Scottish independence was inclusive of the undecided vote, which was a very low 3% in that poll. Is Scotland changing its mind regarding independence?  Still far too early to say but we now have a strengthening argument that it is.

More detailed poll results will be worthy of a peek as they appear.  Questions such as “why” did you vote “No” a year ago but are ready to vote “Yes” today become the focus of analysis.  The various age brackets all appear to remain voting in blocks similarly to the vote taken in 2014 (generally, the younger the voter the more likely she is pro-Indy). Are the new “Yes” supporters distributed across the age spectrum of Scotland or have recent events convinced more young or more senior Scots to change their mind on this most fundamental constitutional question?

Then there is geography. Where do the new “Yes” supporters live?  The TNS poll appears to confirm that Glasgow remains very strongly pro-Indy but what about the rest of Scotland?  Many questions.  More analysis …

As always, these polls offer insights that go beyond the independence question.  For a good breakdown of some of the other aspects of the TNS poll, check out the STV News analysis HERE.

Stay tuned!

The post Scottish Indy Quick Update: One more poll showing a majority now in favor of Scottish independence appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

In the last Watching Scotland blog we took a look at the Scottish Conservative Party, or (from an American point of view) the somewhat unfortunately nicknamed “Tories”. From a right of centre perspective we now swing over and investigate what is going on over on the left with Scotland’s fourth largest political party (out of seven or eight, depending on the moment) – The Scottish Green Party.

The Scottish Greens were founded in 1990 upon the breakup of the UK wide Green Party into decentralized regional bodies. Scottish Greens are entirely politically independent of the other Green parties in the UK but are supportive of those as well as the European Union’s Green equivalent.

Scottish Greens have been represented in the Scottish Parliament since its devolved launch in 1999, but at a fairly low level, dropping from a high of 7 Green MSPs elected in 2003 to the 2 that Scotland has delivered to Holyrood at present. Despite the fall in numbers from the 2003 Parliament there is some reason to believe that the Scottish Greens have turned things around and may again be on the upswing in terms of membership and influence.

That latest STV poll that indicated a clear majority in favor of Scottish independence also had quite a bit to say about the potential future of the Scottish Green Party, all of it encouraging. The poll placed Scottish support for Scottish Greens at 8%, which translates into 8 MSPs in the 2016 Scottish Parliament, up from the current 2.

Further, Scottish Green party co-convenor Patrick Harvie MSP was selected as the most popular leader (highest approval rating) among all from the Holyrood opposition parties. Scottish Greens presently claim a membership of roughly 9,000 which makes it the fourth largest political party in Scotland and easily within reach of growing larger than the Scottish Conservative or Tory Party and overtaking the third position.

Of particular note to those of us in the Diaspora who are interested in preservation of Scotland’s historic built environment and landscape is the fact that the Scottish Green party maintains a handful of local councilors elected mostly in Glasgow, Edinburgh and the central belt, as well as an institutional preference for local control of planning and other decisions. Land development and collateral preservation of historic assets is largely a function of local government in Scotland through its local councils.

In light of the foregoing figures, the Scottish Greens may well be set to increase their political influence in Scottish devolved politics. It is of course important to note that the Scottish Greens are the only party in the Scottish Parliament aside from the SNP that endorsed the Yes Scotland position on Scottish independence. So lets take a look at the Scottish Green position on some issues.

Heritage and Culture. Not much to say here although the Scottish Green 2015 policy document talks more about culture than heritage and the ancestral diaspora, about which it says essentially nothing. Here is the entire entry entitled “Culture”:

Quality of life is a major issue for Greens with culture a significant component in empowering people and strengthening communities. Culture produces positive, creative, inquiring and educated citizens. It also attracts inward tourism. We encourage participation in the arts, both actively and passively.

We encourage the use of Gaelic and Scots.

The arts can help in regeneration and tacking exclusion and we will require Scottish Enterprise to include a cultural remit.

It reads as a bit of a place holder, which is encouraging in that at least Scotland’s native languages rate a clear mention of support. The mention, however, is far from enthusiastic and leaves a gaping hole in support for Scotland’s native cultures and languages, which is disappointing from such an otherwise forward thinking progressive organization.

Aside from culture and heritage one might find just about everything else of political interest in Scotland inside the Scottish Green Party platform. It is a mistake to understand the Greens as a political party that is limited to positions on environmental issues and climate change although they do have those and are able to provide focus in the larger political sphere.

It would also be a mistake to understand the Scottish Green Party as a radical left political force in Scotland as their policies and platforms remain firmly within the conceivable in Scotland, without the need for radical change in institutions – with the one exception that the Scottish Green platform is openly in opposition to hereditary monarchy and supports a republican form of government with a written constitution in Scotland.

Will the fortunes of the Scottish Green party rise in the context of a viable opposition to the growing dominance of the SNP? Just one more thing to keep an eye on in the upcoming Scottish Parliamentary election cycle. Check out the Scottish Green Party website for more info.

The post Watching Scotland: A peek at the Scottish Green Party appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

Things began to heat up on August 31^st when SNP MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh tweeted a photograph of herself sitting in a shiny Scottish police helicopter that has recently been re-branded on one side in Scottish Gaelic. Ms. Ahmed-Sheikh is a member of the SNP 56, the spunky MPs that Scotland sent to Westminster for the 2015 UK Parliament. She has been outspoken on several issues while in London, as have many of her SNP colleagues, and thus she has become somewhat of a lightning rod for news coverage and opposition comments. Plus, the Scottish police themselves have been at the heart of controversy lately for a range of alleged failures and wrong-doing.

In a memorable case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the Gaelic language was assaulted along side the politician and the police. Unfortunately and unfairly, the language may have taken the hardest toll. Several professional and amateur commentators ridiculed and marginalized the Gaelic language in an attempt to expose poor leadership and politically biased decisions of the SNP led government. The Gaelic helicopter was labeled a “vanity project paint job” not worthy of taxpayer funds by one twitter commentator. Another wrote “at least the 1% of Scots criminals who speak Gaelic will be worried when the cops are after them.”

From helicopters the critique grew nastier that very evening as it expanded to bilingual road signs. A fairly offensive anti-SNP website posted a meme attacking the Scottish government’s strong commitment to bilingual road signs (Gaelic/English). Despite the fact that the figures quoted in the meme were monumentally inaccurate, when a few media sources picked it up and the Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservatives re-tweeted it the political fitball game was on again.

On August 31^st, anti-SNP political sources and a very feisty media launched a critique based around an alleged expenditure of 26 million pounds earmarked for adding Gaelic language to Scotland’s road signs even (gasp) outside of the Highlands and Islands. In fact, the figure was 2 million pounds and as it turns out the Gaelic element of Scottish road signs is expense neutral, not costing the taxpayer any additional costs. Despite the basic inaccuracy of the critique, the core message of the attack deserves attention from supporters of Gaelic revival.

The message of both of these attacks was that Gaelic should be recognized as nothing more than a “hobby language” which, in all likelihood (and with any luck), will be extinct by the middle of this century and thus, is not fit for significant public support. The point was to make the SNP led Scottish government look bad because it is spending money on something that is actually bad for Scotland and futile to boot. In doing so (or trying really hard to do so) a disturbing and ignorant dislike verging on hatred of Gaelic culture and heritage revealed itself. Then it got worse.

Scotland sports a very lively online political blogosphere and one of the most successful bloggers and websites on the pro-independence side is called “Wings Over Scotland”. Wings stakes out the opposite side of the political spectrum from those who were using the Gaelic language to bludgeon the SNP at the end of August. On September 1, 2015 Wings Over Scotland bit back at the Scottish media and Tory MSP Jackson Carlaw exposing the gross inaccuracy of their allegations of public expenditure on Gaelic road signs and their duplicitous hot and cold positions on public support for Gaelic language and cultural revival over time. For reasons that are not entirely clear, Wings also ripped into Gaelic language and culture in an even more aggressive and less informed blinkered Anglo-centric tirade than even the anti-Gaelic helicopter and road sign people had put together.

To begin, Wings titled its tirade “The lesser of two stupids” (Gaelic revitalization being one of those) and opened with the sentiment, “Let’s start off by losing some more friends.” Apparently Wings Over Scotland got up on the wrong side of the bed on September 1. It is well worth quoting the following few paragraphs in their full angry, arrogant, imperial and uninformed glory:

“This site has no time for the Gaelic lobby. The obsolete language spoken by just 0.9% of Scotland’s population might be part of the nation’s “cultural heritage”, but so were burning witches and replacing Highlanders with sheep and we don’t do those any more either.

Being multilingual is an excellent thing, but the significant amount of time and effort taken to learn a literally-pointless second language) because everyone you can talk to in Gaelic already understood English) would be vastly better directed to picking up on that was actually of some use, and every extra fraction of a second spent scanning a road sign trying to find the bit you can read is a fraction of a second spent with your eyes off the road.

Non-primary native languages are a tool whose main utility in practice is at best the exclusion of outsiders and at worst an expression of dodgy blood-and-soil ethnic nationalism. They’re a barrier to communication and an irritation to the vast majority of the population, who are made to feel like uncultured aliens in their own land.”

And because Wings’ political opponents are even worse than the horrors of living with Gaelic, Wings then launched off on an attack on the anti-Gaelic crowd as mentioned above. It’s all a little crazy.

Of course this is not the first time – or likely the last – that we’ve heard the idea that Gaelic is simply not worth the effort of support voiced in a fairly urgent and aggressive manner in Scotland. Back in 2013 Conservative writer Allan Massie gave Gaelic-bashing a good go. David Mitchell is a Scottish comedian but for some reason he gets deadly serious when it comes to the evil potential of the Gaelic language. The revulsion that some in Scotland have for their nation’s oldest living indigenous language and culture is surprising and has not been fully explained. Occasionally it causes me to believe that our ancestors who left Scotland actually had it right.

It is surprising how insular and sheltered the Scottish conversation regarding the Gaelic language actually is. The history and broad contribution of the Gaelic language and culture across Scotland appear to be not well known and the discussion is generally conducted from a position of British colonial imperialism even by those like Wings Over Scotland that like to consider themselves anti-imperial, progressive and open minded. Wings suggests that Gaels who are interested in reclaiming the language and culture that were forcibly torn away from them by an invading imperial power are an imposition to Wings and others of that invading imperial power who remain. That sentiment is simply ignorant and backward and deserves no further attention.

Astoundingly, these Gaelic critics may never have thought about the fact that minority language and cultural revitalization, re-invigoration and even reclamation of “sleeping beauty” languages that have lost all native speakers are part of a growing global movement that is actually picking up speed and in many cases flourishing outside of Scotland. First Nation languages in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, India and elsewhere are actively reclaiming “dead” languages and revitalizing severely endangered languages and those native cultures are beginning to flower in new and very positive ways. And it results in positive impact to the majority culture as well. Understanding cultural identity by learning indigenous language typically creates greater self esteem, pride and a decline in anti-social behavior in members of that culture. It is almost universally a good thing, although it is not always recognized as such by recalcitrant majority cultures.

Perhaps the most successful language reclamation project is now the primary language of private and public life in the state of Israel. The Hebrew language had its beginnings around the 13^th century B.C.. Following a gradual decline Hebrew ceased to be spoken by the 2^nd century A.D. For the next 1,750 years, spoken Hebrew was a “sleeping beauty” language – dead or extinct – it was no one’s mother tongue. At the end of the 19^th century the Hebrew diaspora began the reclamation and revitalization of their ancient but extinct mother tongue. Today there are over 14 million Hebrew or Israeli speakers and the language is now one of two official languages in Israel, the other being Arabic.

Hebrew linguist and language revivalist Ghil’ad Zuckermann has commented that “[d]uring the past century, Israeli has become the primary mode of communication in all domains of public and private life among Israeli Jews. By now the Israeli language is probably the most important common element that still binds Israeli Jews together.” That is what ancestral language and culture do – they bring people together.

There is no question that the greatest beneficiaries of indigenous language revitalization are the language owners themselves. In Scotland, Gaelic was spoken almost everywhere until roughly the 13^th and 14^th centuries when it began to decline in the shadow of a rapidly spreading new Scots language and the pressure of French Norman institutions and cultural tradition. That means that if native Scots chose to be receptive, almost every Scot with native roots to his or her country could participate and benefit in Gaelic revitalization. By reestablishing connection with their ancestral lands, ancestral tongue and way of life language learners create a stronger sense of belonging, identity, self worth, and well being.

Writers like Wings Over Scotland are very proud of Scotland’s global multi cultural modern identity and they are therefore deathly afraid of the rise of ethnic nationalism in Scotland and that fear is evident in their anti Gaelic and even anti heritage writing. Yet in reality, the British imposed Scottish status quo which strips native identity and culture from Scots but allows it for immigrants to Scotland is the most corrosive and divisive societal structure possible. Instead of shirking and mocking their ancestral heritage, modern Scots should try to embrace and develop it. Learning the joy and satisfaction that comes with a better connection to ones own past is the very best way to assure broader and deeper tolerance for other cultures and traditions. When Scotland shuts that opportunity down for its own natives it condemns them to a parochial angry future.

Works that way in America too.

The post A Nasty Gaelic Storm Hit Scotland This Week appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

While this poll has been labelled a “shocker” by Scottish media it is only one poll and it has already been heartily criticized by the Labour party.  Labour joined together with the Tories last year to oppose Scottish independence in the “Better Together” campaign. In a press release today, the Labour party pointed out that the pollster that STV used to conduct the poll is not the most accurate in Scotland and has misjudged voter sentiment on independence before.  But Labour has more reasons than just independence to be unhappy with this latest poll.

When asked about the upcoming Scottish Parliamentary elections, the poll reports that support for the SNP continues to grow at the expense of Labour.  If the poll is spot on, next year SNP will emerge from the May parliamentary elections with a majority government of 74 of the 129 MSP seats in the Scottish parliament. Meanwhile Labour is projected to lose 11 seats retaining only 26 of their current 37.  To pour salt in the wound, the poll also finds that a stunning 71% of those asked responded favorably to Nicola Sturgeon’s work as Scottish First Minister so far.  That in contrast to only 28% approval rating for David Cameron, UK Prime Minister.

So as time marches on it makes sense to keep an eye on a couple of things.  To begin, it will likely take many more polls like this one to begin to nudge Scottish pro-independence leadership to take steps toward setting a new referendum.  The better wisdom in Scotland right now suggests that we will not see a second independence referendum unless a Yes vote is a slam dunk.  However, if the poll results continue to look like those released today, look for a second referendum mention in the SNP 2016 party manifesto.

The second thing to watch is the toll that success ultimately takes on the SNP.  The word “dominant” is truly beginning to describe the impact of the SNP on politics.  Political dominance across national and local government in Scotland makes the SNP a target.  Cracks already are apparent as news about SNP infighting, sweet deals and other unattractive behavior are actively rooted out by the attack dog British press.  Now the SNP will be judged by its performance in government as opposed to the strength of its arguments in favor of independence.  That leaves room open for other left of centre political parties like the Scottish Green Party and the new farther left political alliance RISE to gain momentum and support, which, they are in fact doing.

As we in the Scottish diaspora continue to watch, political rules in the homeland continue to change in ways that were hardly imaginable a decade ago.  All of these changes will undoubtedly have an impact on things that the diaspora hold dear in Scotland.  How will the new generations of Scottish leadership treat heritage issues like historic built environment and landscape?  What sort of view to tourism will the new Scotland have?  Will the level of Scottish governmental support for Gaelic cultural revival increase or diminish in the upcoming years?  All very good questions that remain unanswered for the present.  Keep watching!

The post New Poll: Scotland would vote in favor of independence if the vote was tomorrow appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

As with the Scottish branch of the UK Labour Party, Scottish Conservatives are set up as a sub unit of the larger UK Conservative party organization. Scotland takes it’s direction regarding party personnel, finance and patronage from UK Conservative leadership in London. Also like Labour, the tension that accompanies this arrangement, especially when it comes to policy, plays an important role in how Scottish Conservatives do business in Scotland today. Indeed, Scottish conservative prospects have looked so bleak recently that it was only a few years ago (2011) when prominent and rational Scottish conservatives called for the decoupling of the Scottish Conservative party from the UK Tories to be replaced by a new independent Scottish group of conservatives who would not be tied to London and who could even modify their position on Scottish independence. That idea ultimately failed but no solution to the challenges that created it has yet been found. Just this summer Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson found the necessity to dress down UK Tory boss David Cameron for his statements ruling out a second Scottish Indy Referendum.

The UK Conservative party was founded as the successor to several regional conservative and unionist parties that were combined in 1965. Over the last century and a half conservative politics has played a significant role in UK government including policy matters in Scotland. In Scotland however, that active and influential role came to an abrupt halt in 1997 when Scotland failed to return a single conservative MP to the United Kingdom Parliament – something that hadn’t happened for 180 years.

Conservative political decline in Scotland did not come like a bolt from the sky. Scotland overwhelmingly perceived that it had been treated unfairly and harshly during long road through the Margaret Thatcher and John Major conservative years (1979 – 1997). Additionally, during the nineties, the conservative party began to fight itself in the wake of the rise of political alternatives in Scotland. That and the Conservatives’ steadfast refusal to consider devolution brought about the total Scottish Conservative wipe out in 1997.

While Conservatism’s popularity in the UK continues to rise and fall (Conservatives have been in power at Westminster since 2010) Scotland has never been a strongly Conservative nation and has returned a majority of Conservative MPs to UK Parliament only twice in nearly two centuries (1931 and 1955). On the national front, Scotland has now selected four devolved Scottish Parliaments since 1999. Scottish Conservatives have never gained more than 16.6% of the vote. At present, Scotland is represented by one Scottish MP at Westminster and by 17 of the 129 total MSPs in Scotland’s devolved Parliament. Scotland does a good bit of governing of itself on the local level through locally elected “Councils”. Of the 1,223 Council seats throughout Scotland, 111 are held by Conservative party members. Current party membership was claimed to be 11,000 by the Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson in 2012. By contrast, Scottish National Party membership is now at more than 110,000 and on the rise. The Scottish Conservatives’ Facebook page sports 5,595 “Likes”.

Despite their small numbers it would be a mistake to forget to keep up with what the Scottish Tories are up to. It is possible that Tories will represent the major opposition to the ascendant and increasingly dominant Scottish National Party at Holyrood after 2016. Scottish Conservatives favor policies and positions that will be very familiar to American Conservatives although how those policies and positions play out in each nation will of course vary widely given that America and Scotland are, well, two very different nations. People who support ideas like smaller government and more individual choice, personal responsibility and welfare reform, strong national defense and a strong economy are found on the far right side of the Atlantic as well as the left side.

If you are interested in learning more about Scotland’s Conservative party, a great way to begin is a visit to the official Scottish Conservative website.

The post Are there more Scottish Conservatives than Unicorns in Scotland? Barely. appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

Last May, just a few months after rejecting independence, the Scottish people seriously culled their political landscape by abandoning the SNP’s two major political rivals - the Scottish branches of the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrat party.  In the United Kingdom 2015 General Parliamentary Election, Scotland chose 56 of it’s 59 Ministers of Parliament from the ranks of the SNP.  That was a cool 50 more SNP Ministers than had been sent to London for the 2010 UK Parliament.  Not only did Labour and the LibDems lose significant numbers in Parliament, almost all of the party icons – the high leadership of the Scottish branches of the Labour and LibDem organizations – were electorally ousted in one fell swoop.  They were replaced with SNP warriors.

As SNP membership numbers continue to grow, political forecasters are generally united in predictions of a continued SNP majority at the Scottish Parliament when Scotland goes to the polls in May 2016 to choose the next Scottish Parliament. The latest Scottish poll on the matter shows 62% support for the SNP for next year’s Parliamentary contests.  The only question it seems, is how dominant will the SNP majority be?  One Scottish political commentator has suggested that “… right now, nobody would write off the SNP’s chances of taking all 73 Scottish parliamentary constituencies in next May’s Holyrood election.” (The Scotsman, August 23, 2015).

Indeed, that same journalist has noted that the SNP is so very dominant that the real political battles are occurring now, months prior to the election, within the SNP party structure to determine who will stand in 2016 as an SNP candidate.  The Scottish version of party primaries will determine whether incumbent SNP MSPs will keep their right to even stand for reelection. What are the other political parties in Scotland are doing in response to this SNP open field romp?  The traditional Labour powerhouse in Scotland continues to lick its wounds while it remains tangled up in a bloody struggle to find a new UK Labour leader.  The last Labour party leader - Ed Miliband - stepped down with his head hung low immediately following last May’s electoral debacle.  The battle to name a new leader has been so nasty and divisive that some Scots believe that the Labour party may not survive it.

At the very least, many believe it not likely that Labour will be able to get it together to mount a serious challenge to SNP dominance next May. The LibDems seem less of a threat than Labour and for decades the Conservative (Tory) party has failed to grab much oxygen in Scotland. Given the unpopularity of the Conservative government at Westminster in center and leftward leaning Scottish households, there is little reason for optimism on the Tory front in Scotland.

So there sits the SNP, in government with a majority that is almost certain to grow significantly in the next election cycle burdened with a day to day governmental mandate that is occasionally at odds with the party’s founding mission – independence – and almost always stealing time, attention and focus away from pursuit of that enduring Scottish goal.  The SNP has campaigned itself into a potentially unmanageable position where it must now run a devolved Scottish Parliament when it’s core mission is to deliver an independent Scotland – two fundamentally distinct – and possibly contrary jobs.  More than a few believe that the cause of Independence is getting lost in the shuffle.

The realization of this still developing political imbalance in Scottish politics has triggered a few interesting responses from the legendary Scottish left. In 2003 Scottish Parliament included six MSPs representing the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and seven from the Greens. It has been suggested that since those halcyon days the Scottish radical left has collapsed now having little influence left at Holyrood (Scottish Parliament).

The radical left may have collapsed at Holyrood but a new political alliance will “rise” from the ashes this Saturday as a new Scottish political element is born. The name is “RISE” and it stands for Respect, Independence, Socialism, Environmentalism.  Pretty concise and says pretty much everything about the new group.  RISE has been billed as a grassroots anti-austerity movement, built upon the foundation of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and the Scottish Left Project (SLP). RISE plans to stand candidates for election in May’s Holyrood elections and is billing itself as a replacement for Labour in Scotland and the continuing heartbeat of Scottish Independence.

Whether RISE will even survive to see the 2016 elections is not certain.  One thing is certain though.  If you want to keep informed on the big picture of Scottish politics and the independence question, be sure not to blink.  Scottish politics is still on the move.  If you want to dig a bit deeper into RISE, a political “alliance” not a party that is based upon the Spanish Podemos movement, check out these two articles from two very different perspectives:

The New RISE Alliance Is Doomed To Fall

On The Rise: A New Leftwing Force

The post Don’t Blink! Scottish politics is fast and furious these days. appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

Exercising the vote is only one way that Scottish youth are stepping up their impact in Scotland.  There are leaders among them who are not content only to vote for others to lead the nation.  Young people like twenty-year-old Mhairi Black are intent on becoming leaders themselves.  She  undertook her campaign in last spring’s United Kingdom General Election in order to become the next Minister of Parliament from Paisley/Renfrewshire South.  To the surprise of many, Mhairi succeeded in that project and she took her seat at Westminster and graduated from the University of Glasgow all in one exciting year.

In the U.K. Parliament they call your first speech on the floor of the House of Commons your “maiden speech”.  Mhairi Black, M.P. made hers on July 14, 2015.  So far, the speech has had over 10,000,000 views on YouTube.  Over 10 Million views.  Watch it here.  

Mhairi is the youngest British lawmaker in over a century.  She is fresh faced, confident and energetic and a serious contributor.  She is a member of the SNP that unseated a major British political figure – former Shadow Foreign Secretary and Labour icon Douglas Alexander to take over the paisley seat.  While Mhairi’s campaign might have been seen as a youthful training mission in the beginning, it did not take long for Ms. Black to acquit herself on the hustings.  She is thoughtful and articulate.  Ultimately, she proved way too much for the career politician she opposed who agreed himself that the campaign had been run at a consistently high level and yielded a fair result.

Mhairi Black may be the youngest Scottish MP and the one capturing most of the world’s attention at present, but Scotland’s entire profile is a very young one.  With an average age of 46, Scotland’s 59 MPs are the youngest of all the nations in the U.K.  There is no question that Scotland’s “next generation” is not at all timid about their duty and opportunity to take up their share of the burden of democratic representation.  This is a great introduction to young Mhairi Black, M.P., speaking recently at a commemoration hosted by the wonderful heritage group The Society For William Wallace.  Mhairi reminds the crowd in this clip why remembering ancestors like William Wallace is important to us all.  It is also worth noting that Mhairi carefully points out that she did not learn about Wallace in her primary school education.  But she was fortunate enough to have learned her heritage from her parents and she clearly has an appreciation for it.

The post Mhairi Black M.P.: What would YOU do if your first speech was watched by 10 million people? appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

It just came to my attention that last night Earth experienced an earthquake just down the road from my home in Colorado. This quake measured 4.2 on the Richter scale and the likely cause of the shake is the practice of hydraulically (using water) fracturing the rock deep in the earth to facilitate collection and removal of various forms of natural gas. Everyone calls it “fracking” and it is a very hot topic all across America. The largest ever recorded earthquake in Colorado occurred in 2011 at 5.7 on the scale and is now acknowledged to have been caused by fracking. It’s happening more often.

Many environmentalists and those who claim to have been adversely affected by past fracking are aggressively on the attack warning of an array of environmental disasters that await the fracking society. The chemicals used are toxic, the water use is extremely high and the overall specter of increasing carbon based climate change makes large investments in gas recovery via hydraulic fracturing a bad bet they say. Then there are the earthquakes. Meanwhile fracking proponents see the potential for big boosts to local drilling economies, a more stable and secure energy resource for the nation and of course big profits for the extended oil and gas industry.

Fracking is a Scottish problem too.

So which side is right? It turns out that people are asking this very same question around the globe, including in Scotland right now. Industry wants to frack Scotland and they have said so. Licenses for drilling have been issued. Responding to a very vocal anti-fracking grassroots lobby, last January the Scottish Government announced an indefinite ban on fracking in Scotland. We also know that Scottish First Minister and Deputy First Minister met with the big frackers, particularly the oil and gas company Ineos, on the very day that the Scottish moratorium was announced. Ineos sees big profits in fracking Scotland and they have not been shy about that. The fracking ban in Scotland is likely to last only so long as it takes for a national debate to occur and then the matter will be back on the table.

England’s Frack-O-Rama.

Presently south of the border in England its a frack-a-thon as David Cameron just opened up an additional approximately 1,000 square miles to the opportunity for drilling and a plan to fast track industry applications. The oil and gas industry has plenty to do in England presently to hold them over during the dry spell in Scotland.

You might be a bit concerned about where your own clan or family ancestral lands fit into Scotland’s terrestrial fossil fuel plans. Check out this cool interactive map to discover if your ancestral clan or family lands are in danger of disturbance from this extreme and extremely controversial energy practice.

A Poll!  A Poll! 

So how about a wee ScotClans family poll? If you have an opinion sound off with a comment below. Where do you stand on the question of Scottish fracking?  “Frack Free” or “Drill Baby Drill”?  Should Scotland keep the Fracking Ban or ditch it?  Does it worry you in terms of ancestral lands? Do you think that Scotland is missing out on an economic windfall if it decides to ban fracking for good?  Join the discussion as we follow along with a very important issue for our ancestral homeland.

The post The Status Of Fracking In Scotland appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

In an unusual display of cross-party support and compromise, legislation was fast tracked last December through the UK Parliament at Westminster to devolve necessary additional powers to Scotland so that the Scottish Parliament could enact required legislation in time to pave the way for the young spats to have their say in the Scotland-only May 2016 elections.  The Scottish Parliament completed their part a few weeks ago.  Now the registration campaigns take over to make sure that the 2016 turnout doesn’t fall flat.

Scotland’s upcoming parliamentary elections may well decide the Scottish mandate for holding a second independence referendum as well as electing a new Scottish Parliament.  No worries.  Scotland’s youth are used to big decisions.  Having been granted a one-off right to vote in last year’s Indy referendum, estimates say that of the 3.6 million Scots who voted, approximately 110,000 were under 18.  That is an 85% turnout for the youthful age group.

In a bit of surprise, the first time first time voters sounded off heavily “YES” at around 79% pro-independence votes.  Indeed, pre-referendum polling suggested that more than 40% of the newly registered young voters were likely to vote differently than their parents.  They did.  The world will learn a bit more about what Scotland’s future is going to look like when Scotland’s young people go back to the polls next May.

Presuming that Scotland doesn’t find 100,000 write in ballots for Justin Bieber in the ballot boxes next May, the whole of the United Kingdom might take the matter up following the Scottish elections.  Despite David Cameron being personally opposed to under 18 voters, all other major parties have signaled their support for the reform.

The post Its Official: Scottish 16 and 17 year-olds will vote in May 2016 elections appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.