Mike Small, Bella Caledonia Journalist Profile

Articles

Gen Z, the Demographic Timebomb and the Union’s Lifestyle Silo Problem

3 days ago | bellacaledonia.org.uk | Mike Small

Mark McGeoghegan, a researcher at the Centre for Constitutional Change at Edinburgh University has published a study asking ‘Is Scottish independence inevitable?’ which looks at the relationship between birth cohort and secessionism in Scotland. In plain language – do people change their views on the constitution as they grow older?
With US history being rewritten daily, we are now entering Orwell’s 'endless present'

4 days ago | thenational.scot | Mike Small

President Donald Trump signs a document in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington (Image: Elizabeth Frantz, REUTERS) THERE’S an ongoing argument I have with a friend whenever I express shock or outrage at the latest spasm of authoritarianism from the United States or from Westminster. She rebukes me for being nostalgic for bygone eras, which she reminds me were marked by state violence, systemic racism and war under previous regimes going back decades.
Labour and the Larkhall Blues

1 week ago | bellacaledonia.org.uk | Mike Small

David Russell will be Labour’s candidate for the upcoming Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, which is being held on June 5 after the death of Christina McKelvie. While he is being touted as a ‘fresh start’ he is an interesting character. He is, how shall we say it, well-connected? He was appointed in 2018 as a Deputy Lieutenant of Lanarkshire – a role that involves being the King’s representative in the country.
Support for Scottish Independence is Generational and Inexorable

1 week ago | bellacaledonia.org.uk | Mike Small

There have been polls showing big leads for Yes before, but this one is different. As Adam Ramsay writes in Novara: “A new poll gives Scottish independence a lead of 11%. This isn’t the first time that the ‘Yes’ side has clocked up a double-digit lead. But it is the first time under a Labour government.
Why I collect Kusan

1 week ago | trains.com | Mike Small

Around the time that I got my driver’s license in the late 1960s I started to visit a local train store in High Point, N.C. Not having a lot to spend, I was looking for bargains. Two freight cars caught my eye, a nice brown Pennsylvania boxcar (No. 202) and a black Wabash coal hopper (No. 601). I was quite used to Lionel by this time but these looked somewhat different and more realistic in some respects. What I had run across were two Kusan “K” Series cars.
Sovereign Cloud Geopolitical Risks

1 week ago | kuppingercole.com | Mike Small

Why US Isolationism is Now a Global Cloud Risk In recent weeks, the global landscape has been shaken by the ripple effects of renewed US isolationist policies—specifically through tariffs and technology restrictions aimed at strategic rivals. This intensifying stance is not just causing trade disruption; it is exposing a deeper layer of vulnerability in how cloud services are used and delivered around the world.
Heal, Survive, Resist

1 week ago | substack.com | Rachel Donald |Mike Small

I see dead people. So do you. Every day. Living through a livestreamed genocide and in times of war in Europe and a surround-sound of violence - whether that be the war on the poor, the attacks on the most vulnerable in society, omnicide, or a constant stream of normalised racism, means a choice we are told: watch, or disconnect. This is a false dichotomy. This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Artists for Independence

2 weeks ago | bellacaledonia.org.uk | Mike Small

A new group has just launched hoping to bring new creative energy and ideas into the independence movement as the campaign for Scottish democracy has a re-boot and a re-launch. We’ll be covering the new projects as they emerge over the next few weeks. Not since the National Collective has there been a formal organisation dedicated to bringing together artists who support independence.
Napoleon Dynamite

3 weeks ago | bellacaledonia.org.uk | Mike Small

The far-right French leader Marine Le Pen has been barred from running for public office for 5 years, with immediate effect. This effectively ends her 2027 presidential bid. Le Pen has been found guilty of embezzling millions of euros from the European parliament.
Supporting Independent Media in Troubled Times

4 weeks ago | bellacaledonia.org.uk | Mike Small

I’m not sure when, in my lifetime or yours, hasn’t been ‘troubled times’? The 1980s of mass unemployment and Cold War? The 1990s under John Major’s government, riddled with corruption and scandal, or the Blair years, blighted by the debacle of the Iraq War? The austerity governments of David Cameron and George Osborne, or the shambles of the Theresa May / Boris Johnson era? The Brexit debacle or the astonishing developments across the pond?