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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?
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6 days ago | 
bellacaledonia.org.uk | Robin Ramsay
In March this year, with considerable attention from the major media, more than 77,000 pages related to the assassination of JFK were released by the National Archives and Records Administration. Thus far nothing of great significance has been reported by those working their way though the documents.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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2 weeks ago | 
bellacaledonia.org.uk | Sean Bell
“Murderer! Thief! How can you take the last penny out of a poor man’s pocket?”“I have to – I’m a landlord.”– The Producers (1967)THIS article will allow me to pay my rent. By now, I suspect my esteemed editor knows that when a fresh pitch of mine arrives in his inbox, it is motivated not just by the urge to elevate our Discourse with some elegant polemic, but also the need to once again plug a rather desperate hole in my finances.
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2 weeks ago | 
bellacaledonia.org.uk | Paul Tritschler
The old man tried to keep one room clear of clutter. There were tangled heaps of unrelated things behind closed doors, filling both cupboards and rooms, and there was evidence of his hoard slowly establishing itself in the hall. There was, however, one meticulously tidy room and it was a sanctuary of sorts. Order and disorder co-existed in stark contrast under his roof, but more importantly in his mind, and given their increasingly uneven distribution it appeared chaos was winning.
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2 weeks ago | 
bellacaledonia.org.uk | Gerry Hassan
The Beatles story is one of the most enduring, beguiling and seemingly never-ending of our modern age. What else is there to be said? Ian Leslie thinks he has an answer in exploring the relationship, inner workings and chemistry between John Lennon and Paul McCartney – the central axis of the phenomenon that was the Beatles.
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3 weeks ago | 
bellacaledonia.org.uk | Mark Edwards
FULL ARCHIETuesday, 3rd December, 09:15Dear Sir/Madam, I regret to inform you a close friend died in the early hours of this morning. Would it be possible to postpone the proof of identity interview scheduled for 10:45, Kindest regards, Dan. *Tuesday, 10th December, 17:34Dear Sir/Madam, Thank you for your timeous response & for your clarification of the situation regarding reimbursement for every 2nd trip to & from the Department for Work & Pensions via public transportation.
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3 weeks ago | 
bellacaledonia.org.uk | Paul Tritschler
“We’ve become a nation measuring out our lives in shopping bags and nursing our psychic ills through retail therapy.” (Mary Schmich, Chicago Tribune, Christmas, 1986)On returning home to Edinburgh, after my somewhat desultory wanderings afar for some years, I found some of its districts, historic and otherwise, crammed with charity shops. Most were squeezed between struggling businesses, run-down café chains and shuttered premises bearing faded To Let signs.