Mass Pledge to Boycott Israeli Cultural Institutions

More than 1,000 authors have launched a boycott of Israeli publishers complicit in the dispossession of the Palestinian people. These writers and authors have pledged to boycott Israeli cultural institutions. The letter (published below) represents the largest commitment to cultural boycott ever made by the global literary community against the Israeli cultural sector: We, as […] Source

SNP policies relating to whisky feel like political double-think

PAGES 12, 13 and 14 of Saturday’s National were devoted to Kate Forbes’s visit to Scotland’s newest whisky distillery at Cabrach. The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy attended a ceremony with more than 100 guests, including members of the local community. She is pictured with a glass of the whisky in her hand. Apparently Cabrach is where three legal distilleries thrived following the introduction of legal production in 1823. Source

An Update on Summerhall

We still haven’t heard back from the Fringe Society despite our request for comment on the Sumerhall Crisis. But there is possibly better news on the horizon in this message from the Scottish development company AMA. They write: EDINBURGH-BASED DEVELOPER AMA CONFIRMED AS PREFERRED BIDDER FOR SUMMERHALL ARTS HUB Prestigious Scottish development company AMA has […] Source

Punching Down

Readers will be familiar with the terrible egg-related violence from 2014, but, as Labour announce their first budget today (subtitled: ‘Punching Down”) we thought it would be a good moment to write a brief history of punches, fracas and general low-level violence in British politics. The following was of course inspired by Labour’s Mike Amesbury […] Source

The revolving door

“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” George Orwell, Animal Farm. Two council by elections are due in Glasgow. This is not in itself earth shattering political news, council…

Scotland’s severed tongues

The Scottish languages bill is currently winding its way through the Scottish Parliament. The Bill gives the Gaelic and Scots languages official status in Scotland and makes improvement to the support for the Gaelic and Scots languages in Scotland. This also includes changes in relation to Gaelic and Scots in Scotland’s…