On this day, not quite 250 years ago, the nation-state in which I was born declared itself free of the British Empire, determined to create its own. Founded by traumatised people, displaced from their homelands by desperation or greed (same thing, perhaps), they in turn displaced, to put it mildly, those they declared other. And so […] Source

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar delivered a ‘major speech’ about Scotland to the Fabian Society in London today. It was described as “Scottish Labour’s first paper on reform of Scotland and the UK.” It was hilarious and confusing with wildly different messages coming from Starmer and Sarwar on the same day. Labour would be simultaneously […] Source

A Bella reader, who wants to remain anonymous, has called out the regular domination of male voices on Radio nan Gàidheal’s flagship morning news programme. Last Wednesday’s Aithris na Maidne – ‘Morning Report’ achieved what must be a broadcast nadir, with just 16 minutes (18%) of speaking time voiced by women compared to approximately 74 […] Source

Review: Poèmes Écossais, by Paul Malgrati. Paul Malgrati is a French poet and academic who has lived in Scotland since 2016. His work, inspired by French symbolism and Scottish modernism, is a poetic exploration of the ‘Auld Alliance’, blending Franco-Scots languages and traditions. His debut collection, Poèmes Ecossais, was shortlisted for the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award […] Source

A GREEN energy company says it has reached a milestone after securing £8 million of funding for its tidal turbine device. Source

IF there was one country that was ever ready and spoiled to become independent, it would be Scotland … Source

Much of the media struggled this week to adjust to the new political landscape, with many of the scribes, editors and chiefs defaulting back to 2014-style reporting. BBC Scotland kicked-off on day one of indyref2 with Good Morning Scotland giving a platform to constitutional expert Alan Trench who explained to listeners that the process of […] Source

A PROPOSED gas plant at Peterhead is on “rotten foundations” and could “seriously jeopardise” Scotland’s climate targets, the Scottish Government has been warned. Source

Both the SNP and Labour are struggling with internal wranglings and arguments about the best tactics and strategies to use in relation to Scotland and the National Question in the years ahead. For Labour the issue lies with an attempt to ‘head off at the pass’ the Tories attacks on a “coalition of chaos” and […] Source