Month: June 2023

Scotland’s EU trade slowly strangled by Brexit red tape

Speymouth June 8, 2023

For 16 months in a row, exports from the UK have fallen, due to Brexit. Businesses say they are losing their EU customers. They prefer to avoid the Brexit-related customs checks, delays and uncertainty that dealing with Scottish business now entails, by switching to suppliers in the single market.  The effects are uneven – oil […] Source

Quantifying BBC bias

Speymouth June 7, 2023

Anyone who follows the Scottish independence debate will be aware that the BBC’s reputation for fairness and impartiality comes with an important caveat: Except for viewers in Scotland. During the independence referendum campaign in 2014 the BBC was shameless in its shilling for Britain. The examples are legion. The Corporation gave…

Scottish Football: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Speymouth June 5, 2023

As Scottish football grinds to a shuddering halt, we cast our eye over the health of the game. As @AgentScotland points out: this year saw the highest total attendances since the 1950s; eleven out of twelve teams posted increased attendances; we have the highest attendance per capita in World Football; the sixth highest attendances top […] Source

The Whiteness of Scottish Fan Media

Speymouth June 5, 2023

As part of our mini-series at the end of season 2022/23, Joe McCann looks at the state of fan media replicating old forms of representation. A couple of days before The Scottish League Cup Final, The Overlap dropped their preview of the game on YouTube. Kelly Somers, Chris Sutton, and Ally McCoist fronted the programme […] Source

Wee Ginger Crowd Funder 2023

Speymouth June 5, 2023

It’s that time of the year again. Every June I run an annual crowdfunder to keep this blog going. I’ll be honest, earlier this year I was very close to throwing in the towel. I was very down and dispirited in part because far too many people in the Scottish independence…

Sunak’s trying to hide from accountability

Speymouth June 5, 2023

The Official Inquiry into the government’s handling of the covid pandemic will probably go the same way as other official inquiries into the British government’s handling of other important isues. It will be characterised by arse-covering, blame shifting, deflection, pathetic excuses, the scapegoating of minor players, and then nothing much of…

Diageo appoints incoming chief ahead of schedule

Speymouth June 5, 2023

SCOTCH whisky giant Diageo has appointed its incoming chief executive to the role ahead of schedule after current boss Sir Ivan Menezes suffered a “significant setback” following emergency surgery on a stomach ulcer. Source