Friday, 31 May 2024

An SNP Facing the Centre Ground

 An SNP Facing the Centre Ground

 

Kelly Given often writes of progressive change in the National. The problem is the devolved Scottish governments limited powers to bring about really meaningful change, and these are questions for after our independence. 

 

We need to gain ground in the centre of politics, where many peoples views sit, otherwise Scotland will continue to be stuck. Many SNP supporters feel the Scottish government has been side-tracked by a focus on identity issues that many Scots have little interest in – when a quarter of Scotland’s children live in poverty, there is a housing crisis, Scotland’s wealth and resources are sold off to foreign bidders we can’t control, when an energy rich Scotland has the highest energy prices in Europe and there is growing energy poverty, when the environment catastrophe facing the world cannot be ignored. 

 

Too much time has been spent on minor issues. While I appreciate the importance for the SNP of the young voters who want progressive polices and all voices must be heard. And I also agree that without reform and change to progressive and inclusive capitalism  - after 40 years of the clearly failed neo-liberal policies that have only made the rich richer – is crucial to our happier and successful independence.

 

My understanding is the SNP and Forbes had little choice over the UKs Freeport scheme – it was either have the Freeports imposed on Scotland, or at least add some Green credentials. I appreciate Swinney and Forbes wish to project a more positive spin on the SNPs devolved options, while asking for more powers, I hope. Certainly united and more positive parties win elections! 

 

Joseph Stiglitz book Road to Freedom talks about ‘Progressive Capitalism’ - that the most successful countries are those who also invest in their education and health and that free for all unregulated capitalism over the past 40 has failed people. That trickle down theories have simply meant the rich getting richer. 

 

On Energy. I don’t agree with nuclear – the toxic waste is there for thousands of years, so multiply the number of nuclear plants needed very fifty years. Hydrogen is very complex and highly combustible – and it also requires large sites which makes it expensive.

 

While I am also confused over the SNPs stance over Grangemouth – which will mean Scotland as the only oil producing country with no refinery and the loss of hundreds of skilled workers, who are then likely to leave Scotland. Plus make us even more ‘dependent’ on English refineries which is clearly the plan for the foreseeable future. As well as effecting moves towards net zero with large tankers bringing refined oil up the Forth. Scotland will be the only major oil producer with no refinery. While the net zero policies  are crucial, we will continue to need oil for the next few decades.

 

But I do believe John Swinney is a man of integrity who listens and has vast experience.  Kate Forbes also understands the issues facing rural Scotland that are essential to our future too. Once Scotland is independent , that will be the time for new political parties. I really don’t like the old left/ right divides. A future Scotland needs both good social policies so a well educated and healthy population can thrive, but also one where small businesses and industry can thrive.   

If Scotland wants to follow other small and medium-sized nations successes – education must be a key driver and top priority. 

 

 

PS Any Scots interested to vote for English Labour MPs, should realise ONLY 106 MPs of the 650 at Westminster are non-English MPs! (543 are English MPs) – so a Scot’s vote for English Labour party really leaves Scotland with no voice at UK level.  (Scotland 57 MPs, Wales 32  MPs, NI  18 MPs)



 

Blue Rose Code new album 'Bright Circumstances'

 


Blue Rose Code is now touring his new 2024 album 'Bright Circumstances'

 (Ronachan Songs) Digital album, limited edition vinyl and CD available May 2024 

 

The album contains contributions from folk icons like Danny Thompson, Steve Knightley, and the marvellous Eddie Reader. ‘Bright Circumstance’ oscillates between the grim circumstances of existence and salvation and joy. The result is a beautifully crafted, open-hearted meditation—a rich and rewarding experience.

 

Ross Wilson (aka Blue Rose Code) sings with emotional intimacy, tracing our painful lows and joyous highs – Wilsons vocals, harmonies and rhythmic energy are deeply connected and soulful – with emotional release and open hearted climax. He’s also well backed by hi along term bandmate Lyle Watt on his wonderfully evocative blues electric guitar solos and often his highly professional band with keys, drums and brass sections.  (Ross's long-standing foil on guitar and finder of the bluest of blue notes in any situation leads us in with a quietly strummed ..,)   - https://bluerosecode.com




I first saw Blue Rose Code at Milngavie folk club in 2026. A fan beside me raved about his album and said he travelled to many of his gigs. Wilson started his concert with high energy guitar and I was impressed with his soulful voice. I sought out his albums and since then BRC has been a top favourite. He has performed at several Celtic Connections concerts over the years.



Opening with ‘Jericho,’ a propulsive burst of horns and energy that delivers on the band’s live performance credentials, it swirls vigorously with Caledonian soul. “It’s been a long time coming… but here we go.” Wilson’s vocals are soulful and urgent. Throughout, there’s a dichotomy, weaving between the bright and dark, love and mercy, desperate circumstances, and small victories of the heart.

Sadie‘ is a close portrait of addiction. Wilson stated that it was “written from a very personal perspective, a song about generational trauma and addiction,” its pained lyrics underpinned by a beautifully evocative pedal steel. ‘Thirteen Years‘ reflects on the desolation wrought by Tory policies, asking, “Why should one child go to sleep tonight hungry or cold?

The album title alludes to the Buddhist practices that inspire the album, intertwining reality and the human capacity to transcend suffering through thought—like the golden age Haiku poet, Issa, wrote, 

We walk on the roof of hell / gazing at flowers.” This album sings this song in all its joy and sorrow. It’s realised most perfectly on ‘Never Know Why.‘ That matches sunny horns and shimmering Vampire Weekend guitar with Zen Koan-like lyrics that suggest our joy, in some part, is unnameable to us, “‘There’s a certain code of joy on the mundane path we tread.” That code might be unknowable, but at the heart of our shared consciousness is love. Love, kindness, and humanity; ‘Bright Circumstance’’s cup overflows.

Wilson’s writing is filled with humanity. There are many gifts; bright bouquets like ‘Easy as We Go‘, or quieter consolations like the acoustic psalm ‘Peace In Your Heart.‘ The cover of ‘Amazing Grace‘ feels well-earned and triumphs, while ‘Don’t Be Afraid’ stirs with a slow build into a holy evocation, proclaiming, “The divine in me sees the divine in you.” It’s engaging emotional rescue, peak era Van Morrison.

The album contains contributions from folk icons like Danny Thompson, Steve Knightley, and the marvellous Eddie Reader. ‘Bright Circumstance’ oscillates between the grim circumstances of existence and salvation and joy. The result is a beautifully crafted, open-hearted meditation—a rich and rewarding experience.


Capercaillie 40 year anniversary new album Reloved


Widely respected trailblazers of Celtic music, Capercaillie are credited with being the major force in bringing Gaelic music to the world stage and inspiring the great resurgence so evident today. From their homeland roots of Argyll in the highlands of Scotland, the band’s musical journey has seen them tour 30+ countries, sell over a million albums, perform in Rob Roy (1995) alongside Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange, and enter the pop charts with Coisich a Ruin - the first Gaelic single to reach the Top 40.


To celebrate their 40th anniversary, Capercaillie release a new album “Reloved” realising their dream of creating full symphonic arrangements for their music. Comprising material from their much loved repertoire it encapsulates the spirit of the band with strident waulkings songs from the Hebrides, hypnotic groove infused instrumentals and epic modern ballads and love songs.




Capercaillie is led by Donald Shaw and Karen Matheson and is one of Scotland’s most respected bands. The band draw on rich ballad traditions, as well as their fusion of folk and more contemporary influences., while also staying with more traditional arrangements and instruments. Their music has been used in films. 


This ground-breaking and genre-defying Scots band, celebrate their 40 years of success in music. With Karen Matheson’s pure and haunting Gaelic voice. While Donald Shaw is a highly regarded Scots composer and musician, as well as musical director of Celtic connections festival since 2004. His composing credits include Bafta nominated scores for TV and film. 

 

Shaw and Matheson from Oban are married   - they are a formidable team! - https://capercaillie.co.uk





National Trust for Scotland new Burns Archive upclose

 


Over 2,500 historic items from our internationally important collections at Robert Burns Birthplace Museum are now available to explore from anywhere in the world.

 

NTS have launched a new portal that gives unprecedented access to manuscripts, archives and artefacts, including over 1,000 items that are held in store for their long-term preservation and protection.

Thanks to funding from a member of our Patrons’ Club and the National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA, anyone with an interest in Burns from across the world can now visit our website and engage with Burns artefacts as never before.

With the ability to zoom in on high-resolution images to see full details on manuscripts and objects that would usually be displayed behind glass, the online collection allows users to experience Burns up close and personal – from previously undisplayed handwritten manuscripts by Robert Burns, to sharing the recently acquired items from the Blavatnik Honresfield Library, alongside photographs, letters, objects and wider archival material.

The collection is organised under four categories:

  • Burns the man
  • Myths and folklore
  • Relationships
  • Memorialisation and legacy

Highlights include a fragment of one of only six known manuscripts of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ dating from 1793; Jean Armour’s wedding ring; a lock of Highland Mary’s hair; and Burns’s blue woollen initialled socks. There are also many manuscripts that have not previously been on display, including ‘Lament of Mary, Queen of Scots’, ‘On The Approach of Spring’, ‘Scots Wha Hae’ and an unbound, uncut copy of the Kilmarnock Edition of Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect

 


View the BURNS ARCHIVE ONLINE -


https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/launch-of-global-access-to-our-robert-burns-collection

 


Susie Hillhouse, Head of Collections at the National Trust for Scotland, said: ‘We are excited to be bringing our incredible Robert Burns Collection to people across the world through this online platform. This project, which has been in the works for over 12 months, will allow people to engage with items in the collections like never before. We’re currently only able to show a proportion of these items at our award-winning Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway. Now, anyone will be able to search the collections, and zoom in to tiny details and experience the full collection of over 2,500 items, 24/7, from anywhere in the world.’