#repealthe8th rally with Aberdeen Feminist Society and others, photo by Patrick Neville Yesterday was International Women’s Day, a day of reflection on the achievements of inspiring women, a day to acknowledge the important yet often unnoticed and unvalued contributions women make…
Category: Radical Scotland (page 2)
My #NoBanNoWall speech from the Edinburgh protest
Good evening everyone. Thank you so much for coming this evening. For coming out to show solidarity with Muslims and others who are bearing the brunt of the racism, the xenophobia, the fascism of Trump. I stand before you as…
Scottish Independence Convention speech
Good morning friends. Thank you very much for coming along: I am really looking forward to today’s discussions and debates and I know that we are all keen that today kickstarts the kind of campaign we need to deliver the…
Love trumps hate: solidarity rally and march
Today, in Edinburgh, a couple of hundred folk came together in solidarity across continents with those who have been and who will be victims of the misogyny, racism and bigotry that Trump’s election success is normalising. I was invited to…
Scotland, the North and economic development: compatriots or competitors?
I was honoured to be asked to contribute to a workshop facilitated by SPERI, the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute, yesterday. The subject of the roundtable discussion was “Scotland, the North and economic development: compatriots or competitors?” And, as co-convener…
In celebration of the real Living Wage
Eight years ago (I think!), I stood up in the Council Chamber of Edinburgh City Council and called on the Council to pay all of its staff a Living Wage: a wage that is enough to live on, based on the…
Mental Health is a social justice issue
On 10th October many of us would have stopped for a few moments to acknowledge, remember, and perhaps highlight World Mental Health Day. Many, if not all of us, know someone who struggles with poor mental health. Many of us,…
#Indyref 2 years on – what we won
In the two years since the Independence Referendum the politics of Scotland has changed beyond recognition. Although the realities of inequality remain very much the same, it is worth noting just how different our country is as a result of…
The EU debate: why left leave is making me angry
I am angry.* I’ve spoken in a few debates about the EU Referendum recently (the image above is from the Edinburgh People’s Festival debate with Jim Sillars and Neil Findlay). In these, as with my recent blog post, I have…
Why I’ll be voting to remain a member of the EU
Two years ago, I had the huge honour of being the Scottish Greens’ lead candidate in the European elections. Our campaign slogan was a just and welcoming Scotland – we put our principles of peace, social justice and democracy and our…