…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
Today, the UK Government published its response to the final Report of the Scottish Affairs Committee’s Inquiry into the Crown Estate in Scotland. The SAC Inquiry was the most detailed evidence-based investigation into how the Crown Estate Commissioners (CEC) operate
Continue reading
John Swinney writes a long piece in today’s Daily Record (1) on the Barclay’s rate-rigging scandal. He says a lot about Labour’s past failings but nothing about his own plans for banking reform and merely concludes that “If we are
Continue reading
The Queen today visited Northern Ireland. Aside from the politics of the occasion, it is worth noting that Northern Ireland is the one part of the UK where the border is not yet agreed. Lough Foyle (red circle in the
Continue reading
Communications and public relations are a necessary part of modern political life. Indeed, getting your message over often absorbs more time and effort than the content of the message itself. So, when the First Minister, Alex Salmond, was invited to
Continue readingFor the record (and bearing in mind this is written by a spin doctor), here is the opening from Scottish Land & Estate’s e-newsletter of 1 June 2012. “This has been a very busy week indeed, it started with our
Continue readingWell, Alex Salmond duly gave his speech to the AGM of Scottish Land and Estates on Tuesday 29 May. (1) Unfortunately, he chose not to take up the many suggestions made in response to my earlier blog and, instead, gave
Continue readingAs today’s launch of the Yes campaign rolled out, I began tweeting as follows: “I believe that it is fundamentally better if decisions about Auchtermuchty’s future are taken by the people of Auchtermuchty #yesauchtermuchty” This is part of my Campaign
Continue readingUPDATE 0900 18 May 2012 A spokesperson for Mr Salmond told the West Highland Free Press that “it is too early to give any details of what the First Minister might say.” I’m delighted to report that Alex Salmond has
Continue readingA number of people in the SNP have been trying to persuade me that the Scottish Government is serious about getting land reform back on track. I am prepared to accept this once I see the evidence. Meanwhile events suggest
Continue readingThere is a programme on Radio 4 called The Unbelievable Truth in which panellists compete to see how many nuggets of truth they are able to hide among their lies and as an example of the Alice in Wonderland world
Continue reading