Monthly Archives: September 2011

Borderline Rail Needs Re-thinking

Posted on September 30, 2011 by davidsberry

It should surprise no-one that the other shoe has finally dropped: all private bidders to build the Borders Rail have now dropped out and a second hot potato passed back to government agencies to complete. Transport Minister Keith Brown MSP, … Continue reading →

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The Road to the Isles

Posted on September 28, 2011 by davidsberry

Back from Ullapool to find Danny Alexander MP in a strop at this week’s Transport Conference in Aviemore over Transport Minister Keith Brown MSP’s supposed SNP focus on Central Belt projects and neglect of the A9 that takes wur Danny … Continue reading →

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Another Load of Old Balls

Posted on September 27, 2011 by davidsberry

Given that oratory was never his strength, Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls’s speech to the Labour Conference faithful in Liverpool was a competent affair that achieved what most senior opposition spokespeople aspire to but seldom achieve—landing a couple of blows on … Continue reading →

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The Right Madness on Skye

Posted on September 25, 2011 by davidsberry

When I lived in Palo Alto, California, I fell in with a creative writing group called Waverley Writers who were pushing the envelope with ‘performance’ poetry long before ‘slam’ poetry became popular. To them, poems belonged both on the street … Continue reading →

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Oh, for a Muse of Fire!

Posted on September 23, 2011 by davidsberry

The opening words of the Chorus in Henry V sprang to mind as, in the second row in St Mary’s tonight I was transfixed by the BBC Scottish Symphony’s performance of Menotti’s Violin Concerto in A minor as part of … Continue reading →

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Jist Wee Yappy Dugs

Posted on September 21, 2011 by davidsberry

It took a lot to throw my grandma off course. Married to a fisherman who lost his leg at Ypres as one of the ‘Old Contemptible’ she had to make do with a man constantly on the edge of rage … Continue reading →

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Among the Belters

Posted on September 20, 2011 by davidsberry

Having grown up in East Lothian and refreshed my knowledge of its newer corners while campaigning over the last year, you’d think I’d be pretty comfortable anywhere in the county. But today I’d been asked to speak to the Tranent … Continue reading →

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No Ferries from Westminster Pier

Posted on September 19, 2011 by davidsberry

Good for the Hootsmon. Though too often it reveals Wizards of Oz furiously pulling unionist strings behind its editorial curtains, it gave a three-part, 6,000-word platform to ex-Lib-Dem Leader Tavish Scott to harangue us soothmoothers in stereo with the Lib-Dem … Continue reading →

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The Beginning of the End

Posted on September 18, 2011 by davidsberry

Having been a longtime SNP member and activist, the rocky road I have come was made smoother by the stout hearts and selflessness of others. It is deference to those as much as to the cause of independence itself that … Continue reading →

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So They Hit Us

Posted on September 15, 2011 by davidsberry

Ian, my best friend at Uni, introduced me to Schultz’s Charlie Brown cartoons and their disarmingly insightful comments on life. Perhaps my favourite showed Charlie sharing his nervousness about approaching the little red-haired girl with Linus. When at last he … Continue reading →

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