Monthly Archives: May 2014

Why ‘Yes’ Is the Answer I—Personal

Posted on May 30, 2014 by davidsberry

Growing up in a small town made for a restricted education as regards other cultures and alternative modes of living. But university threw me into the melting pot that was Edinburgh with its 10,000 students, many from England and abroad … Continue reading →

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Basildon Revisited. How Ukip is remaking UK in Thatcher’s image.

Posted on May 28, 2014 by davidsberry

Originally posted on Iain Macwhirter:
“The suburbs are being painted red” tweeted Labour’s John McTernan at the height of post poll spin frenzy on Friday. He meant that Labour was holding off Ukip and the Tories in the metropolis –…

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Basildon Man Rides Again

Posted on May 24, 2014 by davidsberry

With only the European vote to turn out for, Scotland will have recorded one of its lowest voter turnouts on Thursday May 22nd—probably somewhere in the high 30’s percent. The turnout in England was hardly much better but they did … Continue reading →

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Heart of Scotland

Posted on May 23, 2014 by davidsberry

There has been a lot of media flannel about St John’s Town in the wake of their peppy team bringing home the Scottish Cup. But some is overdue praise for a little-recognised Scottish success story and one both the Central … Continue reading →

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Thinking Big

Posted on May 19, 2014 by davidsberry

Jimmy Reid was not a man to think small. A product of the tough Clyde shipyards in its heyday, he saw a future for shipbuilding when the yard bosses and their clumsy attitudes had alienated a proud workforce into union … Continue reading →

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Ten Wakeup Calls for Scottish Labour

Posted on May 17, 2014 by davidsberry

In an attempt to bolster the Labour vote for the European Elections, the Labour List web site attempts a morale-boosting list of 10 reasons for Labour activists to be cheerful And so they might be—in Englandshire. But seen from a … Continue reading →

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How Not to Run a Railway

Posted on May 14, 2014 by davidsberry

Anoraks are dusting off their bobble hats and sharpening their tram-spotting pencils in anticipation of Embra trams soon making a reappearance after an absence of half a century. I’m not sure who deserves more opprobrium—the city fathers who first junked … Continue reading →

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Capital Offence

Posted on May 12, 2014 by davidsberry

At the end of last week, the Grauniad shored up a decades-old reputation for clod-hopping sub-editing by crediting Glasgow with being the capital of Scotland. Given that 115% of weegies might agree with such an assertion, this is not all … Continue reading →

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Home Thoughts from Abroad

Posted on May 10, 2014 by davidsberry

Jake Briggs and I have been friends since I showed up in his P1 class and we ‘chummed’ one another to school. In our late teens, he went off to a financial career in credit cards, retired to Catalonia and … Continue reading →

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Never Too Old to Learn

Posted on May 7, 2014 by davidsberry

I stopped celebrating birthdays decades ago and have just passed an age milestone that America named both a Route and a sixties rock ‘n’ roll song after. Yet each day still brings something new and long may it remain so. … Continue reading →

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