Author Archives: davidsberry

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About davidsberry

Local ex-councillor, tour guide and database designer. Keen on wildlife, history, boats and music. Retired in 2017.

Calling All Pedants

Posted on September 15, 2015 by davidsberry

John Cleese has been able to make me laugh in a huge variety of circumstances ever since my uni studies were regularly interrupted to join a flatful of mates to fall about to Monty Python. Ever wry, if not acid, … Continue reading →

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Twa Corbyns

Posted on September 13, 2015 by davidsberry

It’s a humble man who makes a speech using the word ‘thank’ 27 times. Such is not the mark of a man of overweening ambition, nor one who aspires to high office. Yet that speech was made as the landslide … Continue reading →

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Changing the Old Guard

Posted on August 30, 2015 by davidsberry

It’s a tough old world in politics. When you’re in political limbo, nobody cares much what you do. However, the scope for character, opinions and even eccentricity is large. On the other hand, when you run a one-party state you … Continue reading →

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Put Power Where People Live

Posted on August 26, 2015 by davidsberry

Starting with its inception, the Scottish Parliament has played double standards, especially since the SNP came to power. Whereas the first eight years marked time with an unambitious Labour-led Scottish Executive sitting on their well paid behinds, the SNP have … Continue reading →

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The Price of Everything and The Value of Nothing

Posted on August 24, 2015 by davidsberry

“The follies of our youth are, in retrospect, glorious compared to the follies of our old age.” (G.K.Chesterton) The real question for the Scottish Labout party is: which of these follies is it presently engaged in? Forget the barking mad … Continue reading →

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Kan Kezia Kope?

Posted on August 19, 2015 by davidsberry

Despite party rules that forbid badmouthing other candidates, the UK Labour leadership contest is descending into mud wrestling. Although it’s hard for outsiders to distinguish many differences among these clone children of New Labour, they themselves insist that distinction exists, … Continue reading →

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Yes, We Must All Think for Ourselves

Posted on August 12, 2015 by davidsberry

Monty Python’s Life of Brian is over thirty years old now and therefore probably unknown to younger generations. Pilloried in its day as sacrilegious, its humour has aged far better than its Carry On… predecessors, especially its shrewd observations on … Continue reading →

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Who’s Kidding Whom?

Posted on August 10, 2015 by davidsberry

The fiscal train wreck that is Kids Company has been explained away in the English media as one of a kind, much as its founder and leading light—the larger-than-life Camila Batmanghelidgh—belies any standard concept of a CEO. When the Cabinet … Continue reading →

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Eastern Promise

Posted on August 6, 2015 by davidsberry

The character of many small fishing ports around the Forth is stopped from falling into the soporific boredom of marinas like Port Edgar by the remaining fishing boats that still ply their trade. Though oysters may be a thing of … Continue reading →

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Local Tax Overhaul Overdue

Posted on June 18, 2015 by davidsberry

After some serious consideration almost eight years ago, the Scottish Government has swept the whole concept of handing democratic control to localities through local taxation (as opposed to the regressive Council Tax) onto the back burner indefinitely. While a minority … Continue reading →

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