Category Archives: Commerce

A Different Kind of Norway+

Posted on January 13, 2019 by

Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS) started small. It was founded on 22 January 1993 from the bankrupt wreckage of Norwegian regional airline Busy Bee by 50 then-redundant former employees. Using three Fokker 50 aircraft, they contracted with  Braathens to link the … Continue reading →

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Drought? It’s a Fecking Desert

Posted on December 11, 2018 by

Say what you like about America but, once Britain had wearied of empire-building, the USA pretty much invented the modern world single-handed. China is a great country now coming into its own. But, like its prosperous Asian neighbours their recent … Continue reading →

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Are We All FICO’d?

Posted on November 25, 2018 by

It is a constant amazement how much we still need to learn, no matter how old we get. Six years ago, as I was disengaging from a highly active political life, I set up a small tour business to keep … Continue reading →

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A Testing Time for Democracy

Posted on October 14, 2018 by

With Brexit and Trump testing the resilience of democracy on both sides of the Atlantic, will it cope with a possible fiscal fallout should either fail to address imbalance in wealth? Much to the annoyance of Young Turks with no … Continue reading →

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Our Future Begins Here

Posted on September 12, 2018 by

Those of you who were off broiling yourselves on some distant beach this summer will no doubt have taken along a couple of juicy potboilers to while away the hours on the lounger. If so, you would have missed three … Continue reading →

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Reasoning with the Reivers

Posted on September 9, 2018 by

On Wednesday, I was down in the Borders and lucky enough to hear Mike Russell MSP speak on the vexed topic of Brexit to a crown of over 200 at Selkirk’s Victoria Hall. It will come as no surprise to … Continue reading →

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Aggression As Entertainment

Posted on September 4, 2018 by

For some retirees, the amount of time now on their hands is a curse. But, for me, it is a blessing. Now I can indulge my weakness for film. Between the re-runs on sundry TV channesl and my DVD collection, … Continue reading →

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This Scuppered Isle…

Posted on August 30, 2018 by

…this plot, this ream, this ignorance. Apologies to the Bard, but these times in which we live are, to quote the Chinese curse, “interesting”. For, thanks to the identity crisis among our English cousins caused by Westminster’s fixation with centralisation … Continue reading →

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Third World Gateway

Posted on August 8, 2018 by

For my sins, I use Edinburgh Airport  (EDI) often. It rates well above root canal treatment on my list of painful experiences. What is particularly galling is that millions in investment have only made the place worse since a blog … Continue reading →

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The Emperor of DIT Has no Clothes

Posted on July 17, 2018 by

Dr Liam Fox has been Minister for International Trade ever since Theresa May bought his loyalty with the job two years ago. Just this weekend, he was tweeting proudly what a good job he and his 3,000 (!) staff have … Continue reading →

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