THIS Sunday, in Scotland, many of us will stop to think about those who have died fighting for this country.

We will gather in places like Glasgow’s George Square or at schools across the country. We will go to the war memorial that can be found in nearly every single Scottish village and we will remember.

Scotland’s military history means many of us will know someone who served in the forces. Many of us will know someone injured in the line of duty. Some of us, sadly, may know someone who died. It may be a great-grandfather, it may be a son or a daughter. It may be a school friend.

The Army calls it the golden thread, that centuries-old invisible pull on families and communities to sign up and join the forces. In many ways it is attached to us all.

Remembrance Sunday is a time to stop and take stock. It is a time to remember those people.

There is something special about that moment at 11am when thousands stand together in silence for two minutes. That shared quiet.

It is not an acceptance of war, or of British foreign policy, to stand in silence. It is an understanding that people have lost their lives. That others are damaged physically and mentally.

It is about remembering your grandad who lost his friends in Germany and noticing the man who sits outside Edinburgh Waverly Station holding a sign saying “ex-soldier looking for food”.

We have added the red poppy and the white poppy to our masthead. We do not believe the two are mutually exclusive, but rather they complement each other.

It is an act of remembrance and a statement of rejection.

It is about asking for peace and remembering those who have fought and died in all wars.

Unbalanced Bill leaves fear for our freedom

OUR Government is telling us if we have nothing to hide then we have nothing to fear.

Yesterday’s draft Investigatory Powers Bill was well trailed by the Home Office. We were told Theresa May had softened her position. This was not to be the all-pervasive snoopers’ charter, but rather a necessary move to protect our freedoms.

Yet as analysts, security experts and lawyers started to look through the 200-clause document, it became increasingly clear that there was much to fear in this proposed legislation. Even for those with nothing to hide.

Edward Snowden, who has become something of a global champion of civil liberties since he blew the whistle on the depth and nature of the US government’s global surveillance programmes, said Britain would have “the most intrusive and least accountable surveillance regime in the West”.

Understandably, it is still early days. We are still digesting the substantial document.

This is only stage one and there has been movement. There is a chance to debate and look again at the Bill and what it means. But there needs to be a balance between allowing the security services and the police to do their job – and the freedom of the citizens of the UK.

This Bill, in its current state, does not have that balance.

Snoopers’ charter: Storm of protest over May’s surveillance Bill