ONE of the few “benefits” of being too unwell to fully participate in parliamentary business or take part in campaigning is that it gives me more time to ruminate on where I feel the SNP need to go
FOR the last number of years, one thing has been a constant: as we get to the “Marching Season” there will be notifications of where marches and parades will be taking place...
IS it a far reach to say that implicit bias, unconscious prejudice, and stereotypes are harmful? I don’t think so. Sometimes they can be just as harmful as overt racism. Remember when two black men waiting on a friend at a Starbucks were arrested by Philadelphia police for loitering, or when Dove Soap ran an advertisement on Facebook showing a black woman turning white after using their soap? These instances imply that black men sitting in a cafe are a threat and that black skin is dirty. Pretty nasty, isn’t it?
ONE of the benefits of publicly announcing that you’re retiring is that it frees you up to a great extent to comment on things you probably would have stayed mute on before. Well I’ve been biting my tongue for some time now while watching people, who in my opinion should know better, talking up “splits in the party”; disillusionment with the most popular leader in the UK – if not in the whole of Europe – Nicola Sturgeon; and pretending that being found not guilty in a court of law is the same as your behaviour being acceptable.
I’VE had enough. Since almost the first day I became an MSP, I was determined to try to fight the sectarian blight that still flourishes throughout certain parts of Scotland
I JOINED the SNP 23 years ago as a “grassroots member”. Since then I’ve been a councillor, council group leader and am at present an MSP. But, most importantly, I am still that same grassroots member.
THE role of Depute Leader has never been clearly defined and I believe that this election gives us the perfect opportunity to correct this.
WITH Holyrood now back from summer recess, the First Minister yesterday set out her plan for the year ahead.
I’M a 64-year-old West of Scotland male, we’re tough, macho and don’t recognise ‘girly’ stuff like depression, keep a front at all time, never show emotion, unless it’s anger of course, and never let on we’re not totally in control. That was exactly how I was for the first 40+ years of my life. Never admit you feel bad, let it fester inside and drown it if necessary.
