Monthly Archives: January 2014

Time to start educating children about their rights after figures show Police stopped and searched 500 under 10s

Posted on January 23, 2014 by

Shocking figures show that police in Scotland have stopped and searched 750,000 people in the last year. The Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research report also found that 500 children under 10 were stopped and searched in 2010 alone.  This has … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Liberties, Police, Scotland, stop and search | 1 Comment

Rennard: How is the party going to get through this?

Posted on January 19, 2014 by

I’ve had a post in drafts for the last 3 days about the fallout from Alistair Webster’s statement but my heart has been so heavy that it’s only now I feel able to complete it. I have to thank Lord Carlile … Continue reading →

Posted in Chris Rennard | 17 Comments

The three dimensions to Alistair Carmichael’s speech: a positive vision of the UK, incoherent nationalist ideas and future powers

Posted on January 14, 2014 by

This article first appeared on Liberal Democrat Voice Alistair Carmichael’s keynote speech and subsequent question and answer session in Stirling today touched three different dimensions of the constitutional debate, the last of which should cheer any Liberal Democrat heart. Up … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

In Full: Alistair Carmichael’s New Year Speech – A positive vision of UK’s achievements to contrast with the incoherent nationalist position

Posted on January 13, 2014 by

This is very long, but I thought it was worth posting in full. My analysis is here on Liberal Democrat Voice. You can never really get the full flavour of a 14 page speech into a blog post. It’s not always … Continue reading →

Posted in Alistair Carmichael, Independence Referendum, Scotland | Leave a comment

Review: Peter Pan, Edinburgh. Or, Allan Stewart makes my life

Posted on January 12, 2014 by

It’s been our tradition in recent years to go to the Pantomime at the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh, which always stars comedians Allan Stewart and Andy Gray and Grant Stott from Radio Forth. Usually I book the tickets at the … Continue reading →

Posted in allan stewart, Andy Gray, Family, Grant Stott, pantomime, Personal | Leave a comment

Should MPs be allowed to take their babies into the voting lobby?

Posted on January 10, 2014 by

There’s been a bit of controversy over the issue of breastfeeding in the House of Commons and taking babies into the voting lobby sparked by comments by Jo Swinson, who gave birth to her son Andrew on 22 December. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, Jo Swinson, Parliament | Leave a comment

A polite request to all Scottish male politicians and political commentators

Posted on January 9, 2014 by

Scotland may be involved in a long and often bad-tempered referendum campaign, but there are still some issues that unite people across the political divide. You can guarantee that at least once a fortnight, I’ll complain on Twitter about yet … Continue reading →

Posted in gender balance, Independence Referendum, Scotland | Leave a comment