Month: December 2016

Livestream: Land, Democracy & the Economy: Andy Wightman

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Andy started with a quick summary of his book “The Poor had no Lawyers” and its 6 land grabs:

  1. Robert the Bruce – a murdering medieval warlord
  2. To spoil the Kirk of Christ of her Patrimony – theft of lands of the Church
  3. The Palladium of our Land Proprietors – involving the lawyers
  4. A State of Possession beyond the memory of Man– theft of commonties
  5. Mere miserable starved caricatures – theft of Burgh commons
  6. I hereby take possession of this island of Rockall – Colonial adventures

Continue reading “Livestream: Land, Democracy & the Economy: Andy Wightman”

December 2016 meeting: Andy Wightman on Land, Democracy and the Economy

For our final meeting of 2016 on Mon 5 December, we are delighted to have Green MSP, Andy Wightman, to speak on the extremely topical subjects of Land, Democracy and the Economy. A few days ago on Wed 30 Nov 2016 in the Scottish Parliament, Andy proposed the following motion on local democracy (with splendidly plain wording)
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The Final Report from the Commission on strengthening local democracy was published in August 2014 and can be downloaded from their website. At the time it was widely endorsed by political parties including the SNP and the Conservatives. However both these parties put forward “wrecking” amendments to Andy’s motion on Wednesday. Continue reading “December 2016 meeting: Andy Wightman on Land, Democracy and the Economy”

A national anthem for Scotland – Bob Murray gets us all thinking

On the 28 November 2016 we gathered at the Clermiston Inn to enjoy a special performance of Bob Murray’s one-man show: A National Anthem for Scotland, in which Bob performs a selection of potential anthems for Scotland and examines the pros and cons of each one alongside discussion of more general issues around national anthems.

For instance what makes a good anthem? Can it be sung easily by amateurs with average vocal range? How will it sound in different settings, e.g. pipe band, small ensemble, a crowd at a stadium, orchestra? How will we choose our anthem? By committee, referendum, TV show? Is copyright an issue? Once you start pondering these questions, the whole concept opens up into a very thought-provoking area. Continue reading “A national anthem for Scotland – Bob Murray gets us all thinking”