Welcome to your Full Scottish, live from our Cowcaddens studio in Glasgow.
Full Scottish programme starts at 12:00 on Sunday 3rd February 2019
On the programme this week, Corri Wilson is joined by Ken McDonald of iScot Magazine and by Greg McCarra from the Scottish Independence Foundation. We will be starting the programme with a little announcement, so be sure to tune in for the start.
Now back to the cluster-burach that is Brexit. With the backing of Brexit supporting Labour MPs, Theresa May won the vote in the House of Commons to renegotiate her deal (the one which she said could not be renegotiated) with the EU, but this was met with a swift No, Nein, Non from the other 27 EU states who will not budge on the Irish backstop. The Prime Minister seems to be ignoring, or maybe she is just in denial about, the vote to stop a No-Deal Brexit, which she lost. As parliament is forced to cancel the February recess to catch up with passing the backlog of Brexit legislation, spare a thought for those poor MPs who have had to cancel their winter skiing holidays.
Of course, you don’t need to head to the Alps to find snow this week, as the north winds have brought us a cold hard frost and plenty of crisp snow. The usual travel chaos ensues, but why do we never seem to invest enough in preparations for the cold winter weather we experience every year?
Meanwhile in the Scottish parliament, the SNP and Greens reached agreement which saw Scottish the budget pass, despite the combined opposition of the Lib-Dems, Labour and the tories. The budget includes provision for councils to levy a tourist tax, with the money raised to be reinvested in mitigating the negative effects of tourism on local communities.
Midlothian Council has become the first local authority in Scotland to withdraw musical instrument tuition in schools, unless you are studying for national 5 or higher music. With other councils cutting back and/or increasing the fees for music tuition, it is now looking like music tuition will only affordable by middle-class affluent parents and children of poorer families will be excluded?
Spain has moved the Catalan political prisoners from Barcelona to Madrid for the start of the show trial for committing deliberate acts of democracy. Will the EU finally speak out over this attack on properly elected politicians, carrying out their democratic mandate, in the face of the refusal to negotiate and violence by the Spanish Government?
President Trump has announced that America will withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty. Former President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev described Trump’s decision as “not the work of a great mind.” In response, Russia has also withdrawn from the treaty and President Putin has announced that Russia will start developing new nuclear missile. MAD used to mean mutually assured destruction and not a diagnosis of the mental health of the US President. Don’t have nightmares.
Greg McCarra
Greg McCarra is the Chief Executive of the Scottish Independence Foundation. He is a former academic and trade unionist and was previously an SNP councillor in West Lothian.
Ken McDonald
Ken McDonald is the Managing editor and founder of iScot Magazine, a monthly pro Scot publication in both digital and print. Previously Ken worked as a senior director of a No 1 US EMS American 500 company as Business Development Director for global strategic supply chain manufacturing solutions.