by Colin Campbell DEBATE is raging over an Inverness protest in Falcon Square against virus restrictions and the virtual lockdown which has hammered many businesses, particularly in the hospitality industry. I turned to the always informative Facebook page of the Inverness Courier to see what was being said about it online. Normally an article there might attract a dozen or so comments, maybe 50 if … Continue reading Falcon Square protest generates an outpouring of anger, bile and vitriol

by Colin Campbell FROM January 1 under new immigration rules as a result of Brexit, all foreign nationals who have been sentenced to at least a year in prison – whether in Britain or overseas – will be banned from entering the UK. And a Happy New Year to that! Predictably this eminently sensible ruling has been condemned from different quarters as yet another example … Continue reading Brexit ban on foreign criminals can’t come soon enough

by Colin Campbell SO Scotland now will have five tiers of restrictions in the battle against the coronavirus, Nicola Sturgeon has announced. As if things weren’t confusing enough. There is no evidence whatever that any of this is working in stemming the rate of infections. But for want of anything else to announce, create another tier. No wonder cynicism over Sturgeon’s supposed strategy seems to … Continue reading Tiers stack up: as Sturgeon flails around clueless and desperate, one sanction if sanity prevails she’ll steer clear of

by Colin Campbell “WHAT about my pension,” an elderly relative asked an SNP canvasser on his doorstep before last December’s General Election. “What assurances will I have on that?” “Oh, the UK Government will continue paying your pension,” came the reply. “That’s guaranteed. After all, they pay the pension to people living abroad, France, Spain, everywhere. You should have no worries about that.” I reported … Continue reading If a nationalist campaigner tries to ‘advise’ you about future pensions, be sure to check the small print

by Colin Campbell THE increasingly vocal mantra from those who oppose virus restrictions – in some cases any and all virus restrictions – is that it’s not going away for perhaps a long time to come and we just have “to learn to live with it”, with the implication being we should relax, fend off our anxieties and pretty much go back to assuming many … Continue reading The gung-ho fallacy that we can take on this virus just by ‘toughening up’