Wings Over Scotland

Dear Secretary,

I have supported independence for Scotland for as long as I can remember. I was never a party political animal, but immediately after the 1992 general election – that of the failed “Free by ’93” slogan – I joined the SNP since it was the only independence movement we had and I wanted to do something, anything, to help.

I was then living in the south of England and so joined London Branch. I served on the executive committee of that branch in various capacities for a number of years, was a conference delegate and spoke at both conference and national assembly. I also used holiday entitlement to travel to Scotland to help with several election campaigns.

When I returned home to Scotland I joined Tweeddale Branch and again served on the executive committee, for a time as vice-convener. I took part in a great deal of campaigning both for elections and for the independence referendum, and in fact made myself ill during the summer of 2014, so hard was I working for a Yes vote. I also stood as the SNP candidate in the Tweeddale West council by-election in 2013.

During the first 25 years of my membership I made many friends and had many wonderful experiences. I never imagined for a moment that I would leave the party before independence day.

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Have you seen the film of the coronation? I’m not talking about the grand televised extravaganza in Westminster Abbey with the young Queen Elizabeth done up like a wedding cake – I mean the Scottish coronation, in Edinburgh, three weeks after the glamorous London ceremony of 2 June 1953.

It’s not easy to locate. You’ll struggle to find a picture of it, or even a documented reference – a brief casual mention squeezed in right at the end of this article on the monarchical website is the best we could do.

Acting on the advice of her ministers, Elizabeth attended the ceremony dressed in an ordinary coat and hat. The honours of Scotland were presented to her, and she held them as if they were volatile explosive devices, standing stock-still until they were taken back again by be-gowned flunkies. 

There would be no actual official crowning. It might give the natives ideas.

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Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie should be commended for starting 2013 with a legitimate request rather than a party-political attack. The Herald today reports his renewed call for a public inquiry into the events of the Lockerbie disaster.

The call was prompted by the new Libyan government’s pledge to release documents relating to the incident “as soon as time, security and stability permitted”. But what will such documents reveal beyond what we already know?

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21st November 2012

Dear Sir,

The Herald was the daily newspaper in our house when I was a child. My parents took both it and the Evening Times. When I started to outgrow the Bunty I eschewed the Jackie and its like and graduated straight to the newspapers. My father cancelled his Evening Times subscription when I was coming up to my Highers because he thought reading two newspapers every evening was interfering with my homework.

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