“The saddest thing about attempts to batter Northern Ireland’s distinctive and prolonged traumas into a Brexit-shaped argument groove, is the implication that things would be grand if only the boat hadn’t been rocked: we should seek to maintain the present ludicrous settlement, which has seen poverty and alienation flourish.”

David Jamieson: Northern Ireland isn’t a character in your Brexit drama


There are legitimate reasons to be sceptical of Brexit, but one of the silliest claims is that isolationism stems from nostalgia for Empire or even “neo-colonialism”. This violates the first law of all political tactics, which is to know your enemy.

Source Direct: British Neo-Imperialism: Know Your Enemy




The EU made the worst possible start to the coronavirus, but that phase of emergency passed and soon it was anti-establishment populists on the run. However, to say the vaccination process has been a setback would be an understatement.

Source Direct: Europe Endless


For the final Source Direct of 2020, I am fulfilling a reader request and considering a dystopian project arising from the Brexiteer faction, the Free Ports scheme announced by the UK Treasury last year. What are Free Ports and what are their implications for Scotland?

Britannia Unchained, Caledonia Unleashed