Train crazy
3 hours ago

Thanks to ‘SW’ for highlighting a Courier letter by Fraser MacRae of the Clan MacRae which notes that, at the Battle of Sheriffmuir commemoration earlier this month, a Union Flag was “symbolically burnt”. Mr MacRae says that the clan is apolitical and wishes to “completely disassociate itself”. Describing the action as “nothing short of a disgrace”, he then says: “Over the past two centuries, hundreds of thousands of Scottish soldiers have fought under the Union Flag and many have died for it. The symbolic burning of the flag was an insult to their memory.” Quite.
The entire membership of the BNP has been leaked. While this is illegal (it couldn’t happen to nicer people), it gives us the opportunity to vet our own membership from this list.Apart from why BNP members might also be in the SNP, two obvious questions arise: why the exclusive focus on ‘non-English’ parts of Britain, and what organisations (plural) could he mean?
There are a large number of BNP members listed in Scotland , Wales , Cornwall and the north of Ireland . I don’t think we want any of them near any of the organisations we are in…
With thanks to correspondent ‘SW’, an extract from an article in Tuesday's Inverness Courier:“Extreme Scottish nationalism is being suggested as a possible reason for a 72.9 per cent rise in racist incidents in Inverness this year.Inverness South councillor Jim Crawford reportedly believes that “a combination of lack of education and publicity of the SNP's pro-independence stance may be fuelling anti-English feeling”. He is quoted as saying: “You find when nationalism in any country increases, this happens”.
English people are bearing the brunt of racially aggravated crimes, including serious and minor assaults...”
I have never felt British in my life. There are occasional pangs when you see Team GB in the Olympics and you are bombarded with Britishness, Britishness, Britishness by the BBC, but I have never felt British in my life. I do not even know what Britishness is.
Quote of the day, perhaps improbably for this blog by Sean Connery:“It has been one of my greatest joys to see Scotland walking tall in recent years. The spirit of the Scottish people - innovation, drive, entrepreneurialism, fairness, global responsibility and, yes, the sense of independence - has long predated the 1997 referendum and the 2007 result. And now, I believe our elected officials are starting to catch up with that spirit.”We’ve always walked tall, but it’s refreshing that at least one prominent nationalist is able to acknowledge that Scotland within the United Kingdom isn’t powerless, cringing and downtrodden but creative, vibrant and forward-looking.
• Herald: “Glenrothes: the end of the SNP honeymoon?”

Harry Wills: “The SNP juggernaut has been stopped in its tracks. Alex Salmond promised us an earthquake but by November the 5th and 6th, it has turned into a damp squib.”