Douglas MacQueen's blog

A hoard of Viking Christian treasures has been uncovered in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland. Said to be the biggest and most significant finds in Scotland in modern times, items recovered from a haul of more than one hundred artefacts include silver Viking arm rings, ingots, gold, silver, glass, enamel and textiles. Many are thought to be unique. They were discovered in September 2014 on Church of Scotland land by metal detectorist  Derek McLennan.

According to a recently published United Nations study there is an 80 per cent probability that by 2100 the world population will increase from 7.2 billion to between 9.6 and 12.3 billion. A considerable amount of this increase is expected to take place in Africa, with two billion babies being born during the next 35 years, doubling the continent's population.

The membership of the Scottish National Party has trebled in the three weeks since the referendum. The pro-independence Green Party has also seen a growth in members. Much of this increase has come from traditional Labour supporting areas. Meanwhile Gordon Brown (ex-Labour UK Prime Minister) has now started an on-line petition to present to the UK government! This is to pressure them to adhere to the promises they made to the Scottish voters that Scotland's parliament would have more powers if they stayed in the union.

It has recently been announced that membership of the Scottish National Party (SNP) has risen by a remarkable 45,000 since the referendum. This new level of support is also reflected in latest opinion polls. Samples of daily opinion polls by YouGov this week in regard to next years UK General Election has the nationalists on 38.6 per cent, compared to support for Labour at 29.3 per cent. A Survation poll for the Mail on Sunday last week shows support for the SNP at the next Holyrood (Scottish Parliament - Scottish Gaelic: Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) election in 2016 standing at 49 per cent.

Apologies to the Albatross a very beautiful species of seabird that is amongst some of the largest flying birds. Also apologies to the chicken a domesticated fowl that comes in many varieties and has proven very useful to humans  for many centuries. Therefore both in terms of beauty and usefulness these birds clearly have nothing in common with the British pro-Union political parties, Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat. Well except that is that the word albatross is used metaphorically to mean a burden or a curse. 

The BBC and other London based media are sinking to new levels of vindictiveness. Not being satisfied with having shown disgusting bias against the Yes campaign throughout the Scottish referendum. They now take it further by trying to disparage anyone who voted Yes especially identified high profile supporters. The latest target has been Tennis player Andy Murray who was challenged for having supported independence on  a twitter message he sent.

Thank you for all of your support on this momentous day for Scotland, regardless of the final result. We also know that a united autonomous Brittany offers the hope of economic regeneration and jobs. The demonstration for the reunification of Brittany taking place on September 27 in Nantes promises to be a great success. We are with you! We are all engaged in our own various battles at the moment. But our aims are the same and in the end we will prevail in achieving self-determination.

"In these final hours of this historic campaign I want to speak directly to every person in this country who is weighing up the arguments they have heard. 

I have no doubt people in Scotland will look past the increasingly desperate and absurd scare stories being generated daily from Downing Street. 

Those have no place in a sensible debate.  

So in these last days of the greatest campaign Scotland has ever seen, I want to ask you to take a step back from the arguments of politicians and the blizzard of statistics.

Remarkable scenes, as reported by newsnetscotland, took place today outside of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) Scotland HQ in Glasgow. Protesters marched from St Georges Square in Glasgow to the BBC's HQ in Scotland at Pacific Quay. This comes after months of complaints and allegations of blatant bias against independence in BBC broadcasts.

This weekend has seen a massive turn out by supporters of the Yes to independence campaign. It will see 473 registered street stalls, the distribution of 2.6 million leaflets and nearly 36,000 volunteers working in all parts of Scotland. The message will be clearly focused on the positive opportunities that an independent Scotland will present to its people.