Scottish Roundup

The very late appearance of this post can mean only one thing; yes, its my turn to do the roundup this week. Unlike the good doctorvee, it would appear that I’m fundamentally unable to do anything in a timely and organised manner. (That sound you hear is everyone who knows me nodding emphatically in agreement.) I saw a documentary about people who share this problem and it turns out that I may have Slightly Maddening Erratic Git Syndrome. Unfortunately, no cure has yet been found.

Without further ado then, let’s see what we’ve got in this week’s bag of goodies.

All things considered, it is probably necessary to start with Mr Eugenides‘ reaction to the Tory Party’s new found love of Polly Toynbee. Who else could you possibly turn to at such a moment? Well, the Devil’s Kitchen of course. Perhaps this is intended to be Dave’s “Clause Four” moment. It certainly hacked off very many people who feel they’ve got nowhere else to go. As a slightly impartial observer, it’ll be interesting to see what happens next. Will the enterprising people of the libertarian right (apologies of the generic labelling) succeed in doing something to create a viable alternative or will they try to change the Conservative Party back into something they can vote for? The problem with creating an alternative, as us lefties know only too well, is that the FPTP system creates enormous barriers to entry into the corridors of power. The last new party to succeed, the Labour Party, was created a century ago. The system is very much small “c” conservative and that can be a major problem if you want to create something new.

In other news, Robert Sharp is cross about all the fuss that got up about crosses. Over at No Geek is an Island, however, Will is inclined to back BA. The Flying Rodent, meanwhile, investigates the archives of the London Evening Standard (circa 1897). Won’t somebody please think of the poor vampire hunters?

Reactionary Snob recalls a prediction. Sometimes, it’s not good to be right.

Over at Scottish Political News, attention is turned to the (lack of) “Cameron effect” in Scotland. As with any discussion of the Conservatives in Scotland, the “T” word cannot be avoided.

Shuggy thinks there are better ways to defend the Union than those used by Blair this week.

And talking of the Union, the SNP must have been flattered that the Labour big guns at the Scottish Labour Party Conference seemed to spend all their time talking about the dangers of independence. There’s fear in them there hills. Richard Thomson wins this week’s Best Post Title award as he analyses the conference from an SNP perspective.

Ewan Aitken, the leader of Edinburgh City Council, wonders about that langoustine. It’s caught off Scotland’s coasts but then has to undergo a several thousand mile round trip on its way to our supermarkets. Many consumers might not approve but will they be any the wiser? Councillor Aitken has a suggestion which might help.

Over at The Select Society, the death of Pierre Gemayel triggers a look at a rarely mentioned consequence of foreign intervention in the Middle East

Moving away from politics (one small step at a time), the fantastically named Gadget Vicar – a real vicar – goes to see Borat after reading a review which suggested that the film contained a postive Christian message. Gadget Vicar, perhaps unsurprisingly, disagrees. Also from Gadget Vicar, a brilliantly silly gadget. “Yes, it has” is almost certainly the answer to the question.

Gordon Mclean writes about every bloggers favourite subject: blogs. And also about the fact that people spell his name wrong when they link to him (I’ve resisted the temptation to intentionally do so here for humerous effect because it wouldn’t actually be humerous).

Gary Wood does a spot of investigative journalism and discovers Greggs’ insidious scheme for world domination. Forunately, he was able to do so without becoming entangled in the murky world of habitual mince pie consumption. A lucky escape, methinks.

And finally, a long running blog from Aberdeen may be about to lose its raison detre. Say it isn’t so!

That’s all for this week, folks. Next week, someone organised will do it so it probably will be posted at a sensible time of day rather than so late that it’s basically Monday. Do please send in your suggestion to scottishroundup [at] gmail [dot] com.