Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Labour: Things have to get better if we are to win again
Earlier this year I wrote a piece arguing that Jeremy Corbyn was the wrong person to lead the Labour Party. At the start of this unexpected General Election campaign I thought Jeremy Corbyn would lead us to a terrible defeat. And at the conclusion of the poll, I still think Jeremy Corbyn is the wrong…
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RIP Giovanni Righetti: The European Union is your memorial
The inscription on the grey granite headstone is as simple as it is stark. Giovanni Righetti 1904 – Dachau Four words that tell the story of modern Europe, found in a graveyard in the small Slovenian village of Storje, only a few kilometres from the Italian border. Josipana, Giovanni’s wife ( I presume) was born in…
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Why Edinburgh Labour should not do a city deal with the SNP
I am writing this on the road, heading to Salzburg, then Slovenia, so my main source of political intelligence is social media. It would appear the 12-strong Labour group of councillors in Edinburgh are considering joining 19 SNP councillors in a coalition to run the city council. Now I am not against coalitions per se. I…
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Remembering 1 May 1997: Things can only get better
1997 was a vintage year. I met Eric Cantona. I saw Bowie at the Barrowlands. I got married. Oh, and on Thursday May 1st, Labour won a landslide victory, ushering in thirteen years of a Labour government, ten under Tony Blair. Twenty years after that sunny day, when things really did get better, it is…
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#GE17: A chance to tell Nicola Sturgeon we’ve had enough
#GE17 is a chance for Scots to tell Nicola Sturgeon they have had enough of her nationalist obsession.
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Corbyn doesn’t work for Labour
My recent column in the The Scotsman where I argue Jeremy Corbyn is the wrong leader for the Labour Party. Two political leaders gave big speeches earlier this week. One, at the end of his career as an elected politician, was graceful, thoughtful, optimistic for the future of his country. The other was Jeremy Corbyn.…
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Better together: my dream for my grand-daughter
These are my remarks that I gave today at the Scottish Women’s Convention’s debate on the independence referendum. Thanks to the audience of great women, from across Scotland, who made it such a lively, passionate event. In a few week’s time my grand-daughter will be born. I want her to grow up in a country…
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Madiba: one of the greatest men who ever lived
There will be many words written about Nelson Mandela over the coming days and weeks…indeed in the years to come. There is nothing I can write that will add to what we know, or feel, about the man who showed us all how to live, how to govern, how to be a human being. I…
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That was the week that was
It has been a momentous week. Robbie Williams’ new LP became the 1,000th number one in the album charts Nigella Lawson’s life was ripped apart, again. And Scotland’s First Minister, and his faithful deputy, published their prospectus for breaking up the United Kingdom. Scotland’s Future is 670 pages long. And every one of those pages…
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Two invitations in one day
I got not one, but two, invitations today. Most unusual. The first was to speak, with my new comrade Kate Higgins, at the Women in Parliament dinner next week. I immediately said yes, even though it meant rearranging a trip to Leeds to spend time with my husband. I may not be in frontline politics…
Got any book recommendations?
Susan Dalgety 