Mcsmorgasbord meets the Bold Scotland

An evening with Lesley Riddoch and Gerry Hassan discussing Brexit, independence, and the state of Britain organised by Commonweal Fife. Both writers have new books out which are timely contributions to the ongoing debate about Scotland and our future.

Wednesday 21 June 19:00–21:30 at the Adam Smith Theatre, Bennochy Road, Kirkcaldy. Free admission.

===================================================

Lesley Riddoch & Ebrehart (Paddy) Bort :: Mcsmorgasbord: What We Can Learn from Our Northern Neighbours (Luath Press)

What can post-Brexit Scotland learn from the Nordics?

The unique combination of personal experience and experts’ insights give this book its hands-on character: pragmatic and thought-provoking, challenging and instructive, full of amazing stories and useful comparisons, enriching the debates about Scotland’s post-Brexit future as a Nordic neighbour.
===================================================

Gerry Hassan :: Scotland the Bold (Freight Books)

Scotland has changed fundamentally. This story has become a familiar one, but have we yet understood its full meaning and the resulting consequences? What kind of choices do we face as a society and nation about our future, and how can we best shape them? Scotland the Bold explores how Scotland became what it is, considers what choices and obstacles it faces, identifies signs of people taking power into their own hands and addresses what we can all do to create a radically different, democratic and better Scotland.

Scotland is now visibly different from the rest of the UK and the self-evidently bankrupt economic, social and political thinking that dominate British elites. Majority Scottish opinion is repulsed by a million people relying on food-banks and the prevalence of welfare sanctions in the fifth richest economy in the world.

However, that doesn’t mean that Scotland is automatically morally superior – for in our own nation we have our own poverty, our own shames and silences, and our own elites. For self-government to have any meaning it entails addressing some hard and difficult truths about ourselves. All of this requires that we begin to talk honestly and maturely about Scotland’s future and some of the difficult choices we will have to make; reflecting on where we have come from, what we are proud of, mistakes, and how we do things better in the future.

Comments (6)

Join the Discussion

Your email address will not be published.

  1. bringiton says:

    The BBC now informing viewers about the difficulties the UK faces in leaving the EU.
    The fact that they failed to do this during the referendum tells us that this organisation is motivated by political considerations and can no longer be considered as a public service broadcaster.
    It should be clear to every country in the world (except Scotland) that England’s Tories have no interest in pooling and sharing with anyone unless they are in charge.
    Not so much a laughing stock,more wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole as far as those countries not ruled by despots are concerned.

    1. jack elliot says:

      What can  Scotland learn from the Nordics once they leave the European Union?

      A question indeed. 

      What and where are the nordic countries.?

      The Nordic countries are in and out of  the European Union

       Scotland are in but because of Westminster are looking to leave European Union

      Geographically Scotland is right in the heart of the Nordics …. They consist of Denmark, Finland, Norway,  and Sweden, including the associated territories of Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the Aland Islands..

      The question is how they survive and treat their citizens and how happy they are once they compare with us in Scotland.

      It was interesting how Norway exported their criminals to the Jails in the Netherlands it was cheaper for them to pay the Dutch government to have them jailed their that to have them in Norway….
      .
      .
      .

      http://jackelliot.over-blog.com/2017/06/what-can-scotland-learn-from-the-nordics-after-they-leave-the-european-union.html

      .

      .
      .

  2. Robert Eric Swanepoel says:

    The Twitter share-button at the bottom takes one to: https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2017/06/19/mcsmorgasbord-meets-the-bold-scotland/ . Should we blame this mix-up on the EU too? 😉

  3. Nancy Nicolson says:

    Two great minds. Two great books. Never more needed than now. Most disappointed I can’t get to the event. I trust it will be recorded and/or repeated.

  4. Sandra Stewart says:

    How do I get tickets?

  5. Michael Stuart Green says:

    The post entitled “The Laughing Stock of Europe”, to which I was alerted by an email from Bella, doesn’t seem to exist on the Bella website. As, reportedly, with the Twitter feed, emailing a link to the “Laughing Stock” page takes you to the mcsmorgasbord item. The many people whom I tried to alert to”Laughing Stock” are very confused.

Help keep our journalism independent

We don’t take any advertising, we don’t hide behind a pay wall and we don’t keep harassing you for crowd-funding. We’re entirely dependent on our readers to support us.

Subscribe to regular bella in your inbox

Don’t miss a single article. Enter your email address on our subscribe page by clicking the button below. It is completely free and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.