Writer, blogger, editor. Love wild woodland gardens & city jungles, song & dance (also tweet poetry, food and politics) co-editor @sceptical_scot
Scotland
Joined August 2011
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Hawthorn looking particularly good this year, Rowland and holly to. It’s been very cheering to see how many birds are feeding among trees, shrubs, grasses and seed heads of flowers.
How planting can support wildlife
Please plant a hawthorn! These native trees are wonderful for wildlife, supporting a wide range of species – including more than 300 insect species. The blossoms, berries and leaves are a good source of food for all sorts of creatures. More native trees:
littlegreenspace.org.uk/feat…
ALT Hawthorn berries and leaves
Welcome clarity from @Strath_FAI on triple lock complexities
Yet another plea for transparency from FM and how he reached those numbers @TimHarford also clear in his interview with FAI’s Spencer Thompson
fraserofallander.org/changes…
Fay Young retweeted
A new #UrbanPrehistory blog post on #Glasgow deep time - the discovery of a probable fragment of Neolithic polished stone axe at the Camphill excavations this summer was a rare & significant discovery in a city of few axes...@EddieCStewart @ArchScot
theurbanprehistorian.wordpre…
Good afternoon. Good to get out, into the real world. Sceptical Scot enjoys a walk with Charlie Ellis and new look at Glasgow – a brighter view, not rose-tinted but definitely brighter.
[posting from Paris but Glasgow looks good from here too]
sceptical.scot/2026/10/bridg…
Bonjour
Paris seems to be getting back to normal, around Montmartre anyway
Day2 of train trip from Edinburgh to Naples.
“Macron’s state managed to appear simultaneously repressive and weak. French riot police routinely use tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullet launchers, even against peaceful school children…Yet while casseurs ran amok, desperate shop owners phoning the police got no help.”
I've been in France since 2002 and have never seen the streets so violent nor the politics so extreme. From the sacking of the supermarket on my street to the prospect of Présidente Le Pen, here's me @FT including thoughts from 2 French Nobel laureates as.ft.com/r/addcad57-0f9d-4e…
Read @KuperSimon on our way to Paris a city we (like Kuper) love, visiting friends in Pigalle, as we do every year, we hear how they smelled teargas from nearby lycee where school kids demonstrated 2 weeks ago. Peaceful tonight but wreckers have left their mark - police too.
Who exactly is looking for a snap election?
Fay Young retweeted
Each day has been getting more Democratic in LA, with the weekend coming. Between the early voting data from LA, GA, NC, and Southside Virginia (VA-05), I think we're seeing strong evidence of a substantial leftward shift across the South this year.
Fay Young retweeted
Bloody immigrants eh?
World-leading cardiac surgeon Asif Hasan was surrounded by the children who received the gift of life thanks to his unerring skills at the emotional climax of another memorable Pride of Britain ceremony. 🥹
Now 70 years old, Mr Hasan has just retired after 35 years of service at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne, but just after receiving his Lifetime Achievement Award, he had an extra special surprise: a cast of patients who would not be alive without him. ❤️
Fay Young retweeted
Indeed. Recall former First Minister Mark Drakeford proudly making this point when I was on roundtable with him and others in Cardiff. Backward step from new administration - perhaps this is what's meant by the 'Cardiff Agreement' - talk progressive, act regressive.
Officially postponing to 2032 – but no reason it'll be any easier to go ahead then. Wales’ planned revaluation had been a beacon of hope for reform in Scotland & England; no longer. A setback for the cause of sensible policy. Depressing.
Our full response: ifs.org.uk/articles/welsh-go…
Worth a read to get the circulation going
I fantasise about the reaction if Mr Swinney levelled with the party faithful - and Scotland
“The problem is that we are losing a public broadcaster with the potential to be so much better. We have lost the potential to build an ecosystem of cultural talent in production, acting, writing and content creation that would connect across arts and industry.”
We have the right to a public broadcaster. Those laughing at the demise of BBC Scotland are missing the point. This is a managed decline, a lasting, long-term damage to our cultural infrastructure. bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/1…
Fay Young retweeted
“I have worked on the AMOC for more than 30 years. I’m increasingly worried”, states PIK scientist @rahmstorf. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) carries warm water northward. #climatechange is putting this ocean circulation at risk.
👉 youtube.com/watch?v=sNOSCWxr…
Fay Young retweeted
I am hugely grateful to @Sydney_Uni for awarding me an honorary doctorate yesterday. The strategic partnership between Sydney and @UofGlasgow has strengthened immeasurably in recent years and it’s wonderful to see it flourishing in so many different areas of research.
sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/n…
Swinney needs to show competence. He also needs a plausible plan to plug a £5bn funding gap forecast for the end of this decade through (so far unconvincing) radical public services reform.
Friends in the North?
“Working together would help to promote Burnham’s devolution while also helping Swinney re-establish the Scottish government’s reputation for competence” @simeonkerr
giftarticle.ft.com/giftartic…
Fay Young retweeted
But it’s true. Scotland is almost certainly the most centralised country in Europe.
Friends in the North?
“Working together would help to promote Burnham’s devolution while also helping Swinney re-establish the Scottish government’s reputation for competence” @simeonkerr
giftarticle.ft.com/giftartic…