Mike Small
@bellacaledonia.bsky.social
Imagining a Scottish Democracy since 2007.
Bylines at the Guardian, Open Democracy, Herald, DeSmog, Bella Caledonia, Sunday National.
Bylines at the Guardian, Open Democracy, Herald, DeSmog, Bella Caledonia, Sunday National.
Pinned
If You’re Feeling Sinister
An Irishman a Welshman, and a Scotsman walk into a bar. Actually, it’s not a joke, and the Irishman’s an Irish woman. The Plaid Cymru leader, Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Scottish National par…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
If You’re Feeling Sinister bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/13/i...
On Sheeren and Sweeney’s Complicity and Macklemore Solidarity bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/16/o...
On Sheeren and Sweeney’s Complicity and Macklemore Solidarity
Less often, but music can still rise to the occasion. This week has been huge for Dua Lipa plays across the socials as the backlash against Sydney Sweeney’s degrading advert for Novig went vi…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 16, 2026 at 11:47 AM
On Sheeren and Sweeney’s Complicity and Macklemore Solidarity bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/16/o...
How to sensitively support a friend who has been racially abused bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/15/h...
How to sensitively support a friend who has been racially abused
How to sensitively support a friend, co-worker, or teammate who has been racially abused or assaulted. Last week on my way home, I experienced a racially motivated incident. As a dark-skinned, drea…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 15, 2026 at 10:27 AM
How to sensitively support a friend who has been racially abused bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/15/h...
Reposted by Mike Small
"People are asking who gets power, who pays the grid costs & why Scotland’s renewable bounty is being locked in to corporate AI infrastructure rather than cutting household bills."
@maryamtariq.bsky.social is making the connections @bellacaledonia.bsky.social
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/08/h...
@maryamtariq.bsky.social is making the connections @bellacaledonia.bsky.social
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/08/h...
How Scotland’s War and AI economy are Burning Our Future: From Fife to Faslane
Scotland’s firefighters told us they can’t take anymore. In early August the Fire Brigades Union wrote to John Swinney demanding an urgent meeting on “capability, capacity and resilience”. After a …
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 14, 2026 at 11:00 AM
"People are asking who gets power, who pays the grid costs & why Scotland’s renewable bounty is being locked in to corporate AI infrastructure rather than cutting household bills."
@maryamtariq.bsky.social is making the connections @bellacaledonia.bsky.social
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/08/h...
@maryamtariq.bsky.social is making the connections @bellacaledonia.bsky.social
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/08/h...
A Historic Day in Cardiff bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/14/a...
A Historic Day in Cardiff
In a moment that was perhaps higher in symbolism than substance, the leaders of the Celtic Nations gathered in Cardiff and signed a Memorandum of Understanding which asserted the right to self-dete…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 14, 2026 at 9:41 PM
A Historic Day in Cardiff bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/14/a...
If You’re Feeling Sinister bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/13/i...
If You’re Feeling Sinister
An Irishman a Welshman, and a Scotsman walk into a bar. Actually, it’s not a joke, and the Irishman’s an Irish woman. The Plaid Cymru leader, Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Scottish National par…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 13, 2026 at 8:43 PM
If You’re Feeling Sinister bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/13/i...
England v Scotland, the battle of the PISA tests by Jackie Kemp bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/12/e...
England v Scotland, the battle of the PISA tests
The mainstream media does not do nuance. So the results of international education tests called PISA have been reported as victory to England, because 15-year-olds there did significantly better in…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 12, 2026 at 4:05 PM
England v Scotland, the battle of the PISA tests by Jackie Kemp bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/12/e...
‘Finding The Radiance In Between: Reimagining Scotland’s Creative Spaces‘ is a new report by Creative Balance, a research and advocacy project which explores the wellbeing of racialised people working in Scotland’s creative industries bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/11/f...
Finding the Radiance In Between
Leftfield is our regular preview of Scottish Left, anti-capitalist and radical events, publications and projects. Contact us here for suggestions to publicise your events. ‘Finding The Radia…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 12, 2026 at 3:21 PM
‘Finding The Radiance In Between: Reimagining Scotland’s Creative Spaces‘ is a new report by Creative Balance, a research and advocacy project which explores the wellbeing of racialised people working in Scotland’s creative industries bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/11/f...
A Microtonal Poke in the Eye for AI? bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/11/a...
A Microtonal Poke in the Eye for AI?
At first glance, Angine de Poitrine, who filled the grand Usher Hall with bouncing humanity last week, appear to be an exercise in anti-art provocation. Taking the stage in absurd, polka dot costum…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 12, 2026 at 3:19 PM
A Microtonal Poke in the Eye for AI? bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/11/a...
‘Am Muillear Càm ’s Am Balbhan’ - the Bog Slog and coming of age in Stornoway. Your long read for the weekend by Kevin MacNeil
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/11/l...
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/11/l...
September 11, 2026 at 3:13 PM
‘Am Muillear Càm ’s Am Balbhan’ - the Bog Slog and coming of age in Stornoway. Your long read for the weekend by Kevin MacNeil
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/11/l...
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/11/l...
It was 50 years ago today Rock against Racism was created. MARK PERRYMAN recalls the moment...
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/11/t...
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/11/t...
The Letter that Rocked Racism
It was 50 years ago today Rock against Racism was created. MARK PERRYMAN recalls the moment. 11 September 1976, I can still remember the scene, just like every Thursday morning before lessons, the …
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 11, 2026 at 11:02 AM
It was 50 years ago today Rock against Racism was created. MARK PERRYMAN recalls the moment...
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/11/t...
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/11/t...
THE OAK TREE ON KILPATRICK BRAE | A poem by Ngan Nguyen bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/10/t...
The Oak Tree on Kilpatrick Brae
THE OAK TREE ON KILPATRICK BRAE A poem by Ngan Nguyen When Glasgow is not gentle to me I go to the oak tree on Kilpatrick brae. It was blown over as a wee plant then grew up L-shaped. A lo…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 10, 2026 at 8:58 PM
THE OAK TREE ON KILPATRICK BRAE | A poem by Ngan Nguyen bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/10/t...
The UK government is doing the job of breaking the Union far better than anyone else | Burnham's Brigadoon
fiftysixdegreesnorth.substack.com/p/burnhams-b...
fiftysixdegreesnorth.substack.com/p/burnhams-b...
Burnham's Brigadoon
So it turns out that a Scottish democracy, or certainly steps towards it, will arrive not by way of a Constitutional Assembly, a popular process, or a specific trigger point, but just ‘a feeling’.
fiftysixdegreesnorth.substack.com
September 10, 2026 at 7:43 PM
The UK government is doing the job of breaking the Union far better than anyone else | Burnham's Brigadoon
fiftysixdegreesnorth.substack.com/p/burnhams-b...
fiftysixdegreesnorth.substack.com/p/burnhams-b...
Andy Burnham has laid out the conditions for a second Scottish independence referendum during Prime Minister’s Questions. Sort of. bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/09/h...
How to Leave a Voluntary Union
So Now IS the Time, apparently. Andy Burnham has laid out the conditions for a second Scottish independence referendum during Prime Minister’s Questions. Sort of. To add to the impression of …
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 9, 2026 at 1:43 PM
Andy Burnham has laid out the conditions for a second Scottish independence referendum during Prime Minister’s Questions. Sort of. bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/09/h...
Scotland Undone: Nationalism, Dogma and Decline in the Devolution Era, Dean M Thomson, Vingo Publishing. Reviewed by Alec Ross bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/09/s...
Scotland’s Status Quo Politics and Devolution need serious critique
Scotland Undone: Nationalism, Dogma and Decline in the Devolution Era, Dean M Thomson, Vingo Publishing, £9.99. Reviewed by Alec Ross In the last couple of weeks, the SNP has published its programm…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 9, 2026 at 11:54 AM
Scotland Undone: Nationalism, Dogma and Decline in the Devolution Era, Dean M Thomson, Vingo Publishing. Reviewed by Alec Ross bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/09/s...
Ambitious (for women) in Scotland? by Carmen Martinez bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/09/a...
September 9, 2026 at 11:12 AM
Ambitious (for women) in Scotland? by Carmen Martinez bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/09/a...
Reposted by Mike Small
Reposted by Mike Small
ME: time to sleep
BRAIN: "four" is the only number with the right amount of letters
BRAIN: "four" is the only number with the right amount of letters
September 8, 2026 at 3:51 AM
ME: time to sleep
BRAIN: "four" is the only number with the right amount of letters
BRAIN: "four" is the only number with the right amount of letters
Reposted by Mike Small
Picture the scene. It's 1769. You're William Aberdeen and you're drawing a map of Sebay in Tankerness, #Orkney. It's going well but then you realise there are some blank bits so you decide to add some decoration.
You think about what to draw for a moment. It's an obvious choice.
You think about what to draw for a moment. It's an obvious choice.
September 7, 2026 at 11:44 AM
Picture the scene. It's 1769. You're William Aberdeen and you're drawing a map of Sebay in Tankerness, #Orkney. It's going well but then you realise there are some blank bits so you decide to add some decoration.
You think about what to draw for a moment. It's an obvious choice.
You think about what to draw for a moment. It's an obvious choice.
How Scotland’s War and AI economy are Burning Our Future: From Fife to Faslane bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/08/h...
How Scotland’s War and AI economy are Burning Our Future: From Fife to Faslane
Scotland’s firefighters told us they can’t take anymore. In early August the Fire Brigades Union wrote to John Swinney demanding an urgent meeting on “capability, capacity and resilience”. After a …
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 8, 2026 at 10:58 AM
How Scotland’s War and AI economy are Burning Our Future: From Fife to Faslane bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/08/h...
"A Scottish poet encounters Gaza through the memory stored in his own landscape. His history gives him a language of dispossession, though that language cannot contain another people’s catastrophe." bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/07/w...
What Beauty Is For in Terrible Times
Some time after an essay of mine appeared in the Sunday National I received a message from a man I had never met. “Please excuse me for writing to you out of the blue,” it began. George Gunn, a Sco…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 8, 2026 at 10:29 AM
"A Scottish poet encounters Gaza through the memory stored in his own landscape. His history gives him a language of dispossession, though that language cannot contain another people’s catastrophe." bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/07/w...
Leith’s poignant Knife Angel bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/07/l...
Leith’s poignant Knife Angel
Quiet, informal candlelit vigils and small clusters of memorial flowers have begun to spring up around the Kirkgate at the foot of Leith Walk, marking a space of reflection and mourning for lost li…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 7, 2026 at 8:54 PM
Leith’s poignant Knife Angel bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/07/l...
What Beauty Is For in Terrible Times bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/07/w...
What Beauty Is For in Terrible Times
Some time after an essay of mine appeared in the Sunday National I received a message from a man I had never met. “Please excuse me for writing to you out of the blue,” it began. George Gunn, a Sco…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 7, 2026 at 8:35 PM
What Beauty Is For in Terrible Times bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/07/w...
Blackshirts Over the White Cliffs of Dover bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/07/b...
Blackshirts Over the White Cliffs of Dover
Late Britain is descending into a very dark place. The descent, despite the arrival of Andy Burnham, the marked decline in migrant crossings, and the recent expose of the dark money behind Reform U…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 7, 2026 at 7:56 PM
Blackshirts Over the White Cliffs of Dover bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/07/b...
Democratising the Edinburgh Festival -On the Visitor Levy and creating Regenerative Tourism Loops bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/02/d...
Democratising the Edinburgh Festival
I was going to say that as the festival ends the numbers of tourists subsides, but they don’t really. Overtourism in Edinburgh is relentless. Inevitably, there’s been some reflection on…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
September 2, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Democratising the Edinburgh Festival -On the Visitor Levy and creating Regenerative Tourism Loops bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/02/d...
Climate vs Fascism with Bill McKibben & Ayana Elizabeth
naomiklein.substack.com/p/climate-vs...
naomiklein.substack.com/p/climate-vs...
Climate vs Fascism with Bill McKibben & Ayana Elizabeth
I joined Bill & Ayana for their first live, and we broke our own records.
naomiklein.substack.com
September 1, 2026 at 10:22 PM
Climate vs Fascism with Bill McKibben & Ayana Elizabeth
naomiklein.substack.com/p/climate-vs...
naomiklein.substack.com/p/climate-vs...