Bella Caledonia

From “Burdens” to Prevent: Manufacturing Consent for Eugenics
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/08/20/from-burdens-to-prevent-manufacturing-consent-for-eugenics/

Burnham as King Cnut not King of the North - the PM is burning through his political capital quicker than you can say "Off the Table"

https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/08/28/burnham-as-king-cnut-not-king-of-the-north/

The viral footage of the flash floods in Edinburgh were glimpses of collapse from the theme park that is the capital of Scotland. In this sense, Burham is right. Everything is optics not substance as we meme ourselves through to climate catastrophe https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/08/21/flash-floods-and-the-optics-of-climate-whiplash/

The House of Lords is now, and has been for a long time, a repository for failed Labour politicians, a complete affront to democracy
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/07/21/arise-lord-sarwar/

Soul Mining with Michael Marra and Jackie Baillie https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/08/18/soul-mining/

"Now we have Spitfire Nationalism – a key driver of Brexit iconography – relentlessly returning to ‘Britain’s Finest Hour’ as a source of comfort – morphing into something else – as Reform UK announce plans to use the British Navy to ‘Stop the Boats’."
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/08/06/the-besieged-britain-as-absurdistan/

Falastin Film, the Book Fringe and the Allan Armstrong Memorial Book Sale https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/07/26/falastin-film-the-book-fringe-and-the-allan-armstrong-memorial-book-sale/

Between Civilisation and Barbarism | On Unionism's fear of Scottish identity and need to distort our history and undermine our culture ... https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/08/23/between-civilisation-and-barbarism/

Blair's intervention is, of course, appalling, but it is consistent with what we hear about the climate. Can anyone remember the last time a political figure showed any leadership on the climate crisis? Anyone at all?

https://open.substack.com/pub/fiftysixdegreesnorth/p/heat-waves?r=5teob&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

In Defence of the Guga Hunt https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/07/31/anyone-for-guga/

I wrote this about how, as the collapse and breakdown continues, one of the problems is just sections of the population living in complete ignorance about what’s happening and its consequences …
https://open.substack.com/pub/fiftysixdegreesnorth/p/on-the-cairngorms?r=5teob&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Hüzün: Binhead, Burnham and Britain - on rage and melancholy from Istanbul to Clacton https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/08/11/huzun-binhead-burnham-and-britain/

On the state of the independence movement and parties, the makeup of the new parliament & the state of the Unionist parties and the established order https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/05/09/from-glory-days-to-building-a-better-future/

Shortcuts, Pitfalls and Dead Ends on the Road to Independence https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/08/03/shortcuts-pitfalls-and-dead-ends-on-the-road-to-independence/

Oidhche nam Bàrd, Naming the Snakes, the Workers Observatory Zine & more https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/08/25/oidhche-nam-bard-naming-the-snakes-the-workers-observatory-zine-more/

Today John Swinney has been elected as the First Minister of Scotland. The SNP will be entering its second decade in office. Now the dust has settled, and as MSPs take their oaths, the new landscape of the next parliament becomes clearer.
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/05/19/great-expectations/

Currently taking pitches for stories on Robert Jenrick & Eugenics, Ferguson Marine, defending the CCA, the UK backed AI Centre, Richard Tice and Better Wine https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/write-for-us/

Despite overwhelming media support you are watching the Union die in real time. What will Unionists do after May 7?
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/04/11/yesterdays-men/

The proposed MachairWind development by Iberdrola is an industrial development on a scale never before seen in the Inner Hebrides. It threatens to desecrate and destroy some of Scotland's most iconic cultural and ecological places. https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/08/13/object-to-the-machairwind-proposal-today/

The 'news' of a deal between Labour and Reform is no revelation. Bella has already covered these plans - as have the MSM, which now pretends to be shocked and startled. The Unionist plot is completely exposed. https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/04/15/staggering-hypocrisy-and-the-moral-mandate/

We are celebrating our 20th anniversary. We are raising £20,000 in 20 days to develop our project. In a bleak and biased media landscape independent media need your support: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/qr/Xy28pd7W?utm_campaign=sharemodal&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=shortlink

We are open-sourcing a magazine imagining a future Scotland. You're invited. Details here: https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/05/22/another-scotland-is-possible-3/

Scotland has the worst drug and alcohol death rate in Europe, and we're closing Glasgow’s only Drug and Alcohol Crisis Centre. Maryam Tariq reports: https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/07/01/closing-glasgows-only-drug-and-alcohol-crisis-centre/

The Conquest of Bread https://open.substack.com/pub/fiftysixdegreesnorth/p/the-conquest-of-bread?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Attack, Smear, Gaslight: The Playbook for Bringing Down Feminist Politicians https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/04/22/attack-smear-gaslight-the-playbook-for-bringing-down-feminist-politicians/

We're celebrating 20 years of delivering high-quality independent journalism: comment, analysis, and opinion Support us here:
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/bella-caledonia-2020

What Lord Offord said about Labour’s attempt to make a deal with Reform isn’t even a new story. But let's look instead at the extraordinary institutional bias in the Scottish media that makes this sort of framing even possible https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/04/15/scottish-media-a-democratic-failure/

“Our Three-Voiced Country”: Twentieth-century cross-currents in Gaelic and other Scottish writing. ASL/Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Conference 2026
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/05/11/our-three-voiced-country/

Holyrood 2026: Dogwhistles, Potholes and Polling
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/04/08/holyrood-2026-dogwhistles-potholes-and-polling/

Adventures in Racist Media and the Criminalisation of Dissent | Zack, Trevor and the Bad Enoch https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/05/04/zack-trevor-and-the-bad-enoch/

The Folk Film gathering returns to Edinburgh with Dennis Harvey and Lars Lovén’s Celtic Utopias; 8mm home movies from the Outer Hebrides, from Faodail | Found; Jack Archer’s Sailm nan Daoine (Psalms of the People) documentary:
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/04/04/screenshot/

Stop the Yachts: Malcolm Offord as Dick Whittington

https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/04/29/stop-the-yachts-malcolm-offord-as-dick-whittington/

Hadja-Umu Fofana explores issues of race representation and responsibility in Scottish political institutions.
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/05/07/the-politics-of-representation-and-colour/

There's three different responses to the constitutional crisis that's unravelling across the 'UK'.

The first is the Scare and Smear campaign. The second is to engage in Deep Denial. The third is to Flood the Zone.

I'll be talking to Keir Milburn about his book 'Radical Abundance How to Win a Green Democratic Future' at Lighthouse Books 8 April

https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/04/07/radical-abundance-how-to-win-a-green-democratic-future/

Janie Nicoll on the rich cultural hub at Tron 103, which is under threat in Glasgow | The Sum of Parts
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/04/02/the-sum-of-parts/

The May elections will be the culmination of a long process of disintegration for the Union | Anthems and Requiem's https://open.substack.com/pub/fiftysixdegreesnorth/p/anthems-and-requiems?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer

After twenty years of publishing we are asking for your support to continue and develop. If you can, give here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/bella-caledonia-2020

Ahead of the World Cup Bella Caledonia has released the definitive poet-player pairings as required by FIFA. They are as follows...
Willie Johnston – Sylvia Plath
Danny McGrain – Norman MacCaig
Kieran Tierney – Edwin Morgan
Kenny Dalglish – Pablo Neruda

Full listing is available here:
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/.../the-scottish-poetry.../

The collective consequence of the media class is to totally suffocate change. It is the Slow Cancellation of the Future. Ideas, like, a democratic Britain, or being able to buy food, or dealing with climate catastrophe, must be denounced and smeared... https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/04/28/generations-of-discontent/

Generations of Discontent | Much of Establishment Scotland is asleep at the wheel, safely cocooned within the cultural and media silos they themselves created and own
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/04/28/generations-of-discontent/

Supporting Independent Media - an update on our campaign https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/05/25/supporting-independent-media/

Joined Coll McCail and Jamie Maxwell on the Skotia’s Nest of Fearties podcast to discuss the Holyrood election | Scotland’s Forgettable Election https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/04/10/scotlands-forgettable-election/

The Upsides of Destroying Civilization
https://open.substack.com/.../the-upsides-of-destroying...

A short video clip on where we are right now ... https://open.substack.com/pub/fiftysixdegreesnorth/p/the-quiet-constitutional-crisis?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Fascism will arrive in Scotland surrounded by sycophancy and euphemism https://open.substack.com/pub/fiftysixdegreesnorth/p/the-f-bomb?r=5teob&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web