Mike Small
@bellacaledonia.bsky.social
Imagining a Scottish Democracy since 2007. Bylines at the Guardian, Open Democracy, Herald, DeSmog, Bella Caledonia, Sunday National.
Fair Start Scotland and the Journey Towards Employability bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/10/11/f...
Fair Start Scotland and the Journey Towards Employability
Jobcentre Plus should be devolved to the Scottish Government, argues Stephen McMurray. There remains a significant employment rate gap in Scotland between disabled people and people with disabiliti…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
TV arts coverage in Scotland has ceased to exist bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/10/10/t...
TV arts coverage in Scotland has ceased to exist
The cultural evisceration of Scotland continues. After we covered the massive cuts to Scottish studies at Edinburgh University [An Act of Monumental Cultural and Educational Vandalism] and news lea…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Jack McConnell’s Battle of Ideas bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/10/10/j...
Jack McConnell’s Battle of Ideas
This year’s Battle of Ideas contains the usual stellar lineup of far-right cranks, libertarians, (very) confused leftists, Spiked groupies and, er Jack McConnell. The Scottish contingent is c…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
The Sound of Magic and Grace: ‘Bel’ and the Empowering Voice of Beldina Odenyo bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/10/09/t...
The Sound of Magic and Grace: ‘Bel’ and the Empowering Voice of Beldina Odenyo
The Sound of Magic and Grace: ‘Bel’ and the Empowering Voice of Beldina Odenyo Reviewed by Gerry Hassan How do you archive a unique voice no longer with us? How do you map the parameters of a talen…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
All across Europe, revolts and uprisings are underway. It’s a level of insurgency we’ve not seen since the Indignados, the Arab Spring, and the Occupy movement of 2011-2013 bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/10/09/w... #blocuslycees #blocusuniversites #Liebig34 #Bastille #Berlin #Brussels
Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere
All across Europe, revolts and uprisings are underway. It’s a level of insurgency we’ve not seen since the Indignados, the Arab Spring, and the Occupy movement of 2011-2013. We should n…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Is it time to reassess the role of Donald Dewar & his legacy in Scotland? My review of a new biography also addressing the role of what makes successful political leaders? And what can today's politicians learn from Dewar? On @bellacaledonia.bsky.social bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/10/07/t...
The Legacy of Donald Dewar and Political Leadership in Today’s Scotland
Scotland’s Lost Leader: The Life of Donald Dewar, Mark Peel, Luath Press, £20. Reviewed by Gerry Hassan When Donald Dewar died suddenly in October 2000, just sixteen months after taking office as S…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Scotland’s Lost Leader: The Life of Donald Dewar, Mark Peel, Luath Press, £20. Reviewed by Gerry Hassan bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/10/07/t...
The Legacy of Donald Dewar and Political Leadership in Today’s Scotland
Scotland’s Lost Leader: The Life of Donald Dewar, Mark Peel, Luath Press, £20. Reviewed by Gerry Hassan When Donald Dewar died suddenly in October 2000, just sixteen months after taking office as S…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Supporting Independent Scottish Media bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/10/06/s...
Supporting Independent Scottish Media
Over the last six months, we’ve made some major changes to the website and its content. We’ve shifted to our new hosts Krystal – who are more reliable, and sustainable; we’v…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Andy Burnham's much-lauded conference speech is riddled with contradictions and confused identities: bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/10/03/h...
Hope, Again
“I will build the Britain my dad wanted to see.” It’s certainly an upgrade from: “My dad was a toolmaker.” Andy Burnham’s barnstorming speech at Labour Party con…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Trying Beyond Despair: The Unfinished Journey by By Qusay Al-Reqeb bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/10/03/t...
Trying Beyond Despair: The Unfinished Journey
My name is Qusay Al-Reqeb, and I am 21 years old. For the past year and a half, my entire world has been compressed into a frail nylon tent on the shores of Al-Mawasi in Al-Qarara, near Khan Younis…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
On 4 October 1936, thousands of Londoners gathered to stop Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists marching through the East End. An Eyewitness Account from Cable Street bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/10/02/a...
An Eyewitness Account from Cable Street
On 4 October 1936, thousands of Londoners gathered to stop Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists marching through the East End. As we approach that anniversary, Mark Perryman recalls the role o…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
The Four Women Who Exposed the Cornell 57 bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/10/01/t...
The Four Women Who Exposed the Cornell 57
Content warning: this piece discusses sexual assault. In October 2024, a young woman at Cornell was drugged and gang-raped by seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity. She went to the house to meet …
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Resisting the Enshittification of Scottish Culture by Lynne Campbell bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/30/r...
Resisting the Enshittification of Scottish Culture
Enshittification is a term coined in 2022 by Corey Doctorow as a way to describe the platform decay of online services in pursuit of profit. Dictionary.com defines it as “the gradual degradation of…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
A significant win for community-based arts in Edinburgh bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/29/a...
A significant win for community-based arts in Edinburgh
Cultural wins are rare, so let’s celebrate them when they arrive. Community-based cultural organisations have welcomed a significant shift in Edinburgh’s cultural investment after the City of…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
as a satire on so-called late stage capitalism how could one beat investors pouring a trillion into a company offering to wipe out humankind
Bùirich | Reflections on hunting and the Scottish psyche by Alec Finlay bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/29/b...
Bùirich
Reflections on hunting and the Scottish psyche. ‘The Cone Gatherers’, performed by Communicado at Tramway in 1991, was one of my earliest and most affecting theatrical experiences. It was performed…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
The Garvaghy Road and the Celtic Alliance bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/28/t...
The Garvaghy Road and the Celtic Alliance
Two weeks ago, the leaders of Scotland, Ireland and Wales met in Cardiff to sign an accord and announce a ‘Celtic Alliance’ [If You’re Feeling Sinister – Bella Caledonia]. Today, 200 po…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
"The British state is however, hell-bent on protecting a right to march through a community that said no for 30 years. [...] Orange marches are provocative in their very nature. Their entire purpose is to tell Catholic communities and women, this street is ours."
Mike Small@bellacaledonia.bsky.social · 2w agoEssays for the Rich, Estates for the Royal, Roads for Loyalists, Hell for Women by Maryam Tariq bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/28/e...
Essays for the Rich, Estates for the Royal, Roads for Loyalists, Hell for Women by Maryam Tariq bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/28/e...
Essays for the Rich, Estates for the Royal, Roads for Loyalists, Hell for Women
The Hate the State Made from Glasgow to Garvaghy Road Another woman beaten, raped, and murdered. And another morning of every woman mapping out the risks and calculations on how to stay alive. How …
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Rachel Shabi: "If you're going to do something about social care, great! But then you're saying to the electorate, I'm going to ask you about it in 2029, and everyone's like, 'cool, but what about right now, because everything is horrible right now?'" Labour has a majority of 158
Specialism is political. Our traditions are worth understanding and valuing and defending bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/09/27/o...
On Scottish Generalism
Scotland suffers from institutional memory loss. One of the hidden aspects of the massive cuts to the University of Edinburgh announced last week is the attack on the eroded and hollowed-out Scotti…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
The golden age of Soviet air travel... An Aeroflot-branded folding knife, fork, and bottle opener 🗃️
The @scottishbeacon.bsky.social are launching a new network to help boost environmental journalism in Scotland, inviting researchers, campaigners, writers and organisers to come collaborate. Sharing Stories | Skills | Ideas | Knowledge www.scottishbeacon.com?p=8275
Launching the Scottish Environmental Journalism Network - The Scottish Beacon
After more than a year exploring the complex relationship between rural Scottish communities, renewable energy and the need for a dramatic response to climate breakdown through The Power Shift: Invest...
scottishbeacon.com
We're launching a new network to help boost environmental journalism in Scotland, inviting researchers, campaigners, writers and organisers to come collaborate ... www.scottishbeacon.com?p=8275
Launching the Scottish Environmental Journalism Network - The Scottish Beacon
After more than a year exploring the complex relationship between rural Scottish communities, renewable energy and the need for a dramatic response to climate breakdown through The Power Shift: Invest...
scottishbeacon.com
