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Scottish politics dissected from a left, pro-independence stance. Each week, award-winning broadcaster and journalist, Lesley Riddoch chews over the week’s news with co-host Fraser Thompson. If you like intelligent, quirky chat about Scottish society and culture, and Scottish, UK and international politics analysed from a Scottish perspective; this podcast is for you.
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There's a bit of a protest theme in this week's podcast. Obviously the Gaza Palestine demonstration at the weekend where Lesley was speaking. Thankfully there weren't arrests at the time, but could they be yet to come? There was also, if you like, the protest of Richard Murphy on Radio Scotland, interrupted continually on a program about bias and t…
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Donate to support the podcast There's been a lot of missing in action in this week's podcast. Where is the Scottish government and the SNP when an energy supplier, Octopus, calls for zonal pricing that would give Scotland the cheapest energy in Europe? They're kind of missing in action. We talk about the latest proposals by Rachel Reeves, which loo…
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On this week's episode, we talk about the putative new Left-wing party possibly headed by Jeremy Corbyn. We speculate on why he hasn't said he will join it and what is happening on the Scottish front with a group that's promising a meeting in October. It's not very clear whether it supports independence or not. We talk about the victory of a left c…
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You can donate to support and keep the podcast going by becoming a Pal or Buddy of the Podcast at https://lesleyriddoch.com/podcast/subscribe By the time you listen this, you'll know what we don't, which is the result of the disability cuts vote in the House of Commons, the revised package, which will now only put 150,000 people into poverty. And t…
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In this week's podcast, we discuss Trump's attacks on Iran facilitating attacks by Israel and then demanding a ceasefire. It's an odd way to get diplomatic results. We react to Donald Trump's four-letter outburst as he baulks at Israel's flouting of the cease-fire and Iran's response. We also look at the attempts to proscribe Palestine action, whic…
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As the hostilities go on between Israel and Iran we try and get beneath the "We support the right of Israel to defend itself" to why Israel decided to launch its attacks, why now , and the realities of nuclear proliferation in the region. Meanwhile a report by the Centre For Media Monitoring has forensically examined the BBC's coverage of Gaza. The…
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In this week's episode we discuss the U turn by the Westminster Government on the winter fuel allowance. Where is the money coming from and how is it going to be paid for? We ask what happend to the accusations levelled at the SNP when they rose to the challenge and reinstated the payment ahead of the Westminster Government. We look too at the impa…
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In this podcast special we speak with two energy experts Rhys Stanwix and David Pearson. The cost of energy has dominated our own far-from-expert musings for the last few weeks. So we thought it might be an idea to pull in some expertise for a special about district heating, locational pricing, why we are stuck with such high prices, poor grid conn…
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There's a distinct European flavour to this week's episode and we kick off with our reaction to the UK/EU deal struck on Monday. Has the Scottish fishing industry, once again, been a bargaining chip worth sacrificing to benefit other parts of the UK economy? Given that fishing and farming are devolved matters why wasn't the Scottish government eith…
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After the launch of Labour's new White Paper on immigration we ask, despite Starmer's protestations, if Farage and Reform are already dictating not just UK politics but UK government policy. We also delve into the detail of the changes outlined in the paper. The Labour leadership is also facing a backbench rebellion over its cuts to disability bene…
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In this episode we give our initial reactions to the First Minister’s Statement: Programme for Government 2025-26. We also look back at the series of elections in England last week. What can we take from the Reform UK surge? Will Scotland be immune from Farageism at the 2026 Holyrood elections? And if Starmer didn't have enough on his plate with Re…
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Lesley appeared on Debate Night last week. We look back at this, the issues that were raised by the audience, and the replies of the panel. Here's the link to Lesley's justified rant over the energy rip off. https://www.facebook.com/reel/984639903833195 Kneecap have clarified their position and apologised to the families of David Amess and Jo Cox a…
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Lesley's latest article in the National asking if the SNP’s passion for independence has been so thoroughly and habitually muzzled of late that nothing will now let it off the leash has certainly set some hares coursing throughout both the SNP and the wider independence movement. We discuss. https://www.thenational.scot/politics/25096446.independen…
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Westminster was recalled last Saturday for and an emergency bill to save British Steel's Scunthorpe plant became law. It took around six and a half hours in total for Parliament to pass the legislation and the King to approve it. Sir Keir Starmer said "We are acting to protect the jobs of thousands of workers, and all options are on the table to se…
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There's no escaping Donald Trump, unfortunately, in this week's episode as we begin by picking apart the tariffs he introduced last week. Has he condemned the US to recession? How did he come up with tariffs he placed on each country? Has he lost the support of the billionaires whose businesses are dependent on freedom of trade? Amidst this Trumpia…
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Lesley's back on her old stomping ground in the north of Ireland showing her Denmark movie at the Imagine! Belfast Festival. She talks about the reaction to the film and the festival itself. This leads us into chat on the forgotten history of radical Presbyterianism, border polls, and the disputatious nature of the debates over both the Irish langu…
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We speculate on what will be in Rachel Reeves' Spring Statement. Will the extra spending on building social/affordable housing be enough to stave off a revolt over social security cuts? Is she repeating the failures of a previous Labour government in thrall to iron clad ,self imposed fiscal rules? What impact has the Bank of England's monetary poli…
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