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Electric Scotland News
Wales' bigoted buildings
What comes to mind when you think of Wales? You might think of men’s choirs, daffodils or warm pints of Brains Bitter. What you probably don’t associate with the land of the red dragon is the scourge of racist buildings. You bigot.
This is a serious problem. An issue of such importance in fact that the Welsh Government has splashed £130,000 on training to educate local librarians about phenomena such as ‘the dominant paradigm of whiteness’. Perhaps the most puzzling detail of the initiative is that librarians are being encouraged not to hold meetings in so-called ‘racist buildings’.
Damn those inanimate masses of bricks and mortar and their prejudices. In all seriousness, while the sum of money involved isn’t enormous and the topic is laughable, it says a lot that Welsh Labour are choosing to invest any amount of cash or time in this nonsense when their country is in such a dire state.
Although the administration is keen on lecturing the public on the virtues of fringe theories about race, they haven’t done a particularly good job of teaching them to count or read. Education in Wales has been in a state of decline for years. While England came out very well in the latest Programme for Independent Student Assessment (PISA) rankings, the same cannot be said for Wales. While pupils in England outperformed the international average for maths, their Welsh counterparts are performing worse across the board.
In their plan for Wales, Labour laid out their steps for reversing this trend. It included recruiting new teachers, ensuring free school meals and expanding childcare. Much like the scheme to re-educate librarians, while these plans might use all the necessary left-wing buzzwords and sound very ‘mission-led’, it is likely to be ineffective. According to the IFS, systemic reforms like a shift to a knowledge-rich curriculum and improving the way data on educational inequality is collected are what will improve Wales’ situation.
With poor educational outcomes often comes high unemployment. Wales is no exception. Coming in at 68.9%, the nation has the worst employment rate in the UK. Economic inactivity also blights Wales’ labour market, with 28.3% of unemployed working age people not actively seeking work – that’s 541,000 people. This could fill Cardiff’s Principality Stadium seven times over.
But the decline doesn’t stop there. As leader of the Welsh Conservatives Andrew RT Davies has pointed out in CapX:
‘Wales still has over 21,000 patients waiting two years or more for NHS treatment. In England, despite their population being 18 times that of Wales, they have barely 200 patients waiting this long. The equivalent of 1-in-4 people in Wales are on a waiting list, compared with 1-in-9 in England, and those waits are on average well over 50% longer in Wales.’
Instead of taking the tough decisions needed to address these myriad problems, Welsh Labour have allowed themselves to become overwhelmed by internal chaos. After refusing to quit following a vote of no confidence and then being mired in a number of scandals, Vaughan Gething resigned as First Minister, triggering yet more political turmoil. Now Eluned Morgan has been elected as the new First Minister, you might expect matters to calm themselves down. I wouldn’t hold your breath.
The problems Wales faces are numerous and go far beyond the scope of this piece. Rather than focus their efforts on confecting culture wars against buildings, the Welsh government must come together and actually have a go at proper governance. If this is what a Labour administration looks like in Wales, then we in England had better watch out.
Joseph Dinnage
Deputy Editor, CapX
---------
Got a phone call from my Doctor saying my A1C is 6.5 which is good. My Freestyle system reports me at 8.5 which is well out on a statistical basis.
--------
£7.9bn
The amount spent by the UK Home Office on asylum, border, visa and passport operations over the last three years - having budgeted to spend £320m
Source: Institute for Fiscal Studies
---------
Analysis of today's figures on day-to-day spending by central government.
UK Government finances and spending
Responding to the figures Isabel Stockton, IFS Senior Research Economist, said:
"Today's figures suggest that day-to-day spending by central government on goods and services between April and July was £140 billion, up by 5% on the same months in 2023. It is also some £6 billion above the forecast for those months in the March Budget. In just four months - or one-third - of this financial year the government appears to have spent 34.1% of what was budgeted for the whole year, whereas since comparable data began in 1997 it has never spent more than 32.9% of the eventual total in the first third of the financial year. This is indicative of the scale of the pressures on departmental budgets - in some cases well above what was budgeted for.
Tax revenues - despite economic growth in the first quarter of the financial year surpassing some of the more pessimistic expectations - are running close to forecast or, if anything, slightly behind. This, combined with higher spending, leaves borrowing higher than forecast. In the first four months of the financial year borrowing was £51 billion, essentially the same as in the same months last year, but £5 billion higher than what was forecast to be borrowed in those months in the March Budget. All of these data are preliminary and we should be cautious of over-interpreting them. But the early signs are that better-than-expected growth figures won't be enough to save Rachel Reeves from tough choices in her first Budget on 30 October. The combination of in-year spending pressures identified at last month's spending audit and the ongoing, and well-known, pressures facing many public services suggest that the accompanying spending review for 2025-26 could be a particularly difficult exercise."
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland and world news stories that can affect Scotland and as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on search engines it becomes a good resource. I might also add that in a number of newspapers you will find many comments which can be just as interesting as the news story itself and of course you can also add your own comments if you wish which I do myself from time to time.
Here is what caught my eye this week...
Ukraine on the Offensive
How Kyiv’s Attack on Russia and Successful Defense of Its Northern Flank Has Changed the War
Read more at:
https://archive.is/ZqBC2
Israel Is Winning
But Lasting Victory Against Hamas Will Require Installing New Leadership in Gaza
Read more at:
https://archive.is/XjDtH#selection-1245.0-1245.80
The Return of Hamiltonian Statecraft
A Grand Strategy for a Turbulent World
Read more at:
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/unite...ft-walter-mead
Royal Marines Band surprise veteran for his 100th birthday
A veteran who celebrated his 100th birthday this week was given a surprise performance by the Royal Marines Band. Jim Churm, from Crossmichael in Dumfries and Galloway, had attended a D-Day concert at Edinburgh's Usher Hall in June, where he was moved by the band's rendition of Heart of Oak - the official march of the Royal Navy.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg53nyqx3jo
Scotland’s outgoing national poet will leave 'powerful legacy', says Swinney
Scotland’s national Makar currently serves a term of three years, though previously bards would hold the position for five years.
Read more at:
https://news.stv.tv/scotland/scotlan...s-john-swinney
Scenic Scottish island looking for people to relocate with accommodation provided
NHS Scotland is currently looking for someone to relocate to one the beautiful Orkney Islands, and is offering a salary of up to almost £40,000 and accommodation.
Read more at:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotla...eople-33524196
Free Speech is Dead in the UK
The sentencing this week of a 53-year-old grandmother to 15 months in prison for a social media post following the Southport stabbings underscores the stark reality that free speech in the UK is increasingly under threat, if not dead!
Read more at:
https://www.lifewelllived.expert/pos...dead-in-the-uk
SNP ‘Company Man’ can’t save the party he loves
John Swinney can be credited for stepping into the breach at challenging times for the SNP.
Read more at:
https://sceptical.scot/2024/08/snp-c...arty-he-loves/
Conrad Black: The persecution of John Carpay
The Alberta Law Society is overstepping its authority
Read more at:
https://archive.is/tG4g0
SNP decisions to blame for much of the pressure on government finances
The Scottish Government will need to make difficult decisions to balance the budget, watchdog says.
Read more at:
https://news.stv.tv/politics/snp-dec...nment-finances
China’s Real Economic Crisis
Why Beijing Won’t Give Up on a Failing Model
Read more at:
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/china...s-zongyuan-liu
Stopping the Next China Shock
A Collective Strategy for Countering Beijing’s Mercantilism
Read more at:
https://archive.is/GSLpy#selection-1245.0-1245.59
The Scottish origins of the United Kingdom
EVER SINCE Nicola Sturgeon crashed and burned, and Humza Yousaf promised to emigrate, the question of the Union has gone off the boil in Scotland.
Read more at:
https://thinkscotland.org/2024/08/th...nited-kingdom/
Electric Canadian
Monthly Financial Report of the General Secretary and Treasurer
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen No. 96 For the month ending December 31, 1914 (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...E001336-47.pdf
Past and Present
Notes by Henry Cawthra and Others compiled by A. Maude (Cawthra) Brock and edited by A. H. Young, M.A., D.C.L. (1924) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...otes00broc.pdf
Royal Military College of Canada
Added the 1961 edition which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forc...arycollege.htm
Added 2 YouTube chanels to our Newfoundland page...
Newfie Lifestyle
Welcome to our channel, where we take you on a journey back to traditional Canadian living. Join us as we explore the Canadian wilderness, fishing, hunting, and cooking over a wood stove. We're all about old-fashioned living, and we're excited to share our adventures with you. Whether we're catching a fish, cooking up a hearty meal, or simply enjoying time with family, we're here to remind you of the simple joys of life. Subscribe to our channel and join our community as we rediscover the traditions of the past.
Newfoundlander Overlander
I am just a Newfie doing my own thing. My cat Bubba and I decided to start a channel to share our Journey.
You can watch both at the foot of our Newfoundland page at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...land/index.htm
Report by the Governor on a Visit to the Micmac Indians at Bay d'Espoir
Colonial Reports, Miscellaneous. No. 54. Newfoundland by William MacGregor (1908)
You can read this report at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ac-Indians.htm
Memoirs of The Administration of the Colonial Government of Lower Canada
By Sir James Craig and Sir George Prevost from the year 1807 to the year 1815 comprehending the Military and Naval operations in the Canadas during the late War with the United States of America by Robert Christie (1818) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...thecanadas.pdf
Memoir of The Rev. Archibald Campbell Searth, M.A.. D.C.L.
Rector St. George’s Church, Lennoxville, Professor of Ecclesiastical History Bishop's College, Lennoxville and Canon of the Cathedral of Quebec together with Dr. Scarths reminiscences of his life and annals of the Parish of Lennoxville, edited by the Archdeacon of Quebec (1904) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...rchi00roeh.pdf
Robertson's Landmarks of Toronto
A Collection of Historical Sketches of the Old Town of York from from 1792 Until 1833 and of Toronto From 1834 to 1898 and also Nearly Two Hundred Engravings of Old Houses, Familar Faces and Historic Places, with Maps and Schedules Connected with the Local History of York and Toronto (1898) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...03robeuoft.pdf
The Essay-Proof Journal
Devoted to the Historical Background of Stamps and Paper Money, April 1957 Vol. 14 No. 2 Whole No. 54 (pdf)
You can read this magazine at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/maga...of-Journal.pdf
Thoughts on a Sunday Morning - the 25th of August 2024 - Saints & Angels
By the Rev. Nola Crewe
You can watch this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...-saints-angels
The Beaver Magazine
Added Volume 2 No 1 (1921) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...vol2issue1.pdf
Canada's Massive $12B Mega Dam
The Site C Dam is a hydroelectric megaproject in a country that is known as a big-player in the hydropower sector. This is not just any project, but THE most expensive one ever built in the whole of Canada. Added a video about this Dam to the foot of our page on BC.
You can watch this video on our page at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/bc/index.htm
Electric Scotland
The Scots College in Spain
By Maurice Taylor (1971)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...collegendx.htm
Diary of a Tour in Spain
During the Spring and Summer of 1853 by Archibald Neil Campbell-MacLachlan, M.A., Vicar of Newton Valence, Hants with Memoir of Major-General Sir Neil Campbell, C.B. (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...00campgoog.pdf
Infinite and Everywhere
Sam Taylor for These Islands, 29th August 2024. An examination of our energy industry. (pdf)
You can read this article at:
https://electricscotland.com/indepen...Everywhere.pdf
John Gentleman, Tramp.
A novel by Jessie A. Norquay Forbes (1892) (pdf)
You can read this novel at:
https://electricscotland.com/books/p...00forbgoog.pdf
Narratives from Criminal Trials in Scotland
By John Hill Burton in two volumes (1852)
You can read these volumes at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...nal-trials.htm
Narrative of Mr. James Nimmo
Written for his own satisfaction to keep in some rememberance the Lord's Way dealing and kindness towards him 1654 - 1709 Edited from the Original Manuscript with Introduction and Notes by W. G. Scott-Moncrieff. FSAScot., Advocate (1889) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/books/p...am00nimm_0.pdf
A Jesuit’s Misconception of Scottish History and a Fellow-Jesuit’s Apology for the Inexactitudes
Exposed by D. Hay Fleming, LL.D., reprinted from The British Weekly with note and additional remarks (1916) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/books/p...ep0000flem.pdf
John Laurie
An Eccentric Sutherland Dominie by Daniel William Kemp (1892) (pdf)
You can read about him at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...rland_domi.pdf
The Scots Men-at-Arms and Life-Guards in France
From Their Formation Until Their Final Dissolution, A.D. 1418 - 1830 by William Forbes-Leith in two volumes (1882)
The object of the following pages is to bring to light many documents which have preserved interesting particulars relating to the History of Scotland, and which, being now scattered through extensive collections abroad, are accessible to very few persons.
The documents here introduced illustrate the diplomatic negotiations between Scotland and France in 1418 and the following years, which ended in the landing of Scottish troops in France, and prove that this intervention was effected on a larger scale than has been supposed by our historians; while a glance at the “Muster Rolls” will show that the contingents sent to France were composed of the flower of Scottish families.
The greater number of them were never to see Scotland again. The account of the long war in France from 1418 to 1444, in which so many thousands of them perished, is traced with as much detail as could be found in old contemporary chronicles, some of which have recently been discovered, and they fully justify the solemn declaration of Louis XII., that the institution of the celebrated companies of ’Scots Men-at-arms and Scots Life-guards“ was an acknowledgment of the service the Scots rendered to Charles VII. in reducing France to his obedience, and of the great loyalty and virtue he found in them.
The history of those two companies in the following reigns is not less interesting. From first to last, the Scots Men-at-arms, whom Francis I. used to call “the arm that bears my sceptre,” affords an unparalleled example in European military annals of a corps lasting uninterruptedly for 380 years without material transformation as to organisation and military service. “Under the title of Scots Men-at-arms,” says General Susanne, “one might write the history of the wars waged by France from the days of Joan of Arc to the Revolution.”
The Scots Guards were at the head of the French army in all the great battles fought under the monarchy, and for nearly 300 years the Kings of France were guarded by them. They became famous for their unswerving fidelity; and what a minister of Louis XII. said of them a hundred years after their institution, that “ there had never been one of them found to have committed any fault against the kings or their state,” was proclaimed again, a century later, by Henry IV., when he granted them new privileges, “whereof they had rendered themselves worthy through the affection and fidelity which they had borne the crown of France.”
With the aid of the “Muster Rolls,” which are here published for the first time, and which extend over a period of nearly 400 years, many Scottish families will be able in future to distinguish the names of their ancestors who were actors in the great military achievements of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries.
The “Notes and Illustrations” will be found to contain some interesting documents hitherto unknown on the diplomatic negotiations between Scotland and France in the reign of James I., on the “ Battle of Baugd,” and on the date of the institution of the Scots Guards. In 1645 the first English Revolution gave rise to a large emigration of royalists, affording materials for the formation of Scottish regiments, to which others were added after the execution of Charles I. A long account of these is given in the “Notes and Illustrations.” In the “List of Estates possessed by the Scots Guards in France,” the names and titles thus brought together will show how thoroughly France has been impregnated with good Scottish blood.
The present records are chiefly based upon the following authorities: contemporary Chronicles and Memoirs, State Papers and Manuscripts in the Public Records Office, and chiefly in the Archives and in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, and other collections.
The editor acknowledges, with thanks, the communications and assistance rendered him by Major H. de Grandmaison, who has taken much generous trouble in the production of this history; M. Francisque-Michel, and the late Dr David Laing. His thanks are also due to the Rev. J. T. Walford, S. J., for revising and passing the volumes through the press.
Note: Whilst this work was in the press, the first volume of M. de Beaucourt’s remarkable History of Charles VII. was published. It contains many interesting documents on this period of Scottish history, the substance of which will be found in the “Notes and Illustrations,” vol. ii., p. 197.
You can read these volumes at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...smenatarms.htm
Napoleon at Fontainebleau and Elba (1869)
Being a journal of occurrences in 1814-1815, with notes of conversations by the late Major-General Sir Neil Campbell with a memoir of the life and services of that officer by Campbell, Neil, (Sir) 1776-1827; Archibald Neil Campbell Machlachlan (1869) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/france/...00campuoft.pdf
The Diary of a Lady-in-Waiting
By Lady Charlotte Bury being the diary illustrative of the times of George the Fourth interspersed with original letters from the late Queen Caroline and from other distinguished persons edited with an Introduction by A. Francis Steuart in two volumes (1908)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/lifesty...in-waiting.htm
Descriptive Account of the Principle Towns in Scotland
To accompany Wood's Town Atlas (1828)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/travel/towns.htm
The Douglas Cause
Edited by A. Francis Steuart, Advocate (1909)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...glas-cause.htm
Donald MacFarlane of Gigha and Cara
A Biographical Sketch by Sydney Smith (1925)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/d...macfarlane.htm
A Critical Examination of Dr. Macculloch's Work on the Highlands and Western Islands
By James Browne (1825) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/books/p...00maccgoog.pdf
A Defence of the Scots Abdicating Darien
Including An Answer to the Defence of the Scots Settlement there (1700) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...tsab00unse.pdf
Story
CAMPBELL, Sir NEIL (1776–1827), General
Second son of Captain Neil Campbell of Duntroon, was born on 1 May 1776. He was gazetted an ensign in the 6th West India regiment on 2 April 1797, and exchanged into the 67th regiment on 29 Oct. 1798. He was for a time the commanding officer in the Caïcos or Turks Islands, and was publicly thanked by the inhabitants. On 23 Aug. 1799 he purchased a lieutenancy in the 57th regiment, and in 1800 returned to England and volunteered to join the 95th regiment, afterwards the rifle brigade, on its first formation. He purchased his company on 4 June 1801, and proved himself an admirable officer of light troops. His fleetness of foot was especially remarkable, and a story is told by Sir William Napier of his beating even Sir John Moore, with whom he was a great favourite, in a race at Shorncliffe. From February 1802 to September 1803 he was at the Royal Military College at Great Marlow, and on leaving it was appointed assistant quartermaster-general for the southern district. He purchased a majority in the 43rd regiment on 24 Jan. 1805, which he exchanged for a majority in the 54th on 20 Feb. 1806. After two years in Jamaica with his regiment he returned to England, became lieutenant-colonel on 20 Aug. 1808, and was sent to the West Indies as deputy adjutant-general. In this capacity he was present at the capture of Martinique in January 1809, of the Saintes Islands in April 1809, and of Guadeloupe in January 1810. In 1810 he came to England and was at once sent to Portugal with strong letters of recommendation to Marshal Beresford, who appointed him colonel of the 16th Portuguese infantry, one of the regiments of Pack's brigade, in April 1811.
In January 1813, after doing good service at Ciudad Rodrigo and Salamanca, he returned to England on sick leave, and was then sent to join Lord Cathcart, who was British minister at the Russian court, and military commissioner with the Russian army in Poland. Campbell was attached by him to Wittgenstein's column, with which he remained, almost uninterruptedly, until the entry of the allies into Paris on 31 March 1814. Campbell was not satisfied to act as British representative only, but took every opportunity of fighting, and in the battle of Fère-Champenoise, fought on 24 March 1814, he headed a charge of Russian cavalry, and during the mêlée was mistaken for a French officer and severely wounded by a Cossack.
He was strongly recommended by Lord Cathcart to Lord Castlereagh, and selected to be the British commissioner to accompany Napoleon to Elba. He was gazetted a colonel in the army 4 June 1814, made a knight of three Russian orders, C.B. 1815, and knighted by patent on 2 Oct. He accompanied Napoleon to Elba with the express orders from Lord Castlereagh that he was in no way to act as his gaoler, but rather to put the late French emperor in possession of the little island of which he was to be the sovereign prince. Campbell had further instructions as to the settlement of Italy, which clearly showed Lord Castlereagh's intention that he should not remain in Elba longer than he thought necessary. At Napoleon's request, however, Campbell promised to make Elba his headquarters until the termination of the congress of Vienna, and it was the supposed residence of the English colonel there which put the English naval captains off their guard, and enabled Napoleon to escape so easily. It was, however, during one of Campbell's frequent visits to Italy, from 17 to 28 Feb. 1815, that Napoleon effected his escape. Many people at the time believed that the English colonel was bribed, but the ministry at once declared that Campbell's behaviour had been quite satisfactory, and even continued his powers in Italy. But in this capacity he met with an unexpected rebuff from Lord Exmouth, came home, and joined the 54th regiment, in which he still held the regimental rank of major, in Belgium.
With it he served at the battle of Waterloo, and he afterwards headed the column of attack on the Valenciennes gate of Cambray. During the occupation of France, from 1815 to 1818, he commanded the Hanseatic Legion, which consisted of 3,000 volunteers from the free cities of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lubeck, and afterwards paid a short visit to Africa to see if it were possible to discover any traces of Mungo Park. On 29 May 1825 he was promoted major-general, and applied for a staff appointment. The first which fell vacant was the governorship of Sierra Leone; he was begged not to take it by his family, but he laughed at their fears, and reached the colony in May 1826. The climate, however, proved too much for him, and on 14 Aug. 1827 he died at Sierra Leone.
You can learn more about him in the book....
Napoleon at Fontainebleau and Elba (1869) (pdf)
Being a journal of occurrences in 1814-1815, with notes of conversations by the late Major-General Sir Neil Campbell with a memoir of the life and services of that officer by Campbell, Neil, (Sir) 1776-1827; Archibald Neil Campbell Machlachlan (1869) (pdf)
END
Weekend is almost here and hope it's a good one for you.
Alastair
Wales' bigoted buildings
What comes to mind when you think of Wales? You might think of men’s choirs, daffodils or warm pints of Brains Bitter. What you probably don’t associate with the land of the red dragon is the scourge of racist buildings. You bigot.
This is a serious problem. An issue of such importance in fact that the Welsh Government has splashed £130,000 on training to educate local librarians about phenomena such as ‘the dominant paradigm of whiteness’. Perhaps the most puzzling detail of the initiative is that librarians are being encouraged not to hold meetings in so-called ‘racist buildings’.
Damn those inanimate masses of bricks and mortar and their prejudices. In all seriousness, while the sum of money involved isn’t enormous and the topic is laughable, it says a lot that Welsh Labour are choosing to invest any amount of cash or time in this nonsense when their country is in such a dire state.
Although the administration is keen on lecturing the public on the virtues of fringe theories about race, they haven’t done a particularly good job of teaching them to count or read. Education in Wales has been in a state of decline for years. While England came out very well in the latest Programme for Independent Student Assessment (PISA) rankings, the same cannot be said for Wales. While pupils in England outperformed the international average for maths, their Welsh counterparts are performing worse across the board.
In their plan for Wales, Labour laid out their steps for reversing this trend. It included recruiting new teachers, ensuring free school meals and expanding childcare. Much like the scheme to re-educate librarians, while these plans might use all the necessary left-wing buzzwords and sound very ‘mission-led’, it is likely to be ineffective. According to the IFS, systemic reforms like a shift to a knowledge-rich curriculum and improving the way data on educational inequality is collected are what will improve Wales’ situation.
With poor educational outcomes often comes high unemployment. Wales is no exception. Coming in at 68.9%, the nation has the worst employment rate in the UK. Economic inactivity also blights Wales’ labour market, with 28.3% of unemployed working age people not actively seeking work – that’s 541,000 people. This could fill Cardiff’s Principality Stadium seven times over.
But the decline doesn’t stop there. As leader of the Welsh Conservatives Andrew RT Davies has pointed out in CapX:
‘Wales still has over 21,000 patients waiting two years or more for NHS treatment. In England, despite their population being 18 times that of Wales, they have barely 200 patients waiting this long. The equivalent of 1-in-4 people in Wales are on a waiting list, compared with 1-in-9 in England, and those waits are on average well over 50% longer in Wales.’
Instead of taking the tough decisions needed to address these myriad problems, Welsh Labour have allowed themselves to become overwhelmed by internal chaos. After refusing to quit following a vote of no confidence and then being mired in a number of scandals, Vaughan Gething resigned as First Minister, triggering yet more political turmoil. Now Eluned Morgan has been elected as the new First Minister, you might expect matters to calm themselves down. I wouldn’t hold your breath.
The problems Wales faces are numerous and go far beyond the scope of this piece. Rather than focus their efforts on confecting culture wars against buildings, the Welsh government must come together and actually have a go at proper governance. If this is what a Labour administration looks like in Wales, then we in England had better watch out.
Joseph Dinnage
Deputy Editor, CapX
---------
Got a phone call from my Doctor saying my A1C is 6.5 which is good. My Freestyle system reports me at 8.5 which is well out on a statistical basis.
--------
£7.9bn
The amount spent by the UK Home Office on asylum, border, visa and passport operations over the last three years - having budgeted to spend £320m
Source: Institute for Fiscal Studies
---------
Analysis of today's figures on day-to-day spending by central government.
UK Government finances and spending
Responding to the figures Isabel Stockton, IFS Senior Research Economist, said:
"Today's figures suggest that day-to-day spending by central government on goods and services between April and July was £140 billion, up by 5% on the same months in 2023. It is also some £6 billion above the forecast for those months in the March Budget. In just four months - or one-third - of this financial year the government appears to have spent 34.1% of what was budgeted for the whole year, whereas since comparable data began in 1997 it has never spent more than 32.9% of the eventual total in the first third of the financial year. This is indicative of the scale of the pressures on departmental budgets - in some cases well above what was budgeted for.
Tax revenues - despite economic growth in the first quarter of the financial year surpassing some of the more pessimistic expectations - are running close to forecast or, if anything, slightly behind. This, combined with higher spending, leaves borrowing higher than forecast. In the first four months of the financial year borrowing was £51 billion, essentially the same as in the same months last year, but £5 billion higher than what was forecast to be borrowed in those months in the March Budget. All of these data are preliminary and we should be cautious of over-interpreting them. But the early signs are that better-than-expected growth figures won't be enough to save Rachel Reeves from tough choices in her first Budget on 30 October. The combination of in-year spending pressures identified at last month's spending audit and the ongoing, and well-known, pressures facing many public services suggest that the accompanying spending review for 2025-26 could be a particularly difficult exercise."
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland and world news stories that can affect Scotland and as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on search engines it becomes a good resource. I might also add that in a number of newspapers you will find many comments which can be just as interesting as the news story itself and of course you can also add your own comments if you wish which I do myself from time to time.
Here is what caught my eye this week...
Ukraine on the Offensive
How Kyiv’s Attack on Russia and Successful Defense of Its Northern Flank Has Changed the War
Read more at:
https://archive.is/ZqBC2
Israel Is Winning
But Lasting Victory Against Hamas Will Require Installing New Leadership in Gaza
Read more at:
https://archive.is/XjDtH#selection-1245.0-1245.80
The Return of Hamiltonian Statecraft
A Grand Strategy for a Turbulent World
Read more at:
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/unite...ft-walter-mead
Royal Marines Band surprise veteran for his 100th birthday
A veteran who celebrated his 100th birthday this week was given a surprise performance by the Royal Marines Band. Jim Churm, from Crossmichael in Dumfries and Galloway, had attended a D-Day concert at Edinburgh's Usher Hall in June, where he was moved by the band's rendition of Heart of Oak - the official march of the Royal Navy.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg53nyqx3jo
Scotland’s outgoing national poet will leave 'powerful legacy', says Swinney
Scotland’s national Makar currently serves a term of three years, though previously bards would hold the position for five years.
Read more at:
https://news.stv.tv/scotland/scotlan...s-john-swinney
Scenic Scottish island looking for people to relocate with accommodation provided
NHS Scotland is currently looking for someone to relocate to one the beautiful Orkney Islands, and is offering a salary of up to almost £40,000 and accommodation.
Read more at:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotla...eople-33524196
Free Speech is Dead in the UK
The sentencing this week of a 53-year-old grandmother to 15 months in prison for a social media post following the Southport stabbings underscores the stark reality that free speech in the UK is increasingly under threat, if not dead!
Read more at:
https://www.lifewelllived.expert/pos...dead-in-the-uk
SNP ‘Company Man’ can’t save the party he loves
John Swinney can be credited for stepping into the breach at challenging times for the SNP.
Read more at:
https://sceptical.scot/2024/08/snp-c...arty-he-loves/
Conrad Black: The persecution of John Carpay
The Alberta Law Society is overstepping its authority
Read more at:
https://archive.is/tG4g0
SNP decisions to blame for much of the pressure on government finances
The Scottish Government will need to make difficult decisions to balance the budget, watchdog says.
Read more at:
https://news.stv.tv/politics/snp-dec...nment-finances
China’s Real Economic Crisis
Why Beijing Won’t Give Up on a Failing Model
Read more at:
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/china...s-zongyuan-liu
Stopping the Next China Shock
A Collective Strategy for Countering Beijing’s Mercantilism
Read more at:
https://archive.is/GSLpy#selection-1245.0-1245.59
The Scottish origins of the United Kingdom
EVER SINCE Nicola Sturgeon crashed and burned, and Humza Yousaf promised to emigrate, the question of the Union has gone off the boil in Scotland.
Read more at:
https://thinkscotland.org/2024/08/th...nited-kingdom/
Electric Canadian
Monthly Financial Report of the General Secretary and Treasurer
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen No. 96 For the month ending December 31, 1914 (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...E001336-47.pdf
Past and Present
Notes by Henry Cawthra and Others compiled by A. Maude (Cawthra) Brock and edited by A. H. Young, M.A., D.C.L. (1924) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...otes00broc.pdf
Royal Military College of Canada
Added the 1961 edition which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forc...arycollege.htm
Added 2 YouTube chanels to our Newfoundland page...
Newfie Lifestyle
Welcome to our channel, where we take you on a journey back to traditional Canadian living. Join us as we explore the Canadian wilderness, fishing, hunting, and cooking over a wood stove. We're all about old-fashioned living, and we're excited to share our adventures with you. Whether we're catching a fish, cooking up a hearty meal, or simply enjoying time with family, we're here to remind you of the simple joys of life. Subscribe to our channel and join our community as we rediscover the traditions of the past.
Newfoundlander Overlander
I am just a Newfie doing my own thing. My cat Bubba and I decided to start a channel to share our Journey.
You can watch both at the foot of our Newfoundland page at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...land/index.htm
Report by the Governor on a Visit to the Micmac Indians at Bay d'Espoir
Colonial Reports, Miscellaneous. No. 54. Newfoundland by William MacGregor (1908)
You can read this report at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ac-Indians.htm
Memoirs of The Administration of the Colonial Government of Lower Canada
By Sir James Craig and Sir George Prevost from the year 1807 to the year 1815 comprehending the Military and Naval operations in the Canadas during the late War with the United States of America by Robert Christie (1818) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...thecanadas.pdf
Memoir of The Rev. Archibald Campbell Searth, M.A.. D.C.L.
Rector St. George’s Church, Lennoxville, Professor of Ecclesiastical History Bishop's College, Lennoxville and Canon of the Cathedral of Quebec together with Dr. Scarths reminiscences of his life and annals of the Parish of Lennoxville, edited by the Archdeacon of Quebec (1904) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...rchi00roeh.pdf
Robertson's Landmarks of Toronto
A Collection of Historical Sketches of the Old Town of York from from 1792 Until 1833 and of Toronto From 1834 to 1898 and also Nearly Two Hundred Engravings of Old Houses, Familar Faces and Historic Places, with Maps and Schedules Connected with the Local History of York and Toronto (1898) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...03robeuoft.pdf
The Essay-Proof Journal
Devoted to the Historical Background of Stamps and Paper Money, April 1957 Vol. 14 No. 2 Whole No. 54 (pdf)
You can read this magazine at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/maga...of-Journal.pdf
Thoughts on a Sunday Morning - the 25th of August 2024 - Saints & Angels
By the Rev. Nola Crewe
You can watch this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...-saints-angels
The Beaver Magazine
Added Volume 2 No 1 (1921) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...vol2issue1.pdf
Canada's Massive $12B Mega Dam
The Site C Dam is a hydroelectric megaproject in a country that is known as a big-player in the hydropower sector. This is not just any project, but THE most expensive one ever built in the whole of Canada. Added a video about this Dam to the foot of our page on BC.
You can watch this video on our page at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/bc/index.htm
Electric Scotland
The Scots College in Spain
By Maurice Taylor (1971)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...collegendx.htm
Diary of a Tour in Spain
During the Spring and Summer of 1853 by Archibald Neil Campbell-MacLachlan, M.A., Vicar of Newton Valence, Hants with Memoir of Major-General Sir Neil Campbell, C.B. (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...00campgoog.pdf
Infinite and Everywhere
Sam Taylor for These Islands, 29th August 2024. An examination of our energy industry. (pdf)
You can read this article at:
https://electricscotland.com/indepen...Everywhere.pdf
John Gentleman, Tramp.
A novel by Jessie A. Norquay Forbes (1892) (pdf)
You can read this novel at:
https://electricscotland.com/books/p...00forbgoog.pdf
Narratives from Criminal Trials in Scotland
By John Hill Burton in two volumes (1852)
You can read these volumes at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...nal-trials.htm
Narrative of Mr. James Nimmo
Written for his own satisfaction to keep in some rememberance the Lord's Way dealing and kindness towards him 1654 - 1709 Edited from the Original Manuscript with Introduction and Notes by W. G. Scott-Moncrieff. FSAScot., Advocate (1889) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/books/p...am00nimm_0.pdf
A Jesuit’s Misconception of Scottish History and a Fellow-Jesuit’s Apology for the Inexactitudes
Exposed by D. Hay Fleming, LL.D., reprinted from The British Weekly with note and additional remarks (1916) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/books/p...ep0000flem.pdf
John Laurie
An Eccentric Sutherland Dominie by Daniel William Kemp (1892) (pdf)
You can read about him at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...rland_domi.pdf
The Scots Men-at-Arms and Life-Guards in France
From Their Formation Until Their Final Dissolution, A.D. 1418 - 1830 by William Forbes-Leith in two volumes (1882)
The object of the following pages is to bring to light many documents which have preserved interesting particulars relating to the History of Scotland, and which, being now scattered through extensive collections abroad, are accessible to very few persons.
The documents here introduced illustrate the diplomatic negotiations between Scotland and France in 1418 and the following years, which ended in the landing of Scottish troops in France, and prove that this intervention was effected on a larger scale than has been supposed by our historians; while a glance at the “Muster Rolls” will show that the contingents sent to France were composed of the flower of Scottish families.
The greater number of them were never to see Scotland again. The account of the long war in France from 1418 to 1444, in which so many thousands of them perished, is traced with as much detail as could be found in old contemporary chronicles, some of which have recently been discovered, and they fully justify the solemn declaration of Louis XII., that the institution of the celebrated companies of ’Scots Men-at-arms and Scots Life-guards“ was an acknowledgment of the service the Scots rendered to Charles VII. in reducing France to his obedience, and of the great loyalty and virtue he found in them.
The history of those two companies in the following reigns is not less interesting. From first to last, the Scots Men-at-arms, whom Francis I. used to call “the arm that bears my sceptre,” affords an unparalleled example in European military annals of a corps lasting uninterruptedly for 380 years without material transformation as to organisation and military service. “Under the title of Scots Men-at-arms,” says General Susanne, “one might write the history of the wars waged by France from the days of Joan of Arc to the Revolution.”
The Scots Guards were at the head of the French army in all the great battles fought under the monarchy, and for nearly 300 years the Kings of France were guarded by them. They became famous for their unswerving fidelity; and what a minister of Louis XII. said of them a hundred years after their institution, that “ there had never been one of them found to have committed any fault against the kings or their state,” was proclaimed again, a century later, by Henry IV., when he granted them new privileges, “whereof they had rendered themselves worthy through the affection and fidelity which they had borne the crown of France.”
With the aid of the “Muster Rolls,” which are here published for the first time, and which extend over a period of nearly 400 years, many Scottish families will be able in future to distinguish the names of their ancestors who were actors in the great military achievements of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries.
The “Notes and Illustrations” will be found to contain some interesting documents hitherto unknown on the diplomatic negotiations between Scotland and France in the reign of James I., on the “ Battle of Baugd,” and on the date of the institution of the Scots Guards. In 1645 the first English Revolution gave rise to a large emigration of royalists, affording materials for the formation of Scottish regiments, to which others were added after the execution of Charles I. A long account of these is given in the “Notes and Illustrations.” In the “List of Estates possessed by the Scots Guards in France,” the names and titles thus brought together will show how thoroughly France has been impregnated with good Scottish blood.
The present records are chiefly based upon the following authorities: contemporary Chronicles and Memoirs, State Papers and Manuscripts in the Public Records Office, and chiefly in the Archives and in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, and other collections.
The editor acknowledges, with thanks, the communications and assistance rendered him by Major H. de Grandmaison, who has taken much generous trouble in the production of this history; M. Francisque-Michel, and the late Dr David Laing. His thanks are also due to the Rev. J. T. Walford, S. J., for revising and passing the volumes through the press.
Note: Whilst this work was in the press, the first volume of M. de Beaucourt’s remarkable History of Charles VII. was published. It contains many interesting documents on this period of Scottish history, the substance of which will be found in the “Notes and Illustrations,” vol. ii., p. 197.
You can read these volumes at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...smenatarms.htm
Napoleon at Fontainebleau and Elba (1869)
Being a journal of occurrences in 1814-1815, with notes of conversations by the late Major-General Sir Neil Campbell with a memoir of the life and services of that officer by Campbell, Neil, (Sir) 1776-1827; Archibald Neil Campbell Machlachlan (1869) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/france/...00campuoft.pdf
The Diary of a Lady-in-Waiting
By Lady Charlotte Bury being the diary illustrative of the times of George the Fourth interspersed with original letters from the late Queen Caroline and from other distinguished persons edited with an Introduction by A. Francis Steuart in two volumes (1908)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/lifesty...in-waiting.htm
Descriptive Account of the Principle Towns in Scotland
To accompany Wood's Town Atlas (1828)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/travel/towns.htm
The Douglas Cause
Edited by A. Francis Steuart, Advocate (1909)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...glas-cause.htm
Donald MacFarlane of Gigha and Cara
A Biographical Sketch by Sydney Smith (1925)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/d...macfarlane.htm
A Critical Examination of Dr. Macculloch's Work on the Highlands and Western Islands
By James Browne (1825) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/books/p...00maccgoog.pdf
A Defence of the Scots Abdicating Darien
Including An Answer to the Defence of the Scots Settlement there (1700) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...tsab00unse.pdf
Story
CAMPBELL, Sir NEIL (1776–1827), General
Second son of Captain Neil Campbell of Duntroon, was born on 1 May 1776. He was gazetted an ensign in the 6th West India regiment on 2 April 1797, and exchanged into the 67th regiment on 29 Oct. 1798. He was for a time the commanding officer in the Caïcos or Turks Islands, and was publicly thanked by the inhabitants. On 23 Aug. 1799 he purchased a lieutenancy in the 57th regiment, and in 1800 returned to England and volunteered to join the 95th regiment, afterwards the rifle brigade, on its first formation. He purchased his company on 4 June 1801, and proved himself an admirable officer of light troops. His fleetness of foot was especially remarkable, and a story is told by Sir William Napier of his beating even Sir John Moore, with whom he was a great favourite, in a race at Shorncliffe. From February 1802 to September 1803 he was at the Royal Military College at Great Marlow, and on leaving it was appointed assistant quartermaster-general for the southern district. He purchased a majority in the 43rd regiment on 24 Jan. 1805, which he exchanged for a majority in the 54th on 20 Feb. 1806. After two years in Jamaica with his regiment he returned to England, became lieutenant-colonel on 20 Aug. 1808, and was sent to the West Indies as deputy adjutant-general. In this capacity he was present at the capture of Martinique in January 1809, of the Saintes Islands in April 1809, and of Guadeloupe in January 1810. In 1810 he came to England and was at once sent to Portugal with strong letters of recommendation to Marshal Beresford, who appointed him colonel of the 16th Portuguese infantry, one of the regiments of Pack's brigade, in April 1811.
In January 1813, after doing good service at Ciudad Rodrigo and Salamanca, he returned to England on sick leave, and was then sent to join Lord Cathcart, who was British minister at the Russian court, and military commissioner with the Russian army in Poland. Campbell was attached by him to Wittgenstein's column, with which he remained, almost uninterruptedly, until the entry of the allies into Paris on 31 March 1814. Campbell was not satisfied to act as British representative only, but took every opportunity of fighting, and in the battle of Fère-Champenoise, fought on 24 March 1814, he headed a charge of Russian cavalry, and during the mêlée was mistaken for a French officer and severely wounded by a Cossack.
He was strongly recommended by Lord Cathcart to Lord Castlereagh, and selected to be the British commissioner to accompany Napoleon to Elba. He was gazetted a colonel in the army 4 June 1814, made a knight of three Russian orders, C.B. 1815, and knighted by patent on 2 Oct. He accompanied Napoleon to Elba with the express orders from Lord Castlereagh that he was in no way to act as his gaoler, but rather to put the late French emperor in possession of the little island of which he was to be the sovereign prince. Campbell had further instructions as to the settlement of Italy, which clearly showed Lord Castlereagh's intention that he should not remain in Elba longer than he thought necessary. At Napoleon's request, however, Campbell promised to make Elba his headquarters until the termination of the congress of Vienna, and it was the supposed residence of the English colonel there which put the English naval captains off their guard, and enabled Napoleon to escape so easily. It was, however, during one of Campbell's frequent visits to Italy, from 17 to 28 Feb. 1815, that Napoleon effected his escape. Many people at the time believed that the English colonel was bribed, but the ministry at once declared that Campbell's behaviour had been quite satisfactory, and even continued his powers in Italy. But in this capacity he met with an unexpected rebuff from Lord Exmouth, came home, and joined the 54th regiment, in which he still held the regimental rank of major, in Belgium.
With it he served at the battle of Waterloo, and he afterwards headed the column of attack on the Valenciennes gate of Cambray. During the occupation of France, from 1815 to 1818, he commanded the Hanseatic Legion, which consisted of 3,000 volunteers from the free cities of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lubeck, and afterwards paid a short visit to Africa to see if it were possible to discover any traces of Mungo Park. On 29 May 1825 he was promoted major-general, and applied for a staff appointment. The first which fell vacant was the governorship of Sierra Leone; he was begged not to take it by his family, but he laughed at their fears, and reached the colony in May 1826. The climate, however, proved too much for him, and on 14 Aug. 1827 he died at Sierra Leone.
You can learn more about him in the book....
Napoleon at Fontainebleau and Elba (1869) (pdf)
Being a journal of occurrences in 1814-1815, with notes of conversations by the late Major-General Sir Neil Campbell with a memoir of the life and services of that officer by Campbell, Neil, (Sir) 1776-1827; Archibald Neil Campbell Machlachlan (1869) (pdf)
END
Weekend is almost here and hope it's a good one for you.
Alastair