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For the latest news from Scotland see our ScotNews feed at:
https://electricscotland.com/scotnews.htm
Electric Scotland News
Boris Johnson is now Britain's new Prime Minister and he's certainly of to a fast start with his new cabinet. I posted up a couple of videos about him including his first speech outside No. 10 which you can view in our Community at:http://www.electricscotland.org/show...esistible-Rise
--------
You can view a video introduction to this newsletter at:
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
Note that this is a selection and more can be read in our ScotNews feed on our index page where we list news from the past 1-2 weeks. I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on Google and other search engines. I might also add that in newspapers such as the Guardian, Scotsman, Courier, etc. 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.
BBC have subjected us to unashamed anti-Brexit propaganda over the Past three years
For the past three years, we have been subjected to a deluge of unashamed anti-Brexit propaganda, every day, without fail
Read more at:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/953773...it-propaganda/
EU’s new chief Ursula von der Leyen is the perfect advert for Brexit
Ursula von der Leyen narrowly squeaked into power in a secret ballot against no rival candidates in another triumph for European democracy.
Read more at:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/952992...-leyen-brexit/
Britain and Sweden agree to co-operate on fighter plans
Britain and Sweden agreed on Friday to study air combat co-operation over the next decade and opened the door to other potential partners in a move that could see the Scandinavian country join a planned next-generation UK fighter project.
Read more at:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-br...KCN1UE1AS?il=0
Five EU countries negotiate with Boris to avoid No Deal Brexit
Figures from Ireland, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands and are said to have contacted Mr Johnson - who is the favourite to become the next PM
Read more at:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...extension.html
Boris Johnson wins race to be Tory leader and PM
He beat Jeremy Hunt comfortably, winning 92,153 votes to his rival's 46,656.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49084605
German manufacturing recession deepens, weakest showing in seven years
A recession in Germany’s manufacturing sector worsened in July with the performance of goods producers dropping to the lowest level in seven years
Read more at:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ge...KCN1UJ0R8?il=0
How Boris Johnson’s top team shapes up
Over the last 24 hours we have seen the biggest turnover of Cabinet ministers outside of a post-election change in the party of government that anyone can remember.
Read more at:
https://brexitcentral.com/we-finally...eam-shapes-up/
The advisers and officers of Johnson’s new regime
Whilst a lot of attention has been payed to Boris Johnson’s dramatic reshuffle, just as important will be the changing of the guard going on behind the scenes.
Read more at:
https://www.conservativehome.com/par...ew-regime.html
Robert Jenrick the quiet radical now in charge of housing
Why the new Housing Secretary could be the man to unlock the new homes Britain desperately needs
Read more at:
https://capx.co/robert-jenrick-the-q...rge-of-housing
Aberdeen home to earliest record of whisky still in 1505, say historians
The reference was found by research fellow Dr Claire Hawes, who was working her way through deciphering the 1.5 million words in Aberdeen's municipal registers
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland...tland-49032195
Electric Canadian
The Canadian Horticulturist
Volume 36 (1913) can be read at:
https://www.electriccanadian.com/tra...culturirst.htm
Canadian National & Patriotic Songs
Dedicated to the Children of Canada with sheet music (pdf)
You can to this collection at; https://www.electriccanadian.com/lif...ioticsongs.pdf
The Great War Video Series
Key Canadian battles during the First World War led to the march to victory in 1918.
You can watch these at: https://www.canadashistory.ca/explor...r-video-series
The Canadian Liberal Monthly
Volume 2 No. 7 (March 1915) can be viewed at:
https://www.electriccanadian.com/mag...lmonthly01.pdf
The Canadian Mother's Book
By Helen MacMurcity, M.D.. (TOR.), Chief of the Division of Child Welfare (1927) (pdf)
You can read this at: https://www.electriccanadian.com/lif...othersbook.pdf
Electric Scotland
Character Sketches
By Norman MacLeod D.D. (1876) (pdf)
You can read this at: https://www.electricscotland.com/his...ersketches.pdf
The Hereditary Sheriffs of Galloway
Their Forebears and Friends, their Courts and Customs of their times with notes of the early history, ecclesiastical legends, the Baronage and place names of the Province by the Late Sir Andrew Agnew, Bart. of Lochnaw in two volumes (1893)
You can read this at: https://www.electricscotland.com/history/galloway/
The Transactions of the Proceedings of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History & Antiquarian Society
Added the Volume for 1862 - 1863 which can be read at: https://www.electricscotland.com/history/galloway/
Catalogue of Books relating to Scotland
An interesting list of books which were collected from private libraries and offered for sale and you can read this at:https://www.electricscotland.com/boo...utScotland.pdf
Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Scotland-based scientific journal which can be read at:
https://www.electricscotland.com/boo...yalsociety.htm
An account of the Sirname Edgar
And particularly of Wedderlie in Berwickshire by James Henry Lawrence-Archer (1873) (pdf)
You can read this at: https://www.electricscotland.com/his...on/edgar03.pdf
The Naval Chronicle
Provided the first volume of this publication which went onto 32 issues. Also included a small bio of John McArthiur one of the two editors being a Scot.
You can read this at: https://electricscotland.com/history..._chroncile.htm
Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Times
By Sir David Wilson, LL.D., F.R.S.E. second edition in two volumes (1891). Added this to the foot of our Edinburgh page at:https://electricscotland.com/history/edinburgh
The Story
An article by CapX
Britain doesn’t just have a new Prime Minister. Yesterday’s Cabinet reshuffle makes it clear that we now have a new government, with a very different set of priorities.
The composition of the Cabinet tells us a lot about Boris Johnson’s attitude towards an election.
Faced with the narrowest of majorities in the House of Commons, if Johnson feared an early election, he would have put together a broad church Cabinet designed to keep the show on the road for as long as possible. Survival from one week to the next would be the strategy.
Instead, Boris unveiled an unambiguously Leave-supporting Cabinet – with Dominic Raab as Foreign Secretary, Priti Patel at the Home Office and roles for Esther McVey, Andrea Leadsom and Jacob Rees-Mogg, the new Leader of the Commons.
Far from clinging to office and avoiding the electorate, the Johnson strategy is clearly to make good Britain’s departure from the EU in fifteen weeks’ time – and then face the electorate soon after.
For the first time since the EU referendum three years ago, the UK has a government unambiguously prepared to deliver what the electorate asked for. Michael Gove, Boris’ co-leader of the Leave campaign, has been given a roving role across Whitehall to prepare the country for a no deal departure, should it be necessary. He will now attempt to do in 90-something days what Mrs May neglected to do over three years.
Three years ago, the electorate voted – by a million strong majority – for a profound change in the UK’s relationship with the EU. Far from acting on that instruction, those in government, not only May era ministers but the senior civil service, have done everything possible to keep things the way they are. Yesterday marks the moment when that begins to change.
Not only are many of those that ran the Vote Leave campaign now in power. They entered office yesterday with an appreciation that they perhaps did not have three years ago; if Britain is to become a self-governing country once again, we need to radically overhaul the way we are governed.
Government departments as currently constituted just aren’t up to it. They are often dysfunctional, as set up to fail, and full of those marinaded in group-think. Too many civil servants are rewarded for serving time, rather than delivering successful projects.
The one person who understands this better than anyone is Dominic Cummings, formerly Vote Leave’s chief strategist, and now the de facto chief executive of the Downing Street operation. Dominic, unlike many that opine on the subject, has a clear idea of what needs to be done to prepare for the possibility of a No Deal departure. He has, too, the drive and intellect to overcome the inevitable intransigence of the senior civil service.
Beyond those first 90-something days, he has a sense of the wider change required in the way we are governed.
Dom brings with him into Number 10 an effective team, too. The Vote Leave operation that now runs Downing Street is not only extremely competent and motivated, they are in my experience extraordinarily cohesive, too. I doubt Downing Street has ever seen anything like it.
Unlike almost everyone in the Westminster/Whitehall bubble, Dominic understands that the media narrative in politics is more often than not a work of fiction. Broadcasters and professional pundits are utterly out of touch with ordinary voters. He has the clarity of thought and confidence to look beyond the nonsense that the press lobby spew, and focus on the swing voters that decide election outcomes.
Getting us out of the EU at the end of October, defeating Corbyn in an election soon afterwards, and then transforming the administrative state. Any one of those would be a tall order. But I believe that each of those is now a perfectly possible outcome.
Yesterday, the outsiders came in – and they may well just turn the way we are governed inside out, too.
For the first time in a generation, we have a Tory government determined to change the status quo, rather than be part of it. Which is why this week might just prove to be one of those watershed moments in our country’s history.
Future generations might just look back at July 2019 – the way we today view May 1979 when Margaret Thatcher took office, or July 1945, when Clement Attlee came to power – and realise that it that was the moment when things were never quite the same again.
And that's it for this week and hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair
https://electricscotland.com/scotnews.htm
Electric Scotland News
Boris Johnson is now Britain's new Prime Minister and he's certainly of to a fast start with his new cabinet. I posted up a couple of videos about him including his first speech outside No. 10 which you can view in our Community at:http://www.electricscotland.org/show...esistible-Rise
--------
You can view a video introduction to this newsletter at:
Note that this is a selection and more can be read in our ScotNews feed on our index page where we list news from the past 1-2 weeks. I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on Google and other search engines. I might also add that in newspapers such as the Guardian, Scotsman, Courier, etc. 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.
BBC have subjected us to unashamed anti-Brexit propaganda over the Past three years
For the past three years, we have been subjected to a deluge of unashamed anti-Brexit propaganda, every day, without fail
Read more at:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/953773...it-propaganda/
EU’s new chief Ursula von der Leyen is the perfect advert for Brexit
Ursula von der Leyen narrowly squeaked into power in a secret ballot against no rival candidates in another triumph for European democracy.
Read more at:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/952992...-leyen-brexit/
Britain and Sweden agree to co-operate on fighter plans
Britain and Sweden agreed on Friday to study air combat co-operation over the next decade and opened the door to other potential partners in a move that could see the Scandinavian country join a planned next-generation UK fighter project.
Read more at:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-br...KCN1UE1AS?il=0
Five EU countries negotiate with Boris to avoid No Deal Brexit
Figures from Ireland, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands and are said to have contacted Mr Johnson - who is the favourite to become the next PM
Read more at:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...extension.html
Boris Johnson wins race to be Tory leader and PM
He beat Jeremy Hunt comfortably, winning 92,153 votes to his rival's 46,656.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49084605
German manufacturing recession deepens, weakest showing in seven years
A recession in Germany’s manufacturing sector worsened in July with the performance of goods producers dropping to the lowest level in seven years
Read more at:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ge...KCN1UJ0R8?il=0
How Boris Johnson’s top team shapes up
Over the last 24 hours we have seen the biggest turnover of Cabinet ministers outside of a post-election change in the party of government that anyone can remember.
Read more at:
https://brexitcentral.com/we-finally...eam-shapes-up/
The advisers and officers of Johnson’s new regime
Whilst a lot of attention has been payed to Boris Johnson’s dramatic reshuffle, just as important will be the changing of the guard going on behind the scenes.
Read more at:
https://www.conservativehome.com/par...ew-regime.html
Robert Jenrick the quiet radical now in charge of housing
Why the new Housing Secretary could be the man to unlock the new homes Britain desperately needs
Read more at:
https://capx.co/robert-jenrick-the-q...rge-of-housing
Aberdeen home to earliest record of whisky still in 1505, say historians
The reference was found by research fellow Dr Claire Hawes, who was working her way through deciphering the 1.5 million words in Aberdeen's municipal registers
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland...tland-49032195
Electric Canadian
The Canadian Horticulturist
Volume 36 (1913) can be read at:
https://www.electriccanadian.com/tra...culturirst.htm
Canadian National & Patriotic Songs
Dedicated to the Children of Canada with sheet music (pdf)
You can to this collection at; https://www.electriccanadian.com/lif...ioticsongs.pdf
The Great War Video Series
Key Canadian battles during the First World War led to the march to victory in 1918.
You can watch these at: https://www.canadashistory.ca/explor...r-video-series
The Canadian Liberal Monthly
Volume 2 No. 7 (March 1915) can be viewed at:
https://www.electriccanadian.com/mag...lmonthly01.pdf
The Canadian Mother's Book
By Helen MacMurcity, M.D.. (TOR.), Chief of the Division of Child Welfare (1927) (pdf)
You can read this at: https://www.electriccanadian.com/lif...othersbook.pdf
Electric Scotland
Character Sketches
By Norman MacLeod D.D. (1876) (pdf)
You can read this at: https://www.electricscotland.com/his...ersketches.pdf
The Hereditary Sheriffs of Galloway
Their Forebears and Friends, their Courts and Customs of their times with notes of the early history, ecclesiastical legends, the Baronage and place names of the Province by the Late Sir Andrew Agnew, Bart. of Lochnaw in two volumes (1893)
You can read this at: https://www.electricscotland.com/history/galloway/
The Transactions of the Proceedings of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History & Antiquarian Society
Added the Volume for 1862 - 1863 which can be read at: https://www.electricscotland.com/history/galloway/
Catalogue of Books relating to Scotland
An interesting list of books which were collected from private libraries and offered for sale and you can read this at:https://www.electricscotland.com/boo...utScotland.pdf
Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Scotland-based scientific journal which can be read at:
https://www.electricscotland.com/boo...yalsociety.htm
An account of the Sirname Edgar
And particularly of Wedderlie in Berwickshire by James Henry Lawrence-Archer (1873) (pdf)
You can read this at: https://www.electricscotland.com/his...on/edgar03.pdf
The Naval Chronicle
Provided the first volume of this publication which went onto 32 issues. Also included a small bio of John McArthiur one of the two editors being a Scot.
You can read this at: https://electricscotland.com/history..._chroncile.htm
Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Times
By Sir David Wilson, LL.D., F.R.S.E. second edition in two volumes (1891). Added this to the foot of our Edinburgh page at:https://electricscotland.com/history/edinburgh
The Story
An article by CapX
Britain doesn’t just have a new Prime Minister. Yesterday’s Cabinet reshuffle makes it clear that we now have a new government, with a very different set of priorities.
The composition of the Cabinet tells us a lot about Boris Johnson’s attitude towards an election.
Faced with the narrowest of majorities in the House of Commons, if Johnson feared an early election, he would have put together a broad church Cabinet designed to keep the show on the road for as long as possible. Survival from one week to the next would be the strategy.
Instead, Boris unveiled an unambiguously Leave-supporting Cabinet – with Dominic Raab as Foreign Secretary, Priti Patel at the Home Office and roles for Esther McVey, Andrea Leadsom and Jacob Rees-Mogg, the new Leader of the Commons.
Far from clinging to office and avoiding the electorate, the Johnson strategy is clearly to make good Britain’s departure from the EU in fifteen weeks’ time – and then face the electorate soon after.
For the first time since the EU referendum three years ago, the UK has a government unambiguously prepared to deliver what the electorate asked for. Michael Gove, Boris’ co-leader of the Leave campaign, has been given a roving role across Whitehall to prepare the country for a no deal departure, should it be necessary. He will now attempt to do in 90-something days what Mrs May neglected to do over three years.
Three years ago, the electorate voted – by a million strong majority – for a profound change in the UK’s relationship with the EU. Far from acting on that instruction, those in government, not only May era ministers but the senior civil service, have done everything possible to keep things the way they are. Yesterday marks the moment when that begins to change.
Not only are many of those that ran the Vote Leave campaign now in power. They entered office yesterday with an appreciation that they perhaps did not have three years ago; if Britain is to become a self-governing country once again, we need to radically overhaul the way we are governed.
Government departments as currently constituted just aren’t up to it. They are often dysfunctional, as set up to fail, and full of those marinaded in group-think. Too many civil servants are rewarded for serving time, rather than delivering successful projects.
The one person who understands this better than anyone is Dominic Cummings, formerly Vote Leave’s chief strategist, and now the de facto chief executive of the Downing Street operation. Dominic, unlike many that opine on the subject, has a clear idea of what needs to be done to prepare for the possibility of a No Deal departure. He has, too, the drive and intellect to overcome the inevitable intransigence of the senior civil service.
Beyond those first 90-something days, he has a sense of the wider change required in the way we are governed.
Dom brings with him into Number 10 an effective team, too. The Vote Leave operation that now runs Downing Street is not only extremely competent and motivated, they are in my experience extraordinarily cohesive, too. I doubt Downing Street has ever seen anything like it.
Unlike almost everyone in the Westminster/Whitehall bubble, Dominic understands that the media narrative in politics is more often than not a work of fiction. Broadcasters and professional pundits are utterly out of touch with ordinary voters. He has the clarity of thought and confidence to look beyond the nonsense that the press lobby spew, and focus on the swing voters that decide election outcomes.
Getting us out of the EU at the end of October, defeating Corbyn in an election soon afterwards, and then transforming the administrative state. Any one of those would be a tall order. But I believe that each of those is now a perfectly possible outcome.
Yesterday, the outsiders came in – and they may well just turn the way we are governed inside out, too.
For the first time in a generation, we have a Tory government determined to change the status quo, rather than be part of it. Which is why this week might just prove to be one of those watershed moments in our country’s history.
Future generations might just look back at July 2019 – the way we today view May 1979 when Margaret Thatcher took office, or July 1945, when Clement Attlee came to power – and realise that it that was the moment when things were never quite the same again.
And that's it for this week and hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair