I received my new membership card from The Labour Party in the mail last week. I felt torn. I joined the Labour Party in 1995. I joined in the early days of Tony Blair’s leadership. I became involved in my local branch and was even for a while vice chair of our Constituency Labour Party.… Read More
The Pastoral is Political: You trumped us!
Dear USA, Was it a case of anything you can do we can do better? Did you see what happened in the UK in June and think…mmm we can match that…no wait, we can raise you? Well you sure managed that. From over this side of the Atlantic Ocean we have been watching you for… Read More
Pastoral is Political:I’ll make the tea then…
Next week Scotland goes to the polls. We have an election…again. Currently we have a SNP led government in Scotland. The SNP did very well in that last UK elections, sending 56 MPs to Westminster. This was a huge shift from the 6 that were there before. It is anticipated that the SNP will regain… Read More
The Pastoral is Political:where is the church in this?
I have written about the situation in Europe with regards refugees before. And I will continue to write until such times as I don’t need to. Because to be honest I really feel that still too many people are deaf and blind to the plight of the refugees and to the depth of the human… Read More
The Pastoral is Political: We all sleep under the same sky
Following on from last week I want us again to think about the refugee crisis which has apparently ‘hit’ Europe and been in the news feeds across the world. I want to start by shouting THIS IS NOT A NEW SITUATION! It is one that has been there for years and years. It is only… Read More
The Pastoral is Political: ‘If we go, they win’
Recent weeks have seen unspeakable horrors committed against innocents by people, it would seem, with a distorted ideology. First there was the terrible shooting at Mother Emannuel Church, then on Friday a beheading in France, a bomb in Kuwait at a Mosque and the gunning down of tourists on a Tunisian beach. The beach at… Read More
The Pastoral is Political: African tears
The world is slowly waking up to a tragedy that has been happening in the Mediterranean for ten years. Africans are making treacherous journeys from the home countries in the hope of a new and safe life somewhere in Europe. They arrive in countries like Libya and are at the mercy of traffickers. They pay their… Read More
The Pastoral is Political: Socialist Christian or Christian Socialist? – a UK perspective
Today’s Pastoral is Political is an adaptation of an article I wrote for a blog that has a political bent to it. You can find the original article here. In the UK we will be holding a general election in just 11 weeks. So as you can imagine opinion polls, politics in general are high… Read More
The Pastoral is Political – Referendum blues…
This time last week I was feeling rather sleep deprived having sat up for most of the night watching the results come in from across Scotland. The campaign had been long and for the most part pretty civil. Yes, there were some pretty scaremongering adverts and memes on Social Media form both sides – but… Read More
The Pastoral is Political
Annual Camp with the 2nd Battalion Highlanders Army Cadet Force 2014 I write this from my desk at in the Battalion Headquarters at the Annual Camp of the 2nd Battalion Highlanders Army Cadet Force. This is my second camp and I am enjoying it as much as my first – even though in many ways… Read More
