Category: independence

UK Civil Service Chief Confirms Probe Into Scotland’s Independence Spending

Cabinet Secretary Simon Case confirmed he was looking into the Scottish government’s spending on independence. Speaking to the House of Lords Constitution Committee on Tuesday, Simon Case said that he and his colleagues were “looking at some of these specifics” around taxpayers’ money being spent on Scotland’s independence strategy. The question about funding for the…


Questions Hang Over Scottish Independence Bid After Sturgeon’s Shock Exit

Nicola Sturgeon’s shock departure from office and from Scottish politics has left supporters and opponents alike reeling—and also wondering where this leaves the campaigns for and against independence. Pro-independence supporter, the journalist, Lesley Riddoch, suggested Unionist opponents were heaping praise on the outgoing Sturgeon to try and signal the campaign for independence was finished without her:…


Scottish Independence Supporters Regroup After Court Dampens Referendum Plans

“You’ve got to provide a vision,” says journalist Lesley Riddoch. “It’s the only way any political change happens.” This is the challenge for pro-independence campaigners like the award-winning Riddoch, born in Northern Ireland to Highland Scots parents, who came out for “Yes” in the referendum on Scottish independence in 2014. Scots voted “No.” But the…


With ‘Bogeyman’ Johnson Gone, Will Scottish Independence Bid Falter?

As the curtain prepares to fall on the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s premiership “serious political gamesmanship” will determine Scotland’s future after its devolved government threw down the gauntlet on independence, according to political observers. The leader of the Scottish National Party and Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has declared her government’s aim to make…


How a Colonial Court Case Inspired the Establishment of The 4th Amendment

In the 1750s, American merchants commonly smuggled goods to avoid excessive British taxes and restrictions, which created a major financial problem for the Crown. To address this problem, the British Parliament approved the use of writs of assistance against the colonists. A writ of assistance was a general search warrant that granted constables and any…


The Picture of American Independence

“The establishment of our new Government seemed to be the last great experiment for promoting human happiness, by reasonable compact, in civil Society.” —George Washington, in a letter to Catharine Sawbridge Macaulay Graham, Jan. 9, 1790 We’re living in the Great Experiment. Established less than 250 years ago, the United States is founded on the revolutionary conviction that…


Federal Public Servants Find It Increasingly Difficult to ‘Speak Truth to Power’: New Study

Canada’s public servants are having trouble telling their political masters the truth about what they think regarding topics that are politically sensitive or airing opinions that are unpopular, a new study says. Released on May 11, the study, titled “Top of Mind,” examines the fears and hopes of public servants at all levels of government…


Helping Kids Sprout Wings of Independence

The most amazing story I’ve heard in years is told by H.D. Miller in “The Abernathy Boys Go for a Ride.” In 1910 when Bud Abernathy, age 10, and his brother Temple, age 6, saddled up their horses and rode without adult supervision from Oklahoma to New York City to see their hero, former president…


The Seeds of Liberty | Constitution Alive

This film is only available in the US because of territorial licensing. Before diving into the Constitution, take a step back to examine the document that set forth the principles applied within it – the Declaration of Independence. Along the way, learn why it’s important to study the two documents side by side while keeping…


Self-Government, the American Way

Commentary After winning the independence they had declared in 1776, Americans had to prove that they could sustain self-government in peace. They’d governed themselves already, as colonists, but now the British government no longer protected them from the other European powers, and indeed remained a potential enemy of the new country. It’s easy for us…