Bella Caledonia is folding. It has been an important, broadly (though not sufficiently) pro-Scottish Independence new media outlet in Scotland for a decade. As far as it reveals to an outsider, it is closing solely for financial reasons.
I confess to being confused by this. So far as I can judge, this blog has a slightly larger readership than Bella Caledonia (which stated its highest monthly readership was 370,000), and the total costs of this blog amount to £700 a year.
My offer to you as a Board is this. I am prepared to take over as editor and as host and continue to run Bella Caledonia as the major pro-independence blog you made it. The spare capacity of my blog servers will cope with your readership with no extra cost. We can still have a board, and any members of the existing board who wish to continue, can do so with my hearty good wishes. I shall be editor. I shall invite five new people to join the board and contribute as core writers (they don’t know it yet, but the first people I shall ask are Andy Myles and Hugh Kerr. Both campaign for Indy, but one being ex-Lib Dem and one ex-Labour then SSP gives an indication of the breadth I would aim for). We will continue to use many of those who have written before for Bella, but drop any antagonism to any other pro-independence website or group.
The difference visible to a reader will be nil. The difference behind the scenes is that nobody will be paid, including me.
If you wish to take up this offer, what we would need is of course full control of the website and its social media, and preferably access to the contacts address book for inviting writers. If Bella Caledonia really is the new media title it aspired to be, it should not fold when an editor leaves.
You can contact me via the contact button above.
Craig
Here you are folks, dig deep and keep your Nationalist bloggers in the manner they have become accustomed.
http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/support/
P.S. I have a relative in Nigeria with a very interesting business proposition if anyone is interested.
God… Hugh Kerr? Are you kidding? Poison. He is ex ssp, aye- but backed Sheridan in his splitting that party when he couldn’t win a majority to retake the leadership. He has since then, bounced about criticising all and sundry and has left two political parties since his part in that fiasco. Bella needs him like a whole in the heid.
you evidently didn’t read the bit about “drop any antagonism to any other pro-independence website or group”
All the Best with That venture Craig
Poll finds overwhelming backing for Craig Murray’s bid to save Bella Caledonia from closure
Should the Bella Caledonia board accept Craig Murray’s offer to take over as editor and keep the site going for free?
Yes 82%
No 18%
http://scotgoespop.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/poll-finds-overwhelming-backing-for.html
Ooooh some of these editors can have a bit of an ego problem.
Sounds like they spat the dummy.
Hope it comes about Craig.
You have the integrity, drive and supporters to do it.
Yes, Yes , Yes……
Would Bella Caledonia publish an article on the new espionage laws?
This affects everybody, Scots included. Despite receiving more than 200,000 signatures in a matter of weeks the petitions committee has decided not to debate this subject. What does it feel like to live in a totalitarian dictatorship? 🙁
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/173199
Having looked at the debate it does not appear to have been debated properly. It was pushed through in no time on the basis of so-called national security. This is the outcome of the second reading. You can see how your MP voted here.
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2016-06-07/division/B874938E-A4BA-4F04-B838-A2829035008A/InvestigatoryPowersBill?outputType=Names
Questions to be asked of your MP should include:
Why was your constituency electorate not consulted on so important a bill?
Why are there so few safeguards for individuals but a free hand for police and secret services to acquire anybody’s date they choose?
date = data
Had my doubts about Bella over the last couple of years and eventually stopped reading. I am sure, with your guidance it will once again be what it was, a supporter of Scottish issues.
I see McQuarrie is leaving BBC Scotland.
http://weegingerdug.wordpress.com/2016/12/28/complaining-that-a-shark-is-a-shark/
and Kuenssberg is back. She was outside No 10 yesterday. Her facial expression now is just a sneer.
http://twitter.com/bbclaurak
Sounds like a good deal to me?
Yes I would support this development. If it’s not good it’ll fail.
o/t but relevant to what the EU has become and something green MEP’s have been opposed to for decades, unelected civil servants who wield power in policy making and lobbying.
This man needs axing as he is unaccountable, so does his boss Juncker. No position at that level should be unelected, something the EU could change if it wanted to allow voters more democratic decision making, but they are as ‘attached’ to the US navel as this country is.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/juncker-s-cabinet-head-selmayr-wields-tremendous-power-a-1128569.html
I wouldn’t hold your breath Craig – not sure who the RISE/BC people dislike more, you or the SNP 😉
The words that spring immediately to mind are ‘poisoned chalice’.
I’ve found Bella Caledonia mostly interesting, sometimes a bit rabid, always entertaining. And informative. I’m English, niw probably qualifying as a new Scot mongrel. I’d be sad to see it go. I think your offer is impressive. I watch with interest.
It’s difficult to imagine why you found yourself surplus to requirements in the delicate world of diplomacy, Craig.
It is not at all difficult to imagine anything John. It is a little more difficult to keep yourself informed. Please do not utter comments unless you have done your best to know what you are talking about. Craig was a highly regarded and trustworthy member of the British diplomatic service whose trust was abused by senior members of his department in London who were quite prepared to dispense with his services rather than admit that they had a cosy relationship with a vile regime who specialised in the most brutal forms of torture, often resulting in death of victims, in order to maintain oil related interests. He was cast aside by a London based kleptocracy that has stolen hundreds of billions of Scotland’s oil money and would be more than happy to see the same things going on in the so called UK if they thought they could get away with it.
A bunch of leading Italians — Draghi, Renzi, Monti, et al. — had their computers hacked not by Russians, but by Italian members of a Masonic lodge. Purpose being to get inside info to make strategic investments. But that doesn’t exclude selling the information for other purposes. Cyberspionaggio: massoneria e giochi di potere dietro i fratelli Occhionero [Cyberespionage: Masonry and power games behind the Occhionero siblings.
Somebody has decided to go after Soros. Hungary To Launch Crackdown On All George Soros-Funded Organizations:
Maybe those Hungarians know something about Soros. As ZeroHedge notes, Soros is originally from Hungary.
Absolutely fantastic offer Craig. Bite his hand Bella.
It is essential that we keep communication channels open in the journey towards independence, cross-party and beyond. The party membership issue is not relevant to me, rather the individual and their commitment (actions not just words) to Scottish independence. Keep the site alive and treat us all with respect, equality and a fair hearing for reasoned opinion.
I didn’t realise that Bella was actually a company. There is no ‘board’ so I doubt that you’ll get a reply (they are not listed as influential people, etiher).
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/SC463369