For Immediate Release: Monday 26 April 2021ALBA AWARDED FIVE STARS FOR STANDING UP FOR WOMEN
For Women Scotlandhave awarded five stars to ALBA, Scotland’s newest and fastest-growing political party, following an assessment of all of the 2021 Scottish Election Manifestos. In a statementTasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, ALBA Lead Candidate for Central Scotland said:
“As the new kid on the block, ALBA are delighted to have been given this ringing endorsement byFor Women Scotland, the leading campaigning and advocacy group on behalf of Women in Scotland. After only four weeks ALBA have demonstrated that when it comes to standing up for women’s hard-won sex-based rights and the rights of women and girls to access women only spaces, ALBA has emerged on top.
“ALBA are putting women’s rights front and centre in this Election and are showing that women’s voices will no longer be silenced…

Earlier this week, a court in Barcelona confirmed the indictment of 29 Catalan government officials and businesspeople for their role in the preparations for the 2017 independence referendum. They are accused of disobedience, misuse of public funds, abuse of office, and document falsification.

The same court also decided to close the inquiries into 19 other people and rejected the request to try three more people: the Director of the Catalan Data Protection Authority, Maria Àngels Barbarà; the former Director-General of Dissemination of the Catalan Government, Ignasi Genovès and the Director of Services of the Department of the Presidency, Teresa Prohias.

The persecuted include:

– Albert Royo: Secretary-General of the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat).

– Aleix Villatoro: Secretary-General at the International Actions, Institutional Relations, and Transparency Ministry.

– Antoni Molons: Secretary of Broadcasting and Citizen Assistance at the Catalan Presidency Department.

– Joaquim Nin: Secretary-General at…

ALBA MANIFESTO – SUMMARY SHEET

“SHAKE THINGS UP”
WHO ARE ALBA?

1. ALBA are one month old as a political party.
2. The manifesto is the product of three ALBA policy conferences held with the assistance of independent experts including Professor Harry Burns, Professor Lindsay Paterson, former Governor of Corton Vale Rhona Hotchkiss, Dr Nighet Riaz and Gareth Wardell.
3. ALBA has 32 candidates standing across Scotland on the regional list ballot – 18 women and 14 men.
4. ALBA now has 5000 members, 2 MPs and some 20 elected Councillors across Scotland.

WHAT DO ALBA STAND FOR?

1. ALBA is an independence supporting social democratic political party standing for economic prosperity, social equality and environmental responsibility.
2. ALBA stands for much more urgency in the pursuit of independence and will table a motionin three weekstime instructing the Scottish Government to immediately begin independence negotiations with Westminster.
3. ALBA believe that they can contribute to…

The new digital identity system launched by the Council for the Republic last week aims to be a tool for the next Catalan government to disconnect from the Spanish state. This is considered a state structure out of the reach of Spain where the new Catalan state should start to be built. Over 15,000 people have already joined the initiative.

The new ID has an identifying QR code that allows people to “join and access the services of companies from all over the Catalan Countries.” NGO’s, companies, unions and associations are currently negotiating their integration in the system that also aims to create “social cohesion, collective awareness and sovereign spaces that empower citizens.”

The success of the new identification system will be determined by the number of people and organizations that join and operate this new structure, which could replace the Spanish National ID in the future if there is…

I have been around a while so it takes a lot to leave me shocked. Yesterday the man above managed to do so. I received the following communication. It was sent by Geoff Bush from the SNP supporters for Independence Group although it came to me from another member

Fainthearts , That’s what I’m thinking about today as I’m just back in from a short leafletting stint.
Earlier in the week Manifesto For Indy emailed all SNP Holyrood candidates including sitting MSPs who are standing again. The email was a last gasp attempt to get candidates to consider the Manifesto for Indy approach of making theMay 6thelection a de facto declaration of independence. We got quite a few replies but this one stood out for sheer faint-heartedness. Frankly if this is how SNP candidates feel about independence then they are just not fit for purpose. So here is…

By stewartb

The House of Commons Library (HoCL) has just published (9 April 2021) a briefing paper entitled: ‘Pensions: international comparisons’. It is described as “A look at how UK pensions compare with those in other countries. The note compares the UK state pension with similar systems in Europe and goes on to look more broadly at the structural differences in the sources of pensioner income across economically advanced countries.”

Source: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn00290/

From the paper’s conclusions:

• the UK provides a lower level of pension than most other advanced economies relative to average earnings
• the UK devotes a smaller percentage of its GDP to state pensions and pensioner benefits than most other advanced economies
• income from occupational and personal pensions is a relatively important source of pensioner income in the UK, in contrast to many other countries where state provision (financed either through social insurance contributions or general taxation) is dominant.

Women took centre stage at the launch of the ALBA party’s Women’s conference.ALBA released its official policy manifesto on equalities. We attach it below for the benefit of voters, particularly those concerned by the other parties’ positions on women’s rights.

Extracts from key speakers

ALBA, Scotland’s fastest growing political party has launched its Women & Equalities Policy Statement following its first ever Women’s Conference on Saturday 10 April.

Launching the ALBA Women and Equalities policy statement Tasmina Ahmed Sheikh, ALBA Candidate for Central Scotland said:

This is the policy statement women in Scotland have been waiting for and will speak to many women who feel their voices have been sidelined in the debates that have taken place in the Scottish Parliament on the forensic examination of women, hate crime and the proposals to reform the Gender Recognition Act. A majority of ALBA’s candidates in this Election, 18 in…

EMBARGO 00.01 HRSMONDAY 12 APRIL

THE BRUCE BACKS ALBA

The ALBA Party have secured the support of the greatest Scots hero of all time – Robert the Bruce.

Hollywood actor and director,Angus Macfadyen, who played the hero king in the Mel Gibson’s blockbuster Braveheart and reprised the role once again in Richard Gray’s film depiction of two years ago, has announced his backing for Scotland’s newest political Party.

Last week chart topping Auchtermuchty singing duo The Proclaimers pledged their support to ALBA.
Angus Macfadyen is currently portraying Jor-El Superman’s Kryptonian father in the new CW television series “Superman and Lois”, the film role made famous by Marlon Brando.

Macfadyen has now produced and narrated a short film, due for release on YouTube and Facebook on Monday, telling the story of how the camp flowers of “sma folk” turned the tide of the Battle of Bannockburn by appearing…