Alyn Smith 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇪🇺

Alyn Smith: Even Iceland’s looking to the EU. What’s the UK waiting for? The news last week that the Icelandic government will bring forward a referendum on restarting EU membership talks was seismic

🗞️ ICYMI Big news from Iceland, now looking urgently at EU membership in a way it simply wasn’t a matter of months ago. Significant implications for Scotland and UK, I sketch out in @scotnational.bsky.social:
www.thenational.scot/politics/259...

Some exciting news and a lot to look forward to coming from Stirling Council, we're bringing back Hogmanay! A full programme of events to bring folks in, great news for hospitality and hotels 👏

Exactly right. I went to my regular check-up in May, expecting to get a new prescription but instead the optician told me I had an early cataract in my left eye. She immediately referred me to Ninewells, I received an initial appt there within 2 weeks and was put on the list for cataract surgery.

Wow Bridget thanks for sharing, sorry to hear you needed treatment but delighted it was spotted early, hope you’re on the mend soon!

Absolutely, it is a hugely successful advanced screening exam and you hardly ever hear it mentioned!

👁️ 👁️ Your taxes funded 2.4million (!) eye health checks last year, vital check ups for millions of Scots, identifying glaucoma, cataracts, high blood pressure and more far earlier than ever we have. They’re a huge success in Scotland, but in Labour run England they’re not free.

Well here’s some big news 🇮🇸🇪🇺

Accession to the EU looks like it just got a whole lot easier for Scotland I WAS already 100 confident that Scotland’s accession process would be smooth, uncontroversial and, given how well-prepared we already are,…

📰 How states join the EU is changing, perhaps in a really significant way that makes Scotland’s accession a lot faster. Me in Sunday @scotnational.bsky.social
www.thenational.scot/politics/258...

What’s the SNP government ever done for you? 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Today’s Sunday @scotnational.bsky.social column on how fast the world is changing, and why EU membership is essential for Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🇪🇺

TikTok ‘addictive’, EU finds in digital law probe European Commission cites TikTok’s ‘highly personalised’ system, slams safeguards as ineffective.

This is significant, worldwide, and underlines that individual states (excepting maybe two or three) lack the heft to deal with these corporations. High time Scotland gets back into the EU.

www.scmp.com/news/china/d...

⚽️ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Stirling should get behind Scotland at the football World Cup and allow those pubs who want to to open late so we can all enjoy a safe shared experience. My letter to Council Leader Susan McGill below ⬇️

💊 Last year, there were 2.2 million prescriptions given to Stirling residents free of charge. That’s saved local people around £22 million.

In Scotland, MSPs have a right to bring forward Members’ Bill proposals and if I’m elected in May I’m going to take full use of it. What law would you like to see created? Amended? Scrapped? I’ve plenty ideas myself but want to hear from you. Drop me an email to the address on the clip.

A happy Burns Night to all! Just the two of us at home tonight, a brilliant haggis from our local butcher, tatties and neeps from Ginger Roots on Port Street, obligatory @irnbru.bsky.social and (unpictured!) dram 😋 🥃 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Mark Carney's full speech at the World Economic Forum YouTube video by National Post

This speech from Canadian PM Mark Carney is a breath of fresh, if chilly, air. Especially uncomfortable, but true, on the comfortable fiction of the rules based international order. Well worth your time.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=btqH...

Kaja Kallas: "Let me be abundantly clear: tariff threats will not pressure Denmark into handing over Greenland. They only risk making both Europe and the United States poorer and undermining our shared prosperity. We have no interest in picking a fight, but we will hold our ground."

🚆 Nobody looks forward to the Monday morning commute, but the SNP government has made it a bit easier and more affordable by scrapping peak fares for good.

ScotRail has now been brought into public ownership, meaning it’s firmly on the side of commuters, thanks to SNP intervention.

Today’s poll proves the SNP vision of independence in Europe is appealing to more and more folks. A massive 73%, almost 3 in 4, of folks want back in the EU. We’ve been out in Callander speaking to locals about building up our communities.

#Callander #Stirling #Scotland #independence #EU

Productive discussion with Stephen Montgomery from the Scottish Hospitality Group and Gary Atkinson from the Golden Lion Hotel yesterday. Hospitality is a major employer and an important industry to the Stirling area and I intend to be a strong voice for its success if elected in May.

Should be a good #RejoinEU debate in #Glasgow this Friday evening, and perhaps who better to lead the arguments in favour than former #Scotland MEP @alynsmith.bsky.social who, at the sad moment of our leaving, asked our fellow Europeans to #LeaveALightOn for us to help find our way home again? 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇬🇧🇪🇺

I’ve contacted the Ambassador Group, owners of the Craigforth site to try help get the redevelopment of the site moving. It’s going to wrack and ruin as it stands when it could surely be a great development for somebody.

#Stirling #business #development #economy

The safety of our nation will rely on European links The only part of the world that has actually maintained solidarity and co-operation is the EU – that’s the team Scotland needs to be part of

In today's Sunday National some thoughts on what is going on over Greenland, and what it means for the EU and Scotland.

www.thenational.scot/politics/257...

⚡️ The UK has some of the highest energy bills in Europe, but we can do things differently with independence.

💡 No longer tied to an outdated energy network that penalises Scottish bill payers, we could have some of the lowest energy bills in Europe - which will reduce the cost of almost everything.

Oh my goodness this is well written and clear eyed from Þorsteinn Pálsson, a former Icelandic Prime Minister, and well worth your time.

"Those who look only after their own interests and never those of others cannot, by their very nature, be allies to anyone."

www.arctictoday.com/trump-forces...

Some happy memories of Greenland in (yikes!) 2011 representing the EU in the West Nordic Council Interparliamentary Meeting. Self determination and the rule of law is at the heart of @snp.org politics, Greenland's future can only be decided by the people who live there.

Alyn Smith: Cyprus can play pivotal role in important year IT is common at this time of year to make predictions for the year ahead. I’m not going to do too much of that, beyond committing myself to…

📰 Written before the illegal and unwise US intervention in Venezuela, here's my take on the challenges facing the EU Cyprus Presidency in today's Sunday National.

www.thenational.scot/politics/257...

Investigate the Russia Report - The Citizens The Citizens:

Former MPs including @benbradshaw.bsky.social, @carolinelucas.bsky.social and @alynsmith.bsky.social called on the government to investigate interference in our democracy.

It marked the first time sitting MPs brought an action against the state. the-citizens.com/action/russi...

Alyn Smith: Why 2025 was such a pivotal year for the European Union WHEN I was asked by Laura Webster, the Sunday National’s editor, to do a review of the EU’s 2025 I happily agreed, but it has been difficult to…

📰 Saying 2025 has been a big year in Europe is something of an understatement! Me in Sunday’s @scotnational.bsky.social.

www.thenational.scot/politics/257...

Where else would I do last minute Christmas shopping but Made in Stirling? Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄 🎅🏻