Latest news with #TheTroubles
The National
2 days ago
- Politics
- The National
I've been an SNP MP at Westminster for 1 year. Here's what it's like
The first thing to understand is the travel from my home town, Fraserburgh to the Palace of Westminster. Flight times vary but it's often the morning flight, which means leaving the house around 7am for the one-hour drive to the airport. It's roughly a six-hour journey including car, plane, train, and tube. Twice a week. That's the bit that must be endured, especially the inevitable delays. There is often a mixture of tourists around Westminster together with crowds of protesters on the green in front of the Elizabeth Tower, or Big Ben as it is more commonly known. Palestine protesters are there most weeks and I often stop for a quick chat or a photograph to show my support for an end to the atrocities in Gaza and the Middle East. There have been many subjects to occupy my attention this past year but I can think of few – if any – that will still be in our thoughts many, many years in the future or that call us to action now. The Westminster estate itself is huge, covering many acres and employing more than 15,000 people in the palace area alone. This army of staffers, advisers, lobbyists, journalists and others must be fed easily and quickly throughout the day – that is no mean feat. Thanks to the efforts of our chief whip, the nine SNP MPs were allocated offices quickly, a great blessing. The next task was to find and recruit a small team to handle the huge volume of casework, diary commitments and tasks that every MP must deliver for their constituents. Additionally, a constituency office was also required and we were able to secure this early thanks to the efforts of my team leader. We will soon be having a small reception at the office to mark my first year. It's a fortunate MP who secures the services of an excellent team, and I have. They represent a great mix of experience and youth and their enthusiasm for the task never ceases to amaze me. In London, the team consists of one part-time person but he delivers way more than a part-timer – it's like having two of me, considering the volume and variety of tasks he covers. Finding your way around the sprawling estate with its maze of corridors is quite a challenge – I still get lost sometimes. READ MORE: Here's why John Swinney should ask Keir Starmer for a Section 30 now Despite the history and its overwhelming sense of the bygone days of empire, I am not overawed by these trappings. Our primary political task is to bring an end to our involvement here when we secure the independence of Scotland and take our place among the nations of the world. It's something to remind myself every day as an antidote to the imperialist atmosphere within which we work. The palace is crawling with armed policemen, fully armed with automatic weapons, a sobering reminder of the various terrorist attacks on Parliament over the years. However, I'm not uncomfortable given that I spent virtually all my adult life in Ireland working and living during the civil conflict we euphemistically call The Troubles. Due to the murders of Jo Cox in 2016 and Sir David Amess in 2021, security within the constituency and in other locations outside the Palace of Westminster is a daily consideration – suffice to say that the necessary resources are available to me. It will come as no surprise to readers to learn that I spend most of my time speaking in the House of Commons chamber or [[Westminster]] Hall, attending lobbying meetings or the many daily information sessions on a dizzying array of topics; meeting business representatives or charities who want me to represent their interests; going on fact-finding visits or joining protest meetings to show support or joining with other MPs in organised all-party groups on topics important to my constituents. READ MORE: UK Government did not breach human rights laws on Russia probe, court rules Fridays are usually spent in the constituency offering surgeries or interviews, visiting businesses, schools or other places and sometimes attending specific events to which I've been invited. There are often engagements on a Saturday, occasionally on a Sunday, but I try to keep one day free for family time. All of the events of the last year fill me with a variety of emotions. Laughter when the opportunity arises in the chamber (and they are frequent). Sadness when another long-serving member passes away without realising our ambition of Scottish self-determination. Pride when I see the superb efforts of our small band of MPs, either in the House of Commons or in the media. Or joy when my team achieves a positive outcome for an individual, a family, a charity or a local enterprise. And so we press on, always remembering the shoulders of the giants on whom we stand, for example the late, great Winnie Ewing. It's perhaps worth remembering that her maiden speech all those years ago included a focus on the contribution of young people in politics and the need to lower the voting age, once again in sharp focus at Westminster. My hope is that the rest of my time in Parliament will be as productive and as enjoyable as the year just past and that my team and I can contribute to bringing about the advent of our independence.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ex-BBC journalist says covering Bloody Sunday sparked decades-long career
A former BBC Panorama journalist has said covering Bloody Sunday in his 20s inspired his decades-long career. Peter Taylor, 82, from Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, subsequently dedicated a large portion of his working life to documenting events in Northern Ireland. During the Troubles he interviewed republican and loyalist inmates in a notorious prison which he said had not been accessed before, or in the same way since. He also tracked down and spoke to an MI5 officer who he said was 'central to getting the IRA to commit to peace' in a secret mission. As he was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE), Mr Taylor told the Princess Royal that his first assignment in Northern Ireland was covering Bloody Sunday for ITV's This Week. On January 30 1972, British soldiers shot dead 13 civil rights protesters on the streets of Londonderry. Speaking to the PA news agency at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, after being honoured for services to journalism and public service broadcasting, he said: 'I remember being shocked at what happened and feeling guilty that I knew nothing, or very little, about the background to the conflict. 'I remember that day thinking I better start trying to find out, so I spent the past 50 years trying to do exactly that.' It took him nearly 10 years of work to get permission to make a documentary inside the high-security Maze Prison housing paramilitaries, which is no longer in operation. It was otherwise known as Long Kesh and was the site of 1981 hunger strikes. People serving sentences for murder 'and a whole series of dreadful atrocities' were inside, Mr Taylor said, adding that he gained their trust to be interviewed. The conversations were conducted without prison officers' oversight, he added. At Windsor Castle, the former BBC journalist told PA: 'In the end, when they saw the film they were glad that they had taken part because it gave a different view of the contribution that they were potentially prepared to make towards peace. 'You know you've succeeded when you get that kind of reaction, when they're clearly expecting to take you to the cleaners for what you've done, and they say 'wasn't bad for a Brit'.' He earned the trust of major figures including former IRA commander Martin McGuinness, whose funeral he attended, and Ian Paisley, previous leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), whose memorial he was invited to. The aim was 'to get behind the mask' and that 'required them trusting me, but me trusting them to be as straight as they were prepared to be'. 'They knew I had a job to do, so when I asked really difficult questions – which in most cases they tried to answer, they knew that was part of my job – they didn't take it personally, but they knew what I was trying to do.' Another major scoop was accessing the 'back channel between MI5 and the IRA' leadership. The security service ran a secret mission designed to 'encourage the IRA to stop killing people and engage in the political process', he said. The MI5 officer, unearthed by Mr Taylor and his team, was 'part and parcel' of that process. He 'flatly denied' working for MI5 when Mr Taylor first approached, but the journalist left his calling card and a book he had written titled The Provos: The IRA And Sinn Fein. Around 20 years after Mr Taylor first started working on the story, the officer wrote to him and said he had watched his documentary My Journey Through the Troubles. 'He said, if there are any gaps in your knowledge that you would like to sort out, I'm now prepared to talk to you.' Mr Taylor travelled to interview him on the condition of anonymity. Fewer programmes like Mr Taylor's are now made because of lack of funding, he said, adding that his did not attract 'huge viewing figures'. 'My worry is that public service broadcasting and the climate in which I grew up and learned my trade is under threat,' he told PA. 'It needs finances. What we do, people like me try and do, is to help people understand and make political choices and pass judgments on these extremely difficult, complex issues.' The public's appetite is changing too, he said, adding: 'People just grow weary of bombs, mayhem, murder, bad news.' Young people need to 'carry the torch onwards', which is 'a hard ask' because getting jobs and story commissions is increasingly difficult, he said.
Rhyl Journal
3 days ago
- Rhyl Journal
Tommo – ‘Are you well? I thought you were!', and so much more
My dad, the late Stanley Thompson, he started commentaries in point-to-points and I think it was 1965 and halfway round at Great Ayton he turned the microphone off and said 'I can't see them anymore you take over'. I picked up the microphone and switched on and said 'they go towards the next on the far side' and that's how it started. I never want to go through that again. That was absolutely horrible. It is something I can still remember vividly to this day and it was just awful. Going to Belfast in the height of The Troubles, going into the (Europa) hotel. As soon as I walked in it was 'would Mr Thompson pick up the hotel phone?'. And that's where a voice said 'I'm watching you from the other side of street' and you think 'what?' and do this and do that. We tried to get the horse back, it was just absolutely an incredible time and I talked to the supposed kidnappers of Shergar. I think there were about eight or nine phone calls and it was the last one at half past midnight where I kept him talking for a minute and a half. If I kept him talking for that long they could trace the call, and I said to the policeman who was sitting next to me with the earphones on 'did we trace the call' and he said 'no, I'm sorry the man who traces the call went off shift at midnight'. We never found the horse. I was doing a promotion for a hotel in Bawtry quite a few years ago and I'd done a piece outside the hotel – 'this is the Crown Hotel in Bawtry, let's see what it's like and go inside, blah blah blah' – and walked inside and there were the girls at the bar, they were the people who worked there. They were looking like they were having a drink at the bar and I walked up and I don't know why I said it 'hello, are you well? I thought you were!'. Why on earth would anyone say that? It just went from there, Greg James from Radio One rang me one day and said 'Tommo, it's Greg James here'. 'Greg James? You're Radio One'. He said 'yeah, Tommo I want to ask, are you well? I thought you were' on the radio and it just went on from there. When I handed over from the studio to Bob (Robert Cooper, on At The Races) at Hereford, I just looked at my screen in front of me and I just saw the blonde hair, so I said 'oh, you're with a beautiful woman', he said 'it's a man actually, Derek' and that got to Glastonbury. On the stage in the background were signs in bright letters 'it's a man actually, Derek' – I mean what is that? Greg James was there and he sent me a photo and said 'you're on the stage at Glastonbury'. Crazy. In the year @tommoracing steps down from commentating, a moment to savour at his local track. Cheerleader, owned by Tommo and his wife Caroline -and trained by sister-in-law Tina Jackson – lands the Join Racing TV Now Handicap under @jomason90 at 66-1. Well done, Big Fella! — Redcar Racecourse (@Redcarracing) May 19, 2025 Cheerleader won at Redcar and Catterick. It was my wife Caroline who bought the horse because she wanted to ride and so we put the horse out in the field. She (Cheerleader) just flourished and it was Tina (Jackson), my brother's partner who trains near Whitby, who said 'I think you could race her again, I think she could win'. We weren't going to because we were just going to retire her. Caroline said 'come on, shall we do it' and the horse has won twice. We are so lucky and we've got a few other shares with My Future Champion who are great syndicate guys, so it's lovely to be involved that way as well. We're very lucky, but it's all Caroline's fault! She was the one who said we're going to have this horse. Another time I tried to talk her out of it but she was absolutely spot on, so well done Caroline.' Dubai Millennium. I started commentaries in Dubai with Sheikh Mohammed. Henry Cecil had got me over there and my greatest memory was Dubai Millennium winning the 2000 Dubai World Cup by 10 lengths. I still miss him to this day (Dubai Millennium died aged five due to grass sickness) and whenever I go to Newmarket, I always try to go to where he's buried and I always pay my respects to him. They were the ultimate professionals. People didn't see the work they did behind the scenes, but I did. It was just a joy to watch. I always remember that Big Mac used to wear two watches and I said 'Mac, I've got to ask you after all these years, why do you wear two watches, one on each wrist?'. He looked at me and said 'well, in case one stops'. I suppose it's right because you've got to know exactly what time it is. He was a great journalist and a great broadcaster. He brought something to The Morning Line which you couldn't buy. It was just incredible. I thought he was superb. Alastair Down was a great journalist. He had a way of putting things into words that nobody else could do. Every time I used to read him, I marvelled at the way he expressed himself and it was so good for racing. It attracted a lot of people into racing who were watching it on TV or reading it in print.
South Wales Guardian
3 days ago
- South Wales Guardian
Tommo – ‘Are you well? I thought you were!', and so much more
My dad, the late Stanley Thompson, he started commentaries in point-to-points and I think it was 1965 and halfway round at Great Ayton he turned the microphone off and said 'I can't see them anymore you take over'. I picked up the microphone and switched on and said 'they go towards the next on the far side' and that's how it started. I never want to go through that again. That was absolutely horrible. It is something I can still remember vividly to this day and it was just awful. Going to Belfast in the height of The Troubles, going into the (Europa) hotel. As soon as I walked in it was 'would Mr Thompson pick up the hotel phone?'. And that's where a voice said 'I'm watching you from the other side of street' and you think 'what?' and do this and do that. We tried to get the horse back, it was just absolutely an incredible time and I talked to the supposed kidnappers of Shergar. I think there were about eight or nine phone calls and it was the last one at half past midnight where I kept him talking for a minute and a half. If I kept him talking for that long they could trace the call, and I said to the policeman who was sitting next to me with the earphones on 'did we trace the call' and he said 'no, I'm sorry the man who traces the call went off shift at midnight'. We never found the horse. I was doing a promotion for a hotel in Bawtry quite a few years ago and I'd done a piece outside the hotel – 'this is the Crown Hotel in Bawtry, let's see what it's like and go inside, blah blah blah' – and walked inside and there were the girls at the bar, they were the people who worked there. They were looking like they were having a drink at the bar and I walked up and I don't know why I said it 'hello, are you well? I thought you were!'. Why on earth would anyone say that? It just went from there, Greg James from Radio One rang me one day and said 'Tommo, it's Greg James here'. 'Greg James? You're Radio One'. He said 'yeah, Tommo I want to ask, are you well? I thought you were' on the radio and it just went on from there. When I handed over from the studio to Bob (Robert Cooper, on At The Races) at Hereford, I just looked at my screen in front of me and I just saw the blonde hair, so I said 'oh, you're with a beautiful woman', he said 'it's a man actually, Derek' and that got to Glastonbury. On the stage in the background were signs in bright letters 'it's a man actually, Derek' – I mean what is that? Greg James was there and he sent me a photo and said 'you're on the stage at Glastonbury'. Crazy. In the year @tommoracing steps down from commentating, a moment to savour at his local track. Cheerleader, owned by Tommo and his wife Caroline -and trained by sister-in-law Tina Jackson – lands the Join Racing TV Now Handicap under @jomason90 at 66-1. Well done, Big Fella! — Redcar Racecourse (@Redcarracing) May 19, 2025 Cheerleader won at Redcar and Catterick. It was my wife Caroline who bought the horse because she wanted to ride and so we put the horse out in the field. She (Cheerleader) just flourished and it was Tina (Jackson), my brother's partner who trains near Whitby, who said 'I think you could race her again, I think she could win'. We weren't going to because we were just going to retire her. Caroline said 'come on, shall we do it' and the horse has won twice. We are so lucky and we've got a few other shares with My Future Champion who are great syndicate guys, so it's lovely to be involved that way as well. We're very lucky, but it's all Caroline's fault! She was the one who said we're going to have this horse. Another time I tried to talk her out of it but she was absolutely spot on, so well done Caroline.' Dubai Millennium. I started commentaries in Dubai with Sheikh Mohammed. Henry Cecil had got me over there and my greatest memory was Dubai Millennium winning the 2000 Dubai World Cup by 10 lengths. I still miss him to this day (Dubai Millennium died aged five due to grass sickness) and whenever I go to Newmarket, I always try to go to where he's buried and I always pay my respects to him. They were the ultimate professionals. People didn't see the work they did behind the scenes, but I did. It was just a joy to watch. I always remember that Big Mac used to wear two watches and I said 'Mac, I've got to ask you after all these years, why do you wear two watches, one on each wrist?'. He looked at me and said 'well, in case one stops'. I suppose it's right because you've got to know exactly what time it is. He was a great journalist and a great broadcaster. He brought something to The Morning Line which you couldn't buy. It was just incredible. I thought he was superb. Alastair Down was a great journalist. He had a way of putting things into words that nobody else could do. Every time I used to read him, I marvelled at the way he expressed himself and it was so good for racing. It attracted a lot of people into racing who were watching it on TV or reading it in print.
North Wales Chronicle
3 days ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Tommo – ‘Are you well? I thought you were!', and so much more
My dad, the late Stanley Thompson, he started commentaries in point-to-points and I think it was 1965 and halfway round at Great Ayton he turned the microphone off and said 'I can't see them anymore you take over'. I picked up the microphone and switched on and said 'they go towards the next on the far side' and that's how it started. I never want to go through that again. That was absolutely horrible. It is something I can still remember vividly to this day and it was just awful. Going to Belfast in the height of The Troubles, going into the (Europa) hotel. As soon as I walked in it was 'would Mr Thompson pick up the hotel phone?'. And that's where a voice said 'I'm watching you from the other side of street' and you think 'what?' and do this and do that. We tried to get the horse back, it was just absolutely an incredible time and I talked to the supposed kidnappers of Shergar. I think there were about eight or nine phone calls and it was the last one at half past midnight where I kept him talking for a minute and a half. If I kept him talking for that long they could trace the call, and I said to the policeman who was sitting next to me with the earphones on 'did we trace the call' and he said 'no, I'm sorry the man who traces the call went off shift at midnight'. We never found the horse. I was doing a promotion for a hotel in Bawtry quite a few years ago and I'd done a piece outside the hotel – 'this is the Crown Hotel in Bawtry, let's see what it's like and go inside, blah blah blah' – and walked inside and there were the girls at the bar, they were the people who worked there. They were looking like they were having a drink at the bar and I walked up and I don't know why I said it 'hello, are you well? I thought you were!'. Why on earth would anyone say that? It just went from there, Greg James from Radio One rang me one day and said 'Tommo, it's Greg James here'. 'Greg James? You're Radio One'. He said 'yeah, Tommo I want to ask, are you well? I thought you were' on the radio and it just went on from there. When I handed over from the studio to Bob (Robert Cooper, on At The Races) at Hereford, I just looked at my screen in front of me and I just saw the blonde hair, so I said 'oh, you're with a beautiful woman', he said 'it's a man actually, Derek' and that got to Glastonbury. On the stage in the background were signs in bright letters 'it's a man actually, Derek' – I mean what is that? Greg James was there and he sent me a photo and said 'you're on the stage at Glastonbury'. Crazy. In the year @tommoracing steps down from commentating, a moment to savour at his local track. Cheerleader, owned by Tommo and his wife Caroline -and trained by sister-in-law Tina Jackson – lands the Join Racing TV Now Handicap under @jomason90 at 66-1. Well done, Big Fella! — Redcar Racecourse (@Redcarracing) May 19, 2025 Cheerleader won at Redcar and Catterick. It was my wife Caroline who bought the horse because she wanted to ride and so we put the horse out in the field. She (Cheerleader) just flourished and it was Tina (Jackson), my brother's partner who trains near Whitby, who said 'I think you could race her again, I think she could win'. We weren't going to because we were just going to retire her. Caroline said 'come on, shall we do it' and the horse has won twice. We are so lucky and we've got a few other shares with My Future Champion who are great syndicate guys, so it's lovely to be involved that way as well. We're very lucky, but it's all Caroline's fault! She was the one who said we're going to have this horse. Another time I tried to talk her out of it but she was absolutely spot on, so well done Caroline.' Dubai Millennium. I started commentaries in Dubai with Sheikh Mohammed. Henry Cecil had got me over there and my greatest memory was Dubai Millennium winning the 2000 Dubai World Cup by 10 lengths. I still miss him to this day (Dubai Millennium died aged five due to grass sickness) and whenever I go to Newmarket, I always try to go to where he's buried and I always pay my respects to him. They were the ultimate professionals. People didn't see the work they did behind the scenes, but I did. It was just a joy to watch. I always remember that Big Mac used to wear two watches and I said 'Mac, I've got to ask you after all these years, why do you wear two watches, one on each wrist?'. He looked at me and said 'well, in case one stops'. I suppose it's right because you've got to know exactly what time it is. He was a great journalist and a great broadcaster. He brought something to The Morning Line which you couldn't buy. It was just incredible. I thought he was superb. Alastair Down was a great journalist. He had a way of putting things into words that nobody else could do. Every time I used to read him, I marvelled at the way he expressed himself and it was so good for racing. It attracted a lot of people into racing who were watching it on TV or reading it in print.
