Thought for the Day

15 December In the light of the decision to move London and some adjacent areas into the English Tier 3, and the statement yesterday by the UK Government’s Health Secretary that the rise in infection rates seemed to be linked to a variant form of the virus, there’s discussion again about whether it is wise […]

14 December Negotiations have been extended regarding a post January deal with the EU. The poor negotiators! I wonder if they ever feel they are losing the will to live, going over and over the same things in ever smaller detail? But so many negotiations are like that: whether it’s a trade treaty, a peace

12 December When we get up tomorrow we can say, ‘It’s Christmas next week!’ How are you planning to spend Christmas this year? With family or friends, or quietly on your own? There has been a great furore about it, with some implying that the world will come to an end if it isn’t exactly

11 December Continuing negative notes regarding a No Deal Brexit in under 3 weeks. Headline writers, commentators and politicians are good at blaming ‘the other side’ for being unreasonable, intransigent, failing to understand the underlying basis of ‘our’ position, and introducing last-minutes changes to their demands. Maybe one side is more to blame than the

10 December The news today seems downbeat on the likelihood of a trade deal between the UK and EU before the Transitional Arrangement ends on 31 December. Food companies say that WTO tariffs could mean price rises over a range of goods. Some of us may simply accept the higher prices because we particularly like

9 December It was announced yesterday that we are going back to Tier 3 on Friday. Not quite ‘let’s get the bunting out’, but still better than being in Tier 4. The infection rate seems to have come down significantly over the last few weeks, but presumably the authorities are worried that relaxing the restrictions

8 December The massive task of vaccinating the population has begun today. As well as expressing thanks and appreciation to those who developed the vaccine(s), we thank too those who have arranged the delivery and distribution and will be administering the programme and the actual needle-in-the-arm bit. There will be anomalies and hiccoughs, some people

7 December This year no West Kirk Christmas market, no Riverside Senior Citizen’s lunch, so we put the tree up on Saturday, somewhat earlier than usual. We have eclectic mix of decorations – made at nursery, things that came from Christmas crackers, made or given by friends etc. For a number of years we have

5 December Just as the news got more hopeful on the Covid-19 front, things started to turn more awkward on the Brexit one. I think if we were involved, we might have long since lost the will to live. I did once hear it suggested that it was a mistake to involve men in negotiations

This Advent the Church of Scotland Guild has produced a special online Big Sing event. Introduced by the Guild’s National Convener Mabel Wallace, the Advent 2020 Big Sing features Rt Rev Dr Martin Fair, Moderator of the General Assembly, offering a special reflection from Arbroath Abbey. As well as a selection of favourite hymns, the