Thrive: The Freedom To Flourish

Why won’t Scots simmer down?

 Why batter on about independence when folk voted No a decade back?

 After all. Scotland's not as populated as Yorkshire, nor as wealthy as London. But it’s not as Conservative as England, keen on Brexit, or willing to flog public assets to Tory party pals.

 So does Nicola Sturgeon’s departure terminally damage the case for independence?

The answer, with all respect to her substantial legacy, is no. Scotland has bigger fish to fry. 

In THRIVE, Lesley Riddoch makes an impassioned call to action, weaving academic evidence with story, international comparison and anecdote to explain why Scotland is ready to step forward as the world’s newest state.

‘We need optimism. And contagious stories of inspiration. Told out loud. In the open. Repeatedly. So, folk can engage emotionally, dare to dream of better – and go get it. Scotland is a social democracy stuck in a Conservative state that's preoccupied with its own lost imperial status. And stuck, Scotland cannae thrive. 

Let’s cast aside preconceptions. Whichever way you voted in 2014 – if you did – the world, Europe, the UK, Ireland and our Nordic neighbours have all changed. Scots need the freedom to change too - the freedom to flourish.

Huts - A Place Beyond

Victorian visitors had shooting lodges – Scots had trips doon the watter.

Norwegian citizens had hytte – Scots had Butlins.

Why have locals in one of Europe's prime tourist destinations been elbowed off the land and exiled from nature for so long?

McSmorgasbord - What post-brexit Scotland can learn from the Nordics

The late Paddy Bort was absolutely right. A few months after the European referendum in 2016, the Edinburgh University academic and Nordic Horizons stalwart predicted that Brexit would spark a renewed interest in Scotland’s small, successful wee neighbours.

Westminster has insisted that all British nations must leave together. But the Nordic countries and their devolved territories enjoy a veritable smorgasbord of relationships with the EU - doubtless there’s an arrangement in there that might suit Scotland too.

Would an independent Scotland need the support and shelter of full EU membership - or could the nation better stand at a distance or outside the EU altogether.

Riddoch on the Outer Hebrides - revised 2022 edition

Cycling up the Hebrides in the summer of 2006, to record a 13-part series for BBC Radio Scotland, I had modest aims -- to stretch my legs and spend some time away from mobile phones, emails, and deadlines. I experienced that - and so much more.

This fully revised 2022 edition is the product of annual visits to the Outer Isles and the close friendships that have developed during the intervening 15 years. It details astonishing changes in technology and community land ownership and the islanders' continuing battles with ferries, house prices and motorhomes. But the centrepiece remains unchanged - the people of the Hebrides, their eccentricities, landscapes, musical tastes, golf courses, languages, humour, beaches and archaeology - with punctures, insurmountable hills, headwinds and bike chat thrown in around the sides.

Blossom: What Scotland Needs to Flourish (Post Indyref Post EUref edition)

Blossom is an account of Scotland at the grassroots through the stories of people I've had the good fortune to know - the most stubborn, talented and resilient people on the planet. They've had to be. Some have transformed their parts of Scotland. Some have tried and failed. But all have something in common - they know what it takes for Scotland to blossom. 

Reviews

Inspiring, galvanising analysis of the untapped potential of Scottish people power. Get a copy of BLOSSOM. Karine Polwart singer/songwriter

A brilliant, moving, well written, informative, important and valuable piece of work- just went online and bought a dozen copies to send out to pals. Elaine C Smith

It’s brilliant – every politician in the land should be made to read the chapter on inequality. I love the human stories in the book, but it’s rich with evidence too. The most engaging social policy book I’ve read in ages (ever?) Jenny Kemp Zero Tolerance Campaign

A hopeful antidote to so much empty nastiness in politics. Read! Alyn Smith MEP

Reading Lesley Riddoch's Blossom is like inhaling fjord air after being trapped in a sweaty backroom. Just brilliant Pat Kane, singer and columnist

Every Scot should read Blossom by Lesley Riddoch before they vote. I’m reading Blossom right now and every paragraph crystallises the nebulous sensations of deep divide inequality and snobbery I have experienced my whole life.  Des Dillon writer

Blossom is something we should all be reading. This is the book William Power and Edwin Muir should have written. Congratulations on a fine work.

Dr. Elspeth King Director, Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum

To all undecideds in Scotland, and all progressives - just to everyone... read Lesley Riddoch's 'Blossom'. She just gets it. David Greig, playwright.

Blossom reveals a Scotland full of promise, whose richest resource – her people – remains untapped. Riddoch's belief in Scotland's countrymen and woman is the lifeblood of Blossom. Newsnet Scotland

Not so much an intervention in the independence debate as a heartfelt manifesto for a better democracy. Esther Breitenbach, Scotsman

A hard-hitting condition of Scotland tour-de-force and a characteristically feisty contribution to (and beyond) the present constitutional debate. Paddy Bort Product Magazine

Blossom confirms Lesley Riddoch’s reputation as one of our top campaigning journalists" Paul Hutcheon, Herald