Blossom: What Scotland Needs to Flourish. 2nd edition.

By Lesley Riddoch

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. We should too… Weeding out vital components of Scottish identity from decades of political and social tangle is no mean task, but it’s one journalist Lesley Riddoch has undertaken. Dispensing with the tired, yo-yoing jousts over fiscal commissions, Devo Something and EU in-or-out, Blossom pinpoints both the buds of growth and the blight that’s holding Scotland back. Drawing from its people and history as well as the experience of the Nordic countries, and the author’s own passionate and outspoken perspective, this is a plain-speaking but incisive call to restore equality and control to local communities and let Scotland flourish.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Luath Press
• Release date: Apr 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781910324493

Lesley Riddoch

Lesley set up the policy group Nordic Horizons in 2010 with Dan Wynn and is one of Scotland’s best known commentators and broadcasters. She was assistant editor of The Scotsman in the 1990s (and editor of The Scotswoman in 1995 when female staff wrote, edited and produced the paper) and contributing editor of the Sunday Herald. She is best known for broadcasting with programmes on bbc2, Channel 4, Radio 4 and bbc Radio Scotland, for which she has won two Sony speech broadcaster awards. Lesley runs her own independent radio and podcast company, Feisty Ltd which produces a popular weekly podcast and was a member of the three-year eu-funded Equimar marine energy project. Lesley is a weekly columnist for The Scotsman and The National and a regular contributor to The Guardian, Scotland Tonight, Question Time and Any Questions. She is also completing a phd supervised by Oslo and Strathclyde Universities comparing the Scots and Norwegian hutting traditions. Lesley founded the charity Africawoman and the feminist magazine Harpies and Quines and was a member of the Isle of Eigg Trust, which led to the successful community buyout in 1997. She wrote Riddoch on the Outer Hebrides in 2007, Blossom – what Scotland needs to Flourish with Luath in 2013 and Wee White Blossom – what post referendum Scotland needs to Flourish in December 2014.