Barking up the Right Tree 2019

Beneath the wit and linguistic trickery of Paul Kavanagh in the company of his trusted Wee Ginger Dug, you’ll find an encyclopaedic knowledge of Scottish politics. Here is political satire in the best tradition. No punches are pulled, and strangely the humour is both brutal and subtle. This collection of articles from The National covers the increasingly demented Brexit years. Kavanagh keeps catching the plethora of material the Brexiteers keep on giving to our overworked satirists, and he adds his own unique take on it all. He starts with a salute to the departing prime minister: “Goodbye Davie, you were the worst ever” but he, like the rest of us, will soon see how the “worst ever” can still get worse. He tracks the posturing of our politicians from “Our tea exports will take over the world, never have so many owed so much to a brew” to “The Empire is dead and ... the harsh realities of Brexit will expose that. The emperors of Brexit have no clothes.” Read on and be enlightened – and lighten up with a few much needed laughs.

About the Author :
Paul Kavanagh was born in the East End of Glasgow in 1962 and got involved in online Scottish politics and digital media while living in Spain with Andy, his English partner of 25 years. He contributed to Newsnet Scotland from its early days during the 2011 Holyrood elections right up until February 2013 when Andy’s declining health meant that they had to return to Scotland where there was a support network of friends and family. Shortly afterwards, Andy was sadly diagnosed with vascular dementia and his health deteriorated rapidly. Stuck indoors as a full-time carer, Paul began the Wee Ginger Dug blog. It was better to laugh than to cry at the hand life had dealt him. And as the referendum campaign progressed, our Unionist politicians generously provided him with a great deal worth mocking. Andy passed away just before the independence vote, but Paul continued to blog and to write. Early in 2015 he was offered a weekly column in The National, and is grateful to the then editor Richard Walker for giving a wee dug a weekly bone to chew over. His columns have proven so popular that he’s now writing twice a week for The National, as well as a monthly column in iScot Magazine. Paul remains heavily involved in the independence campaign and does speaking engagements the length and breadth of the country. Paul has found personal happiness again and has now remarried. In 2015 Vagabond Voices published Paul’s first collection of articles from The National, titled Barking Up the Right Tree, and this is the third.