[We are writing this from the Badralloch campsite, about 20 miles out of Ullapool at the edge of Little Loch Broom, and will upload as soon as we have mobile reception and can coax our increasingly temperamental dongle into life]

The first night of the camping campaigning was a rather windy one – as you can see, we were right on the coast near Portmahomack, near Tain. The morning started bright and early with leafleting in Portmahomack, followed by a trip to Tain in search of internet access – the blog was eventually updated from the library, where the librarian was giving an IT lesson to an elderly chap keen to get to grips with internet dating sites! Funny, perhaps, but the gap between the information ‘have’s’ and ‘have nots’ can only grow as public spending cuts bite and affect vital local services such as libraries and community education. Blog updated, we had a quick leafleting blast in Tain itself and then set out with the intention of canvassing in Lairg. Today’s timetable was driven by the need for Pam to be at the campsite with the tent up by 7pm for the important business of a Sabhal Mor telephone tutorial, however, so after a quick lunch stop in Altnagay we settled on leafleting in Bonar Bridge, where we again received a warm welcome We then drove on to Ullapool, and after a quick stop for groceries, to the campsite. En route we took in some of Scotland’s most beautiful scenery in the vast empty spaces of Sutherland and the edge of Assynt – the occasional ruin a reminder of this area’s brutal past, when thousands were driven off the land first to the coast and then to the cities and the ‘New World’ across the Atlantic. The SSP’s pledge of an independent socialist Scotland fitted well with the mood of the afternoon, with our tartan blood stirred as we blasted Runrig from the car.

Picture opportunities abounded, our favourite being of this rather silly one – pretending to be cat woman, and bursting from a phone box as “Super Socialist” – replete in jeans and t-shirts. Well, whoever heard of a superhero in sparkly pants and heels?