EVEN though parliamentary politics has come to a stop over the summer months, life is as busy as ever for those of us in The National’s newsroom.

We’re focused on bringing you high-quality exclusive content all summer-long, with lots of exciting projects underway.

Just last week we launched our new Independence Is Normal series, which is looking at the journey every one of the 65 countries formerly under British rule took to achieve their independence.

Every time one of these states celebrates their independence day, we’ll be examining how they went about securing their sovereignty, figuring out currency and border issues, and much more.

First up was the Maldives and Vanuatu, and this weekend we’ll be looking at the journey taken by Jamaica.

READ MORE: What is in our limited-time FREE Arran gift box for every new annual subscriber?

The point isn’t to compare Scotland with these countries directly – after all, Scotland is not a colony – but to show how normal the process of securing independence is. It’s pretty hard to buy the myth that Scotland is uniquely unable to do it when SO many countries have.

Elsewhere, we’ve been digging into land reform with our ongoing exclusive series on the proposed Taymouth Castle development. We know the use of land in Scotland is a major issue for many of our subscribers, and something that often goes ignored in our media. So we’re filling in that coverage gap, and we’ll have tonnes more on land coming soon.

As well as all that, we’ve got lots of Fringe previews, interviews and reviews coming throughout August, with leading critic Mark Brown providing much of our coverage.

But the Fringe isn’t all amazing arts and culture – there are serious questions about its impact on Edinburgh residents and particularly the extortionate accommodation costs. How do we capitalise on this incredible Scottish festival, while ensuring locals don’t suffer or frozen out? We’ll be looking into all that and more.

That’s just a little snapshot of what you can expect throughout August, as well as our top news, commentary, analysis and more.

So don't miss out, and support Scotland's only pro-independence daily paper - and get a free Arran gift box - before the deal ends TONIGHT.

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