Monthly Archives: November 2015

“St Andy’s Day.” The tabloids and the First Minister have rechristened the national feast day in honour of Andy Murray. The tennis powerhouse clinched the Davis Cup for Great Britain at Flanders Expo on Sunday. It marks the first title win for the national team since 1936 and the 28-year-old was understandably elated, posing forContinueContinue reading “Some St Andrew’s Day thoughts on Scotland and Scottishness”

Did you force the Chancellor to U-turn on cuts to tax credits? If not, you evidently didn’t try hard enough. Among those who have claimed credit so far are Corbynites, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, the Greens and Plaid Cymru. Don’t buy the spin. The credit goes to the House of Lords, Conservative backbenchers, theContinueContinue reading “George Osborne is all clichés and crossed fingers”

The leader of the opposition has been making life difficult for the government again. After providing details of the strategic defence and security review, the Prime Minister was grilled on cuts to manpower, hardware and bases and lambasted for his 2010 decision to scrap the entire Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft fleet at a cost ofContinueContinue reading “Forget Trident. Syria is the security test for the SNP”

The National loves Scotland. In fact, it loves Scotland so much it spells its own name with a map of the country in place of the letter “i”. A patriotic touch, to be sure, but it does give the unfortunate impression that the paper is called the Nat Onal. The pro-independence daily marks its firstContinueContinue reading “The National supports independence for everything except itself”

Nicola Sturgeon is one year into her premiership and six months away from her first election. In the hyperactive world of Scottish politics, it’s easy to forget that the First Minister has no mandate from the country. Unlike Gordon Brown, this is not because she is too frit to face them; the only thing sheContinueContinue reading “What next for Politician of the Year Nicola Sturgeon?”

Independence is dead. Long live independence. The economic case for a Scottish breakaway from the UK has been mortally wounded – by no less a figure than Alex Salmond’s former head of policy. “The dream shall never die,” Mr Salmond assured us but his own right-hand man has beaten it to death with a shovelContinueContinue reading “The economic case for independence is dead? Good riddance.”

Nous sommes tous les Parisiens. Je t’aime Paris. #IStandWithFrance. Millennials are coming to terms as only we can with an attack on our own. The shootings and bombings that ripped through the French capital on Friday night targeted trendy restaurants and music venues. We were Charlie in January but our hearts weren’t really in it.ContinueContinue reading “How to be a Western liberal in an age of terror”

Sandi Thom is quitting the music industry. It’s a bit like me announcing the end of my edible thong modelling career. The ersatz hippie chick had precisely one hit nine years ago and, save for being caught up in an expenses row over Scottish Government sponsored events in 2009, hasn’t done much else of note.ContinueContinue reading “Scottish self-pity proves Sandi Thom has flowers in her head”

Substantial new powers are coming to Scotland. This fact no Nationalist demagogue can inveigh away. The Scotland Bill, approved by the Commons on Monday night, means Holyrood’s permanence will be enshrined in the constitution and MSPs will get the power to set income tax rates and bands, as well as significant welfare powers and controlContinueContinue reading “Scotland Bill fulfils The Vow but not promises of home rule”

Kezia Dugdale has the best job and the worst job in Scotland. She is the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, a torment even Torquemada would have backed away from. Dugdale’s thirties will be spent performing CPR on a party that will likely slip into a coma anyway. In return, she gets a nice mentionContinueContinue reading “Kezia Dugdale finds her voice in powerful speech”