Monthly Archives: July 2019

Boris Johnson made his first prime ministerial visit to Scotland today, so let’s hope he’s swotted up on Welsh public policy. The new PM might not be aware but the actions of Welsh ministers are the key performance indicator for the Scottish Government. When Nicola Sturgeon wants to turn the screw on the UK GovernmentContinue reading “Tory truce: How Boris and Ruth could work together”

The flaxen-haired tornado that has stormed through the corridors of Westminster in the past 72 hours has left much political carnage in its wake. Seventeen ministers resigned or were sacked by Boris Johnson and replaced in large part by fellow-travellers committed to the hardest of Brexits, including a no-deal variation to ensure the UK departsContinue reading “‘The Progressives’: Could Boris and Brexit prompt a new Scottish party?”

David Mundell is such a mainstay of Scottish politics, it will be odd not to see him at the despatch box batting away SNP grievances or plodding welly-deep through sodden fields extolling the wonders of Scottish produce at agricultural fairs. (He might say the two experiences have much in common.) His sacking as Secretary ofContinue reading “Boris sacks his Scottish general on eve of battle”

Barring an electoral upset unforeseen by the opinion polls — we all know that never happens — Boris Johnson will be elected leader of the Conservative Party tomorrow. The following day he will be invited to kiss hands and thereafter become Prime Minister, an extraordinary turnaround for a man regarded by many on his ownContinue reading “How Ruth can save the Union (in spite of her Boris problem)”

Lizanne Zietsman is usually to be found serving up hearty lunches to locals and visitors on Arran. The 37-year-old, who holds a South African passport, has run the Sandwich Station in Lochranza with her husband John since 2017. They first met on the island in 2006, married and spent almost a decade travelling and workingContinue reading “Immigrants are key to Scotland’s prosperity. We need many more of them”

The legacy hunt is the final and fiercest battle of a parliamentary career. Define yourself or your opponents will, and so years of skullduggery and compromise, near misses and outright disasters must be moulded into a monument to vision and leadership. In the fading light of power, a valiant attempt is made to rewrite historyContinue reading “Next PM must declare the era of devolution over”

‘Democracy,’ HL Mencken wrote, ‘is the theory that the common people know what they want — and deserve to get it good and hard.’ What we seem to want these days is more say in how the country is run and, boy, are we getting it in buckets. Not content with referendums on independence andContinue reading “Sturgeon’s citizen assembly is not about democracy”