Monthly Archives: December 2019

Wednesday will bring 2020 and with it the SNP’s 13th year in devolved government. It is unlikely to be the party’s last, a state of affairs which ought to prompt soul-searching among the Nationalists’ opponents. When Alex Salmond eked out a narrow win in 2007, there was a vivid conviction in Scottish Labour that thisContinueContinue reading “Scottish Tories need 2020 vision — and fast”

Back when there were still rules to politics, one of them was this: a government in power for a long time with nothing to show for it is a goner come the next election. By that logic, Nicola Sturgeon should be savouring her remaining time in Bute House before the removal men come to packContinueContinue reading “Why does the SNP keep winning? Just look at the opposition.”

MSPs gathered on Tuesday for Holyrood’s annual Indyref2 Statement Day. I swear, it comes around earlier every year. Mind you, it’s gotten so commercialised these days that people have forgotten the true meaning: the birth of the SNP’s saviour, Brexit, and its distraction from the Scottish Government’s record. Nicola Sturgeon hasn’t forgotten. Smartly turned outContinueContinue reading “Here’s Saint Nic, with a lump of coal for your stocking”

Boris Johnson’s victory will be picked over by pollsters, political scientists and, one day, historians to establish why it happened and what it means. For now, though, we can say this: Thursday was a win for the Conservative Party but not necessarily for conservatism. Johnson’s candidates demolished Labour’s ‘red wall’ in seats like Bishop Auckland,ContinueContinue reading “Boris has a mandate to be radical. He shouldn’t waste it being a Tory.”

Boris Johnson’s Friday morning victory speech signalled that a new kind of Conservative Party was on the way. The Tories had swept Labour aside in swathes of working-class seats in what had been Britain’s socialist heartlands. He told bleary-eyed Tory activists: ‘In winning this election we have won votes and the trust of people whoContinueContinue reading “The Union in the age of Boris”

There is something about the printing of ballot papers that sends politicians reaching for the superlatives. Barely has a single billboard gone up or a solitary postal vote settled on a weary doormat than the parties begin breaking out the apocalyptic rhetoric. ‘This is the most important election of your lifetime.’ How many times haveContinueContinue reading “Why this election matters”

The latest education rankings have not made easy reading for Nicola Sturgeon. Standards in maths are plummeting faster than John Nicolson’s chances in Ochil and South Perthshire, while Scotland is being outperformed in science by Estonia, Slovenia and a handful of creationist Sunday schools in Alabama. Jackson Carlaw, uncharitable sort that he is, brought thisContinueContinue reading “Sturgeon gets owned by Ross Greer. ROSS GREER.”

Boris Johnson may be too afraid to submit to 30 minutes under Andrew Neil’s frosty glare but at least the Scottish leaders are willing to tackle the tough questions. Questions like ‘Bam or no bam?’ and whether the police should have their own jet skis. Putting these searing queries was Cameron Miekelson. Imagine if AndrewContinueContinue reading “Sturgeon meets the long arm of the LOL”