These are not glad times for individual liberty. Covid-19 has occasioned some of the most sudden and far-reaching extensions of state power seen in peacetime. Government ministers dictate our holiday plans, the number of worshippers who may congregate in church and even who we allow into our homes. Worst of all, at the very momentContinue reading “Lockdown cannot go on forever”
Monthly Archives: September 2020
Boris and Sturgeon put Britain on the naughty step
Anyone fed up being treated by government like a tearaway caught scrumping apples without a face mask, look away now. After weeks of being cajoled, then scolded, then threatened into doing as we were told, yesterday brought the punishment. In a TV broadcast last night, Boris Johnson outlined harsher restrictions on free movement and assembly.Continue reading “Boris and Sturgeon put Britain on the naughty step”
BBC should serve the nation, not the Nationalists
What a guddle BBC Scotland has got itself into. First, Auntie announced that it would no longer carry Nicola Sturgeon’s Covid-19 briefing live every day and instead base its coverage on ‘editorial merit’. This was welcome news for opposition politicians, who had grown concerned about the Corporation giving a daily platform to the First Minister,Continue reading “BBC should serve the nation, not the Nationalists”
The Lib Dems’ transphobia meltdown is complete
The trouble with women is that they have opinions and not necessarily the correct ones. Some even have the audacity to demand a say in how the term ‘women’ is defined, which has been causing all sorts of problems lately. All credit, then, to the Liberal Democrats, who have devised an ingenious solution to the hassleContinue reading “The Lib Dems’ transphobia meltdown is complete”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a woman of valour
Ruth the Moabite is the only Biblical figure to merit the description ‘eshet chayil’ – ‘a woman of valour’. One rabbinical exegesis sees Proverbs 31’s womanly virtues as a reference to Ruth: ‘Many women have done well, but you surpass them all.’ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died aged 87 on Erev Rosh Hashanah, surpassed the expectations andContinue reading “Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a woman of valour”
Scotland’s approach to lockdown is not working
Scots, or at least those I encounter at a two-metre distance, are growing scunnered with lockdown. The impositions grand and petty on everyday life. The endless changes to increasingly unintelligible rules. The glum dawning that it’s going to be like this until a vaccine is manufactured. We are fortunate, of course, those of us whoContinue reading “Scotland’s approach to lockdown is not working”
Sturgeon explains things to Richard Leonard verrrrrry sloooooowly
Tracking coronavirus? There’s an app for that. First Minister’s Questions was buzzing about the new technological doohickey intended to save us all from Covid-19. What the Protect Scotland app couldn’t do is save us from a major reversal of lockdown: meetings, indoors and out, would be cut to only six people across two households. OrContinue reading “Sturgeon explains things to Richard Leonard verrrrrry sloooooowly”
National emergencies require national responses
With the aviation industry on its knees, Boris Johnson is under pressure to embrace airport testing. Screening arrivals is thought more effective than the current policy: a blanket requirement to self-quarantine for 14 days. Airline and tourism chiefs warn this is crippling their sectors and putting thousands of jobs at risk. The Scottish Conservatives wantContinue reading “National emergencies require national responses”
Can’t read his, can’t read his poker face
Richard Leonard should take up poker. He might have more spare time on his hands soon enough, but that is rather the point. He rose at First Minister’s Questions, hours after three of his MSPs called on him to resign, and he gave off not a single tell. His composure seldom breaks. It would beContinue reading “Can’t read his, can’t read his poker face”
In the court of Queen Nicola
Someone on the BBC got a bit overexcited and teed it up as ‘the Queen’s Speech of Scotland’. Nicola Sturgeon’s annual Programme for Government doesn’t boast quite the same pomp and glitz, though she does wear her customary crown of virtue. Addressing her court, the Nat regnant declared that this was ‘not a normal, business-as-usualContinue reading “In the court of Queen Nicola”
Stephen Daisley 