Category Archives: Uncategorized

Moving house is one of the most stressful experiences you can go through. In my case, it’s also one of the most confusing. As a west coast boy, I’ve just upped sticks and resettled my Glasgow life in Edinburgh, that most unGlasgow of cities. I moved to be nearer Holyrood. I write about politics forContinueContinue reading “After moving to Edinburgh, I now know what’s wrong with our best cities”

It seems like only two and a half years since the last referendum on Scottish independence but the Scottish National Party assures us a generation has passed, and I would advise you not to question them. It seldom ends well. Nicola Sturgeon has demanded a rerun of that plebiscite, in part because Brexit seems to offer a propitious set ofContinueContinue reading “Twice in a generation”

‘You know, this used to be a hell of a good country,’ Jack Nicholson pondered in Easy Rider. ‘I can’t understand what’s gone wrong with it.’ These words crept into my mind last week and no matter what I did to shut them out, they found a way back in. Anas Sarwar revealed that heContinueContinue reading “Bile, anger, and the growing divisiveness of a nation’s politics”

‘All politics is local’ ran the maxim of legendary American politico Tip O’Neill, a deal-making Democrat of the old school. O’Neill worked his way up from the back room of the party machine to become Speaker of the House of Representatives and the wily nemesis of Ronald Reagan. In the middle of the 1982 recession,ContinueContinue reading “All politics is local (except maybe in Scotland)”

No sooner had Pepsi skooshed open its latest ad campaign than the internet burped it back up.   The soft drink giant’s new commercial featured Kendall Jenner (ask a young person) emerging from a crowd of protestors to offer a Pepsi to an officer on a police line. The two-and-a-half-minute promo was sugarier than theContinueContinue reading “Pepsi’s advert gives protesters exactly what they want: another opportunity to protest”

If you have had the good fortune to encounter one of the many exciting Nationalist marches Scotland has to offer, you might have noticed a subtle change in presentation.  Woad is still in. The ‘End London Rule’ banner is a bit crumpled but will do a few more rallies. The Royal Standard of Scotland isContinueContinue reading “Why smug SNP sanctimony means its love-in with EU will soon be over”

Do you find your job dull and unfulfilling? Do you spend your days seeking out distractions or furtively pursuing your real interests? Millions find themselves in this position and pass the time meandering on Facebook or searching for a new career. Fair enough, you might think. There are some pretty humdrum posts out there butContinueContinue reading “Whatever the question, Sturgeon’s answer will always be independence”

Theresa May’s ‘Dear John’ letter has now dropped onto President Tusk’s desk and, to euphemise a saying popular among The Young People, feculence just got actual. In the early, sunlit days of New Labour, the left-wing comedian John O’Farrell had a skit on how the Tories, after a generation of dominating British politics, found theirContinueContinue reading “Parliament must take back control of Brexit”

Parliamentary clashes are all about the leaders but sometimes you have to peer past them, to the next generation, to grasp the mood in any given party. Nicola Sturgeon had come to Holyrood’s independence debate as the First Minister, in rhetoric at least, and issued a plea for civility. She told MSPs: ‘Many others acrossContinueContinue reading “Sit down, roared Ruth. And down sat the First Minister.”

Theresa May will not deliver a good deal for Scotland from the Brexit negotiations. That much we know already.  The Prime Minister is in Scotland today as she prepares to invoke Article 50. That her scramble north of the border coincides with the precise moment the rest of the country realises she’s put David DavisContinueContinue reading “Brexit won’t drive us into the SNP’s arms – nor can it fix the Union’s flaws”