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An old joke sees a Jewish man accosted by some burly types on one of Glasgow’s rougher streets. “You a Catholic or a Protestant?” demands Thug A. The man, panic in his voice, insists: “I’m a Jew!” Thug A takes a step back. There is a pause but the tension remains, until Thug B pipesContinueContinue reading “Scotland’s messianic age”

It is always the police, our selfless human shields, who suffer the first blow.  Whatever you do for a living, whatever drudgery it brings, it is humbling to remember that there are men and women whose job it is to stand between you and danger. There is much we do not know about what happenedContinueContinue reading “A sense of decency shouldn’t require a committee meeting”

Nicola Sturgeon called this second referendum for a dare.  She must have. There is no way she thought it was a good idea to put herself front and centre in a spectacle of the sort that played out in the Scottish Parliament yesterday.  MSPs packed the chamber to decide whether to ask Theresa May forContinueContinue reading “#Indyref2 debate: Her sleeves were rolled up and she was ready”

Nine months ago, the shackles either broke or the roof caved in.  To those unmoved by Brexit, good luck to you; you get to march merrily on, oblivious to the tumult thundering around you. Bliss was it in that dawn to be at IKEA/ But to be choosing sofa throws was very heaven. How theContinueContinue reading “Zut alors! Nicola’s double speak over Europe has got us all tongue-tied”

A thousand iPhone screens lit up all at once. The humming of government-issued BlackBerrys carried the buzz. Impromptu chat groups sprung up and precious scraps were shared via direct messages. It took ten days between an anonymous tip-off and the discovery of Guy Fawkes and his 36 barrels of explosives for the Gunpowder Plot toContinueContinue reading “No peace after the PM’s victory in Four-Day War”

It wasn’t quite our answer to the West Wing — too young, too cynical — but it filled a Bartlet-shaped hole in the TV schedule.  Party Animals followed a clique of sexually bipartisan political advisers at Westminster in the dying days of New Labour. Matt Smith and Andrea Riseborough played researchers to a Caroline FlintishContinueContinue reading “MPs can no longer employ family members – and SpAds are delighted”

It was Hamlet as performed by the Govanhill Amateur Dramatics Society.  Nicola Sturgeon mugged for the audience of journalists as she delivered her ponderous monologue.  Flanked by saltires, framed by the adornments of Bute House, she was centre stage — where she belongs — and talking to, talking for, the nation. Pausing to mark theContinueContinue reading “Nicola Sturgeon has chosen grievance over governance”

On Budget Day, it’s easy to become disoriented by the miasma of statistics.  The Chancellor is hawking his numbers and the Office for Budget Responsibility theirs. The opposition chips in its take, followed by business leaders and unions. Then duelling experts start to pop up in TV studios, at which point you come to appreciateContinueContinue reading “The Lost Generation who won’t get a pay rise in 15 years”

Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. Right there, those four ridiculous words, are why it shouldn’t have worked. What was this? Some low-camp Russ Meyer knock-off? Joss Whedon’s generation-defining TV hit debuted 20 years ago tonight. Its anniversary is being marked by the fans who adored it and the critics whose cool detachment it drove a stakeContinueContinue reading “How Buffy the Vampire Slayer transformed pop culture”

The rest of them may as well have gone for an early lunch.  John Swinney was standing in at First Minister’s Questions yesterday and having the time of his life.  Nicola Sturgeon was in London for Her Majesty’s unveiling of a memorial to the fallen of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. (She still managed toContinueContinue reading “Swinney the Slugger wins this political punch-up”