Next up in my series of party leader interviews is Willie Rennie. Rennie is leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, God love him. Actually, he’s had a belter of a campaign, hurling around on zip wires and inadvertently appearing in porcine pornography. I sat down with him to talk about liberalism, illiberalism and whether ScotlandContinueContinue reading “Willie Rennie on drugs. Wait, not *on* drugs. At least I don’t think so…”
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Kezia Dugdale: Is she tough enough to take on Nicola Sturgeon?
How do you begin an interview with Kezia Dugdale? I just want to give her a hug and tell her everything’s going to be okay. Except it’s not. Dugdale heads a party battered and bloody from its last encounter with the voters. The Holyrood election on May 5 is set to be another drubbing. ThereContinueContinue reading “Kezia Dugdale: Is she tough enough to take on Nicola Sturgeon?”
Kezia Dugdale gave me a pug toy. As if I wasn’t enough of a Labour shill.
In the third in my series of party leader interviews, I sat down with Kezia Dugdale. Despite being a really nice person, Kez is leader of the Scottish Labour Party. And she’s had a pretty eventful campaign so far, what with coming out, U-turning on her central tax policy, having to clarify her stance onContinueContinue reading “Kezia Dugdale gave me a pug toy. As if I wasn’t enough of a Labour shill.”
Sturgeon, the Stasi and state guardians: A conversation with David Coburn
David Coburn is wrong about absolutely everything. Immigration? Wrong. The European Union? Wrong. TTIP? Wrong. (I am in the unusual position of being both to the left and the right of Ukip.) And we won’t get into his crass comments about Humza Yousaf, the lip-quiveringly luscious Scottish Government minister. No, there’s nothing I could everContinueContinue reading “Sturgeon, the Stasi and state guardians: A conversation with David Coburn”
David Coburn on Brussels, Bake Off and Bernie Sanders. (Yes, his mic’s on.)
The next interview in my series of conversations with party leaders is David Coburn. The leader of Ukip in Scotland sat down with me to talk about health, education and, yes, you guessed it, the European Union. I understand it was one of two interviews he’s done in his entire career with someone other thanContinueContinue reading “David Coburn on Brussels, Bake Off and Bernie Sanders. (Yes, his mic’s on.)”
In the path of the juggernaut
The 110th anniversary of the parliamentary Labour party passed by in February largely unremarked. The decision by Keir Hardie’s Labour Representation Committee to rename itself ‘the Labour party’ after winning 29 seats in the 1906 election was a historic one. It marked the beginning of organised labour as a force in the House of Commons,ContinueContinue reading “In the path of the juggernaut”
Will voters give Green light for bold policies?
It’s good to be Green. After years of parrying barbs about tie-dyes and tofu, the party is getting the last laugh on those who dismissed them as a political punchline. Undeodorised tree-huggers and yurt-dwelling vegans no more; the Greens are a growing force in Scottish politics. They head into the Holyrood election in better shapeContinueContinue reading “Will voters give Green light for bold policies?”
Patrick Harvie on Grumpy Cat, Donald Trump’s wig and Captain Planet
As part of STV’s Holyrood election coverage, I am sitting down with all the major and minor party leaders to talk about their prospectus for government. First up is Patrick Harvie, co-convener of the Scottish Greens, who joined me to talk about taxation, education and a second referendum on independence. That interview will be publishedContinueContinue reading “Patrick Harvie on Grumpy Cat, Donald Trump’s wig and Captain Planet”
Why can’t Scottish parents choose to send their child to an academy?
George Osborne is not an easy man to love. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has the great misfortune not only to be rich but to look it too. “The trouble with Michael,” Thatcher-era minister Michael Jopling once stung Lord Heseltine, “is that he had to buy all his furniture.” Osborne does not have the appearanceContinueContinue reading “Why can’t Scottish parents choose to send their child to an academy?”
The Budget Drinking Game. Or, ‘How to get through George Osborne’s speech’
As muggers go, Chancellors of the Exchequer are a conscientious bunch. Your average bag-grabber just lunges at you in the street, snatches away your valuables and makes off, possibly shoving you to the ground in the process. No style, no class. Not Her Majesty’s Second Lord of the Treasury. He politely lists in advance whatContinueContinue reading “The Budget Drinking Game. Or, ‘How to get through George Osborne’s speech’”
Stephen Daisley 