Stephen Daisley

A thunderclap registers at 120 decibels, a fighter jet at 150 but anything above that is John Swinney. The deputy first minister confuses volume for impact and his parliamentary contributions sound like Foghorn Leghorn suddenly took an interest in the Barnett formula. Swinney was standing in for Nicola Sturgeon yesterday; the First Minister was inContinue reading "Moanfest /məʊnfɛst/ n. raising education concerns with the Education Secretary"

‘Reconciliation’ is such a warm and happy word. It conjures up reunited families, patched-up marriages and even peace-making between nations. That is probably why economists favour the term to describe the adjustment required when a budget outturn falls short of the forecast. ‘Reconciliation’ has a better ring than ‘we got our sums wrong again’. Scotland’sContinue reading "One billion reasons the SNP can’t be trusted with Scotland’s economy"

I had never thought about Willie Rennie in a fuchsia twin-set, blue-rinse perm and diamante-studded glasses and I had hoped to keep it that way. Then, at First Minister’s Questions, the Lib Dem leader had to bring up the SNP’s efforts to revive Indyref 2 off the back of the Euro elections. ‘Nicola Sturgeon’s electionContinue reading "Dame Willie makes for an above Everage FMQs"

Nicola Sturgeon was not impressed. Her constitution minister was having some difficulty introducing her Indyref 2 (Sort Of) Bill to Holyrood. Mike Russell — he’s ‘Mike’ again, for those who keep track of such things — let forth his ham Shakespearean boom only for a whisper to flutter across the chamber. His microphone wasn’t onContinue reading "Like watching Perry Mason cross-examine a border collie"

As she faced the TV cameras and the inevitable on Friday morning, Theresa May fought to keep her nerve. When a man in power shows emotion, he is being thoroughly modern; when a woman does the same, she is letting the side down. Eventually, it was all too much and in the desperate dying secondsContinue reading "Neither angels nor demons"

One of the joys of being in the European Union was that we didn’t have to take an interest in European politics. All those endless commissioners, directives and protocols could be benignly ignored. Now that we’re leaving — terms and conditions apply; always read the label — we have to pretend we understand qualified majorityContinue reading "Ruth opened her mouth and SNP jaws hit the floor"

Theresa May is expected to announce her resignation as Prime Minister sometime in June. Given her success rate on exit plans, she could still be in Downing Street three years from now, preparing to enter the latest round of negotiations with the removal men. However, assuming she manages an orderly Therexit, we can look forwardContinue reading "An inconvenient Ruth: Next Tory leader will need Davidson on-side"

She heads a minority government with few achievements and leads a factional party frustrated by her failure to deliver their number one policy. She lost the governing majority she inherited and a raft of MPs after a lacklustre General Election campaign. No doubt she believes, like Margaret Thatcher before her, that she can ‘go onContinue reading "Can Sturgeon survive the SNP’s uncivil war?"

When I read last week that Allan Massie had defected from Labour to the Tories, I was baffled. Scotland’s greatest living writer is no leftist; his fiery philippics against socialism once exploded from the pages of the Daily Mail. After retrieving my glasses, I was relieved to learn I had squinted an extra ‘L’. ItContinue reading "Scottish Labour is heading for extinction"

Ruth Davidson is back, but is she ready for what lies ahead? On this question, the next two years of Scottish politics will hang. Davidson presented herself to the Tory conference in Aberdeen as a candidate to be the next First Minister. Now she must convince the voters and that isn’t going to be easy.Continue reading "Ruth needs 2025 vision to win the keys to Bute House"