Why is Liz Kendall in Labour and not the Conservative Party?

Why is Liz Kendall in the Labour Party and not the Conservatives? This - not reconnecting with the voters or making life difficult for the government - is the subject dominating the Labour leadership race. The meme is pushed on social media, where Kendall's accusers have set up parody accounts depicting her as a candidateContinue reading "Why is Liz Kendall in Labour and not the Conservative Party?"

We waited ten weeks for Mhairi Black’s maiden speech. It was worth it.

Given the mix of excitement and bemusement that greeted her election, there were always going to be high expectations for Mhairi Black's maiden speech. Since ousting Labour's Douglas Alexander in May, she has become the youngest MP in 348 years and taken a first in politics from Glasgow University before reaching her 21st birthday. (I'mContinue reading "We waited ten weeks for Mhairi Black’s maiden speech. It was worth it."

Liz Kendall on Sturgeon, devolution and winning back Scotland

Liz Kendall is a woman on a mission. And what a mission it is. Her campaign for Labour leader is the first leap in a project to reinvigorate the party and return it to government within just five years of its worst electoral reversal in three decades. The odds are stacked against her even moreContinue reading "Liz Kendall on Sturgeon, devolution and winning back Scotland"

Liz Kendall could help Labour regain purpose — and power

The Conservatives won the General Election. That much has sunk in for Labour people. But how they won. The Tories won men in every age bracket. They won women over 50 and overall. They won private sector workers by a margin of 17 points and trailed Labour amongst public sector employees by just three percentageContinue reading "Liz Kendall could help Labour regain purpose — and power"

Mhairi Black stirs anger in those left behind by the new Scotland

Mhairi Black fair riles them, doesn't she? The SNP MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South was termed a "slut" by the prominent Unionist academic Dr Jill Stephenson during a Twitter exchange, the Sunday Herald has reported. In the comments made before the general election, Dr Stephenson described the Nationalist politician as an "appalling harridan" andContinue reading "Mhairi Black stirs anger in those left behind by the new Scotland"

Tunisia shows there is no opting out of struggle against Islamism

The grammar of 21st century terrorism is depressingly familiar by now. First comes the outrage: Innocents savagely cut down going about their lives. Then the reaction, as politicians emote, 24-hour news speculates, and viewers gasp at the brazen, bloody theatrics. We move quickly onto the clichés. "They hate us for our freedom." "Terrorism is causedContinue reading "Tunisia shows there is no opting out of struggle against Islamism"

The speech Nicola Sturgeon could give to put an end to cybernats

I am writing this from a coffee shop in Edinburgh. Half the people in the room are tapping away on laptops, smartphones or tablets. Who knows what they're doing. Some might be emailing clients. Others will be checking Facebook. At least one might be updating a Tumblr dedicated exclusively to Photoshops of Jim Murphy asContinue reading "The speech Nicola Sturgeon could give to put an end to cybernats"

Watching Scottish Labour fade away made for awkward viewing

Never speak ill of the dead, our mothers instructed us, and I suppose that taboo extends to the dying. But those shuffling off this mortal coil are encumbered by no such niceties. Indeed, they can be vicious, lashing out frantically at everyone else, dreading the looming inevitable. Scottish Labour is raging against the dying ofContinue reading "Watching Scottish Labour fade away made for awkward viewing"

Civic or ethnic nationalist: Can you pass the Quidditch Test?

There are two questions which, unlikely as it seems, go to the heart of Scottish nationalism today. Question One: Is JK Rowling Scottish or English? If your answer to our first question is “Scottish”, you are probably a civic nationalist. Your framework of belonging is inclusive and dependent on choice and geography rather than heritage. If,Continue reading "Civic or ethnic nationalist: Can you pass the Quidditch Test?"

Labour is the Hiroo Onoda of Scottish politics

World War II didn’t actually end in 1945, you might be surprised to learn. Japan’s aggression against the Allied Forces in fact ceased on March 11, 1974. Or at least it did for Hiroo Onoda, a second lieutenant in the Imperial Army, who finally surrendered on that day. Onoda spent 29 years cut off fromContinue reading "Labour is the Hiroo Onoda of Scottish politics"