Stephen Daisley

  Just when it seemed like the Tories had finally arrived at the fight for the Union, they go and take a detour up a dead end. Michael Gove, head of the Cabinet sub-committee on the Union, hinted last week that a future Scexit referendum could give the vote to Scots living overseas. He didContinue reading "You can’t fight for the Union on the SNP’s terms"

This week there will be an almighty row about Westminster stealing powers from Holyrood. You may be wondering how that differentiates it from any other week. Ginning up grievance over imaginary encroachments on your authority is infinitely easier than governing. Scottish ministers are so concerned they could lose some of their powers they might evenContinue reading "A small step in the right direction"

Holyrood heaved itself up from its low-grumbling torpor yesterday to roar like a real parliament. The opposition stood no chance of withdrawing confidence in John Swinney after Patrick Harvie marshalled his Scottish Greens into their regimental role as human shields for the SNP. The arithmetic gave the proceedings an air of futility, but if theContinue reading "How John Swinney survived again"

I wouldn’t want to be Douglas Ross. Given my knowledge of Scottish football was only recently updated with the startling information that Dundee has two teams, that is probably for the best.  But the challenges facing the latest Scottish Tory leader are more daunting than anything he has encountered on the football pitch. He assumesContinue reading "Douglas Ross must blow the whistle on Tory failings"

There is a frisson in the air around constitutional matters, an abrupt zing of urgency at Westminster about the future of the Union. After years of indolence, ministers have suddenly awoken to the scale and immediacy of the threat to the United Kingdom. The 'resignation' of Jackson Carlaw, the candidacy of Douglas Ross and theContinue reading "Boris needs Avengers for his Union fightback"

Jackson Carlaw’s leadership of the Scottish Conservatives will not be remembered as one of the party’s high points. But while his personal qualities as a leader, a strategist and a communicator are plainly not beyond reproach, neither do they fully explain why he is stepping down after just six months in the job. Certainly, heContinue reading "A new Act of Union is needed to save the United Kingdom"

Jackson Carlaw is a man of his party. He was forged by it, shaped by its triumphs and more often its defeats, but he carried its banner loyally and with the very best humour, even through the lean years of the 1990s. His decision to resign works that same seam of duty: party before personalContinue reading "Jackson Carlaw gave his all but it wasn’t enough"

Tony Blair won Labour three elections and one day they might forgive him for it. The former leader cuts a sombre figure these days, the Labour elder statesman few in Labour want to listen to anymore. The Conservatives would do well to perk up their ears, however, because if there is one thing Blair knowsContinue reading "How Keir Starmer can win in Scotland"

Dear Boris, Welcome back to Scotland. It's always good to see a Prime Minister travelling north of the border, even when he isn't convinced there is a border. Unfortunately, not everyone is happy to see you and some nationalists even think you ought to have secured permission to come here. That is absurd, though noContinue reading "Letter to a Prime Minister in more trouble than he realises"

They say the older you get the more right-wing you get but I find myself becoming more contemptuous of politicians of all stripes. Maybe this is how the education of a young idealist plays out: the faster the years pass, the greater the impatience with the failure of political promises to manifest in material change.Continue reading "That’s not a power grab, THIS is a power grab"