Politics
ScoLab’s spectacular decline, Scots Tories’ revival
“It says something about Labour’s demise in Scotland that its chief role in the 2017 election may well be as a third-party influence on contests between the SNP and the Conservatives, rather than as a…
Police Scotland changes course
“Policing 2026 is not an officer reduction exercise, nor is at a ‘time-bomb’. Clearly Scottish policing is facing an eye-watering deficit: around £200 million by 2020/21 at the latest estimate. Still, putting it dryly, there…
#GE2017: proxy vote for #indyref2
“Any Tory gains may well not be enough to stop the SNP using the return of over 30 MPs to further its agitation for a second referendum. But the party’s high command would not be…
Nationalist ultras defy people’s sovereign will
“Far from denying Scots their right to decide their own destiny, Theresa May is seeing that the sovereign will of the Scottish people is upheld in defiance of the attempt by Nicola Sturgeon to thwart…
UK progressive media warm to indy
“Sturgeon is even finding some sympathy on the soft right. Matthew Parris of The Times believes the Scots should have a second vote if they want one. The Guardian’s Simon Jenkins agrees, arguing that “Anglo-Scottish…
Thought for the day: anywheres and somewheres
“Holyrood has now voted to trigger Section 30, a call for a new independence referendum. I very much hope that this will be the first step on a path that will allow Scotland to retain…
Ruth Davidson as midwife of independence?
“The Scottish Tories have happened upon a strategy to avoid association with the Conservatives in London. For the moment, keeping the issue of Scottish independence simmering away works for the Tories. But an issue that…
The first Sceptical Scot public debate
This would have beenl the first of a Sceptical Scot series exploring what kind of Scotland we are and want to become…What kind of Scotland we become tomorrow requires a clear and honest look in…
No magic cure for Scotland’s stubborn health inequality
Devolution has failed to reduce Scotland’s stubborn health inequality. Norman Bonney doubts that greater powers are necessarily the answer to Scotland’s problems.
Leaving two unions unwillingly
“That would mean far more savage austerity than Scotland has experienced so far under the protection of the Barnett formula. It probably would also mean tax increases, which the First Minister has so far mostly…
The meaning of independence
“If we do leave, it is vital that we do so with realistic expectations of what we can achieve and the difficulties we will face. The unqualified use of the term “independence” raises expectations beyond…
Nicola’s new model army
“The referendum created a realignment in Scottish politics allowing the SNP to fulfil its long-standing ambition of replacing Labour. But it may also signal a change in the nature of political activity. That may be…