Politics
Is Scotland the fairest of them all?
Scotland’s supposed moral superiority is too often unchallenged by media and politicians alike. Isn’t it time we took a long, hard look in the mirror?
Nicola’s premature coronation
Smear or swoon. Attitudes to Nicola Sturgeon lurch between the two. The few days since the #leadersdebate on ITV have seen her vilified as a secret Tory supporter (good for a second referendum with a…
Parliamentary reform: Westminster shows Holyrood the way
Anyone who watched the BBC2 documentary series Inside the Commons would agree that it is not only the crumbling building which needs repair. A democracy that depends on its representatives mastering a 45 chapter tome…
Trident: an expensive and useless status symbol
It is extraordinary that, even at a time of intense pressure on Britain’s defence budget, questioning the biggest, most expensive, unique, controversial weapons system – one whose rationale depends on it never being used -…
Stress fractures in the Nordic model
When the Social Democrat leaders in the Nordic region gathered last November just outside Oslo, the mood might have been expected to be upbeat. Stefan Löfven had just become Swedish prime minister, ending eight years…
Why centre parties have lost their way
In electoral democracies generally, the traction and attraction of the main parties of the centre-left and centre-right have diminished so much that they struggle to maintain a grip on power, let alone dominate and swap…