Beyond Tribal Politics
Independent journalism and commentary on politics, society, culture, climate and Scotland’s future.
English nationalism: misreading the runes
Why Labour is wrong to blame English and Scottish nationalism for its defeat when it failed to grasp the importance of various…
Why Plaid failed to mirror the SNP triumph
Leanne Wood, Plaid Cymru leader, had a “good election” and is now “the Voice of Wales” but her party still managed only…
Human rights and ethical exceptionalism
Nicola Sturgeon has positioned the Scottish Government as the stoutest defender of the Human Rights Act. But the SNP’s position is not…
Cameron should ask Salmond to join UK Brussels team
David Cameron could save two Unions if he were to include the SNP’s Alex Salmond in his Brussels (re)negotiating team alongside George…
Kilts and gilts and Scottish debt
The Scottish Government can now, as of April 1, raise its own debt – via bonds or ‘kilts’ as they’re known. But…
The Light Streams In
This week’s Poem of the Moment, courtesy of Scottish Poetry Library, brings a welcome flash of spring sunshine. In a country still…
Scottish politics and the English language
A few years ago, the word Scotland meant more or less the same for most Scots. Today two Scots might use the…
The end of the Union?
Tom Devine considers the Scottish political landscape after the rout of unionist parties and re-examines the “Scottish Question” en route to an…
Four reasons why Labour lost
The post mortem over Labour’s disastrous defeat on May 7 continues. A German social democrat sets out his view of why the…
The SNP’s total but pyrrhic victory?
The 56 SNP MPs will soon get their first taste of powerlessness in Westminster as David Cameron uses his majority in Parliament…
Five political problems with Full Fiscal Autonomy
The newly elected Conservative Government may be considering full fiscal autonomy for Scotland in a struggle for power with the resurgent SNP.…
No forelock-tuggers in parliament please
‘You campaign in poetry; you govern in prose,’ as the late former New York governor Mario Cuomo famously put it. A cynic…