Beyond Tribal Politics
Independent journalism and commentary on politics, society, culture, climate and Scotland’s future.
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…
A 50-hour week for bairns is the wrong answer
The Scottish Government wants pre-school kids to spend more and more hours away from home. But Laura Bird thinks there are other…
Scotland’s revolutionaries: another perspective on the Yes movement
What is the Yes movement? A protest? A religion? A cult? No: with its discipline, utopianism, strategic intelligence and sense of historic…
Windpower to the people
Politicians of all colours have failed to inspire voters with a proper definition of what devolution could bring – a real transfer…
Scottish Government muddies water on privatisation
How the quiet privatisation of some water services not only brings the Scottish Government up against many of its own supporters, but…
Ruth Davidson for UK Tory leader?
Ruth Davidson is widely regarded as having had “a good campaign” as Scottish Tory leader. But could she lead the UK Conservative…
The pollsters’ Becher’s Brook
The pollsters universally predicting a SNP landslide may be heading for a fall, argues Jackie Kemp from inside the bookie’s shop.