The Herald

The Herald | Politics


Labour wins Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election
6 Jun 2025 at 1:32am
Scottish Labour's Davy Russell has won the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election.


Labour?s win in Hamilton by-rewrites the script for next year's Holyrood elec...
6 Jun 2025 at 2:42am
Labour stuns SNP and Reform in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election with a narrow win driven by local anger and a focused ground campaign.


ScotRail is 'fixing' AI train announcer after controversy over voice used
5 Jun 2025 at 8:35pm
ScotRail is ?fixing? an AI train announcer after claims it uses a woman?s voice without her permission, the First Minister has said.


Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election breakdown in full
5 Jun 2025 at 4:30pm
The polls have closed in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election. Here is a breakdown in full.


Swinney defends Wishaw neonatal intensive care unit downgrade after by-electi...
5 Jun 2025 at 3:44pm
First Minister John Swinney has defended plans to downgrade Wishaw?s neonatal intensive care unit, amid mounting criticism and a fierce by-election battle.


How The Herald is covering the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election
5 Jun 2025 at 7:37am
The Herald will bring live updates, results, analysis and interviews from the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election count


Campaigners plot resistance as community park one step closer to bulldozers
5 Jun 2025 at 6:00am
Campaigners have refused to back down as a beloved community park in Aberdeen is one step closer to being bulldozed.


Sarwar accuses Swinney of ?misinformation? as he insists Labour can win by-el...
5 Jun 2025 at 5:00am
Anas Sarwar says John Swinney is misleading voters about Reform UK?s prospects in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election.


Green activist urges Harvie and Greer to make way for ?radical women? at elec...
5 Jun 2025 at 5:00am
A Scottish Greens activist has called on Patrick Harvie and Ross Greer to step aside for women candidates at the top of the Holyrood list, following the party's suspension of its gender-balancing rules


Rows with press, claims of racism and misinformation - a by-election that tur...
5 Jun 2025 at 5:33pm
Clashes with the press, allegations of racism and misinformation, the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election is a contest like no other in recent history.


Greens accuse BBC of bias over Debate Night Glasgow special
5 Jun 2025 at 6:36pm
The BBC has been accused of bias over the panel for its Glasgow special of Debate Night, which aired just hours before polls opened in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election.


Scottish Reform chairman Zia Yusuf quits Farage's party after burka ban question
5 Jun 2025 at 6:11pm
Zia Yusuf has stepped down as chair of Reform UK following a public dispute over calls to ban the burka by a new party MP.


The word of the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election: scunnered
5 Jun 2025 at 5:19pm
The row over language in Shetland reveals how perception ? not facts ? often drives complaints and politics alike.


Scotland Office and Scottish Chambers of Commerce in ?Brand Scotland? mission...
5 Jun 2025 at 5:00am
The UK Government is giving £100,000 to support Scottish overseas trade missions, in a new partnership with the Scottish Chambers of Commerce

The Scotsman

The Scotsman Politics


Hamilton by-election results: Labour pull off stunning victory over SNP as Da...
6 Jun 2025 at 1:59am

Labour have secured a shock victory against the SNP in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election.

One of Reform UK?s leading figures has resigned from his post as party chairman, effective immediately.

The Scottish Lib Dems say the SNP is to blame for the issues plaguing Scotland?s waters.

The First Minister said the Scottish Government is following expert clinical advice

Huge ramifications are ahead from the fallout of the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election.

The Scotland Secretary criticised the SNP during Scottish questions

Wings over Scotland

Ball Of Confusion
5 Jun 2025 at 3:22pm
We must admit, we don’t quite get what the Daily Record is trying to achieve. Having already told its dwindling band of readers that voting for both the SNP and Labour is the only way to stop Reform in today’s Hamilton by-election, for the last two days it’s deployed some random loony in a hard …

Why genocide is brilliant
4 Jun 2025 at 1:54pm
Wait, not genocide. Biscuits. We’re thinking of biscuits. Sorry about that. As you were, everyone. Mmm, biscuits.

And No Great Mischief Should They Fall
3 Jun 2025 at 8:01am
A few weeks ago we had a thought. And it seemed quite an interesting thought, so we decided to commission a poll on it from our old pals at Norstat. 63-37? Well, there’s your clear and overwhelming support. There is not, in our lifetimes, going to be another independence referendum on the terms of the …

Here And There
2 Jun 2025 at 7:16pm
This is what Labour say in Scotland: And this is what they say elsewhere, when they think nobody in Scotland is looking: One day someone’s going to tell them about the internet, and our life’s going to get a lot more difficult. Until that day, though, let’s just enjoy the laughs.

A Butterfly On Absinthe
2 Jun 2025 at 7:37am
If you’ve been reading Scottish social media or the Scottish press for the last year and a half or so, the following graph is going to come as a bit of a shock to you. But there it is all the same. Activists, who are tiny in number but loud of voice, habitually like to …

The Flip
1 Jun 2025 at 12:53pm
We’ve just taken delivery of some REALLY interesting polling results, readers, but it’s going to take a while to fully analyse and write them up, so in the meantime let’s look at some slightly less interesting ones which came from the same poll – the Norstat one commissioned by the Sunday Times and published today, …

The Outsiders
31 May 2025 at 2:10pm
If you’re a fan of lazy, superficial political analysis from the mentally unwell, you might have read this week about John Swinney’s great strategic triumph of having “coaxed” an “endorsement” out of the Daily Record for Thursday’s by-election in Hamilton. And if so, you might be forgiven for thinking that that analysis looks pretty stupid …

The Blackout
30 May 2025 at 2:55pm
Alert readers will be familiar with this site’s ongoing quest for an explanation as to why controversy-plagued charity LGBT Youth Scotland continues to operate in dozens of Scottish primary and even nursery schools, pushing gender ideology onto children as young as four despite only having a remit to support 13-25-year-olds. Last month we were, to …

What Anas Actually Said
29 May 2025 at 1:27pm
The entire Scottish media and professional-politician community is currently in a self-righteous froth about a campaign ad being run by Reform for the Hamilton by-election targeting Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar. Obviously none of the acres of press coverage trusts voters to see the ad and decide for themselves, because that simply isn’t how journalism …

Tell Them You?re Frightened
29 May 2025 at 6:38am
Whoever advised John Swinney to do this should be tarred, feathered and fired. Because incredibly, the sheer abject patheticness of it isn’t even the biggest problem. It’s wretched enough that the sole reason the First Minister can offer voters in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse to vote for his party is that he isn’t Nigel Farage, …

Craig Murray

The UK Rebukes the UN and Bows to the Israeli Embassy over ?Terrorism? Arrest...
28 May 2025 at 6:43am

There is a stunning contrast between the access given by the UK to the Israeli Embassy to influence prosecutions of anti-Genocide journalists and protestors, and the repudiation by the UK of United Nations querying such prosecutions. The UK has rebuked the UN for “outside interference”. I cannot state enough how unusual it is for the …

The UK Rebukes the UN and Bows to the Israeli Embassy over “Terrorism” Arrests of Journalists

MI5 Take Us For Fools
20 May 2025 at 10:33am

Imagine my hilarity when the front page headline new “Iranian plot”, trailed by MI5 as involving weapons stores, attacks on the Israeli Embassy and on Whitehall, turned out to be yet another faked “surveillance operation” against Iran International, the “media company” that is dodgier than Al Capone’s accountant. The BBC still made it the second …

MI5 Take Us For Fools

MI5?s Fake Terror Plots
10 May 2025 at 7:31pm

Back in the “War on Terror” days, the UK security services fabricated multiple fake terror plots. There was, for example, the 2009 Easter Bomb Plot in Manchester, taking entire front pages of newspapers. Gordon Brown as PM hyped it as a “very big terror plot”. It was a total fabrication, nobody was convicted and it …

MI5’s Fake Terror Plots

The Strange Death of Social Democratic Britain
5 May 2025 at 9:53am

The UK’s first-past-the-post electoral system can have some remarkable results and is capable of enacting extraordinarily quick political revolution, as in the triumph then rapid fall from power of the great Liberal Party in the first quarter of the twentieth century. We are in such a moment now. The Labour Party today has a Commons …

The Strange Death of Social Democratic Britain

Kashmir and the Indus
27 Apr 2025 at 1:31pm

India’s Hindutva President, Narendra Modi, has used the Kashmir terrorism incident to abrogate the 1960s Indus Waters Treaty – a longstanding goal of Modi. The Indian version of the “terrorist attack”, most of whose victims were Muslim, has largely been accepted by Western governments without evidence. False flags abound nowadays. You may recall that we …

Kashmir and the Indus

Syria to Recognise Israel By End 2026
14 Apr 2025 at 6:04pm

A British diplomatic source tells me that “President” al-Jolani aka al-Sharaa has assured the UK that Syria will “normalise relations” with Israel, recognise the State of Israel and exchange ambassadors, by the end of 2026. This is part of a deal in exchange for substantial Western financial support and the lifting of sanctions on Syria. …

Syria to Recognise Israel By End 2026

BBC Scotland

Labour wins Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election
6 Jun 2025 at 2:45am
The ballot was held following the death of local MSP and government minister Christina McKelvie.

Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election: Who are the candidates?
5 Jun 2025 at 8:37am
A guide to all the candidates who are standing in the by-election on 5 June.

Cancer care 'time-bomb' warning over doctor shortage
5 Jun 2025 at 11:20am
The Royal College of Radiologists has warned that cancer patients could wait longer for treatment if recruitment does not improve.

Hamilton is a dead town - what will our new MSP do to save it?
4 Jun 2025 at 1:30pm
Voters speak ahead of a by-election to determine who replaces Christina McKelvie as MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse.

Up to £24m to be invested in west Highland port
4 Jun 2025 at 5:12pm
Kishorn, a former oil and gas industry yard, is being expanded to enhance its capacity to serve the renewables sector.

Edinburgh University staff announce strike dates
4 Jun 2025 at 3:22pm
Staff at the University of Edinburgh will take strike action on 20 June in a dispute over a £140m budget cut.

Starmer says no independence referendum while he is PM
3 Jun 2025 at 3:20pm
The prime minister insists it is more important to focus on the economy than the constitution.

Teacher workload 'unfair and unhealthy', union says
3 Jun 2025 at 6:13am
EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley has called for action to reduce teachers' class contact time.

Defence plan will ensure UK is ready for war, minister says
2 Jun 2025 at 7:47pm
The Army needs to become "10 times more lethal" to face a "new era of threats", defence secretary says.

'Student politics' row over SNP arms funding policy
1 Jun 2025 at 2:54pm
The Scottish government's defends its policy of not investing public money in munitions after criticism by the UK defence secretary,

Defence spending review marks significant turning point
2 Jun 2025 at 2:51pm
The prime minister's plans mean significant changes in the way the UK funds and spends on defence.

How did the SNP-Green relationship go so wrong?
30 May 2025 at 6:38am
Dropping plans for a new national park is the latest in a series of policies driven by the Scottish Greens to have been scrapped by the SNP.

Scot Goes Pop

For the attention of the good people of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse: yo...
5 Jun 2025 at 5:52pm

No, Stew, you can't count the war in Ukraine FOUR times. You can't say "the ...
5 Jun 2025 at 5:08pm
Yesterday, the controversial and increasingly far-right blogger Stuart "Stew" Campbell claimed that we shouldn't be paying much attention to horrific war crimes in Gaza, because much the same sort ...

OK, Stew, so what are these other fifty countries? Name them, please.
5 Jun 2025 at 1:28am
The controversial and increasingly far-right blogger Stuart "Stew" Campbell literally published a blogpost today with the title "Why genocide is brilliant", but an even better insight into his warp...

At least Campbell's propaganda poll is helpfully revealing what his current p...
4 Jun 2025 at 2:43am
A few weeks ago, the senior Alba Party member Mike Dailly made the extraordinary declaration that he thought there should be a referendum on abolishing the Scottish Parliament and reverting to dire...

Normal service is resumed as SNP bounce back to hold a commanding lead in lat...
3 Jun 2025 at 1:16pm
The full-scale Scottish poll from Norstat showing a decent SNP lead was already enough to say with a reasonable level of confidence that the recent weird string of Scottish subsample results from G...

The only consolation is that he's Somerset's shame, not Scotland's: Campbell ...
3 Jun 2025 at 1:10am
A couple of weeks ago, the controversial and increasingly far-right "Stew" blogger ran an utterly meaningless self-selecting Twitter poll of his readers that was carefully framed to produce a "both...

More analysis of the extraordinary poll showing independence support at 54%
2 Jun 2025 at 5:16pm
Just a quick note to let you know I have a new analysis piece at The National about the Norstat poll from the weekend, which showed a big lead for Yes on the independence question, and also had the...

Massive boost for the SNP prior to the Hamilton by-election as they retain a ...
31 May 2025 at 8:42pm
Should Scotland be an independent country? (Norstat / Sunday Times, 27th-30th May 2025)Yes 54% (+4)No 46% (-4)Although it's the independence numbers that leap out as truly spectacular, in the curre...

STV Politics News

Latest Politics News | STV News

Scottish Labour stun SNP to win crucial Hamilton by-election
6 Jun 2025 at 1:32am
Davy Russell is the new MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse after Labour win tight contest by just 602 votes.

Reform UK chairman quits after calling question from party?s newest MP ?dumb?
5 Jun 2025 at 11:07pm
Yusuf said working to get the party elected was no longer 'a good use of my time'.

Polls close in crucial Hamilton, Larkhall, and Stonehouse by-election
5 Jun 2025 at 10:00pm
Result of the vote to elect Scotland's next MSP is expected in the early hours of Friday morning.

Ministers urged to give pensions to retired police dogs
5 Jun 2025 at 11:49am
Owners can face thousands in vet bills as the dogs often have medical conditions after their service, charity the Thin Blue Paw Foundation said.

John Swinney to face FMQs as doctors warn of cancer care ?ticking time bomb?
5 Jun 2025 at 11:42am
The Royal College of Radiologists said without action to boost staff numbers, patients will face lengthening waits for diagnosis and treatment.

Voters go to the polls in crucial Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election
5 Jun 2025 at 7:16am
The Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse seat was vacated after the death of SNP MSP Christina McKelvie.

UK Government ?won?t change law? for more drug consumption rooms like facilit...
4 Jun 2025 at 6:42pm
The Thistle in Glasgow is the first facility of its kind in the UK and aims to bring down Scotland's high number of drug deaths.

Hamilton by-election: What was the result last time voters went to the polls ...
4 Jun 2025 at 3:30pm
Back in 2021, the SNP won the seat with 41% of the vote - but could that all be about to change?

Edinburgh University principal tells Holyrood committee he ?doesn?t know his ...
4 Jun 2025 at 1:26pm
Mathieson is often quoted in the media as making around £418,000 a year as the principle of the University of Edinburgh.

Keir Starmer to face PMQs after promising ?battle-ready? UK
4 Jun 2025 at 11:03am
Keir Starmer will face Prime Minister Questions on Wednesday afternoon.

Politicians making final push for votes ahead of Holyrood by-election
4 Jun 2025 at 8:12am
SNP leader John Swinney and the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar are both expected to campaign in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse on Wednesday.

SNP ?all over the place? on funding for defence companies, claims Labour
3 Jun 2025 at 9:56pm
A minister said a Rolls-Royce welding skills centre cannot be funded by Scottish Enterprise as it concerns ?munitions?.

?Alarming? figures show 400 oil and gas jobs could be lost every fortnight fo...
3 Jun 2025 at 5:20pm
The Robert Gordon University report said the worst-case scenario would be the equivalent to Grangemouth's refinery closure every two weeks for five years.

Presiding officer ?acted in a neutral manner? as Douglas Ross questions impar...
3 Jun 2025 at 4:25pm
Former Tory leader Douglas Ross was ordered to leave the Scottish Parliament during First Minister?s Questions last week.

Daily Record

Daily Record - Politics

Anas Sarwar hails 'incredible' Hamilton by-election victory and says Scots ha...
6 Jun 2025 at 2:27am
Labour were 11/1 outsiders to win the Hamilton by-election but pulled off a stunning win that few pollsters saw coming.

BBC Question Time viewers fume over 'ridiculous' last-minute change to show
6 Jun 2025 at 1:34am
BBC Question Time was briefly pulled from airwaves this evening as the public fallout between Donald Trump and Elon Musk rages on

Scottish Labour win Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election after stunn...
6 Jun 2025 at 1:33am
The result comes after one of the most bitter by-elections in Scotland in decades.

Elon Musk to halt SpaceX's NASA astronaut missions after Trump's contract threat
6 Jun 2025 at 12:16am
The SpaceX founder and CEO said Dragon would "no longer be able to service the ISS" after Trump said on Truth Social he would "be ending all government contracts" with the company

Epstein files explained: Michael Jackson, Prince Andrew and other celebs name...
5 Jun 2025 at 11:03pm
The names in the Jeffrey Epstein files have been released and include many high profile figures.

Reform UK in turmoil as Scottish-born chair quits after 'dumb' MP row
5 Jun 2025 at 5:57pm
Bellshill-born Zia Yusuf reigned after claiming the election of a Reform Government was not a "good use of my time".

Hamilton by-election LIVE as Labour defeats SNP and Reform finishes third
5 Jun 2025 at 3:55pm
The Record's top team will be in Hamilton overnight for all the latest news and updates from the by-election count

Young Scots groomed by gangsters to carry out crimes due to 'reduced risk' of...
5 Jun 2025 at 1:07pm
The SNP Government has been accused of failing to tackle organised crime after two notorious Scots gangsters were gunned down in Spain.

Hamilton and Larkhall by-election voting underway as parties push for last mi...
5 Jun 2025 at 12:06pm
The by-election result in South Lanarkshire will hand the winning party a major boost ahead of next year's Holyrood poll.

Polls open in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election after 'gutter pol...
5 Jun 2025 at 7:00am
The campaign has been dominated by claims of racism by Reform UK against Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.

The National

The National | Politics

'We have work to do': John Swinney reacts to shock Hamilton by-election loss
6 Jun 2025 at 2:01am

THE SNP "still have work to do" to turn around their electoral fortunes after they lost to Labour in the Hamilton by-election, John Swinney has said ...

Angus Robertson tears into BBC coverage of Hamilton by-election count on live TV
6 Jun 2025 at 12:52am

THE SNP?s Culture Secretary has torn into the BBC?s coverage of the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election count ...

Scottish Labour win Hamilton by-election in shock upset for SNP
6 Jun 2025 at 1:33am

THE results of the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election are in ...

Will there be a Hamilton by-election exit poll and when will the result come in?
5 Jun 2025 at 9:02pm

CONSTITUENTS in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse constituency have been casting their votes all day in the Holyrood by-election ...

Donald Trump 'is in the Epstein files', former ally Elon Musk claims as war e...
5 Jun 2025 at 8:28pm

US president Donald Trump is named in files about the notorious billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Elon Musk has said amid an escalating war between the two former allies.

See the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election odds
5 Jun 2025 at 8:23pm

Voters are going to the polls in a Holyrood by-election that Scotland?s First Minister has said is a ?two-horse race? between his SNP and Nigel Farage?s Reform.

Hamilton by-election results ? see the full breakdown in charts and graphs
5 Jun 2025 at 8:11pm

SCOTTISH Labour have won the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election ...

Patrick Harvie: Increased UK defence spending only makes war more likely
5 Jun 2025 at 7:54pm

THE world that we know is changing ...

LIVE: Labour win Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election
5 Jun 2025 at 7:01pm

Labour's Davy Russell has won the by-election despite being branded the "Invisible Man" in the by-election.

Labour councillors vote in favour of arms firms using public parks for testing
5 Jun 2025 at 7:00pm

LABOUR and Conservative councillors have voted against prohibiting arms manufacturers from using public parks in Edinburgh to test their equipment ...

Holyrood Magazine

Holyrood Website

Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf resigns
5 Jun 2025 at 6:43pm
Nigel Farage 'genuinely sorry' as Scottish businessman bows out

Organised crime ?out of control?, Russell Findlay tells John Swinney
5 Jun 2025 at 6:20pm
The first minister said organised crime was ?intolerable and unacceptable? but insisted his government and the justice system ?have been successful? in tackling it

Scotrail ?fixing? controversial use of AI voiceover, Swinney says
5 Jun 2025 at 6:02pm
First Minister John Swinney has said Scotrail is ?fixing? its AI train announcement system after claims it used a Scottish artist?s voice without consent

UK information commissioner ramps up scrutiny of AI?s use of personal data??
5 Jun 2025 at 5:57pm
ICO is set to step up its scrutiny of AI and biometric technologies amid growing?concerns over?human rights and data protection

'Bully' Douglas Ross is an embarrassment to MSPs, John Mason claims
5 Jun 2025 at 12:06pm
Presiding Officer advice sought

Edinburgh University principal unable to confirm his salary to MSPs
4 Jun 2025 at 4:17pm
University staff plan to strike over proposed cuts to jobs

Douglas Ross asks Presiding Officer: 'Did you mislead parliament?'
3 Jun 2025 at 4:49pm
Row over FMQs explusion continues

Jackie Baillie: The Scottish Government?s position on public funding for defe...
3 Jun 2025 at 4:26pm
Baillie's comments come after Scottish Enterprise reportedly refused ?2.5m- worth of funding to Rolls-Royce Submarines for a specialist welding skills centre, putting jobs at risk

Data expert to 'shape' digital future of the James Hutton Institute
3 Jun 2025 at 12:43pm
Professor Rupert Hugh will be responsible for?exploiting the opportunities presented by emerging technologies

UK offshore energy industry faces Grangemouth-scale redundancies every fortni...
3 Jun 2025 at 1:01am
The report warns that the UK oil and gas energy workforce could shrink by 400 jobs ??the same number?lost in the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery ??every two weeks for the next five years ?

Guardian - Scottish Politics

Scottish politics | The Guardian

Scottish Labour win pivotal Holyrood byelection, beating incumbent SNP and su...
6 Jun 2025 at 1:33am
Labour celebrated the ?incredible? win in the central seat of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, as voters rallied around popular local candidate Davy RussellScottish Labour is celebrating an ?incredible? win in a pivotal Holyrood byelection, beating the incumbent SNP and fighting off Reform UK?s...

Badenoch challenges Starmer at PMQs over winter fuel payment U-turn, Chagos d...
4 Jun 2025 at 5:20pm
Tory leader says PM should apologise to pensioners and asks how U-turn will be fundedReeves says her changes to the fiscal rules last year will make more investment possible.The decisions that we made in October mean that, for the first time, the Treasury actually takes account of the benefits an...

UK politics: Yvette Cooper quizzed over immigration and prisons crisis ? as i...
3 Jun 2025 at 5:30pm
Home secretary appears to accept early release proposals will put more pressure on police as she is questioned at select committeeDefence sources believe that Britain will be forced to sign up to a target of lifting defence spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035 at this month?s Nato summit after a campa...

Defence review plans will make army ?10 times more lethal?, says John Healey ...
2 Jun 2025 at 6:02pm
Defence secretary says ?the world is more dangerous? as he addresses MPs about strategic defence reviewHere is the clip of Keir Starmer in his Today programme interview refusing to say when the government will raise defence spending to 3% of GDP.In an interview with the Times published on Saturda...

Scottish Labour councillor defects to Reform
2 Jun 2025 at 5:03pm
Switch comes as Nigel Farage defends advert attacking Scottish Labour leader that prompted accusations of racismA Scottish Labour councillor has defected to Reform UK on the eve of a pivotal Holyrood byelection, as the rightwing populist party?s leader, Nigel Farage, defended a controversial adve...

Fairer elections and the threat of Reform UK | Letters
1 Jun 2025 at 5:55pm
Green MPs Ellie Chowns and Adrian Ramsay, Warren Brown and Stephen Smith respond to George Monbiot?s article on smashing Britain?s two-party systemGeorge Monbiot captures the betrayal and despair felt by millions of Labour voters who thought they were voting for change at the last general electio...

Farage says Sarwar is ?obsessed? by race as Hamilton byelection row escalates
29 May 2025 at 6:52pm
Reform posts second attack video on Scottish Labour leader after Facebook ad that received cross-party condemnationNigel Farage has launched a second attack video aimed at Anas Sarwar and accused the Scottish Labour leader of being ?obsessed about race?, escalating the increasingly personal row b...

How voter dissatisfaction could give Reform a Holyrood byelection boost
27 May 2025 at 4:34pm
Farage?s party anticipating a ?tartan bounce? in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse seat amid unhappiness at SNP and Scottish Labour?It?s going to be interesting to see how many people vote for them,? says Karen, a nurse from Larkhall, South Lanarkshire.?Labour and the SNP are expected to be the m...

Swinney demands Meta remove ?racist? Reform UK ad attacking Labour?s Sarwar
26 May 2025 at 5:34pm
Scotland?s first minister criticises byelection campaign video that claims his rival ?will prioritise Pakistani community?The SNP leader John Swinney has demanded that the owner of Facebook act on Reform UK?s ?racist? byelection advert that attacks the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar.The Face...

MSPs express ?deep concern? over Scottish parliament trans toilet ruling
25 May 2025 at 2:00pm
Holyrood to increase number of gender neutral facilities, says presiding officer, but critics say ban could expose trans people to harassmentNearly 50 MSPs and their staff have signed a letter to the governing body of the Scottish parliament expressing ?deep concern? about its decision to ban tra...

Wee Ginger Dug

Wee Ginger Dug

Making plans for Nigel
2 Jun 2025 at 5:38pm
I’ve been preoccupied with a family emergency involving my mother’s health, which has taken a sharp turn for the worse, so I’ve been too distracted to sit down and write a piece about recent political developments. However, on the basis that the best thing to do right now is find something else to focus on, …

A case for independence to break through the lies of the far right
29 May 2025 at 6:07pm
We are facing a serious political crisis. The next Westminster general election is four years away, given the size of Starmer’s majority in the Commons it would require a rebellion of unprecedented magnitude to unseat him. Despite the rumblings of discontent from Labour’s left wing old guard, there is little likelihood of there being enough …

Boldness is needed to challenge the far right and deliver independence
26 May 2025 at 8:48pm
We need to brace ourselves for the very real and alarming prospect that the frothing über-yoons of Reform UK come in second in next week’s Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Holyrood by-election. I dislike the pejorative term yoon as a rule, but in the case of Reform UK it’s fully warranted. It’s less likely, but not …

Scottish child poverty can only be eliminated with independence
24 May 2025 at 4:58pm
The Guardian newspaper has reported that Labour’s “flagship child poverty policy” has been delayed until at least the autumn, pushing tens of thousands more children into poverty in the meantime. It was because this policy was supposed to be unveiled in a few months that the Labour party justified voting against an SNP motion in …

Reform lets its mask slip to reveal its true ugliness
22 May 2025 at 8:20pm
Readers of this blog will know that I am not in the business of defending Anas Sarwar, the Scottish branch manager of the Labour party. There is a multitude of reasons for legitimately criticising him, his frequent and many lies, his willingness to spin on a sixpence in order to justify the latest monstrous policy …

The difficulty of tactical voting in the Holyrood list vote
20 May 2025 at 11:04am
It is now less than a year to the next Scottish Parliament elections and once more social media screen space is being consumed with arguments about tactical voting in the regional list vote. Every time there’s a Scottish election this argument comes up, even though tactical voting on the regional list vote has never worked …

Starmer?s Enoch Powell moment
14 May 2025 at 7:08pm
The fall out continues over Keir Starmer’s gob-smacking speech on immigration on Monday in which he echoed the language of the notoriously racist “rivers of blood” speech delivered by Enoch Powell in 1968 to a meeting of the Conservative Political Centre in Birmingham. At the time Powell was the Shadow Secretary of State for Defence …

The right wing takeover of the Labour party is now complete
12 May 2025 at 1:47pm
The unpalatable truth for Labour supporters, that is those who adhere to the traditional values and beliefs of the Labour party as they were understood throughout the entire twentieth century, is that the Labour party they believed in is dead. It’s deader than the parrot in the famous Monty Python sketch and it’s every bit …

How polls turn a lead for Yes into a lead for No
8 May 2025 at 4:34pm
You may have seen that a poll on support for Scottish independence was published this week. The headline figures on the poll, carried out by Survation, put No ahead on 44%, with Yes on 43% and undecided on 12%. When the undecideds were stripped out, this gave a result of 50.57% (rounded up to 51%) …

Iain MacWhirter gets it wrong again
5 May 2025 at 9:59pm
Former Herald columnist Iain MacWhirter has completed his journey from semi-detached sympathiser with Scottish independence – although he never fully abandoned his delusional hopes of a federal UK – to fully fledged cheerleader for the British establishment. MacWhirter always used to position himself as one of those “critical friends” that the Scottish independence movement seems …

The Courier

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Scottish Politics News From Holyrood and Westminster | The Courier

Could Rosyth-Europe ferry set sail thanks to Brexit reset?
27 May 2025 at 6:01am
Hopes have been raised for a simple solution to a cross-border problem.

Kirkcaldy MP demands pro-suicide forum is torn down
26 May 2025 at 6:01am
Around 100 suicides have been linked to the sickening forum which provides guidance to people on ending their life.

UHI Perth aviation students warn of ?unsettling times? after training firm?s ...
26 May 2025 at 6:00am
Worried Samuel Hughes, 19, is among students sharing their fears at a time of crisis for Perth College.

Fresh Dundee University strike begins over compulsory Levehulme Centre job cuts
26 May 2025 at 6:00am
University staff are taking five days of industrial action as the institution pushes ahead with plans to axe the forensic research hub.

NHS Fife nurse at centre of controversial trans tribunal suing her own trade ...
25 May 2025 at 2:32pm
A&E medic Sandie Peggie is now taking legal action against the Royal College of Nursing.

EXCLUSIVE: Dundee University still to strike rescue deal with government
23 May 2025 at 5:46pm
Opposition MSPs have expressed concern at the time taken to agree a deal almost a month after the fresh recovery plan was unveiled.

6 senior figures who left Dundee University during financial crisis
23 May 2025 at 5:10pm
Several university chiefs have moved on since £30m financial black hole emerged.

Dundee University activist artist leads degree show protest over financial cr...
23 May 2025 at 4:45pm
Duncan of Jordanstone student Finn Millar says he wants to play a part in "keeping the university alive".

John Swinney admits constituents have expressed Perth leisure concerns to him
23 May 2025 at 6:01am
The first minister wants further talks between both sides of Perth leisure debate.

EXCLUSIVE: Dundee University chief operating officer Jim McGeorge quits
22 May 2025 at 1:58pm
Dr Jim McGeorge ? who was responsible for good governance - had been on a period of extended leave.

Talking up Scotland

Talking-up Scotland [Collective]

LATEST ? ?Scotland and the largest underwater discovery IN HISTORY: The world...
5 Jun 2025 at 12:42pm
Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks once more to Dottie for this dramatic alert. From The Diary 24, the above and: A green technology company out of Scotland has come up with an industrial solution for offshore hydrogen bunkering and electric charging. The Oasis Marine technology has massive implications as it makes it far easier for marine vessels to switch from emissions-producing diesel syst...

So ?Scotland?s national security? is threatened by loss of a £2.5m grant!? T...
4 Jun 2025 at 5:18pm
By stewartb – a long read In recent days, British Labour Party politicians as well as journalists writing for ?patriotic? British media outlets have been trying to make mountains out of the molehill of Scottish Enterprise not awarding Rolls-Royce a £2.5 million grant. It?s tough competition but pellisonrhaps the prize for the ?best? headline – the most ridiculous –  goes to the ?Scottish? Daily...

Rap video lured children to carry drugs internally all the way to Aberdeen fr...
4 Jun 2025 at 4:32pm
Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Nottinghamshire yesterday, the above and: Twelve drug dealers have been jailed for running an “industrial” supply network that flooded heroin and crack cocaine into towns across the East Midlands and Aberdeen. The Nottingham-based ringleaders sprayed champagne from a white Rolls-Royce, in one of several “drill” music videos that boasted about their weapons ...

Would police investigating ?heart deaths? at a Scottish Hospital not then be...
4 Jun 2025 at 3:04pm
Liz S BBC has this story on their website in relation to the NHS in England?.It is on the main UK page , when you click on the story it then takes you onto the Health page, it is not on the UK Politics page: ?Police investigate heart deaths at NHS hospital? ?Police have launched an investigation into the deaths of patients following heart operations at an NHS hospital, the BBC has learned?. ?Do...

As NHS Scotland treats 91.6% of nearly 5 000 children and adolescents with me...
4 Jun 2025 at 11:10am
Professor John Robertson OBA Yesterday, I wrote: NHS Scotland beat a waiting times target for the second time in a row despite increased demand ? how will the media spin this to get SNPBad? I?m ahead of BBC Scotland, as I write at 11.02am, but I can smell them scurrying around, phoning someone who can be trusted to say the statistics, the same stats they trust when targets are missed, are not r...

Why is BBC Scotland?s scare story on the Spanish drug gang deaths leading to ...
4 Jun 2025 at 9:42am
…linked to an ongoing gangland feud in Central Scotland, with fire-bombings, assaults and shootings across Glasgow and Edinburgh, since March, but if that is the case, it would represent a massive escalation in violence compared to what’s gone before – and this is unprecedented – the murder of two senior figures from Scottish organised crime in a busy public place in a foreign country. Professo...

Month-after-month, year-after-year, Scotland?s hospitals are ready to operate...
3 Jun 2025 at 3:30pm
Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland today, the above graph and: Of all planned operations during April 2025 in NHSScotland, 733 (3.1%) were cancelled by the hospital for clinical reasons, 638 (2.7%) were cancelled by the patient, 415 (1.8%) were cancelled by the hospital due to capacity or non-clinical reasons, and 85 (0.4%) were cancelled for other reasons. Source: https:/...

Have Ayrshire constituents gone from having the most cost-effective to the le...
3 Jun 2025 at 3:01pm
Professor John Robertson OBA Why does the new Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock MP, Elaine Stewart, already have the third-highest expenses claim above of any Scottish MP when the previous MP, Allan Dorans, had the third -lowest expenses claims of any Scottish MP, for the same job? I was shocked to see these expenses claims by my new MP after hearing that our previous MP had the amongst the lowest cla...

NHS Scotland?s Type 1 Emergency departments 4 hour waits improve for third mo...
3 Jun 2025 at 12:06pm
Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland today, Scotland’s full emergency (Type 1) departments treated 67.1% within 4 hours, in March 2025, the third consecutive improvement. In NHS England, the equivalent (Type 1) figure 60.9%, 9.2% worse NHS Scotland 10.1% better and resulting in around 80 000 waiting longer than they would have if the SNP led NHS England. Of the 117 827 att...

NHS Scotland beat a waiting times target for the second time in a row despite...
3 Jun 2025 at 11:05am
Professor John Robertson OBA I’m ahead of BBC Scotland, as I write at 11.02am, but I can smell them scurrying around, phoning someone who can be trusted to say the statistics, the same stats they trust when targets are missed, are not reliable in some way based on their wee personal experience. This is a major achievement which deserves so much more. The staff deserve praise but may not get it ...

Scotland and Independence

"scotland independence -guardian" - Google News

Starmer says no independence referendum while he is prime minister - BBC
3 Jun 2025 at 3:20pm
Starmer says no independence referendum while he is prime minister  BBC

In the United Kingdom, prime minister rejects possibility of Scotland indepen...
3 Jun 2025 at 11:02pm
In the United Kingdom, prime minister rejects possibility of Scotland independence referendum  Constitution Net

New poll shows Scots overwhelmingly back indy over Westminster direct rule - ...
3 Jun 2025 at 5:07pm
New poll shows Scots overwhelmingly back indy over Westminster direct rule  TheNational.scot

Scottish independence support soars amid prospect of Nigel Farage in No 10 - ...
1 Jun 2025 at 9:27am
Scottish independence support soars amid prospect of Nigel Farage in No 10  The Herald

In the UK, Scottish independence and Irish reunification have lost their appe...
10 Jan 2025 at 8:00am
In the UK, Scottish independence and Irish reunification have lost their appeal  Le Monde.fr

Medieval scholars believed Scottish independence was entirely compatible with...
4 Jun 2025 at 5:04pm
Medieval scholars believed Scottish independence was entirely compatible with being British  Phys.org

Why Alberta?s push for independence pales in comparison to Scotland?s in 2014...
27 May 2025 at 1:44pm
Why Alberta?s push for independence pales in comparison to Scotland?s in 2014  The Conversation

The dogs are no longer barking for Scottish independence - The Times
4 Jun 2025 at 6:00pm
The dogs are no longer barking for Scottish independence  The Times

Rise of Nigel Farage's Reform UK boosts support for Scottish independence - T...
1 Jun 2025 at 10:25am
Rise of Nigel Farage's Reform UK boosts support for Scottish independence  The Scotsman

Starmer rules out second Scottish independence referendum while PM - The Tele...
3 Jun 2025 at 9:45am
Starmer rules out second Scottish independence referendum while PM  The Telegraph

SNP

"SNP" - Google News

Scottish Labour win pivotal Holyrood byelection, beating incumbent SNP and su...
6 Jun 2025 at 1:34am
Scottish Labour win pivotal Holyrood byelection, beating incumbent SNP and surging Reform UK  The Guardian

Labour defeats SNP to win Hamilton by-election as Reform finish third - BBC
6 Jun 2025 at 12:58am
Labour defeats SNP to win Hamilton by-election as Reform finish third  BBC

Polls close in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election - BBC
5 Jun 2025 at 10:24pm
Polls close in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election  BBC

Scottish Labour win Hamilton by-election in shock upset for SNP - TheNational...
6 Jun 2025 at 1:34am
Scottish Labour win Hamilton by-election in shock upset for SNP  TheNational.scot

Hamilton by-election results live: Labour beats SNP and Reform in Scottish se...
6 Jun 2025 at 2:43am
Hamilton by-election results live: Labour beats SNP and Reform in Scottish seat  The Telegraph

Scottish Labour win Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election - Sky News
6 Jun 2025 at 1:34am
Scottish Labour win Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election  Sky News

SNP must toughen proceeds of crime laws to tackle violence - Scottish Conserv...
5 Jun 2025 at 2:27pm
SNP must toughen proceeds of crime laws to tackle violence  Scottish Conservatives

Hamilton by-election results: Labour pull off stunning victory over SNP as Da...
6 Jun 2025 at 1:59am
Hamilton by-election results: Labour pull off stunning victory over SNP as Davy Russell becomes MSP  The Scotsman

Will the Reform surge storm Scotland? Nigel Farage's party 'vying with SNP' t...
5 Jun 2025 at 10:49am
Will the Reform surge storm Scotland? Nigel Farage's party 'vying with SNP' to win crunch Holyrood by-election  Daily Mail

A naturally occurring SNP modulates thermotolerance divergence among grapevin...
1 Jun 2025 at 1:13am
A naturally occurring SNP modulates thermotolerance divergence among grapevines  Nature

Referendum (Google News)

"Scotland referendum -guardian -telegraph" - Google News