The Herald

The Herald | Politics


Families of Katie Allan and William Lindsay to meet John Swinney after FAI fi...
22 Jan 2025 at 11:08am
The families of Katie Allan and William Lindsay will meet with First Minister John Swinney tomorrow.


Herald Poll: Should Neil Gray step down after "inadvertently" misleading parl...
22 Jan 2025 at 10:46am
Neil Gray has been accused of misleading the Scottish Parliament after making an ?inadvertent error? in his remarks around the documentation of meetings at football matches he attended.


Swinney: I would work with Starmer on migration policy for Scotland
22 Jan 2025 at 7:26am
First Minister John Swinney is calling on Westminster to work with him to develop a ?tailored? migration policy for Scotland that could allow overseas students to remain in the country after graduation.


Ash Regan: Alex Salmond would have wanted me as Alba leader
22 Jan 2025 at 5:00am
The Alba MSP vying for her party?s leadership has told The Herald the former First Minister and leader wanted her as his deputy.


MacNeil and Hanvey join Salmond widow to back MacAskill for Alba leader
22 Jan 2025 at 5:00am
Angus MacNeil and Neale Hanvey have joined Alex Salmond's widow Moira in backing Kenny MacAskill to become Alba Party leader.


Swinney still has full confidence in Gray after health minister's Limogate ad...
22 Jan 2025 at 1:05pm
John Swinney has defended his Health Secretary despite Gray admitting to an "inadvertent error" over ministerial car use for football matches. The controversy, dubbed 'Limogate,' has sparked criticism from opposition parties.


Elon Musk's salute at Donald Trump's inauguration isn't MAGA's first fascist ...
21 Jan 2025 at 2:50pm
Elon Musk twice performed what appeared to be a fascist salute at Donald Trump's inauguration


Pladis confirms secret 'legacy' donation to Glasgow Council following factory...
21 Jan 2025 at 11:55am
Pladis, the owners of McVitie?s, has confirmed they were behind a secret £1 million donation to Glasgow City Council, sparking backlash from unions. The GMB said the firm should focus on creating jobs instead of offering "crumbs from the table" after closing their Tollcross factory in 2022, leaving 470 workers redundant.


Starmer: State failures in Southport killings ?frankly leaps off page?
21 Jan 2025 at 9:07am
The Prime Minister has said the failure of state institutions in the case of child-killer Axel Rudakubana ?frankly leaps off the page?.


Trump returns to power: Five takeaways on the inauguration
21 Jan 2025 at 7:42am
Donald Trump capped off one of the most extraordinary political comebacks in American history on Monday, returning as the 47th president of the U.S. more popular and powerful than before, just a mere four years after leaving Washington in defeat. 


'Westminster needs to get serious about addressing spiking in its own corridors'
21 Jan 2025 at 5:00am
Sally Donald, who works for an SNP MP, reflects on being in a UK Parliament bar at the same time a young woman's drink was allegedly spiked.


Former Scottish MP says ?not first incident of spiking? at Strangers? Bar 
21 Jan 2025 at 5:00am
A former MP has told The Herald she knows of at least one other alleged incident of spiking at a UK Parliament bar following the most recent incident.


'The threesome scene did give me some pause. All 11 pages of it'
21 Jan 2025 at 1:56pm
After listening to all the Trump commentary I needed a palate cleanser and found it with the UnReality podcast.


Analysis: Could the SNP and Labour do the 'unthinkable' and form a coalition?
21 Jan 2025 at 2:13pm
Polling published at the weekend found a coalition between the SNP and Labour would be the most popular form of two party government after the next Holyrood election.

The Scotsman

The Scotsman Politics


Wetherspoon?s Tim Martin hits out at ?dinner party? politicians amid £60m Bud...
22 Jan 2025 at 10:47am
?It is a clear principle of taxation that taxes should be fair and equitable, as between different types of companies? ? Sir Tim Martin


Swinney calls for bespoke migration policy for graduates in Scotland
22 Jan 2025 at 6:00am

First Minister ?ready to put in the hard yards? to make system tailored for Scotland a reality

Britain faces a new threat of terrorism from ?extreme violence carried out by loners, misfits, young men in their bedrooms? following the Southport murders, the Prime Minister has said

Donald Trump appears to believe bizarre conspiracy theorists rather than scientists about climate change and vaccines

Professor Joe Goldblatt contemplates 15 months of anguish for people on both sides of the Middle East?s sharpest dividing line after a peace deal was struck between Israel and Hamas

Nurses are voting with their feet by leaving the health service ? and taxpayers are paying the price for recruiting expensive agency staff to fill the resulting vacancies

The ceremony was held indoors due to arctic conditions in Washington DC.

Love him or loathe him, Donald J Trump is back.

Labour?s general election manifesto pledged to cut energy bills ?not just in the short term, but for good?.

It?s day one of a new Presidency and things seem to be moving quickly.

Richard Leonard said it was time to ?draw the line? over Elon Musk and X

Wings over Scotland

A short treatise on stalking
21 Jan 2025 at 3:25pm
We’re stuck indoors waiting for a repairman today, so we had a little read-around of some of the less popular Scottish politics blogs to pass the time, and noted this: James Kelly of Scot Goes Pop, which we gather from its front page was seemingly one of the “Top 50 Left-Wing Blogs of 2011”, is …

The Great Hollowing
20 Jan 2025 at 12:44pm
The wild thing about this poll isn’t the headline that six months after winning a massive landslide majority, Keir Starmer now trails Nigel Farage – leader of a party with five MPs to Starmer’s 411 – as the electorate’s choice for best Prime Minister. It’s the little grey numbers sitting quietly at the bottom. Because …

Poisoning The Unwell
18 Jan 2025 at 12:29am

The same old tricks
16 Jan 2025 at 2:57pm
Way back in the day, the Lib Dems in particular, but also other parties and the “Better Together” campaign, were infamous for the “dodgy barchart” tactic. And so degraded is the modern SNP, it’s now scraping the same barrel. Here’s a graphic the party’s MSPs have been tweeting this week, made up to look like …

A crisis of democracy
14 Jan 2025 at 1:43pm
In the recent US election, the Democrats made a huge play out of the notion that the very concept of democracy itself was at risk if Donald Trump won. And yet his eventual victory was unquestionably democratic. Not only did Trump win under the electoral college system by a huge 312-226 margin, and secure control …

Nicola?s Non-Truths
13 Jan 2025 at 4:38pm
Peter Murrell really ought to have seen the writing on the wall a while ago. But at least it’s in keeping with her track record. (Nicola Sturgeon resigned less than two years later.) (There was no fresh independence referendum.) (Only 1 in 10 pupils had received their free laptop when the scheme was scrapped.) (The …

Inability To Learn
12 Jan 2025 at 11:28am
Y’know, maybe we were a little harsh on the lads at Holyrood Sources yesterday when we implied that a more direct and aggressive interviewing style might have cut through John Swinney and Kate Forbes’ pathetically feeble waffling evasion on the SNP’s lack of an independence strategy in their recent podcast. But the closest thing (along …

In Ruins
11 Jan 2025 at 12:51pm
Don’t watch this. You’ll only waste 12 minutes of your life making yourself angry. ? It’s our job to be angry for you. Quite aside from anything else, the title is a barefaced lie. There is nothing remotely resembling a “route to independence” aired anywhere in the interview. Despite being gently pressed by former SNP …

Eyes Full Of Beams
9 Jan 2025 at 3:38pm
The National carried a strange article yesterday, apropos of seemingly nothing, about a Brussels-based political thinktank supposedly linked to the right-wing Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban. The piece actually originated on superwoke “fact-checking” site The Ferret a couple of days earlier, and professed to expose how the thinktank was “stoking Scotland’s culture war”. Alert …

Safeguarding Is Not Right-Wing
9 Jan 2025 at 12:34pm
As more horrific experiences from survivors of rape torture gangs surface from across the UK, we must focus not on knee-jerk political posturing but on the root cause that led to the failure of these children by our society. ? Political inaction has now opened the door to inevitable political mileage, nurtured from stoking vengeance …

Craig Murray

Real Reporting Appeal
18 Jan 2025 at 4:36pm

Our new mini-documentary from the Middle East shows again the kind of reporting that no Western media either can or will do. We hope to visit Damascus where Western media is giving entirely sycophantic and false coverage to the new HTS regime, praising the return of Pringles to the shops while ignoring massacres. But we …

Real Reporting Appeal

A Ceasefire is Not an End
16 Jan 2025 at 1:21pm

The Genocide of the Palestinian people began 76 years ago. What may be drawing to a close is merely a particularly intense phase in the Genocide. Gaza is destroyed. 92% of its housing has gone. Its water treatment and sanitation, electricity generation, food processing, farming, and fishing are all now incapable of sustaining much life. …

A Ceasefire is Not an End

The United States? Pet General Appointed President of Lebanon
10 Jan 2025 at 3:32pm

Yesterday I did two short video reports from outside the Lebanese Parliament – inside a military cordon that totally sealed off downtown Beirut – on the appointment of General Joseph Aoun, Head of the Lebanese Armed Forces, as President of Lebanon. There is no other Western source giving any of this detail – not even …

The United States’ Pet General Appointed President of Lebanon

Will Section 12 Die of Shame?
7 Jan 2025 at 7:32am

There was absolutely nothing stopping them, but not one single member of Western mainstream media ever visited a bomb site in Lebanon to verify whether Israeli claims it was a Hezbollah base or missile site were true. Because they knew the answer is negative, as I found across dozens of bomb sites, and that is …

Will Section 12 Die of Shame?

The Bank Israel Bombed
23 Dec 2024 at 8:59pm

Israel has relentlessly bombed all 38 branches of the Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association in Lebanon. Why is it so important to the Zionist cause to specifically obliterate a savings and loan institution? I investigate in our fourth mini-documentary from Lebanon. Click on the “Closed Captions” option at the bottom of the video and you will get …

The Bank Israel Bombed

Lebanon and Syria: My Interview for L?Indipendente
17 Dec 2024 at 9:46am

What’s happening in Lebanon: interview with former British Ambassador Craig Murray 11 December 2024 – 19:00 The current situation in Lebanon is more delicate than ever. Despite the entry into force of the fragile cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel, the Jewish state continues to violate the terms of the agreement, claiming that it is only …

Lebanon and Syria: My Interview for L’Indipendente

BBC Scotland

Gray apologises over football match meetings
21 Jan 2025 at 6:32pm
The health secretary made the latest apology after being accused of misleading parliament by opposition MSPs.

Caldwell family renew calls for non-Scottish judge
21 Jan 2025 at 7:06pm
Iain Packer was convicted of murdering Emma last year - 19 years after first being identified as a suspect.

MacAskill to challenge Regan for Alba leadership
20 Jan 2025 at 12:58pm
The former justice secretary has been endorsed by Moira Salmond, widow of the late party founder.

Murrell property sale ban during police probe
18 Jan 2025 at 2:10pm
The legal move was put in place last June, three months after the former SNP chief executive was charged with embezzlement.

Search for missing fragments from Stone of Destiny
17 Jan 2025 at 6:20am
A university professor is working to trace the history of as many as 34 fragments from the ancient stone.

Labour MP criticises government over Grangemouth
15 Jan 2025 at 6:09pm
Brian Leishman says he is "incredibly disappointed" by Sir Keir Starmer's administration.

'Ending child poverty remains complex issue for Swinney'
16 Jan 2025 at 9:59am
Recent figures suggest a quarter of Scotland's children were living in poverty in the early years of this decade.

'Accelerating' A9 dualling would not cut project time
14 Jan 2025 at 9:53pm
Transport Scotland said rescheduling the current timetable for the project would cause further delays.

MSP pay to rise by 3.2% to almost £75,000
14 Jan 2025 at 11:36am
Parliamentarians are to get a salary increase of more than £2,000 a year.

Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell to end marriage
13 Jan 2025 at 1:22pm
Sturgeon says she and the former SNP chief executive have been separated for "some time".

Delayed island ferry Glen Sannox begins sailings
13 Jan 2025 at 2:40pm
The MV Glen Sannox is to make its first scheduled passenger voyage between Troon and Arran early on Monday.

Call for Hogg to be stripped of MBE reasonable - FM
10 Jan 2025 at 3:25pm
The former Scotland rugby captain was given a community payback order after he admitted domestic abuse.

Scot Goes Pop

Alba is not in a good place when the only thing that matters in the leadershi...
22 Jan 2025 at 11:19am
I very nearly posted the other night to say that the Alba leadership election was over before it really got started, because with the extraordinarily rare political intervention from Moira Salmond ...

It's "Scot Goes Pop Night" over at Wings, as Stew lovingly archives and annot...
21 Jan 2025 at 9:06pm
I very rarely link to Wings posts, but I'm compelled to make an exception tonight because I'm profoundly moved by this one.  In order to prove that he's not stalking me, Stew Campbell has run no fe...

GB-wide polls update: Reform UK hit record-breaking heights with several more...
20 Jan 2025 at 7:37pm
As this is Scot Goes Pop's first blogpost of the Trump II era, it might be an appropriate moment to check in with the GB-wide polls to see how MAGA's de facto sister party, Reform UK, is getting on...

A response to Shannon Donoghue's new claim
20 Jan 2025 at 11:16am
Thank you to the Shannon impersonator on the previous thread for drawing my attention to the fact that the real Shannon Donoghue is accusing me of lying, albeit in her trademark indirect way - And ...

Some free advice to the Alba Party
19 Jan 2025 at 11:21pm
So 24 hours late, here's what I was planning to post last night before Robert Reid, Robert Reid came riding through the glen.  As a result of my article the other day about returning to the SNP and...

The Survation poll may have served up the key numbers demonstrating why Labou...
19 Jan 2025 at 6:17pm
The latest batch of numbers from the Survation / True North Advisers / Holyrood Sources poll relates to attitudes towards the various options for a coalition government at Holyrood after next year'...

THE ALBA FILES, Part 3: It is *literally* the case that 50% of the people who...
19 Jan 2025 at 2:20am
A rare moment of light relief in the Alba leadership's Kafkaesque "disciplinary" action against me occurred over Christmas, when strapping young lad Robert Reid from Alba HQ randomly started taunti...

New article on my decision to rejoin the SNP
17 Jan 2025 at 6:11pm
Just a quick note to let you know that I have a new article at The National, giving a condensed history of the events that eventually led to my expulsion from the Alba Party on trumped-up charges, ...

STV Politics News

Latest Politics News | STV News

Keir Starmer to face MPs at Westminster in first Prime Minister?s Questions s...
22 Jan 2025 at 12:09pm
It comes as Donald Trump officially became the 47th President of the United States on Monday.

Nicola Sturgeon?s husband Peter Murrell banned from selling marital home
22 Jan 2025 at 11:46am
The former SNP chief executive had the restriction placed on him after he was charged with embezzling party funds.

Gray apologises for ?inadvertent error? in remarks about football match meetings
22 Jan 2025 at 9:28am
Opponents had accused the SNP minister of potentially misleading the Scottish Parliament.

Two IDs could be needed to buy knives online as Starmer promises tougher laws
22 Jan 2025 at 8:46am
Online retailers could be forced to ask anyone buying a knife for two types of identification under new laws promised by the government.

Swinney: I would work with Westminster on bespoke migration policy for Scotland
22 Jan 2025 at 7:22am
The First Minister wants to see a scheme put in place to allow overseas students to remain in Scotland after graduating.

Warning of ?inertia, delay and uncertainty? without Internal Market Act changes
22 Jan 2025 at 7:05am
New report says the legislation had 'radically undermined' the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

What does Donald Trump?s return mean for Scotland?
21 Jan 2025 at 9:47pm
The most Scottish President has fallen out with previous First Ministers.

No money in budget for cap on bus fares despite recommendation
21 Jan 2025 at 3:31pm
Fiona Hyslop also told MSPs that she would be monitoring whether the end to the pilot on scrapping peak rail fares had impacted passenger numbers.

?Fair? settlement means council tax rise should be minimised
21 Jan 2025 at 3:18pm
The finance secretary said councils will receive a record funding deal of more than £15 billion.

SNP looking for new chief executive with ?integrity and influence? 
21 Jan 2025 at 1:24pm
The party is advertising for the post following the resignation of Murray Foote in October last year.

It?s Trump World again, and we all just live in it
20 Jan 2025 at 4:41pm
There?s a feeling he?s being unleashed in a way that will eclipse the drama of his first term, writes Paris Gourtsoyannis

Public consultation opens over MSP ?double-jobbing? ban at Holyrood
20 Jan 2025 at 3:42pm
Double-jobbing is when an MSP holds a secondary elected position outside of Holyrood.

Swinney hopes ceasefire ?start of long-term political solution in Middle East?
19 Jan 2025 at 6:30pm
British hostage Emily Damari was released by Hamas on Sunday along with two other hostages, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher.

Scotland ?punished for bigger public sector? due to National Insurance rise ?...
19 Jan 2025 at 12:00pm
Finance secretary Shona Robison estimates cost to Scotland's finances could be £700m due to bigger pubic sector workforce.

Daily Record

Daily Record - Politics

John Swinney has 'confidence' in Neil Gray after SNP Health Secretary forced ...
22 Jan 2025 at 12:42pm
Gray has faced a backlash for taking chauffeur-driven Government limos to several games involving Aberdeen, the club he supports.

Operation Branchform are the two words John Swinney dreads the most as he pla...
22 Jan 2025 at 9:51am
Daily Record Political Editor Paul Hutcheon says senior figures in the SNP fear the political impact of the police probe.

Scotland 'must get environment powers back after post-Brexit power grab'
22 Jan 2025 at 4:30am
A new report for charities umbrella group Scottish Environment LINK criticised Westminster?s controversial Internal Market Act.

Nicola Sturgeon's husband Peter Murrell banned from selling marital home by p...
21 Jan 2025 at 10:00pm
The Daily Record can reveal the marital home of Peter Murrell and Nicola Sturgeon is the only property subject to the ban.

Waspi women protest at Holyrood as SNP Government makes another demand for co...
21 Jan 2025 at 5:19pm
A vote in favour of compensation was passed by MSPs tonight in a purely symbolic move, as the issue is reserved to Westminster.

SNP Health Secretary Neil Gray apologises for misleading Scottish Parliament ...
21 Jan 2025 at 4:06pm
The senior Nationalist is under pressure regarding his use of official limos to attend Aberdeen and Scotland games.

SNP posts job advert for new chief executive with 'integrity and influence'
21 Jan 2025 at 3:58pm
Murray Foote stood down as the SNP chief executive in October after just over a year in the role.

Donald Trump warned by SNP Government whisky tariffs would be 'catastrophic'
21 Jan 2025 at 3:37pm
Finance Secretary Shona Robison sounded hopeful the tax would not be levied.

Legal bill to remove Scots judge from office after 'misbehaviour' towards wom...
21 Jan 2025 at 2:37pm
A protracted tribunals process took years to conclude following allegations against a senior legal figure in Aberdeen.

8 crazy things Donald Trump did on his first day back as US President
21 Jan 2025 at 1:58pm
After four years away from the White House, the 78-year-old wasted no time implementing his policies.

The National

The National | Politics

Debate about means-testing pensions ignores income tax pensioners pay
22 Jan 2025 at 12:00pm

IT has obviously escaped the attention of those suggesting the triple lock should be means-tested that the increase is already means-tested through the income tax system

SNP MP left unimpressed as Ian Murray dodges question on Scottish immigration
22 Jan 2025 at 12:03pm

PETE Wishart was left looking unimpressed with the Scottish Secretary?s answer to a question on immigration...

Rachel Reeves under pressure as Government borrowing spikes
22 Jan 2025 at 10:30am

RACHEL Reeves has been dealt another blow by the financial markets as Government borrowing spiked ? heaping yet more pressure on the Treasury.

Benefit fraud could lead to driving ban under latest DWP plans
22 Jan 2025 at 10:11am

BENEFIT fraud could potentially lead to being banned from driving under new Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) plans...

Elon Musk 'financing Tommy Robinson's legal battles'
22 Jan 2025 at 8:51am

ELON Musk has agreed to help fund the legal bills of Tommy Robinson, according to claims made by supporters of the far-right agitator...

Alex Salmond would have wanted me to be Alba leader, claims Ash Regan
22 Jan 2025 at 8:07am

ASH Regan has said that Alex Salmond would have thought it made sense for her to replace him as Alba leader...

How can we overcome helplessness as billionaires take over the world?
22 Jan 2025 at 5:00am

THIS week has not been a good week for optimism. Watching the second inauguration of Donald Trump, where he was flanked by some of the world?s richest billionaires, it was hard not to be overcome by a sinking feeling.

I'm a French citizen. This is what Scotland taught me about community
22 Jan 2025 at 5:00am

IT?S a conversation I seem to have on repeat with fellow French citizens here in Scotland. Inevitably, after the initial pleasantries, we end up dissecting the state of things.

UK devolution 'unfit for four nations' after post-Brexit changes, report warns
22 Jan 2025 at 5:00am

DEVOLVED governments face ?years of inertia, delay and uncertainty? without reforms being made to a key piece of post-Brexit legislation, a report has said.

Wealth doesn?t ?trickle down? ? that?s why we need to tax it, SNP MP says
22 Jan 2025 at 5:00am

?WON?T someone please think of the super-rich?? Let?s be honest ? it?s not the sort of cry you might expect to hear in any kind of rational discussion between sensible folk.

Holyrood Magazine

Holyrood Website

Keir Starmer urged to do more as online child sexual abuse hits record high
22 Jan 2025 at 11:20am
The Internet Watch Foundation has urged the Prime Minister to intervene amid concerns that the Online Safety Act could allow a 'safe harbour' for abuse to continue

Neil Gray apologises for inaccurate statement to parliament
22 Jan 2025 at 7:35am
The health secretary said he made an 'inadvertent error' last November

UK Government being ?anti-growth? on migration ? John Swinney
22 Jan 2025 at 6:00am
In a speech in Glasgow, the first minister will also set out his case for rejoining the European Union

UK Government launches new AI tools to save public billions
21 Jan 2025 at 11:50am
A new technology plan aims to unlock the power of AI to cut costs, boost efficiency, and ?turbocharge? the Labour government?s plan for change

Donald Trump sworn in as 47th President of the United States of America
20 Jan 2025 at 10:52pm
Trump declared ?America's decline is over? vowing to act quickly with executive action including declaring a national emergency at the US-Mexico border

UK Government to use AI to predict MP response to policy
20 Jan 2025 at 12:28pm
The technology would predict how civil servants and MPs will react to new policies, allowing ministers to develop strategies to get laws through parliament

Anger over ?900m NHS bill for agency nurses and locum doctors
20 Jan 2025 at 7:40am
Health service 'haemorrhaging money', Scottish Labour claims

John Swinney accused of using NHS staff as ?political shield? following criti...
17 Jan 2025 at 10:19am
A report from RCN Scotland has today raised significant concerns over patient safety

Systemic failures led to deaths at Polmont Young Offenders Institution
17 Jan 2025 at 10:03am
Katie Allan, 21, and William Brown, 16, were found dead in their cells in 2018.

Glasgow councillor defects from Conservatives to Reform UK
16 Jan 2025 at 4:20pm
Ex-group leader quits after Farage party outperforms Tories in city

Guardian - Scottish Politics

Scottish politics | The Guardian

?We are resting on our laurels?: Scotland faces significant challenge to prot...
19 Jan 2025 at 8:00am
Francesca Osowska, the outgoing chief executive of NatureScot, says more needs to be done for Scotland to hit target of restoring 30% of natural environment by 2030Scotland faces a significant challenge to meet its pledges on protecting nature without more funding and a shift in attitudes, a seni...

UK politics: Kemi Badenoch describes Rachel Reeves as a ?woman problem? for K...
16 Jan 2025 at 6:24pm
Opposition leader says PM?s ?woman problem is not my concern? when asked jokingly if she would back Starmer if he sacked the chancellorRichard Adams is the Guardian?s education editor.Thirty-two sixth form colleges across England will be hit by more strikes over a pay disparity between staff empl...

UK politics: Starmer says ?door remains open? for Tulip Siddiq following her ...
14 Jan 2025 at 5:46pm
PM appoints Emma Reynolds as her replacement as Siddiq steps down but implies she could return to government in futureStephen Doughty, a Foreign Office minister, has told MPs that the future of Greenland is a matter for the people who live there. And he said that he made this clear in a meeting w...

No 10 says Starmer does expect Reeves to stay as chancellor until general ele...
13 Jan 2025 at 6:19pm
Downing Street says prime minister has ?full confidence? in chancellor and will be working with her ?in role of chancellor? for the whole of this parliamentKeir Starmer is about to deliver his AI speech.Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell have ?decided to end our marriage?, the former f...

Nicola Sturgeon announces divorce from Peter Murrell
13 Jan 2025 at 12:16pm
Former Scottish first minister says on social media that ?we have been separated for some time now?UK politics live ? latest updatesNicola Sturgeon has announced her divorce from her long-term partner Peter Murrell, who was previously the chief executive of the Scottish National party.Their decis...

Protection zone set up after bird flu outbreak in Angus area of Scotland
11 Jan 2025 at 12:00pm
Scottish government stresses risk to public is low, as chief veterinary officer says it is first outbreak since 2023A protection zone has been set up after an outbreak of bird flu in Angus, Scotland?s chief veterinary officer has said.On Friday night, Sheila Voas said a 10km (6.8 mile) surveillan...

Nigel Farage paid £189,000 for part-time job as ?brand ambassador? for gold b...
7 Jan 2025 at 6:05pm
MP for Clacton declares payments on register of MPs? interests after spending four hours a month working for gold bullion firmAt the end of last week Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary and runner-up in last year?s Tory leadership contest, said the child abuse grooming scandal started wi...

Anas Sarwar accuses Scottish government of ?weakening every institution?
6 Jan 2025 at 4:06pm
Scottish Labour leader sets out plan to revive party?s flagging fortunes before Holyrood electionsAnas Sarwar has accused the Scottish government of ?weakening every institution in Scotland? as he set out plans to revive Labour?s flagging fortunes before the Holyrood elections.The Scottish Labour...

Swinney to warn opposition of fuelling populism if Scottish budget not passed
6 Jan 2025 at 12:01am
Scottish Labour, Greens and Lib Dem MSPs accuse first minister of ?creating false narrative? John Swinney, Scotland?s first minister, will warn opposition parties that they will fuel populist forces if they prevent his budget from being passed this month.In a keynote speech in Edinburgh on Monday...

Director of Edinburgh international festival warns cuts put its status at risk
5 Jan 2025 at 11:00am
Nicola Benedetti calls for significant rise in public and philanthropic support to maintain its global reputationThe director of the Edinburgh international festival has warned it could lose its status as one of the world?s greatest arts events without significant increases in public and philanth...

Wee Ginger Dug

Wee Ginger Dug

Turning things around for the SNP
17 Jan 2025 at 3:03pm
There’s good news and not so good news from recent opinion polling. The good news is that the SNP should easily remain the largest party in Holyrood by quite some margin on current showing, while support for Labour in Scotland is in freefall, the not so good news is that the SNP needs to pick …

The rise of the far right, a threat and an opportunity for Scottish independence
12 Jan 2025 at 12:30pm
An opinion poll published this week ought to sound the alarm bells to anyone who values decency, compassion, and humanity in politics. According to an opinion poll carried out by pollsters Find Out Now, Reform UK ltd. Nigel Farage’s hard right English nationalist limited company masquerading as a political party is now neck and neck …

Musk vs. Farage, speed hating goes wrong
5 Jan 2025 at 5:42pm
Well it appears that Nigel Farage is going to have to look elsewhere for a multi-million pound donation from a far right billionaire sugar daddy. Fresh from falling out with Donald Trump’s MAGA base, Elon Musk has now fallen out with Farage over the latter’s failure to support the fascist thug Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, whom Musk …

Looking down the storm drain of 2025
2 Jan 2025 at 5:19pm
Happy New Year! and not so happy higher energy bills. On New Year’s Day the media gave extensive coverage to the higher energy bill price cap which came into effect on the first of January. What was not mentioned, and certainly was not mentioned on the Scottish news-where-you-are on the BBC was the promise made …

Starmer?s Christmas betrayals
22 Dec 2024 at 4:21pm
Starmer’s betrayals are coming thick and fast. It wasn’t too long ago that Starmer was promising to abolish the House of Lords. In 2022 Starmer vowed to abolish the House of Lords and replace it with a fully elected upper chamber. Yet the Labour manifesto for this year’s general election contained only a promise to …

Record support for an independent Scottish republic
19 Dec 2024 at 6:48pm
The pro-independence campaign group Believe in Scotland has released an important new poll. The group asked an additional question in the recent Norstat poll published in the Sunday Times which showed support for independence at an impressive 54%. The Times poll asked the question, Should Scotland be an independent country? This question produced the result …

Starmer?s Waspi betrayal will come back and sting him
17 Dec 2024 at 7:03pm
What exactly is going on with this Labour government? It’s like they have decided to set out to piss off as many pensioners as they can in the shortest amount of time. If that’s what they’re doing, then they are certainly one of the most successful governments in modern history. Perhaps they’re hoping all the …

2026 could be the last chance saloon for independence
16 Dec 2024 at 11:05am
There was the usual flurry of outrage from the usual suspects in the comments section of an article in the Sunday edition of The National which reported that the SNP leadership does not intend to use the recent positive opinion poll putting support for independence on 54% in order to press for an immediate independence …

Starmer?s Scottish chickens are coming home to roost
9 Dec 2024 at 11:23am
A Scottish opinion poll published following the announcement of the Scottish budget appears to show that in a sharp rebuke to Keir Starmer and the neo-Blairites who have captured the Labour party, Holyrood is set to have a pro-independence majority following the next Scottish elections, and support for independence is at 54%, its highest level …

Starmer continues the Tory war on devolution
6 Dec 2024 at 9:45am
The Labour party isn’t even pretending to respect the devolution settlement now. Labour’s idea of Scottish devolution is that they’ll support it as long as Scotland votes for a Labour controlled Scottish Government. It’s the do as we say because you can’t be trusted school of British nationalist paternalism. It’s not for a government in …

The Courier

Scottish Politics News From Holyrood and Westminster | The Courier

Fife MP hopes lottery law change will hand hundreds of millions to charity
22 Jan 2025 at 6:00am
The People's Postcode Lottery, which gives at least 33% from each ticket sold to charity, led calls for reform.

NHS Fife nurse?s lawyers argue trans doctor should be called a man at employm...
21 Jan 2025 at 3:21pm
Dr Beth Upton's lawyer accused nurse Sandie Peggie and her legal team of 'misgendering' her client.

EXCLUSIVE: Taxpayer bill revealed for report proposing £15 a DAY driving char...
21 Jan 2025 at 6:00am
The Courier has seen the cost of the controversial suggestion which sparked a furious readers? backlash.

Forfar mum hopes Carseview visit pushes SNP to improve women?s mental health ...
20 Jan 2025 at 6:00am
Margaret Reid?s sister ended up at the Dundee centre after struggling with postpartum psychosis, following the birth of her baby girl.

CARLO MORELLI: How China folly and ?reckless? decision-making worsened Dundee...
17 Jan 2025 at 6:00am
Dundee University lecturer and union leader Dr Carlo Morelli criticises how investment decisions have been made and links them to the financial crisis.

Dundee University union leader says Tay Cities Deal partly to blame for fundi...
17 Jan 2025 at 6:00am
Dr Carlo Morelli says the £10 million cost of the deal is one of the university's management team's financial missteps.

EXCLUSIVE: Dundee University cuts support for free breakfasts and food pantry
15 Jan 2025 at 6:02am
University bosses are being accused of balancing the books off the backs of the poorest students.

Dundee schools brace for cuts to posts aimed at poorer pupils
14 Jan 2025 at 5:02pm
The Courier understands the £1.2million reduction in ?attainment? funding means the loss of 18.8 full-time equivalent posts across the city.

Nicola Sturgeon ends marriage to Peter Murrell
13 Jan 2025 at 11:39am
The former first minister revealed that "to all intents and purposes we have been separated for some time now?.

Grooming gangs: What did authorities do to investigate in Tayside and Fife?
12 Jan 2025 at 6:05am
Shocking reports of abusive ?grooming gangs? in Britain became the focus of global attention 10 years after a scandal in Rotherham.

Talking up Scotland

Talking-up Scotland

Factcheck ? Scotland a richer employment environment for 16 to 24 year-olds
22 Jan 2025 at 12:01pm
By Professor John Robertson OBA From Labour Market Statistics for 16 to 24 year olds: Scotland and the United Kingdom – October 2023 to September 2024, published today: Compared with the United Kingdom as a whole: Data are sourced from the Annual Population Survey (APS), first released on 11 December 2024 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Source: https://www.gov.scot/publications/lab...

Three England-only research reports do not prove that eating disorder treatme...
22 Jan 2025 at 10:24am
By Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to https://bsky.app/profile/keepinfairlieweird.bsky.social for alerting me to this. From BBC Health today: Lives are being lost and families torn apart because of “woefully inadequate care” for people with eating disorders, according to a group of MPs. The “alarming” rise in disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, over the past decade, has now become an “e...

Canadian local authority issues free potassium iodide (KI) tablets to all liv...
22 Jan 2025 at 10:06am
By Professor John Robertson OBA A map of the nuclear power plants in Eastern Canada. The city of Toronto (2.79 million) is contiguous with Pickering. Yesterday, from the local Durham Region Health Department: ?Ensuring that our community is prepared for any emergency is our top priority,” says Anthony DiPietro, Director, Health Protection with Durham Region Health Department. “Having a supply o...

8th sub-poll in a row confirms SNP lead of 15% to 20% over Labour
21 Jan 2025 at 8:29pm
From a YouGov poll today, with data collected on 19-20 January 2024 and based on a sample of 2 466 aged 18+: with a Scottish sub-poll of 215: Source: https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/51428-voting-intention-lab-26-ref-24-con-22-19-20-jan-2025 Previously, 7 comparable sub-polls, staring on 2/12/2024, produced these averages: These sub-polls have the obvious disadvantage, on their own, of be...

News you won?t hear ? massive reduction in road fatalities and serious injuri...
21 Jan 2025 at 12:11pm
By Professor John Robertson OBA From Road traffic accident statistics: FOI release, published today, we see a 24% fall in road fatalities, from 203 in 2014 to 155 in 2023 and, for serious injuries, a 32% fall from 2 901 in 2014 to 1 944 in 2023. Most of these FoIs are requested by the likes of Alex Cole-Hamilton of the Lib Dumbs, so it will be interesting to see if and how they try to spin this...

News you won?t hear ? treatment orders for drug-dependent offenders imposed s...
21 Jan 2025 at 11:20am
By Professor John Robertson OBA The emphasis of a DTTO is on drugs treatment as the primary means of reducing offending behaviour rather than the specific offence focused approach of a probation order. Specifically the objectives of a DTTO are to: ? Reduce or eliminate an offender?s dependency or propensity to misuse drugs; ? Achieve positive changes in the scale and frequency of drug related o...

News you won?t hear ? Injury road collisions plummet by up to a third since 2019
21 Jan 2025 at 10:55am
By Professor John Robertson OBA From Transport Scotland – Road accidents in Scotland data: FOI release, published today, we can see that all road collisions with an injury, at all speed limits, have fallen dramatically since 2019, ignoring the Pandemic-caused dips in 2020 and 2021 when road traffic was significantly reduced. Of particular interest, the injury collisions in the 30mph limit have ...

BBC Scotland faking baby death ?spikes? that were never there
21 Jan 2025 at 9:11am
By Professor John Robertson OBA From Scottish pregnancy, births and neonatal data dashboard, published on 14th January 2025, you can see Scotland’s falling stillbirth trend with variation between 3 and 5 per 1 000 births around the ‘normal’ level of 4, from one quarter to the next. There is one quarterly figure of 5 per 1 000 in July-September 2021 but it is not repeated and is no more signific...

4 tower block fires but no towering infernos in Scotland confirm higher build...
21 Jan 2025 at 7:58am
By Professor John Robertson OBA I’m four-sevenths of an architect. From 1970 to 1974, I passed 4 years of the part-time Certificate course in Architecture at Glasgow School of Art before getting sacked for (guess). I could calculate how much reinforcing steel you’d need in a concrete beam, but it’s all gone now, except one thing. Everyone moaned about the local authority building control office...

SNP plants nearly 20 times as many new trees as Labour Wales and more than 3 ...
20 Jan 2025 at 2:11pm
From Forest Research, Time Series in 2024: In the period of SNP administration in Scotland, from 2008 to 2024: Scotland planted 131 460 new trees including 67 000 broadleaves. England, with 10 times the population and nearly twice the landmass, only planted 40 720, less than a third. As for Labour-run Wales – 7 800! Source: https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/statistics/time-s...

Scotland and Independence

"scotland independence -guardian" - Google News

Scottish independence poll 2024 - Statista
10 Jan 2025 at 8:00am
Scottish independence poll 2024  Statista

Revival in SNP fortunes raises fresh questions about Scottish independence - ...
23 Dec 2024 at 8:00am
Revival in SNP fortunes raises fresh questions about Scottish independence  Financial Times

Will Scotland ever become an Independent nation-state? - Forbes
19 Oct 2024 at 8:00am
Will Scotland ever become an Independent nation-state?  Forbes

Sturgeon predicts independence and united Ireland in UK 'shake-up' - BBC.com
17 Sep 2024 at 8:00am
Sturgeon predicts independence and united Ireland in UK 'shake-up'  BBC.com

John Swinney says Scottish independence referendum will happen 'soon' - The N...
17 Jan 2025 at 5:19pm
John Swinney says Scottish independence referendum will happen 'soon'  The National

Is the dream of Scottish independence over? - POLITICO Europe
1 May 2024 at 8:00am
Is the dream of Scottish independence over?  POLITICO Europe

Want long-term austerity? Keep pushing for independence - HeraldScotland
20 Jan 2025 at 6:30am
Want long-term austerity? Keep pushing for independence  HeraldScotland

10th anniversary of the Scottish independence referendum - Sky News
18 Sep 2024 at 8:00am
10th anniversary of the Scottish independence referendum  Sky News

Alex Salmond: Scotland?s first nationalist leader and a tireless campaigner f...
12 Oct 2024 at 8:00am
Alex Salmond: Scotland?s first nationalist leader and a tireless campaigner for independence  The Conversation

New EU deal could ?pave the way? for Scottish independence - Express
20 Jan 2025 at 10:48pm
New EU deal could ?pave the way? for Scottish independence  Express

SNP

"SNP" - Google News

SNP-Labour coalition is a pipe dream - UnHerd
22 Jan 2025 at 7:04am
SNP-Labour coalition is a pipe dream  UnHerd

John Swinney laughs at prospect of SNP-Labour coalition at Holyrood - The Nat...
22 Jan 2025 at 12:57pm
John Swinney laughs at prospect of SNP-Labour coalition at Holyrood  The National

Peter Murrell unable to sell property during police probe - BBC.com
18 Jan 2025 at 2:11pm
Peter Murrell unable to sell property during police probe  BBC.com

Analysis: Could the SNP and Labour do the 'unthinkable' and form a coalition?...
21 Jan 2025 at 2:15pm
Analysis: Could the SNP and Labour do the 'unthinkable' and form a coalition?  HeraldScotland

SNP minister admits misleading parliament over Limogate - The Spectator Austr...
22 Jan 2025 at 8:43am
SNP minister admits misleading parliament over Limogate  The Spectator Australia

SNP Largs leave social media platform due to 'far-right ideology' - Largs and...
22 Jan 2025 at 9:39am
SNP Largs leave social media platform due to 'far-right ideology'  Largs and Millport Weekly News

SNP wants new chief executive ?with integrity? - The Telegraph
21 Jan 2025 at 3:47pm
SNP wants new chief executive ?with integrity?  The Telegraph

SNP MP left unimpressed as Ian Murray dodges question on Scottish immigration...
22 Jan 2025 at 12:03pm
SNP MP left unimpressed as Ian Murray dodges question on Scottish immigration  Inkl

Will the SNP come to its senses on North Sea oil? - The Spectator
17 Jan 2025 at 4:08pm
Will the SNP come to its senses on North Sea oil?  The Spectator

Cecil Meiklejohn (SNP) - Falkirk North Councillor Surgery - Falkirk Council
21 Jan 2025 at 6:58pm
Cecil Meiklejohn (SNP) - Falkirk North Councillor Surgery  Falkirk Council

Referendum (Google News)

"Scotland referendum -guardian -telegraph" - Google News

Scottish independence poll 2024 - Statista
10 Jan 2025 at 8:00am
Scottish independence poll 2024  Statista

John Swinney says Scottish independence referendum will happen 'soon' - The N...
17 Jan 2025 at 5:19pm
John Swinney says Scottish independence referendum will happen 'soon'  The National

The agony and ecstasy of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum - BBC.com
17 Sep 2024 at 8:00am
The agony and ecstasy of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum  BBC.com

Is the dream of Scottish independence over? - POLITICO Europe
1 May 2024 at 8:00am
Is the dream of Scottish independence over?  POLITICO Europe

Alex Salmond: Scotland?s first nationalist leader and a tireless campaigner f...
12 Oct 2024 at 8:00am
Alex Salmond: Scotland?s first nationalist leader and a tireless campaigner for independence  The Conversation

10th anniversary of the Scottish independence referendum - Sky News
18 Sep 2024 at 8:00am
10th anniversary of the Scottish independence referendum  Sky News

Ten years on from Scotland?s independence referendum - The Economist
18 Sep 2024 at 8:00am
Ten years on from Scotland?s independence referendum  The Economist

Alex Salmond, former Scottish first minister who nearly got Scotland?s indepe...
12 Oct 2024 at 8:00am
Alex Salmond, former Scottish first minister who nearly got Scotland?s independence from UK, dies at 69  PBS NewsHour

Will Scotland ever become an Independent nation-state? - Forbes
19 Oct 2024 at 8:00am
Will Scotland ever become an Independent nation-state?  Forbes

Scottish independence referendum: legal issues - Commons Library
16 Sep 2024 at 8:00am
Scottish independence referendum: legal issues  Commons Library