The Herald

The Herald | Politics


Dozens of prisoners set to be released early as part of new scheme
11 Nov 2025 at 6:48am
This is the third such early release scheme the Scottish Parliament has voted for


Public finance minister travels to Poland on mission to help rebuild Ukraine
11 Nov 2025 at 6:00am
Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee will travel to Poland with a Scottish Chamber of Commerce business delegation today to attend the ReBuild Ukraine Construction and Energy conference.


Concerns raised with John Swinney over Robertson's HES evidence after email leak
11 Nov 2025 at 5:02am
Scottish Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr raises concerns with John Swinney over Angus Robertson evidence to Holyrood committee following a bombshell email leaked to The Herald.


'Totally inappropriate': Fury as nearly 100 hours spent on Glasgow drug room ...
11 Nov 2025 at 5:00am
Scotland?s first drug consumption room has spent almost 100 hours giving tours, prompting criticism over ?inappropriate? use of public resources.


Reeves signals possible income tax rise as ?difficult decisions? loom
10 Nov 2025 at 6:51pm
Chancellor Rachel Reeves says sticking to Labour?s income tax pledge would mean ?deep cuts? to investment as she prepares her first Budget.


SNP takes control of Stirling Council after deal with Greens and Independent
10 Nov 2025 at 6:07pm
The SNP has taken control of Stirling Council after striking a co-operation deal with the Scottish Greens and an Independent councillor.


Jeremy Corbyn to visit Glasgow this weekend to promote new political party
10 Nov 2025 at 5:41pm
The former leader of the Labour Party will take part in a series of membership events on Saturday, 15 November.


Electoral Commission intervenes in long-running Alba dispute
10 Nov 2025 at 4:30pm
The Electoral Commission has confirmed Chris McEleny no longer holds a key Alba Party post following a months-long dispute with party leadership.


Scotland's courts risk being 'eroded' by serious and chronic underfunding, SN...
10 Nov 2025 at 3:05pm
Scotland's courts system risks being 'eroded' by chronic underfunding, the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS) has warned SNP ministers.


Labour puts its faith in growth ? but can it fill the £5bn gap?
10 Nov 2025 at 3:38pm
Sir Anton Muscatelli?s report gives Scottish Labour big ideas on growth. But can Anas Sarwar really fix a £5bn black hole without raising taxes?


Latest Glasgow news: Crime, housing, events and city updates you need to know
10 Nov 2025 at 3:00pm
All of the latest Glasgow news in one place - as covered by The Herald's team of expert reporters across the city.


Assets of failed Glasgow company sold following £64m collapse
10 Nov 2025 at 12:44pm
Graeme Malcolm is director of new company Novacene Photonics, which has bought assets of M Squared Lasers


Sarwar: Focus on social policy over economics has left Scotland facing ?growt...
10 Nov 2025 at 12:25pm
Anas Sarwar says Holyrood?s neglect of economic policy has left Scotland with a ?growth gap?, as Labour launches Anton Muscatelli?s report on regional growth.


SNP's £3,500 flammable cladding tax will choke supply of new homes, say house...
10 Nov 2025 at 5:00am
Housebuilders have warned that a new tax aimed at funding cladding repairs could stall construction across Scotland. Developers told MSPs the proposed Building Safety Levy risks making projects unviable and worsening the housing emergency.

The Scotsman

The Scotsman Politics


'Marathon' Scottish NHS shifts revealed, including 19-hour days
11 Nov 2025 at 6:01am

The Scottish Conservatives called the figures ?shocking?

Labour MP Graeme Downie has urged the First Minister to provide clarity over whether the Scottish Government supports defence investment.

The Scottish Labour leader has pleaded with his UK government colleagues to be ?pursuing the opportunities that exist in oil and gas? in the North Sea despite a manifesto pledge to end new licensing.

Shell has given a 3GW floating wind lease back to Crown Estate Scotland after reportedly failing to sell it on to another renewables developer

The First Minister says Sir Robbie Gibb?s position ?fuels that doubt and debate about the independence and the impartiality of the BBC?

Wings over Scotland

Grift Away
8 Nov 2025 at 2:31pm
Oh good, another plan. Just three and a half years to wait. Should we, what’s the phrase, “Save The Date”? Rhetorical question, obviously. If you’re in a hurry, folks, just scroll down to the video and start there, because Believe In Scotland’s latest wheeze to get hold of your folding money and stash it in …

Rise Of The Machine
7 Nov 2025 at 11:49am
It’s Wings’ 14th birthday today, and to be entirely honest with you, readers, like a lot of teenagers we’re having a bit of an existential crisis. It’s quite difficult to see any point in being a Scottish political journalist for the next five years, because it’s just going to be one depressing Groundhog Day after …

How To Create Racists
29 Oct 2025 at 2:36pm
This really is an extraordinary headline, for multiple reasons. Because what actually IS “the rise of Reform”? ? The only thing “the rise of Reform” can possibly mean here is “more and more people choosing to vote for, or express their support for, a particular lawful political party in a democracy”. Why are we supposed …

Great news, everyone!
27 Oct 2025 at 11:04am
We?re important! Something to look forward to there, then.

The Music That Nobody Likes
24 Oct 2025 at 12:42pm
Perhaps the key graphic from last night’s by-election in Caerphilly is this one (green means Plaid Cymru in the context of Wales): In the end, Plaid won pretty comfortably in what had been predicted to be a very tight contest between them and Reform, with a majority of almost 4,000. But Plaid aren’t going to …

The Icarus Folly
22 Oct 2025 at 4:27pm
Last month, when half a football team of armed police ambushed and arrested comedy writer Graham Linehan at Heathrow Airport for a couple of tweets, we said this: Today, even more swiftly than we thought, this happened: Rarely can a hand have been overplayed so badly. Fans of free speech owe a huge vote of …

Courage Calls To None
17 Oct 2025 at 1:24pm
We should point out right at the start that a reader donated £12 back in the summer specifically to send us to Nicola Sturgeon’s book event in Bath last night. We assume it was someone we’d upset in some way. We arrived bang on 6.30, expecting to be among the first on the scene, but …

Your enemy?s mistakes
16 Oct 2025 at 5:03pm
So on the surface level this is just flat-out hilarious. Firstly because, as we showed you yesterday, the “significant proportion of Scotland’s population” which appears to have been won back to the SNP since John Swinney became its leader is… 1%. That’s all their vote has actually increased by as Scottish Labour have haemorrhaged support …

Come On Baby, Let?s Do The Twist
16 Oct 2025 at 11:34am
All of the words you’re about to read below were written by the same person in the last few days. It’s completely verbatim and none of it is taken in any way out of context. It means what it sounds like it means. But even if you’ve got a forehead the size of the “eggheads” …

A Case Study In Delusion
14 Oct 2025 at 1:19pm
Kevin McKenna has a piece in today’s Herald asking the question that is now the core issue for the Scottish independence movement. The short version of the answer is usually attributed to Mark Twain: “It is far easier to fool someone than to convince them that they’ve been fooled”. But that does nothing to explain …

Craig Murray

The Four Mentors of King Charles
6 Nov 2025 at 3:40pm

As Godfather to Prince William, heir to the British throne, Prince Charles chose his close friend and adviser Laurens van der Post. A paedophile. Van der Post raped a 14-year-old girl who had been given into his care for the sea voyage from South Africa to London. He then installed her in a flat in …

The Four Mentors of King Charles

UK Government Opposes Application for Scottish Judicial Review of Palestine A...
30 Oct 2025 at 5:27pm

The UK government – in the undistinguished shape of Baroness Smith of Cluny, Labour party hack, youngest daughter of John Smith and Advocate-General for Scotland – has responded to the court in our request for a Scottish judicial review of the proscription of Palestine Action. The Government asks that the judicial review be denied on …

UK Government Opposes Application for Scottish Judicial Review of Palestine Action Terrorist Proscription

Urgent ? We Need a Federal Your Party
29 Oct 2025 at 2:34pm

The draft Your Party constitution is for a highly centralised, London-based party which echoes the Labour Party. It “devolves” – they literally use the word – power from the centre to non-autonomous entities in Scotland and Wales. We need a Federal party – a completely different approach – where authority lies with the members, and …

Urgent – We Need a Federal Your Party

I Have Joined Your Party
27 Oct 2025 at 6:55pm

I am taking the plunge into Your Party. My worries remain about its centralist tendencies and lack of democracy, but I will work against those from within. Your Party is not a unionist party. It does not yet have a policy on Scottish Independence. I shall of course be striving for it actively to support …

I Have Joined Your Party

A Quick Intellectual Canter
20 Oct 2025 at 2:35pm

This is more video of me than anybody would ever want to see, but here are three interviews I did over the weekend. The first covers the legal action against the proscription of Palestine Action, Starmer’s summary courts for peaceful protestors charged with “terrorism”, UK and US efforts to legalise the Israeli occupation of Gaza …

A Quick Intellectual Canter

36 Minute Trials and No Jury ? Starmer?s Fascist Mass Courts
17 Oct 2025 at 9:55am

Those charged with terrorism for supporting Palestine Action will have no jury in trials limited to 36 minutes each, with prison sentences up to six months. These are the plans for Starmer Courts for mass trials of anti-Genocide protestors. The plans are devised by Justice Michael Snow. He is the epitome of judicial prejudice. When …

36 Minute Trials and No Jury – Starmer’s Fascist Mass Courts

BBC Scotland

Early release of prisoners will cause victims anxiety, admits minister
11 Nov 2025 at 8:19am
The emergency scheme which will see nearly 1,000 inmates freed from Scotland's jails is set to get under way.

Sarwar refuses to comment on UK tax hike speculation
10 Nov 2025 at 1:03pm
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has fuelled speculation that she could announce an increase in the Autumn Budget.

Finance secretary may have to 'revisit' no tax rise pledge
9 Nov 2025 at 1:54pm
Shona Robison says the chancellor's Budget decisions later this month could put unforeseen pressure on Scotland's finances.

SNP take over running of Stirling Council
10 Nov 2025 at 6:08pm
An agreement has also been reached that sees the first Scottish Green join the administration.

Alex Salmond died with debts of more than £340,000
7 Nov 2025 at 7:29pm
Insolvency firm Begbies Traynor has named a trustee in sequestration to handle the former first minister's estate.

How Scottish parties will try to maximise election votes in six months
7 Nov 2025 at 6:30am
Opinion polls point to a fifth SNP victory - but a lot could change in six months with parties working flat out for votes.

Whip restored to suspended Labour MP Leishman
7 Nov 2025 at 10:23pm
Alloa and Grangemouth MP Brian Leishman is returning to the Labour benches after a four-month suspension.

Scottish government reveals plan to reach net zero targets by 2045
6 Nov 2025 at 5:07pm
The route map includes targets to decarbonise building heat systems and phase out new petrol and diesel cars.

Swinney does not rule out tax hikes in Scotland
6 Nov 2025 at 2:06pm
The first minister was urged to give a "cast-iron" guarantee that he would not increase rates in the Budget.

Ministers to order investigation into maternity services
6 Nov 2025 at 12:33pm
The decision follows a BBC Disclosure documentary which heard calls for urgent action to improve safety.

Record number of referrals made to anti-terrorism scheme
6 Nov 2025 at 11:41am
Some 162 reports were made to Prevent, and extreme right-wing concerns made up the largest proportion.

Why the battle still rages over land ownership in Scotland
6 Nov 2025 at 6:21am
The reaction to the Scottish government's wide-ranging new laws show the divided opinions on the issue.

Scot Goes Pop

The Alba Party angrily denies allegations it has illegally nominated by-elect...
10 Nov 2025 at 9:57pm
As you may have seen on The National's website, the Alba Party is belatedly now a McEleny-free zone.  A whole six months after his expulsion from the party, Chris McEleny has been forcibly removed ...

Why the Believe in Scotland plan to win independence could be a GAME-CHANGER
10 Nov 2025 at 7:57am
When I first heard in vague terms what was in the new Believe in Scotland plan to win independence, I was sceptical, and I expected to be even more sceptical once I had read it in full - but I was ...

Are Labour quite sure there are no downsides to going all in on being the par...
9 Nov 2025 at 10:29am
 

A response to Alba man Jim Cassidy's rather cowardly personal attack
8 Nov 2025 at 12:22pm
This is a blogpost I've been meaning to write for a little while, and as my previous post contained yet more allegations about sleaze in the Alba Party, this may be as good a moment as any to do it...

Alba Sleaze Update: Party insider makes explosive allegation that every singl...
7 Nov 2025 at 6:29pm
In my earlier post about the Buckhaven, Methil and Wemyss Villages by-election, I suggested that the fact that Alba were even able to put forward a candidate at all must mean that Chris McEleny has...

SNP stroll to big landslide win in Fife by-election
7 Nov 2025 at 3:33am
It's the middle of the night as I post this, but I'll just briefly give you the by-election result, because it's a second impressive win for the SNP in as many weeks.  I'll also try to make a video...

Stuart Campbell, the restraining order, and the "visibly distressed horse": h...
6 Nov 2025 at 9:07pm
Below you'll find today's *three* tweets about me (heaven only knows how many it is this week so far) from the man who famously "doesn't stalk me" and "barely even mentions me".  Yup, you've guesse...

YouGov latest: another swing to Yes on the independence question, and the SNP...
5 Nov 2025 at 1:17am
* .* .*With less than two months of the year left to go, the 2025 Scot Goes Pop fundraiser is still short of its target figure.  If you'd like to help keep the lights on during the several months i...

STV Politics News

Latest Politics News | STV News

Record number of Scottish businesses paying real living wage, Swinney says
10 Nov 2025 at 4:33pm
Swinney said the new record means that Scotland has 'proportionately around five times as many real Living Wage employers' compared to the rest of the UK.

Gibb position on BBC board ?untenable?, says Swinney
10 Nov 2025 at 2:31pm
The comments come amid a bias row at the broadcaster which has seen two of its top bosses resign.

Donald Trump threatens legal action against BBC over Panorama speech edit
10 Nov 2025 at 1:57pm
The BBC has said it will ?respond directly in due course?.

Greens to force vote at Holyrood on Rosebank oil development
10 Nov 2025 at 12:00pm
MSPs will have their say in a symbolic vote on the project on Wednesday.

Sarwar pledges new era of regional economic growth if Labour elected
10 Nov 2025 at 6:38am
Anas Sarwar?s claims came as he launched the Muscatelli Report.

Shona Robison may ?potentially revisit? Scottish taxes in response to UK Budget
9 Nov 2025 at 12:34pm
The Finance Secretary said the Scottish Government had a ?very limited? set of levers to respond.

Starmer said to be facing plots to oust him, as Labour welcomes back rebel MPs
8 Nov 2025 at 1:31pm
The new intake of Labour parliamentarians are among those said to be discussing the mechanics of a future coup, according to reports.

Forbes announces £42m to help build more than 800 homes in Edinburgh
8 Nov 2025 at 11:38am
The fund is part of a £1.3 billion project to regenerate Granton Waterfront, Scotland?s largest brownfield regeneration project.

Four Labour MPs suspended for rebelling on welfare have the whip restored
7 Nov 2025 at 8:08pm
Neil Duncan-Jordan, Chris Hinchliff, Brian Leishman, and Rachael Maskell will no longer sit as independents in the Commons.

Insolvency specialist appointed to handle Alex Salmond?s ?effective bankruptcy?
7 Nov 2025 at 1:30pm
An application was made to the Accountant in Bankruptcy insolvency service by Salmond?s widow Moira on Thursday.

Six months to save the NHS in Scotland, says Labour?s Anas Sarwar on countdow...
7 Nov 2025 at 7:33am
Anas Sarwar said Scotland?s NHS 'will not survive a third decade of SNP failure', as he looked ahead to the poll in May.

What does the Scottish Government?s new climate action plan say?
6 Nov 2025 at 6:00pm
Is the new climate action plan a 'damp squib' or an 'ambitious' pathway towards net zero by 2045?

Maternity services across Scotland to be reviewed following damning reports
6 Nov 2025 at 5:41pm
Staffing shortages and a 'culture of mistrust' have led to delays and patients being harmed at one hospital in Edinburgh, HIS revealed last week.

John Swinney refuses to rule out tax rises in Scotland in January
6 Nov 2025 at 4:09pm
The First Minister said decisions on tax have to be considered 'very carefully'.

Daily Record

Daily Record - Politics

Edinburgh hit by 250% rise in homeless refugee applications from outside Scot...
11 Nov 2025 at 4:30am
EXCLUSIVE: The Capital has seen a hike in the number of refugees applying from south of the border.

Scots could save £700 on fuel bills if 'social tariff' introduced by UK Gover...
11 Nov 2025 at 4:30am
EXCLUSIVE: The introduction of a social tariff could benefit more than 660,000 households in Scotland and lift 202,000 out of extreme fuel poverty.

Rachel Reeves drops strongest hint she will raise income tax and scrap two ch...
10 Nov 2025 at 3:56pm
The Chancellor said sticking to manifesto commitments on tax would lead to deep cuts.

John Swinney denies SNP Government launched national drugs mission to 'contro...
10 Nov 2025 at 3:00pm
Professor Catriona Matheson, ex-chair of a taskforce assigned to tackle drug deaths, used a column in the Record to claim more action was needed to reduce deaths from drugs.

STV legend says broadcaster has ?no future? and predicts sacking of chief exe...
10 Nov 2025 at 2:50pm
Bernard Ponsonby issued the bleak verdict on his former employer.

Asylum seekers to be offered £100 a week to leave taxpayer-funded hotels
10 Nov 2025 at 11:54am
The plan is believed to have been tabled by Home Office officials as part of the push to close asylum hotels.

Nigel Farage rules out taking part in Holyrood election TV debates despite Re...
10 Nov 2025 at 11:50am
Reform are riding high in the polls in Scotland despite having no dedicated leader and no Scottish policies.

We need a clampdown on dangerous e-bikes as residents are being left in fear
10 Nov 2025 at 4:30am
In his Daily Record column, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar urges action against e-bikes and streets being used as "race tracks".

E-bike police seizures soar by 1450% as call issued for 'death trap' clampdown
10 Nov 2025 at 4:30am
EXCLUSIVE: New figures show a massive rise in seizures of the vehicles.

Public trust in Glasgow City Council plummets as residents vent frustrations
10 Nov 2025 at 4:30am
EXCLUSIVE: Trust in Glasgow City Council has dropped as the local authority struggles to deal with a homelessness crisis.

The National

The National | Politics

Scottish unemployment falls while UK rate rises to highest level in four years
11 Nov 2025 at 8:00am

Unemployment in Scotland fell in the last quarter while the UK rate has risen to its highest level in more than four years, according to the latest figures

Terrorism laws used to proscribe Palestine Action 'too broad', review finds
11 Nov 2025 at 5:00am

COUNTER-TERRORISM measures, including the law used to ban Palestine Action, and the Government anti-radicalisation scheme Prevent are being used too widely, a three-year review has found

Richie Venton: Labour are now a brazenly unapologetic capitalist party
11 Nov 2025 at 5:00am

HAVE you ever heard the story of the worker who did a full week?s shifts and cut back on the family bill so they could afford to give an arsonist the cash to buy petrol and matches to burn down the worker?s home?

Ellie Gomersall: BBC now even less likely to learn lessons it should be learning
11 Nov 2025 at 5:00am

FORMER Tory party council candidate Tim Davie on Sunday announced his intention to resign as director general of the BBC, alongside the CEO of BBC News, Deborah Turness, after a row over edited footage of Donald Trump for a Panorama documentary

Don?t tell me there is no institutional BBC bias against independence
10 Nov 2025 at 7:30pm

KARISHMA Patel must be looking for a lucrative job back at the BBC if she thinks they are pandering to the right-wing press with the resignations (Ex-BBC reporter slams broadcaster for ?caving to right-wing media? with resignations, Nov 10). And Deborah Turness stating that BBC news is not institutionally biased is just a barefaced lie.

Keir Starmer is aping Boris Johnson by slashing international aid
10 Nov 2025 at 6:30pm

IN a recent letter in relation to enabling/failing to challenge mad right-wing politicians, I asked if it were possible, just this once, for the UK to not follow the US down the sewer. Its a terrible habit that has done nothing but harm to Britain, economically, socially and in terms of international reputation.

How Labour's 'national security threat' attacks on SNP are hypocrisy 101
10 Nov 2025 at 5:39pm

TO no one?s surprise, Anas Sarwar has lined up behind his UK bosses and doubled-down on claims that the Scottish Government is a ?national security threat? ...

Alba hurdle to standing Holyrood candidates lifted as officer removed
10 Nov 2025 at 5:17pm

ALBA will be able to stand candidates at the next Holyrood election after removing one of the party?s former members from a key role.

Finding hope at home and abroad ? Scotland?s latest good news stories
10 Nov 2025 at 5:00pm

I TRY my best not to be overly political in this newsletter ...

Lesley Riddoch launches new film on Scotland's 'missing forests'
10 Nov 2025 at 4:46pm

LESLEY Riddoch has released a new film investigating Scotland?s ?missing forests?.

Holyrood Magazine

Holyrood Website

Scottish biometrics commissioner launches new strategic plan
11 Nov 2025 at 6:00am
The Scottish biometrics commissioner, Dr Brian Plastow, has launched a new four-year plan to review the use of biometrics by Police Scotland

Lib Dems launch petition to extend ferry compensation
11 Nov 2025 at 12:40am
The Lib Dems argue that many islands and coastal mainland communities are excluded from the Scottish Government?s compensation scheme

COP websites produce 10 times more carbon than average sites, Scottish resear...
10 Nov 2025 at 7:00pm
Websites designed for cop conferences emit up to 10 times more carbon than average internet pages, new research from the University of Edinburgh suggests.

Former Tory adviser position on BBC board ?untenable? ? John Swinney
10 Nov 2025 at 5:22pm
It comes as the leadership of the BBC has been called into question following the double resignation of the director-general and chief of news

SNP and Greens take control of Stirling Council
10 Nov 2025 at 5:10pm
The administration replaces a Labour-Conservative coalition

Dundee and US surgeons use a robot to perform world first stroke surgery
10 Nov 2025 at 12:27pm
Doctors from the University of Dundee and Florida have used a robot to perform a remote thrombectomy on a human cadaver

Anas Sarwar: Muscatelli report will stop Scottish politics being an ?economic...
10 Nov 2025 at 6:00am
Scottish Labour vows to 'push power out' of Holyrood and into communities

Scottish Greens call for reinstatement of fired Rockstar Games workers
7 Nov 2025 at 12:50pm
Ross Greer, the co-leader of the Scottish Greens, has called for the reinstatement of workers fired from video game developer Rockstar Games

Alex Salmond died with debts of ?350,000, records reveal
7 Nov 2025 at 11:59am
A trustee in sequestration has been appointed to the former first minister's estate

Scottish Government publishes net zero roadmap
6 Nov 2025 at 5:34pm
Opposition politicians and campaigners have criticised the government for not providing enough detail

Guardian - Scottish Politics

Scottish politics | The Guardian

The Guardian view on Scottish land reform: vast estates remain feudal in scal...
9 Nov 2025 at 5:25pm
Half of the country?s privately owned countryside is held by just 421 owners. New legislation suggests democrats still fear powerful interestsNo other European country has such a narrow base of proprietorship as Scotland. Half of all privately owned rural land is held by 421 people or entities. T...

Nicola Sturgeon: I understand why people doubt my ignorance of alleged SNP em...
7 Nov 2025 at 3:20pm
?Trust me, I had no idea? about potential wrongdoing in Scottish National party, says former first ministerNicola Sturgeon on leadership, scandal and trolling the trolls ? podcastNicola Sturgeon has said she fully understands why many people find it hard to believe she had no idea about alleged e...

Nicola Sturgeon on leadership, scandal and trolling the trolls ? podcast
7 Nov 2025 at 5:00am
In a special, bonus episode of Politics Weekly, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey sit down with Scotland?s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon for a frank conversation about her time in office and the future of nationalist politics.Nothing is off the table: her leadership, Covid, the gender row tha...

Lammy says he was not ?equipped with the details? when facing questions on mi...
6 Nov 2025 at 5:22pm
This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereDavid Lammy, the deputy PM and justice secretary, has welcomed the fact that Billy Smith is back in custody, but described the spike in release mistakes as ?unacceptable?.According to PA Media, Lammy said:William Smith is back in c...

Met police issue statement with more information about missing Algerian priso...
5 Nov 2025 at 6:18pm
This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereDavid Lammy starts by saying the PM is in Brazil.He says the thoughts of all MPs are still with the victims of the appalling attacks in Huntingdon and Peterborough, where, he says, he was at school for seven years. Continue reading...

Reeves says she should have checked rental licence had been obtained as letti...
30 Oct 2025 at 6:50pm
No 10 releases redacted emails between Reeves? husband and letting agentRachel Reeves? rental error: standards adviser looking at new informationRobert Peston, ITV?s political editor, says he thinks it is a mistake for the Conservatives to be saying Rachel Reeves should have to resign over the re...

MPs vote down Farage?s proposal for UK to leave ECHR ? as it happened
29 Oct 2025 at 5:20pm
This blog is now closed, you can read more of our UK political coverage hereMark Sedwill, the former cabinet secretary and former national security adviser, goes next. He is now a peer, and a member of the committee.He says the deputy national security adviser, Matthew Collins, thought there was ...

Cruise control: could a £5 ?entry? fee help balance Orkney?s needs with touri...
26 Oct 2025 at 7:00am
With tourists outnumbering locals by 20:1, islanders say levy is needed to help protect neolithic sites and maintain public servicesArtisan jewellery, gift and whisky shops crowd the main street of Kirkwall on Orkney. The town even has a new sushi shop, offering bento boxes and matcha cheesecake....

Scotland demands £24.5m from Westminster for Trump and Vance visits
22 Oct 2025 at 10:53am
Treasury says trips were private while Scottish ministers point out US president met Keir Starmer and it had to stump up for extra policingThe UK government needs to ?step up? and reimburse the £24.5m cost of Donald Trump and JD Vance?s recent visits to Scotland, Holyrood?s public finance ministe...

Badenoch accuses Labour of prioritising economic ties with China over nationa...
13 Oct 2025 at 6:22pm
Minister calls Badenoch?s claims about Chinese spy trial ?baseless smears?. This live blog is closedAt the Downing Street lobby briefing this morning the PM?s spokesperson said it was ?entirely false? to suggest the government influenced the collapse of the China spying case because of concerns B...

Wee Ginger Dug

Wee Ginger Dug

Believe in Scotland?s path to independence, the routemap we need
10 Nov 2025 at 7:25pm
I have previously blogged about my view that the UK is entering a terminal phase crisis which it is unlikely to survive in its current form. The pro-independence campaign group Believe in Scotland is of a similar opinion and believes that this crisis provides Scotland and Wales with a unique opportunity to seize independence and …

Labour?s doomed attempt to paint the SNP as a threat to national security
6 Nov 2025 at 3:34pm
The oil is running out, all the banks will leave, you won’t have a pension, you can’t use the pound, the EU won’t let you back in, and now we have – the SNP are a threat to national security. This wasn’t an off the cuff remark from a harried Labour minister being put under …

The need for iGERS
4 Nov 2025 at 5:13pm
The pro-independence campaign group Believe in Scotland has proposed a replacement for the discredited GERS (Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland) figures which are published every year to the delight of British nationalists up and down the land. These statistics, which as Professor of Accountancy Practice Richard Murphy regularly points out, are based on unreliable and …

Migrant hysteria, the lie driving the rise of the far right
31 Oct 2025 at 6:30pm
The far right is on the rise, and it’s on the rise due to an artificial panic manufactured by rich and powerful interests in order to distract public attention from the greed and avarice of the wealthiest in society, a tiny segment which has hoarded ever greater wealth over the past few decades even as …

Rising support for independence and the end of the so-called Union
27 Oct 2025 at 7:58pm
There have been some mixed messages recently from opinion polling about the SNP’s chances of winning a majority at next year’s Holyrood election. Over the weekend The National published a report of an analysis of recent polling which suggested that the SNP could win a majority in its own right. This contrasts with other polling …

The lessons of Caerffili for Holyrood 2026
24 Oct 2025 at 3:04pm
Some great news from Wales today. Plaid Cymru has smashed over 100 years of Labour domination and swept its way to victory in the Caerffili Senedd by election, taking 47% of votes cast. Although pollsters and bookies had fancied Reform UK to take the seat, in the end, Plaid left Reform in the dust, far …

Starmer needs to learn that Holyrood won?t be pushed around
22 Oct 2025 at 4:25pm
Scotland’s colonial governor, Wee Dougie Alexander, Labour’s answer to the toxic oil slick that is Michael Gove, has said that Westminster would “take an SNP majority at Holyrood seriously” after being pressed by SNP MP Stephen Gethins to respond to Keir Starmer’s recent comment that “if there’s an SNP majority in Holyood, it’s got to …

The short sighted stupidity of Reform UK?s climate denialism
20 Oct 2025 at 3:23pm
A number of recent opinion polls have found that the hard right Anglo-British nationalists of Reform UK are on course to win the next Westminster general election. That alarming prospect is still four years off and it’s entirely possible that Farage’s latest political vehicle will implode before then just as all his other political parties …

England?s identity crisis is Scotland?s opportunity
17 Oct 2025 at 6:34pm
Scotland has an England problem. The largest country in this so-called union is currently in the grip of a strange national psychosis, and has fallen prey to the venomous snake oil salesmen of the English nationalist far right, who offer simplistic and hate filled nostrums for all that ails England, the housing crisis, the cost …

Joani Reid and the rat-pack
16 Oct 2025 at 1:35pm
Maybe it’s something in the water in East Kilbride and Strathaven, but the Westminster constituency seems to be cursed with morally bankrupt MPs. The present constituency boundaries are new and was first contested in the July 2024 Westminster general election, but the constituency broadly covers the same area as the abolished East Kilbride, Strathaven and …

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 'Albatraz'

Isle of Wight Tory MP calls for ferry pricing regulation introduced by SNP in...
10 Nov 2025 at 5:58pm
Professor John Robertson OBA From the Independent last week: Ferries which connect island communities to mainland Britain are in decline, an MP has warned in his push to bring boats more in line with buses and trains. Joe Robertson said the Isle of Wight?s 140,400 residents have little say over how ferries are run across the Solent to Hampshire. He has tabled the Ferry Services (Integration and...

Good news you won?t hear ? 72 000 Scottish workers receive pay boost thanks t...
10 Nov 2025 at 5:21pm
Professor John Robertson OBA Not being reported by BBC Scotland or BBC Scotland Business, despite being announced 8 hours ago on the Scottish Government‘s news website, on automatic Google alerts or followed, you’d think, by all serious serious journalists: A record 4,000 employers in Scotland are now paying their staff at least the real Living Wage, boosting the salaries of 72,000 employees an...

Jimmy Reid?s granddaughter is joined by Kemi Badenoch in darkly cynical campa...
10 Nov 2025 at 2:19pm
Professor John Robertson OBA In the Herald today, on the Tory leader Kemi Badenoch: Kemi Badenoch has described Police Scotland?s failure to investigate a grooming gang in Scotland as ?utterly shameful?. The Tory leader also accused the Scottish Government of ?blocking scrutiny? into the allegations and warned that its refusal to support a public inquiry would lead to questions about whether th...

BBC Scotland still hiding where the buck should have stopped for the three St...
10 Nov 2025 at 12:59pm
From BBC Scotland today, the above and: The inquiry into a train derailment which killed three men in the north east of Scotland could now last under a fortnight, a hearing has been told. The Aberdeen to Glasgow train came off the rails at Carmont, in Aberdeenshire, on 12 August 2020 after it hit a landslide following heavy rain. Driver Brett McCullough, 45, conductor Donald Dinnie, 58, and pas...

New research reveals worst forms of homelessness up to two thirds higher in E...
10 Nov 2025 at 12:29pm
Professor John Robertson OBA I’m not for a minute excusing any level of homelessness but, if these data were the other way round, we all know who’d be blamed and blamed repeatedly. From BBC Politics, today, the above and: The number of homeless people in England is higher than official government data suggests, according to new research from the charity Crisis. They say that around 189,000 fami...

Sarwar?s pet professor should have read HMRC report showing that Scotland?s p...
10 Nov 2025 at 11:49am
Professor John Robertson OBA, SCE Higher Economics, 1969, C grade Professor Anton Muscatelli, former Principal Glasgow University, was born in Bari, Italy. His family migrated to Scotland, perhaps to escape local taxation hikes resulting from the activities of the local Capriati mafia clan? They and other factors no doubt seem to have been pretty effective at ‘putting people off Italy‘, with 15...

FIVE years of success in turning Scotland?s drug deaths trend around, the rea...
10 Nov 2025 at 10:26am
Professor John Robertson OBA This is simply untrue. The drug deaths trend in Scotland has been downward for these last five years, from 1 339 in 2020 to 1 017. A 24.2% fall, by a quarter in only 5 years after more than 20 years of increasing, is very significant and suggests a successful strategy by government, which I’ll return to. Here is the evidence in two graphs, for 2020 and 2025 from Dru...

On Remembrance Sunday, peer-reviewed research proves that Scotland?s WW1 army...
10 Nov 2025 at 8:55am
Professor John Robertson OBA With the UK media again saturated with frankly disturbing jingoism based on myths about the two world, it seems like a good moment to repeat this attempt to resolve the alleged myth that Scots had given more in blood on the WWI battlefields. On 10th August 2014, with clear political intent, the Scotsman allowed Sir Hew Strachan to confirm it as a myth: Great War wor...

Scottish Government significantly widened access to free flu vaccine to give ...
9 Nov 2025 at 8:20pm
Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Health today and being broadcast widely and frequently, the above and: Flu strikes every winter, but this year something seems to be different. A seasonal flu virus suddenly mutated in the summer. It appears to evade some of our immunity, has kick-started a flu season more than a month early, and is a type of flu that history suggests is more severe. The NH...

Edinburgh is top UK city in Holiday Happiness Index 25 places ahead of London
9 Nov 2025 at 4:40pm
Professor John Robertson OBA I know, it doesn’t quite fit the kind of mean image Scots sometimes have of some of the capital’s inhabitants but to outsiders, it seems, Edinburgh is a warm and friendly capital city. Dublin is at 23 and London is at 30, way behind. From Book Retreats last week: Where is your happy place? Teaming up with a Harvard psychologist and happiness expert, we combined the ...

Scotland and Independence

"scotland independence -guardian" - Google News

The new hero of Scottish independence? Nigel Farage - politico.eu
13 Oct 2025 at 8:00am
The new hero of Scottish independence? Nigel Farage  politico.eu

Swinney sets out latest plan for an independence referendum - BBC
4 Sep 2025 at 8:00am
Swinney sets out latest plan for an independence referendum  BBC

Twenty-five years of data shows how link between identity and views on Scotti...
9 Oct 2025 at 8:00am
Twenty-five years of data shows how link between identity and views on Scottish independence has grown stronger  The Conversation

Independence can 'restore Scots standard of living' as rankings show UK plumm...
9 Nov 2025 at 5:05pm
Independence can 'restore Scots standard of living' as rankings show UK plummet  TheNational.scot

Scotland casts fresh eye on independence vote as UK's political landscape shi...
24 Oct 2025 at 8:00am
Scotland casts fresh eye on independence vote as UK's political landscape shifts  Courthouse News

A Fresh Start with Independence - The Scottish Government
8 Oct 2025 at 8:00am
A Fresh Start with Independence  The Scottish Government

Nigel Farage: Former independence supporter could lead Reform in Scotland - T...
9 Nov 2025 at 8:20pm
Nigel Farage: Former independence supporter could lead Reform in Scotland  The Telegraph

Scottish independence would be a 'win' for Putin, claims UK minister - Anadol...
22 Oct 2025 at 8:00am
Scottish independence would be a 'win' for Putin, claims UK minister  Anadolu Ajans?

?The SNP Isn?t a Threat to the Security of Any Nation I Want to Be Part Of? -...
6 Nov 2025 at 4:22pm
?The SNP Isn?t a Threat to the Security of Any Nation I Want to Be Part Of?  Byline Times

In the United Kingdom, prime minister rejects possibility of Scotland indepen...
3 Jun 2025 at 8:00am
In the United Kingdom, prime minister rejects possibility of Scotland independence referendum  ConstitutionNet

SNP

"SNP" - Google News

Criminals to walk free TODAY thanks to SNP as Nats deliver huge snub to victi...
11 Nov 2025 at 8:38am
Criminals to walk free TODAY thanks to SNP as Nats deliver huge snub to victims  Scottish Daily Express

Secretive SNP waste nearly £100k of public cash fighting to withhold document...
11 Nov 2025 at 12:15am
Secretive SNP waste nearly £100k of public cash fighting to withhold documents  Scottish Daily Express

SNP backs Swinney?s ?clear? strategy for new independence referendum | Scotti...
11 Oct 2025 at 8:00am
SNP backs Swinney?s ?clear? strategy for new independence referendum | Scottish National party (SNP)  The Guardian

Chris Mason: SNP are the latest proof that things change quickly in politics ...
13 Oct 2025 at 8:00am
Chris Mason: SNP are the latest proof that things change quickly in politics  BBC

John Swinney's independence strategy backed by SNP members - BBC
11 Oct 2025 at 8:00am
John Swinney's independence strategy backed by SNP members  BBC

Plaid Cymru and SNP leaders discuss forming 'progressive alliance' - BBC
30 Oct 2025 at 7:00am
Plaid Cymru and SNP leaders discuss forming 'progressive alliance'  BBC

Swinney says 'precedent is on my side' to secure indyref2 - BBC
12 Oct 2025 at 8:00am
Swinney says 'precedent is on my side' to secure indyref2  BBC

SNP take over running of Stirling Council - Yahoo News New Zealand
10 Nov 2025 at 5:49pm
SNP take over running of Stirling Council  Yahoo News New Zealand

Nicola Sturgeon: I understand why people doubt my ignorance of alleged SNP em...
7 Nov 2025 at 7:51pm
Nicola Sturgeon: I understand why people doubt my ignorance of alleged SNP embezzlement  The Guardian

SNP oust Scottish Labour to seize control of Stirling Council - TheNational.scot
10 Nov 2025 at 5:15pm
SNP oust Scottish Labour to seize control of Stirling Council  TheNational.scot

Referendum (Google News)

"Scotland referendum -guardian -telegraph" - Google News

Swinney sets out latest plan for an independence referendum - BBC
4 Sep 2025 at 8:00am
Swinney sets out latest plan for an independence referendum  BBC

Independence can 'restore Scots standard of living' as rankings show UK plumm...
9 Nov 2025 at 5:05pm
Independence can 'restore Scots standard of living' as rankings show UK plummet  TheNational.scot

Scotland casts fresh eye on independence vote as UK's political landscape shi...
24 Oct 2025 at 8:00am
Scotland casts fresh eye on independence vote as UK's political landscape shifts  Courthouse News

The new hero of Scottish independence? Nigel Farage - politico.eu
13 Oct 2025 at 8:00am
The new hero of Scottish independence? Nigel Farage  politico.eu

First Minister John Swinney sets out latest plan for independence referendum ...
4 Sep 2025 at 8:00am
First Minister John Swinney sets out latest plan for independence referendum  Sky News

Why Alberta?s push for independence pales in comparison to Scotland?s in 2014...
27 May 2025 at 8:00am
Why Alberta?s push for independence pales in comparison to Scotland?s in 2014  The Conversation

In the United Kingdom, prime minister rejects possibility of Scotland indepen...
3 Jun 2025 at 8:00am
In the United Kingdom, prime minister rejects possibility of Scotland independence referendum  ConstitutionNet

John Swinney's independence strategy backed by SNP members - BBC
11 Oct 2025 at 8:00am
John Swinney's independence strategy backed by SNP members  BBC

SNP majority only way to secure second referendum - Swinney - BBC
28 Jul 2025 at 8:00am
SNP majority only way to secure second referendum - Swinney  BBC

One Cause, Many Voices: Scotland?s Divided Independence Movement Strategy - A...
4 Sep 2025 at 8:00am
One Cause, Many Voices: Scotland?s Divided Independence Movement Strategy  Australian Institute of International Affairs