The Herald

The Herald | Politics


Impact of Scottish Government income tax decisions on businesses revealed
17 Sep 2024 at 4:35am
The survey reveals how the Scottish Government's income tax decisions have affected businesses


Why does nobody want the Commonwealth Games?
17 Sep 2024 at 4:30am
Against a tough economic backdrop, it's no surprise there is little appetite to host a major sporting event such as the Commonwealth Games


Scepticism grows over bid to save Grangemouth refinery
17 Sep 2024 at 5:00am
Aberdeen-based Stacey Oil Services has confirmed its involvement in the rescue plan for Grangemouth Refinery.


Indyref at 10: Find all articles in our coverage here
16 Sep 2024 at 1:47pm
As the 10th year anniversary of the 2014 independence referendum approaches, The Herald is looking back at the occasion.


Sarwar to host Commonwealth Games summit with Glasgow businesses
16 Sep 2024 at 7:51am
The Games were due to take place in Victoria, Australia, in 2026, but the state pulled out last year, leading to a scramble to find a new host.


Hostile immigration policies leave 97% destitute as UK and Holyrood urged to act
16 Sep 2024 at 12:01am
Thousands of people in Scotland are being forced into extreme poverty and homelessness by the UK's hostile immigration policy, according to a new report


Amidst the treasured family memories, granddaughter uncovers tragedy and loss
16 Sep 2024 at 11:30am
An act of consecration, formed by words and images, is proceeding quietly in a forsaken, 1970s Coatbridge tower block.


Tories' cost-cutting child support 'experiment' branded 'catastrophic failure'
16 Sep 2024 at 5:36am
Radical changes to the UK child maintenance system brought in by the Tory government have 'failed' children, a major new report has warned.


Are the 'Poundland' Commonwealth Games worth the risk to Glasgow's reputation?
16 Sep 2024 at 3:23pm
One of the phrases that you?d hear from ministers quite a lot in 2014 was that the eyes of the world were on Scotland.


Murdo Fraser: Scottish Tories need experienced candidate to take on John Swinney
16 Sep 2024 at 6:30am
Murdo Fraser has said his experience as an MSP makes him the best Scottish Tory leadership candidate to take on First Minister John Swinney.


Budget cuts 'risk ability to treat growing link between alcohol and suicide'
16 Sep 2024 at 6:00am
The link between alcohol misuse and mental health must be given an emergency response despite funding cuts, a charity has warned.


Scottish Greens co-leaders told to quit over cash for access claims
16 Sep 2024 at 5:30am
Scottish Green members have demanded co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater resign amid cash for access allegations regarding conference lunches.


'NHS is not in crisis' Health Secretary accused of being in denial on health ...
16 Sep 2024 at 12:01am
Scotland's Health Secretary Neil Gray has said the NHS is not in crisis.


'Things have changed' Calling Putin's bluff is a perilous game for the West
15 Sep 2024 at 6:25am
As Britain and the US work towards loosening restrictions on Ukraine allowing its weapons to be used for deep strikes inside Russia, Foreign Editor David Pratt asks is this a red line too far?

The Scotsman

The Scotsman Politics


Why ministers have been accused of 'four wasted years' in fight to reverse Ga...
17 Sep 2024 at 6:00am

A leading expert said the new Scottish Languages Bill offers ?little substance?

By essentially campaigning against their own policy of allowing hundreds of thousands of migrant workers into the country, the Conservatives helped make Reform UK a major political force. Labour risks doing something similar

Alistair Grant, The Scotsman?s political editor, started his career in the summer of 2014

The Labour UK government will move to calm jitters in the North Sea oil and gas sector that the transition to clean energy will be ?phased and sensible?, The Scotsman can reveal.

Plans for the Flamingo Land resort at Loch Lomond have been rejected by the national park authority after more than 174,000 people signed a petition against the development

As the housing emergency continues, the Scottish Government can either back the builders or the blockers

Nationalists pinning their hopes on the young generation are turning a blind eye to evidence that, as people get older, they are more likely to support the Union

Pressure on Scotland?s prison system may be a blessing in disguise as we may finally be forced to design a better future for offenders, says former police officer Tom Wood

Labour leader and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has agreed closer ties with the Italian government

The Scotland Secretary has criticised Larry the cat

Harland & Wolff has said between 50 and 60 immediate redundancies are expected, but that jobs at the company?s four shipyards, including two in Scotland, will be protected

Wings over Scotland

A Brief History Of Hope
14 Sep 2024 at 6:59am

The Land Of Immunity
12 Sep 2024 at 1:40pm
Astonishingly, there isn’t a single word of apology anywhere in this statement. There isn’t a scintilla of contrition, not the tiniest glimmer of admission of culpability or responsibility. There isn’t even a weasel-worded expression of “regret”. Rape Crisis Scotland is unfit for purpose, and its CEO must resign. She won’t, of course, because nobody in …

The Tartan Messiah
11 Sep 2024 at 9:21pm
Well, Shauny‘s knocked it out of the park. ? There aren’t many laughs in Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon: The Tartan Messiah, because it’s not that kind of satire. There’s none of Shaun dressing up as Patrick Harvie or Auntie Sandra or any of his familiar cast of characters. This is the pitch-dark kind of satire, the …

After the swarm
11 Sep 2024 at 1:02pm
On 15 October 2012, I signed the Edinburgh Agreement with David Cameron to secure the independence referendum of September 2014. On the same day Peter Kellner of the polling company YouGov wrote one of his condescending commentaries from London dissing any hope for the Yes campaign. ?However, from Salmond?s point of view, it is about …

A False Labelling
10 Sep 2024 at 12:36pm
We’ve just watched the BBC’s new documentary, and we’re confused. You can see both episodes on iPlayer now, or on TV tonight and tomorrow, but there’s no mistaking what’s being advertised – a personal drama between the two biggest players in Scottish politics in the last 300 years. But that’s not what you get. Nor, …

Coming Yet
9 Sep 2024 at 12:17pm
The dogged persistence of alert Wings contributor Benjamin Harrop with regard to the Hamilton inquiry has been truly heroic, and today it has borne fruit in dramatic style. The 10-page adjudication from the Scottish Information Commissioner that you can download by clicking that image is a somewhat labyrinthine (but fascinating) read, but the upshot of …

Honest John
7 Sep 2024 at 6:59am

The Last Legs
6 Sep 2024 at 1:07pm
In the 1990s, Dr. Robert Smith, a surgeon at Falkirk Royal Infirmary, performed a pair of amputations on two men. Neither of the men involved had anything physically wrong with them, but both were suffering from apotemnophilia – a rare psychiatric condition involving the desire to have healthy limbs amputated. Sufferers, counterintuitively, claim not to …

The Sooner Future
5 Sep 2024 at 1:03pm
The sudden abandonment yesterday of the Scottish Government’s dreadful proposals for a legislative ban on so-called “conversion practices” is a big victory for this website, which has campaigned hard against it since it was first mooted almost two years ago. Despite saying as recently as mid-May that it was “committed to continuing with that legislation”, …

Your Children Will Be Harmed
4 Sep 2024 at 1:02pm
This sounds like good news, doesn’t it? But in fact the headline on the STV News website – whether intentionally, through innocent misunderstanding or, as we suspect, a result of being deliberately misled by government ministers – is a flat-out lie. In fact the Scottish Government has done the exact opposite. It has taken Dr …

Craig Murray

Some Truth Bombs At the UN
16 Sep 2024 at 7:08pm

Alongside Richard Medhurst I had the chance to state rather more truth than is generally heard inside the United Nations in Geneva: “Not only is the West complicit in the Genocide in Palestine, the ruling class of the West is so scared of its own citizens that it is now prepared to persecute its own …

Some Truth Bombs At the UN

That Harris/Trump Debate
11 Sep 2024 at 11:16am

I just sat through a recording of the Trump/Harris debate. Ignoring the merits of their political stances, I agree with the general consensus that Kamala Harris “won” in performance terms, but only because Trump was awful. Both were of course terrible on Palestine. While I appreciate that that is of most interest to perhaps a …

That Harris/Trump Debate

Scotland and The Devolution Trap
9 Sep 2024 at 4:06pm

As Starmer and Reeves subject the UK economy to yet more austerity and deregulation, the Scottish Government takes the blame for cutbacks caused by an economic policy in which they have zero say. That has always been the problem with devolution: it is responsibility without power ? an invidious position to be in. That is …

Scotland and The Devolution Trap

The End of Western Pluralist Democracy
1 Sep 2024 at 2:23pm

No major western leader is ever again going to be able to speak about human rights or ethical values, without attracting howls of derision. They are turning on their own people in order to prevent protest at a genocide they actively support. Keir Starmer stepped up the pressure on opponents of Zionist genocide on Thursday …

The End of Western Pluralist Democracy

Pavel Durov and the Abuse of Law
27 Aug 2024 at 5:43pm

The detention of Pavel Durov is being portrayed as a result of the EU Digital Services Act. But having spent my day reading the EU Services Act (a task I would not wish upon my worst enemy), it does not appear to me to say what it is being portrayed as saying. EU Acts are …

Pavel Durov and the Abuse of Law

The Attack on Truth: Julian Assange and Richard Medhurst
22 Aug 2024 at 3:25pm

Julian Assange was released in the midst of the election campaign and the event was not really given the attention it deserves. Alex Salmond invited me to take a look back with him on what this persecution means and where we are now. I do recommend that you subscribe to Alex’s show Scotland Speaks. He …

The Attack on Truth: Julian Assange and Richard Medhurst

BBC Scotland

Scotland takes 'huge step' towards Calum's Law on child restraint
17 Sep 2024 at 6:19am
The Holyrood bill is named after Calum Morrison who was restrained at an additional needs school when he was 11.

Health secretary denies 'crisis' in Scotland's NHS
16 Sep 2024 at 10:52am
Neil Gray has been accused of being "in denial" after defending the performance of the health service.

Governments hopeful of new jobs for Grangemouth workers
15 Sep 2024 at 5:53pm
The Scottish and UK governments are optimistic workers facing redundancy will be offered new jobs.

Salmond addresses rally to mark referendum anniversary
14 Sep 2024 at 2:25pm
The Alba party leader was addressing a rally in Glasgow to mark the 10th anniversary of the independence referendum.

School uniform guidance says blazers should not be compulsory
12 Sep 2024 at 2:17pm
Scottish government guidance encourages schools to consider affordability and sustainability in uniform policies.

Swinney denies lack of action over Grangemouth closure
13 Sep 2024 at 1:35pm
Petroineos announced plans to close the site in November, but the first minister said the move was premature.

Review ordered into handling of complaints against teachers
12 Sep 2024 at 12:51pm
The General Teaching Council for Scotland has a growing backlog of cases, with one lasting nearly eight years.

Could a budget standoff trigger a Holyrood election?
12 Sep 2024 at 6:21am
Politicians are speculating about an early Holyrood election - but how realistic is it?

Scotland's prison population higher after early release scheme
11 Sep 2024 at 5:31pm
There are now more people in the country's jails than there were before 477 prisoners were released early

First minister calls for release of Scots Sikh imprisoned in India
11 Sep 2024 at 5:55pm
John Swinney says he will continue to lobby the UK government on Jagtar Singh Johal's case.

Scottish government defeated in free school meals vote
11 Sep 2024 at 5:41pm
Opposition parties say the Scottish government should fulfil its promise to give all primary pupils the benefit.

Union withdraws support for National Care Service plan
11 Sep 2024 at 11:35am
Scottish government minister Maree Todd said she was "disappointed" by the news.

Scot Goes Pop

A guest post by Alan Harris, former elected member of Alba's Disciplinary Com...
14 Sep 2024 at 10:14pm
(Editorial note from James Kelly: I have been asked by Alan Harris to publish his guest post, and the letter within it, in full and unabridged form.  I have agreed to do so.  It is important that A...

A generation later: photos from the referendum anniversary event in George Sq...
14 Sep 2024 at 7:46pm
I'm not going to the event at the Science Centre tonight, but don't leap to conclusions - it's not because a certain Somerset gender politics blogger will apparently be making a rare-bordering-on-u...

Not many people can claim to have been bullied by a former hostage of the Tal...
12 Sep 2024 at 11:38am
I know I said last night that I hoped not to post any further about Alba internal politics for a while, but the situation keeps escalating and escalating, and the intimidation is getting so direct ...

Thoughts on "marked cards" and "sealed fates"
11 Sep 2024 at 11:46pm
I've been swithering about whether to go public with this, but I think it's probably important that Alba members are given some kind of insight into the scale of the bullying that is going on in pr...

Do members of political parties lead best in the dark?
11 Sep 2024 at 4:46pm
First of all, thank you to everyone who got in touch by email with supportive words after my unconstitutional removal from my elected role as a member of the Alba constitution review group.  The ge...

BREAKING: Propaganda outfit "Scotland in Union" caught fibbing about their ow...
10 Sep 2024 at 4:38pm
As you may already have seen, I have an analysis piece in today's edition of The National about the new Scotland In Union / Survation propaganda poll, and you can read it HERE.Once again, Survation...

A personal statement on the Alba leadership's bizarre and unconstitutional de...
9 Sep 2024 at 10:17pm
First, some context.  Almost as soon as I started participating in Alba internal elections in 2021, I received representations from members urging me to push for democratisation of the party, in pa...

Despair for unionists as first post-election poll suggests Labour's narrow vi...
2 Sep 2024 at 10:26pm
As you may have gathered, I've been travelling in recent days, so I'm sincerely indebted to our resident unionist troll KC (who somewhere along the line misplaced the Sunshine Band) for reminding m...

STV Politics News

Latest Politics News | STV News

Abbott: They were determined to get rid of me the way they got rid of Corbyn
17 Sep 2024 at 8:27am
Labour MP Diane Abbott told ITV News that 'the people around Keir Starmer were determined to get rid of me, in the same way they got rid of Jeremy Corbyn'.

?No-brainer? for Glasgow to host Commonwealth Games, Sarwar says
16 Sep 2024 at 5:31pm
Sports event would give a 'shot in the arm' to a 'struggling city' that's been 'badly let down', the Scottish Labour leader told STV News.

The independence referendum was an incredible time ? Scots had never been mor...
16 Sep 2024 at 6:45am
I had covered a fair few elections by 2014, even the devolution referendum of 1997, but none of them were on this scale, none of them felt as big.

Scottish Government ?squandering? green energy potential as SNP green jobs ta...
15 Sep 2024 at 4:49pm
While ministers may have hoped Grangemouth could be a breeding ground for green jobs, unions say a clearer plan is needed.

Sir Ed Davey jet skis into Lib Dem party conference
14 Sep 2024 at 7:10pm
The Lib Dem leader said his party wants to be heard after winning 72 MPs in July?s general election.

Alex Salmond says Scotland is ready to battle for independence at Hope Over F...
14 Sep 2024 at 4:20pm
The former first minister made the comments at a Scottish independence rally at George Square in Glasgow.

Scottish Greens: End Flamingo Land exclusivity deal if Loch Lomond plans reje...
14 Sep 2024 at 12:25pm
The Greens have led a campaign against the development, which includes two hotels and more than 100 self-catering lodges.

Latest Ferguson Marine ferry delay ?a matter of great regret?, says John Swinney
13 Sep 2024 at 3:04pm
The Glen Sannox has been delayed again after years of issues.

Nigel Farage vows to join campaign trail at Holyrood elections as Reform aim ...
13 Sep 2024 at 2:03pm
Nigel Farage has said he will campaign personally in Scotland ahead of the Holyrood elections in 2026.

Don?t connect Grangemouth oil refinery closure to net zero, says Scottish sec...
13 Sep 2024 at 1:47pm
Announcing its closure, owners Petroineos said the plant faces 'significant challenges due to global market pressures and the energy transition'

Flynn mulls Holyrood move but says he has not considered run for SNP leadership
13 Sep 2024 at 7:57am
The party?s Westminster leader said he will make a decision early next year about potentially becoming an MSP.

I?d have stayed on if I knew we wouldn?t be independent ten years on ? Salmond
13 Sep 2024 at 7:18am
Alex Salmond stood down the day after losing the 2014 independence referendum.

Alcohol advertising could be curbed in response to rising drink deaths in Sco...
12 Sep 2024 at 5:45pm
It comes after figures showed Scotland?s drug deaths remain the worst in Europe.

Calls for North Lanarkshire Council depute provost to step down after calling...
12 Sep 2024 at 3:24pm
Tory councillor Bob Burgess said 'the youth today are a nightmare' when talking about violence among young people.

Daily Record

Daily Record - Politics

Scottish Labour 'threatened' members not to share support for independence in...
17 Sep 2024 at 4:30am
EXCLUSIVE: A former Yes campaign chief said too many Labour politicians "were eagerly jumping into bed with the Tories" ahead of the 2014 referendum on independence.

Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish independence referendum defeat 'feels very raw' 10 ...
17 Sep 2024 at 4:30am
Writing for the Record, the former SNP leader says she remains as "confident as ever" a majority of Scots will one day choose independence.

Harland and Wolff shipbuilder which has two Scottish yards to go into adminis...
16 Sep 2024 at 1:45pm
Belfast firm Harland and Wolff said between 50-60 immediate redundancies are expected but said that staff employed at its four shipyards are not affected.

Commonwealth Games 'likely' to return to Glasgow in 2026 but with fewer events
16 Sep 2024 at 10:22am
The two sides are on the verge of doing a deal after the Australian authorities promised millions of pounds of investment.

Scottish Labour 'losing members' over decision to strip pensioners of Winter ...
16 Sep 2024 at 4:30am
EXCLUSIVE: Senior party figures said there had been resignations in the wake of the controversial decision.

Trade union split as bin strike dispute leads to wage rise delay for workers
16 Sep 2024 at 4:30am
EXCLUSIVE: The GMB trade union is frustrated an offer the have accepted has still not found its way into pay packets.

The independence referendum was a watershed but our best days lie ahead
16 Sep 2024 at 4:30am
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar urges voters to look to the future, not the past.

Irvine Welsh says No vote in independence referendum was "disaster" and "fear...
16 Sep 2024 at 4:30am
The acclaimed writer delivered a bleak assessment of politics ten years after the indyref.

We have to be honest and admit there is no easy path to Scottish independence
16 Sep 2024 at 4:30am
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn says the strategy of "one last push" on independence must be avoided.

SNP Government to meet Commonwealth Games Australia to discuss Glasgow 2026 plan
15 Sep 2024 at 3:44pm
The UK and Scottish Governments are refusing to under-write the Games amid pressure on public funds.

The National

The National | Politics

Stephen Flynn left fuming as Keir Starmer 'won't be investigated' over clothe...
17 Sep 2024 at 8:11am

STEPHEN Flynn has been left fuming with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards following reports Keir Starmer won?t be investigated for his late declaration of clothes gifted to his wife.

John Swinney to face first committee grilling as First Minister
17 Sep 2024 at 5:00am

John Swinney will face questions from Holyrood?s committee conveners on Wednesday ? the first time he has done so as First Minister.

The rise of the blogs: How the referendum changed media habits
17 Sep 2024 at 5:00am

THE days of the Sunday Post having a pound-for-pound readership to match that of the Soviet state newspaper Pravda were gone long before the 2014 referendum rolled around.

Ruth Wishart: On the road with the Yesmobile
17 Sep 2024 at 5:00am

THE 2014 campaign began in 2012 for me. That summer, I accepted an invitation to speak at a pro-independence? rally held round the bandstand in Princes Street Gardens ...

The Wee Blue Book: 'Conspiracy theories' or Yes campaign's secret weapon?
17 Sep 2024 at 5:00am

AT just over 72 pages, The Wee Blue Book was dwarfed by the Scottish Government?s official independence book, a mammoth tome of well over 600 pages.

How artists and creators helped to shape the 2014 Yes campaign
17 Sep 2024 at 5:00am

IN 2014, National Collective became the cultural movement for Scottish independence, garnering the support of around 4000 members...

Jonathon Shafi: To put indy back on the table, we have to talk about power
17 Sep 2024 at 5:00am

I WAS pleased to take part in a brilliant conference at the weekend. Under the title 2014-24: Scottish Independence and the British State 10 Years On, it set out to reflect on the referendum and the decade which followed ...

'UK constitution is more broken now than in 2014 ? we must offer a brighter f...
17 Sep 2024 at 5:00am

THE UK is more broken now than it was in 2014 ? and Westminster?s two main parties are only offering a ?miserable? outlook for the future, a Scottish Green MSP has said ...

RECAP: Flamingo Land's Loch Lomond plans rejected
16 Sep 2024 at 9:52am

Plans for the controversial Flamingo Land Lomond Banks development have been rejected today in a public meeting in Balloch.

We are not living in the Scotland promised by the Better Together campaign in...
16 Sep 2024 at 7:15pm

IT will be 10 years this week since Scotland voted for independence, and the Scotland that we are living in today is most definitely not the Scotland that the Better Together campaign promised that we'd be living in if the country voted against independence ...

Holyrood Magazine

Holyrood Website

Majority of Scottish businesses feeling ?little to no impact? from Scottish G...
17 Sep 2024 at 1:01am
57 per cent of Scottish businesses from a range of sectors have not felt the effects, while 37 per cent say they have felt the effects more sharply, according to the Fraser of Allander Institute

UK leads discussions on boosting global cyber skills
16 Sep 2024 at 6:53pm
Representatives from 15 countries have gathered in West Sussex to discuss how to boost cyber skills across the world,

Nearly half of UK businesses unequipped to face cyber attacks, Ipsos finds
16 Sep 2024 at 3:54pm
A new report commissioned by the UK Government into the cybersecurity labour market?found more than two in 10 businesses do not feel confident ?at all? in dealing with a breach

A new era of communication
16 Sep 2024 at 7:00am
With quantum computing threatening to unleash cyber chaos, the UK is in a crucial race to keep information safe

NHS in Scotland is not in crisis, says Neil Gray
16 Sep 2024 at 2:00am
The health secretary accepted there were ?challenges? but insisted the Scottish Government was ?facing up to them?

Cross-party calls for action over Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre row
13 Sep 2024 at 4:40pm
CEO quits but questions remain

Labour clamps down on intimate image abuse to make the internet safer
13 Sep 2024 at 1:53pm
Intimate image abuse will be on the same footing as public order offences and the sale of weapons and drugs online

Scottish secretary hints at softening of Labour's stance on energy windfall tax
13 Sep 2024 at 9:17am
Ian Murray tells CBI Scotland dinner the government is listening to concerns about investment allowances

Neil Gray: 'No hiding' from 'appalling' drug and alcohol deaths
12 Sep 2024 at 5:16pm
'No single intervention is or will be enough'

Swinney: I have no power to intervene in Police Scotland policies on self-ID
12 Sep 2024 at 3:37pm
The first minister said it is up to the force to decide how to deal with male sex offenders who choose to identify as female

Guardian - Scottish Politics

Scottish politics | The Guardian

Ditch £40m Loch Lomond resort plan if rejected in vote, Scottish Greens urge
16 Sep 2024 at 12:01am
National park authority due to make decision on Monday over Flamingo Land development proposalIf Flamingo Land?s proposal to build on the shores of Loch Lomond is rejected in a vote on Monday, that decision should spell the end of the plan, the Scottish Greens have said.The Yorkshire-based theme ...

Scottish opposition pushes Swinney on free school meal and flat-rate rail far...
11 Sep 2024 at 6:40pm
Scottish government accused of undermining efforts to combat child poverty and cost of living crisisOpposition parties in Scotland have urged John Swinney to reverse unpopular cuts to free school meals and flat-rate rail fares after he suffered two defeats at Holyrood.In a major test of the first...

Starmer and Reeves need to find ?escape route? from winter fuel payments row,...
5 Sep 2024 at 5:53pm
Former Labour shadow chancellor says ministers need to find a way to stop controversy over means testing destabilising governmentSteve Reed, the environment secretary, has given a speech this morning on his plans to tighten the laws on water regulation. The press release from the Department for E...

Both the Tories and the SNP suffered catastrophic defeats ? but only one of t...
5 Sep 2024 at 1:24pm
John Swinney is talking frankly about where his party went wrong. The Conservatives kid themselves that a new leader is all they needAfter a succession of victories, the governing party got a drubbing in the general election. This autumn, it must set out on the long, difficult road back. Some par...

Swinney?s slimmed-down plans prompt criticism of ?managed decline?
4 Sep 2024 at 7:24pm
First minister makes eradicating child poverty his top priority while Scottish Labour says he had ?no vision?John Swinney has been accused of signalling ?18 months of managed decline? in the run-up to the next Scottish parliament elections, as he set out his inaugural programme for government the...

Priti Patel repeats call for Tory members to have more say in running party a...
4 Sep 2024 at 6:00pm
Former home secretary finishes behind Mel Stride with Robert Jenrick leading the contest at this stage. This live blog is closedPriti Patel knocked out of Tory leadership contest in first roundPMQs is starting soon. Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.Kemi Badenoch is the clear favouri...

Scottish government raids £460m green energy fund for public sector pay rises
3 Sep 2024 at 6:09pm
Finance secretary says ?tough decisions? are needed to fill £1bn hole in the budgetScottish ministers have raided a £460m green energy fund to help pay for higher than inflation pay deals that the government did not budget for.Shona Robison, the Scottish finance secretary, said she needed to use ...

Scottish government announces spending cuts worth £500m ? as it happened
3 Sep 2024 at 5:40pm
Shona Robison, Scottish finance secretary, says current financial situation facing Scottish government is ?not sustainable?Tom Tugendhat, the former security minister, is launching his campaign for the Tory leadership. There is a live feed here.Tugendhat started by saying that he did not actually...

North Sea oil firm Neo slows investment amid windfall tax concerns
2 Sep 2024 at 2:46pm
Battle ahead for Labour as it introduces higher taxes and tougher environmental rules on producersAn oil and gas company has slowed down work on a large North Sea oilfield, citing uncertainty over the Labour government?s approach to fossil fuels.The Norwegian-owned Neo Energy said it had decided ...

Swinney says Labour ?intensifying? austerity as he prepares cuts in Scotland
1 Sep 2024 at 6:19pm
First minister complains of ?same Tory cuts agenda? in effort to shift blame for his own government?s budget problemsJohn Swinney has accused Labour of ?intensifying? austerity as his ministers prepare to cut hundreds of millions of pounds in Scotland?s public spending this week.In an effort to d...

Wee Ginger Dug

Wee Ginger Dug

Vote Labour: freeze your granny to help the rich
11 Sep 2024 at 11:13am
It’s only been nine weeks but we already have resounding answer to the question of how much influence Labour’s Scottish branch office has over policy making in Keir Starmer’s government. The answer to that question is none at all. Prior to July’s Westminster general election Anas Sarwar loudly proclaimed that he and his Tory-lite party …

Only with independence can Scotland escape the rise of the right
4 Sep 2024 at 11:14am
Last weekend, there were elections in the Germans states of Thuringia and Saxony. In both these states the far right Alternative für Deutschland party, which favours the ‘repatriation’ of immigrants and even of some naturalised German citizens – the ones who are muslim or not white of course – performed alarmingly well, coming top of …

Time for a new indy strategy
30 Aug 2024 at 1:02pm
With the SNP conference about to start and the post mortem of the party’s poor performance in July’s Westminster general election under way, it’s fair to say that there is now general agreement within the wider Scottish independence movement that the independence strategy inherited from Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon is dead. No matter how …

BBC Scotland?s definition of propaganda
24 Aug 2024 at 12:26pm
Words have a dictionary definition, they also have emotional colouring which can be either positive or negative, that emotional coloration is an essential part of the word’s meaning and it is disingenuous to use a word with a strongly negative emotional colouring and to pretend that your use of the word was intended in a …

Labour takes the devolution ball away
20 Aug 2024 at 4:16pm
To paraphrase the famous phrase attributed to the American author Mark Twain, there’s lies, damn lies, and Westminster promises to Scotland. The respect agenda and the promise of greater devolution made to Scotland by the Better Together parties during 2014’s Scottish independence referendum were comprehensively trashed by the Conservatives in the following years, and now …

Douglas Ross learns the meaning of karma
16 Aug 2024 at 9:21pm
Do you remember how during the SNP leadership contest in 2022 that Kate Forbes uttered some fairly measured criticisms of the record of her rival Humza Yousaf and the Scottish media dined out on how nasty and bitter the leadership race had become? It’s the Scottish Tories’ turn for a leadership contest and they’re doing …

Good bye Twitter Musk has killed you
12 Aug 2024 at 6:24pm
This decision has been brewing for a while now, but it’s time to give up on Twitter, a platform which has now been comprehensively captured by racists, the far right and the culture warriors. Twitter was always problematic, but since it was taken over by controversial billionaire Elon Musk it has been transformed into a …

English nationalism?s fascist problem
4 Aug 2024 at 9:50pm
There’s a striking feature of the media’s coverage of the outbreak of far right violence which has overtaken much of England in recent days. For the most part it is being presented as a British issue when it is in fact an English one. The Sunday Times has the headline “Riots engulf Britain” while The …

Let Glasgow flourish against fascism
3 Aug 2024 at 11:55am
One of the most alarming and worrying developments in British politics in recent years has been the normalisation and acceptance into the mainstream of far right Anglo-British nationalist politics. The BBC has played a major role in this process with its constant platforming of the odious Nigel Farage and his not so subtle racist dog …

Has anyone seen Anas?
29 Jul 2024 at 11:35am
Spare thought for poor Anas Sarwar, who rarely misses an opportunity to brush off his best sneery face and take to the airwaves on BBC Scotland, sticking it to the SNP. He must have been so looking forward to the gloatathon that his branch office winning the Westminster general election in Scotland would give him. …

The Courier

Scottish Politics News From Holyrood and Westminster | The Courier

How does Stirling reflect on independence referendum 10 years after rejecting...
17 Sep 2024 at 5:00am
We spoke to voters on both sides of the argument in a city forever linked with Scotland's often turbulent relationship with England.

How Tayside and Fife voted in Scottish independence referendum vote 10 years ago
16 Sep 2024 at 12:30pm
Dundee bucked the trend on September 18 2014, but neighbouring areas were not convinced, as our map and poll tracker shows.

KEZIA DUGDALE: IndyRef reflections and Nicola Sturgeon green room remark I?ve...
16 Sep 2024 at 7:30am
'I?ve been reflecting a lot about the campaign and how we saw each other as fellow Scots at that time, depending on how we intended to vote.'

Concerned mums bid to save Dundee and Fife neonatal ICUs from downgrade
16 Sep 2024 at 6:00am
Parents of babies cared for in local neonatal units want to block plans for centralised care in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow.

Dundee?s Western Gateway getting more houses ? but where is promised school?
16 Sep 2024 at 5:00am
Families who paid extra to support a new primary school when moving to the new estate say they have been repeatedly ?let down?.

DAVID CLEGG: What I learned about IndyRef from Alex Salmond?s rock star recep...
15 Sep 2024 at 9:00am
The Courier editor David Clegg was a political journalist during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

COURIER OPINION: Scotland changed forever in September 2014
14 Sep 2024 at 6:00am
A decade since the independence referendum, those charged with the better Scotland both campaigns promised cannot betray the trust placed in them.

4 Dunfermline projects at risk as £5m promise under review
13 Sep 2024 at 1:40pm
These cultural and community improvements were all supposed to benefit from pledges Labour says were just headline-chasing gimmicks from the last Tory government.

7 questions Eljamel inquiry set to ask including: Did NHS Tayside conceal evi...
13 Sep 2024 at 12:46pm
Here are the key areas identified today for the Sam Eljamel scandal, which saw dozens of patients harmed when the disgraced surgeon operated out of Dundee.

EXCLUSIVE: Ex-Perthshire MP John Nicolson tells ?sad? JK Rowling to ?get a li...
13 Sep 2024 at 10:41am
The former SNP MP says the Harry Potter author should enjoy her riches instead of "pounding the keyboard" to troll him.

Talking up Scotland

Talking-up Scotland

The poor Millionaire Keir Starmer?s wife is lucky he isn?t just Lord Provost ...
16 Sep 2024 at 7:04pm
Anonymous Listen I remember when, in 2019, a female SNP Glasgow Lord Provost was reported by The Daily Record for claiming for 23 pairs of shoes on expenses and it was a very big story on the BBC Website for Scotland. In defence it was stated on the BBC website that: ?Her role incurs personal expenses as she is required to represent the city at hundreds of events? and it was also stated that ?t...

The Titanic ? Scotland?s part in its sinking
16 Sep 2024 at 6:54pm
Anonymous Here we go again. This may be considered too petty of me by some people but for me it seems a tad suspicious, strange and also knowing how the BBC works in Scotland, in them often misinforming us in Scotland, then this also seems deliberate as an action by them. So what am I referring to? Well I noted this on the BBC website. BBC website has the exact same article on their UK main pag...

Labour attempts to scare Scots with fake news about the Shetland subsea cable...
16 Sep 2024 at 8:40am
In a report reminiscent of George Robertson’s ‘dark forces’ that would circle an undefended independent Scotland after 2014, Luke Pollard ‘armed forces minister’ and MP for Devonport, son of a submariner: Scotland’s coastline has become a terrifying new front on the West?s conflict with Russia. Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard has warned Vladimir Putin is likely operating fleets of unmanned s...

Labour peer paid for a personal shopper, clothes and alterations for Lady Vic...
15 Sep 2024 at 3:08pm
Anonymous On Sky News: ?Sir Keir Starmer is facing an investigation over a possible breach of parliamentary rules after failing to declare that some of his wife?s high-end clothes were bought for her by his biggest personal donor, Lord Alli?. ?The Labour peer paid for a personal shopper, clothes and alterations for Lady Victoria Starmer, reportedly both before and after the Labour leader became...

8% of the population but 25% of the top universities and all of the safest ca...
14 Sep 2024 at 3:05pm
From the Guardian’s The best UK universities 2025 list ? rankings, published today, pro rata, per head, Scotland might be expected to have 2 of the top 20 universities in the UK but has 5. In 2019*, we had: Scotland?s university cities the safest in the UK by a very long way From the Complete University Guide 2019, we can see that the overall fall in crime in Scotland in the last ten, or so, ye...

Scottish Labour MP suggests following England?s failed strategies
14 Sep 2024 at 1:09pm
In the Scotsman today, above, Dr Zubir Ahmed, Labour, notes the crisis in A&E and and cancer care in England, then suggests Scotland might learn from there. He clearly does not know or does not want to know this: First, on A&E longer waiting times, by stewartb, from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine data: On the longest times spent in A&E i.e. 12 hours or more, the equivalent percentages ...

Starmer?s heartless, immoral, reliance on the lack of a legal need for an imp...
14 Sep 2024 at 11:57am
Anonymous Tweet from Kate McCann Times radio Political Editor on 12 September. ?NEW: Keir Starmer confirmed to me that there is no impact assessment of removing winter fuel allowance from all pensioners. Pushed on why, he said there is no legal need for one adding: ?I know you think there?s a report on my desk but there isn?t one?. ?No legal need for one? ? Yes but what about the moral need for...

CalMac?s supposedly ageing ferry is younger than 27 operating in affluent Nor...
13 Sep 2024 at 5:41pm
In the Herald today: One of Caledonian MacBrayne?s oldest and largest ferries is due to return to service eight months after it was drydocked for repairs.  The ageing MV Caledonian Isles is expected to begin sailing routes to Arran next week once sea trials are completed.   The ‘oldest, ‘ageing’ MV Caledonian Isles was launched in 1993 and is now 31 years old. The privatised Washington State Fe...

Sarwar stumped as Westminster sub-poll has SNP pulling ahead of Labour
13 Sep 2024 at 2:47pm
I know, a sub-poll and based on Westminster voting intentions but still reasonable evidence that the Labour tide is already ebbing and may not deliver in the Holyrood context by 2026. From More in Common, based on polling for 10-12 September 2024, a sub-poll of 120 weighted according to the GE 2024 vote (so not favourable to SNP?): https://www.moreincommon.org.uk/media/w50noqnp/mic-first-vi.xls...

More than half a million tucked away but little spent ? an unusual homeless c...
13 Sep 2024 at 1:30pm
From BBC Scotland today: Homelessness campaigners have staged a protest against the closure of a shelter in Glasgow city centre after the council ordered it should be shut down. Glasgow City Council’s enforcement notice gives the Homeless Project Scotland based at 67 Glassford Street up to 18 October to appeal its decision. The volunteer-run shelter has been taking in around 35 people a night s...

Scotland and Independence

"scotland independence -guardian" - Google News

Ruth Wishart: On the road with the Yesmobile - The National
17 Sep 2024 at 5:09am
Ruth Wishart: On the road with the Yesmobile  The National

A decade on, Scottish independence appears more improbable than ever - The Te...
16 Sep 2024 at 6:51pm
A decade on, Scottish independence appears more improbable than ever  The Telegraph

Why I'll never forget being a young journalist during the independence refere...
17 Sep 2024 at 6:00am
Why I'll never forget being a young journalist during the independence referendum  The Scotsman

Salmond addresses rally to mark referendum anniversary - BBC.com
15 Sep 2024 at 3:08am
Salmond addresses rally to mark referendum anniversary  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

Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish independence referendum defeat 'feels very raw' 10 ...
17 Sep 2024 at 4:30am
Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish independence referendum defeat 'feels very raw' 10 years on  Daily Record

Letters: The 2014 referendum has left Scottish society divided - HeraldScotland
17 Sep 2024 at 8:01am
Letters: The 2014 referendum has left Scottish society divided  HeraldScotland

For a Future Made in Scotland: Marking 10 years since the 2014 Scottish Indep...
16 Sep 2024 at 3:00pm
For a Future Made in Scotland: Marking 10 years since the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum  SNP

The rise of the blogs: How the referendum changed media habits - The National
17 Sep 2024 at 5:09am
The rise of the blogs: How the referendum changed media habits  The National

Polling shows things can only get better with independence - Angus Robertson ...
17 Sep 2024 at 7:02am
Polling shows things can only get better with independence - Angus Robertson  Edinburgh News

SNP

"SNP" - Google News

Kate Forbes 'transformative' economic strategy at risk due to SNP 'incompeten...
17 Sep 2024 at 12:34am
Kate Forbes 'transformative' economic strategy at risk due to SNP 'incompetence'  Scottish Daily Express

Why SNP remains in denial about Scotland's rejection of independence - The Sc...
16 Sep 2024 at 6:00pm
Why SNP remains in denial about Scotland's rejection of independence  The Scotsman

Scottish government loses votes on school meals and rail fares - Sky News
11 Sep 2024 at 7:12pm
Scottish government loses votes on school meals and rail fares  Sky News

SNP will lose Scottish election without complete rethink, say senior party fi...
27 Aug 2024 at 8:00am
SNP will lose Scottish election without complete rethink, say senior party figures  The Guardian

John Mason stripped of SNP party whip over 'unacceptable' Gaza posts - BBC.com
17 Aug 2024 at 8:00am
John Mason stripped of SNP party whip over 'unacceptable' Gaza posts  BBC.com

Scottish prosecutors examining fresh report from police over SNP finances - S...
5 Sep 2024 at 8:00am
Scottish prosecutors examining fresh report from police over SNP finances  Sky News

Stephen Flynn: ?self-inflicted wounds? and fringe policies cost SNP election ...
30 Aug 2024 at 8:00am
Stephen Flynn: ?self-inflicted wounds? and fringe policies cost SNP election  The Guardian

SNP choices contributing to financial pressure - watchdog - BBC.com
27 Aug 2024 at 8:00am
SNP choices contributing to financial pressure - watchdog  BBC.com

SNP must focus on issues that matter to Scottish people, says John Swinney - ...
31 Aug 2024 at 8:00am
SNP must focus on issues that matter to Scottish people, says John Swinney  The Guardian

SNP MSP John Mason stands by comment on Israel - BBC.com
19 Aug 2024 at 8:00am
SNP MSP John Mason stands by comment on Israel  BBC.com

Referendum (Google News)

"Scotland referendum -guardian -telegraph" - Google News

Salmond addresses Glasgow rally to mark indy ref anniversary - BBC.com
15 Sep 2024 at 6:42am
Salmond addresses Glasgow rally to mark indy ref anniversary  BBC.com

Polling shows things can only get better with independence - Angus Robertson ...
17 Sep 2024 at 7:02am
Polling shows things can only get better with independence - Angus Robertson  Edinburgh News

We are not living in the Scotland promised by the Better Together campaign in...
16 Sep 2024 at 7:19pm
We are not living in the Scotland promised by the Better Together campaign in 2014  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

Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish independence referendum defeat 'feels very raw' 10 ...
17 Sep 2024 at 4:30am
Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish independence referendum defeat 'feels very raw' 10 years on  Daily Record

Scotland voters will see a sales and use tax increase referendum on the ballo...
16 Sep 2024 at 9:00pm
Scotland voters will see a sales and use tax increase referendum on the ballot  Laurinburg Exchange

For a Future Made in Scotland: Marking 10 years since the 2014 Scottish Indep...
16 Sep 2024 at 3:00pm
For a Future Made in Scotland: Marking 10 years since the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum  SNP

Indyref at 10: Find all articles in our coverage here - HeraldScotland
16 Sep 2024 at 1:48pm
Indyref at 10: Find all articles in our coverage here  HeraldScotland

IndyRef was an incredible time - Scots had never been more engaged in politic...
16 Sep 2024 at 6:47am
IndyRef was an incredible time - Scots had never been more engaged in politics  STV News

Scottish Independence Rally 'pretty empty' as protesters wave Palestine flags...
14 Sep 2024 at 3:45pm
Scottish Independence Rally 'pretty empty' as protesters wave Palestine flags - 'What has this got to do with Scotland?!'  GB News