The Herald

[CaRP] XML error: Undeclared entity error at line 863 -

The Scotsman

The Scotsman Politics


Douglas Ross to resign from Holyrood - so he can stand again for Westminster
25 Mar 2025 at 11:16am

Douglas Ross has his sights set on being re-elected to Westminster.

Sharleen Spiteri and Sir John Curtice are among recipients of the honour

Wings over Scotland

The Sacrifice
22 Mar 2025 at 2:38am

The Deep-Fried Banana Republic
20 Mar 2025 at 4:42pm
It’s 18C today in Bath, readers, so after the dentist we went out to enjoy the sunshine for the afternoon. And you know what happens when we go out. But really, what even is there to say? Two years after she was arrested and taken to a police station for questioning, where we’re reliably informed …

Live chat update
17 Mar 2025 at 4:56pm
So as promised, and having now spent 11 months trying to get answers any other way, this afternoon we had a live chat with controversial charity LGBT Youth Scotland. Below is how it went. When you log in, there’s an optional dropdown box where you can enter your age. The only options it allows are …

The Unquestionables
17 Mar 2025 at 12:26pm
In April last year we wrote to LGBT Youth Scotland asking them to explain why they were conducting activities in primary schools (and even with pre-school children) about sexual matters despite only having a remit to work with young people aged 13-25. We received no reply, so we contacted the Office of the Scottish Charity …

The plainest sight
16 Mar 2025 at 12:06pm
You know what, Surrey Live, we think you’re probably right. We DO think people will remember him. Some of those details are the sort of things that stick in the mind. And Ireland didn’t exactly keep it under wraps. ? The cover art is particularly on the nose. “Stay weird.” “Just be you.” “Be that …

Meet The FILTH
15 Mar 2025 at 12:24pm
It stands for “Failed In London, Try Holyrood”, of course. So enjoy The March Of The Rejects next year, as the SNP explains to you why you were wrong not to elect these candidates last year and gives you a chance to atone for your shameful error. You lucky people.

Signal and noise
12 Mar 2025 at 2:17pm
The Presiding Officer has finally reluctantly deigned to allow the Scottish Parliament to discuss the issues arising from Sandie Peggie vs NHS Fife, in the shape of a debate taking place in the chamber this afternoon brought forward by the Scottish Tories. We suspect that watching it will be profound waste of time and a …

The evolution of fairness
11 Mar 2025 at 3:13pm
Some of our more alert readers may recall the events of four years ago this month, when a mob of SNP representatives all suddenly raged against the idea of (perfectly legally) “gaming” the Holyrood electoral system to produce a pro-indy supermajority. Voters try to organise themselves to maximise their desired outcomes all the time (see …

Tartan Messiah 2
8 Mar 2025 at 12:21pm
We don’t need a cartoonist today. How could he be funnier than this? Please let us one day discover who the wailing colleague was.

The message on an ill wind
7 Mar 2025 at 2:11pm
It’s one of the most profoundly disappointing things about the last decade of Scottish politics that for about five minutes in 2015 we all thought that this awful dunderheaded foghorn was a bright new hope for the future. But you live and learn. At least, some of us do. When you see who’s interviewing Mhairi …

Craig Murray

Starmer?s Thatcherite Economics
24 Mar 2025 at 7:41pm

You can only support the current manifestation of late stage capitalism, if you believe that massive inequality of wealth is necessary to wealth creation, or if you believe that the total amount of wealth is unimportant so long as a very small minority are extremely wealthy. “Trickledown economics” is at heart simply a statement of …

Starmer’s Thatcherite Economics

Artificial Intelligence vs Corrupt Judges
21 Mar 2025 at 11:41am

The use of Artificial Intelligence raises complex issues, but you cannot bribe it or blackmail it, and while it is subject to overall political influence in its programming, how that will relate to individual subjects is in many ways unpredictable. Rather on a whim, I decided to ask easily available and free Artificial Intelligence sources …

Artificial Intelligence vs Corrupt Judges

The Rot at the Core of ?Democracy?
18 Mar 2025 at 10:51am

As 320 Palestinians were massacred last night, most of them women and children, we live in a world where it is accepted as legal that Trump2 is genocidally Zionist because he received a $100 million donation from Miriam Adelson to be so. In addition to which Adelson is the second largest donor to AIPAC, which …

The Rot at the Core of “Democracy”

The Curious Case of Mahmoud Khalil
14 Mar 2025 at 2:32pm

Two key points the discussion has mostly missed: 1) It has been a bipartisan Justice Department policy for years to attempt to establish that the First Amendment does not apply to non-US citizens 2) Why has the Trump administration chosen Mahmoud Khalil out of thousands of potential victims; about as problematic a test case as …

The Curious Case of Mahmoud Khalil

The Moral Balance
12 Mar 2025 at 11:17am

There is a logical fallacy that dominates European neoliberal “thinking” at the moment. It goes like this. “Hitler had unlimited territorial ambition and proceeded to attempt conquest of all Europe after annexing the Sudetenland. Therefore Putin has unlimited territorial ambition and will proceed to attempt conquest of all Europe after annexing Eastern Ukraine.” This fallacious …

The Moral Balance

Alba Activism
6 Mar 2025 at 4:13pm

There are two drivers behind my support for Scottish Independence. The first and most obvious is to see our ancient land restored to the place it held so long in the community of free and self-governing nations, and end the colonial exploitation of our people and resources. The second is to destroy that Imperialist rogue …

Alba Activism

BBC Scotland

Ex-Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross to stand down as MSP
25 Mar 2025 at 12:20pm
The former Scottish Conservative leader has signalled he will seek to return to Westminster as an MP.

Ministers making 'painfully slow' cladding progress
25 Mar 2025 at 5:35pm
The Scottish government has been criticised by opposition MSPs after it announced a "renewed" action plan.

Officers warn underfunding has led to 'policing deserts'
25 Mar 2025 at 4:20pm
The chair of the Scottish Police Federation highlights station closures and stress on serving officers.

Councils have enough cash to fix potholes - Swinney
24 Mar 2025 at 3:53pm
The first minister responded to Sir Keir Starmer's plan to ensure damaged roads are repaired in England.

Covid minister: 'The choice was harm or more harm'
23 Mar 2025 at 2:46pm
Five years on from the start of lockdown, former Health Secretary Jeane Freeman stands by her decisions.

What next for the SNP? Moving out from under the Branchform shadow
20 Mar 2025 at 7:28pm
The news Nicola Sturgeon will face no further action under Operation Branchform offers a chance for the SNP to move on.

SNP veteran Fergus Ewing may run as independent
21 Mar 2025 at 2:00pm
The Highland MSP will not stand for the SNP next year and could run against it unless progress is made on dualling key trunk roads.

Sturgeon 'relieved and vindicated' as police investigation ends
20 Mar 2025 at 5:58pm
The former first minister's husband Peter Murrell has appeared in court charged with embezzlement.

Report says 800 green jobs could be created at Grangemouth
19 Mar 2025 at 12:12pm
The Project Willow report identifies nine areas for potential investment at the site of Scotland's only oil refinery.

Doctors say they cannot afford to recruit new GPs
20 Mar 2025 at 6:23am
Some practices say they are freezing recruitment in the face of severe financial challenges.

Former Labour MSP quits party over welfare cuts
19 Mar 2025 at 3:10pm
A Scottish Labour frontbencher has also criticised UK government plans to cut £5bn a year from social security spending.

Scottish minister says welfare crackdown 'devastating' for disabled people
18 Mar 2025 at 6:25pm
Scotland's social justice secretary says the UK reforms will have a "severe" effect on Holyrood finances.

Scot Goes Pop

"Great work, Liz!" - YouGov poll shows Labour slumping to new post-election l...
25 Mar 2025 at 5:01pm
We're getting closer and closer to the point where it'll have been conclusively proved that Liz Kendall's hammering of society's most vulnerable has backfired catastrophically on Labour.  Four GB-w...

The Alba internal elections will close at 12pm today: some final thoughts
25 Mar 2025 at 10:26am
I gather that straight-talking independent UNFILTERED independent straight-talking woman Shannon Donoghue, famed for her appearances on far-right podcasts and for her straight-talking UNFILTERED "I...

Navel-gazing stats post: Scot Goes Pop solidifies its position as Scotland's ...
24 Mar 2025 at 2:42pm
When I changed this blog's masthead a couple of months ago to say "one of Scotland's three most-read political blogs", I thought it would be a one-month wonder and that I'd quickly have to change i...

More evidence of a public backlash against Labour's "Arbeit Macht Frei" reinv...
23 Mar 2025 at 7:30pm
In the immediate wake of Scotland's latest footballing collapse, all I can say is: a) come on Bruce Mouat and co, win the world championships for Scotland in two weeks' time and give us something, ...

My day out in Perth
23 Mar 2025 at 1:36am
So I asked a few seasoned conference-goers what they thought the status was of the SNP constitutional conference that I attended as a delegate in Perth today (or technically yesterday as it's now a...

Analysis of the SNP's two spectacular by-election wins in Glasgow
21 Mar 2025 at 6:34pm
Just a quick note to let you know I have an analysis piece at The National about yesterday's two local by-elections in Glasgow, both of which produced pretty spectacular wins for the SNP.  The arti...

Find Out Now! Find Out How? Find Out ZAP! WHAM! POW! Labour deservedly slump...
20 Mar 2025 at 10:27pm
We all know there are people out there, sometimes quite poor people, sometimes even quite left-wing people, who resent anyone that doesn't work and regard the 'workshy' as the source of all society...

Nicola Sturgeon cleared
20 Mar 2025 at 2:27pm
Doubtless there's someone in Bath that will be devastated by this news, but most sensible people in the independence movement, both inside and outside the SNP, will be extremely relieved.  None of ...

STV Politics News

Latest Politics News | STV News

UK chancellor?s Spring Statement expected to make waves amidst struggling eco...
25 Mar 2025 at 10:00pm
The Spring Statement will be made just over a week after the UK Government unveiled a sweeping package of benefit reforms aimed at making savings of £5bn by 2030.

Scottish secretary Ian Murray says Scotland?s voice ?heard loud and clear? ah...
25 Mar 2025 at 6:22pm
Scottish secretary Ian Murray was questioned by the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster on Tuesday afternoon.

Former Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross to stand down as MSP to purs...
25 Mar 2025 at 11:56am
The former Scottish Tory leader will once again attempt to earn a seat at Westminster.

Historic step to scrap discriminatory ?relic of a past age? set to become law
25 Mar 2025 at 7:53am
The measure will allow Lady Elish Angiolini KC, a practising Roman Catholic, to be appointed as Lord High Commissioner of Scotland.

Another seven billion barrels of oil could be extracted from North Sea, indus...
25 Mar 2025 at 6:59am
Industry body Offshore Energies UK says the North Sea could produce half of all oil and gas in run up to 2050.

?Scotland didn?t have a Covid PPE VIP lane and we didn?t need one?
24 Mar 2025 at 2:16pm
Former Scottish health secretary Jeane Freeman said Scotland avoided PPE ?VIP lane? due to devolution.

Scottish Government announces ?very welcome? £25m playpark investment
24 Mar 2025 at 2:13pm
The money is aimed at refurbishing playgrounds for children across Scotland.

Swinney to announce £25m funding for councils to improve play parks
24 Mar 2025 at 8:01am
The First Minister said the funding was part of a play-based action plan and 'vision statement'.

Chancellor urged to prioritise public spending in UK spring statement
23 Mar 2025 at 6:37pm
Holyrood finance secretary Shona Robison urged the UK Chancellor to reject the ?failed approach of austerity? when she updates economic plans.

I understand anger of Covid bereaved, says former health secretary
23 Mar 2025 at 2:02pm
The former health secretary was speaking on the fifth anniversary of the first lockdown.

First Minister to visit New York to promote business during Tartan Week
23 Mar 2025 at 12:45pm
John Swinney is expected to meet a number of high-profile current and potential investors during his trip.

Sturgeon makes ?comedy debut and finale? days after being cleared in SNP probe
22 Mar 2025 at 8:13pm
Nicola Sturgeon took to the stage of the King's Theatre in Glasgow, where she described the last couple of years as 'interesting'.

Nicola Sturgeon to make ?revelatory? comedy debut at King?s Theatre
22 Mar 2025 at 10:05am
The former first minister will host Books and Banter alongside best friend and crime author Val McDermid.

SNP ministers should join with us to solve generational work problem ? Murray
21 Mar 2025 at 10:16pm
The Scottish Secretary defended the UK Government?s bid to change the welfare system.

Daily Record

Daily Record - Politics

Labour MP blasted for skipping Scottish economy debate for golf meeting
26 Mar 2025 at 4:30am
EXCLUSIVE: Brian Leishman missed the Westminster Hall debate on October 15 because he was being elected chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Golf.

Glasgow council spent £63,500 on lawyers to probe golden goodbye payment scandal
26 Mar 2025 at 4:30am
EXCLUSIVE: The local authority has made cuts in recent years, but they found the cash to investigate the exit payments row.

Scots landlords 'eagerly waiting to cash in' as rent cap measures for tenants...
26 Mar 2025 at 4:30am
Temporary rent adjudication measures introduced by the Scottish Government will end on March 31.

Council tax rises in every part of Scotland - how you are affected
26 Mar 2025 at 4:30am
After the SNP Government enforced freezes last year, local authorities have brought in inflation-busting hikes this time round.

Scots Lib Dem leader criticised for praising grandee who turned ?blind eye? t...
26 Mar 2025 at 4:30am
Alex Cole-Hamilton is under fire for saying it was a "great honour" to join Sir David Steel.

Rachel Reeves warned 'people will die' if she brings in cuts at Spring Statement
26 Mar 2025 at 4:30am
Reeves will give an update on her tax and spending plans in the House of Commons this afternoon.

Russia and Ukraine agree to Black Sea ceasefire, White House says
25 Mar 2025 at 5:22pm
The White House announced both Kyiv and Moscow had agreed to ?ensure safe navigation? and ?eliminate the use of force? in the Black Sea.

Benefit cuts 'will have zero financial impact on Scottish Government', says I...
25 Mar 2025 at 5:01pm
The Scottish Secretary said the SNP Government had been told that the welfare reforms would not result in its budget being cut.

SNP 'asleep at the wheel' as housebuilding in Scotland drops amid national ho...
25 Mar 2025 at 3:22pm
The Scottish Government declared a housing emergency last year but the number of new homes completed continues to decline.

Concern as fewer Scots children being vaccinated with poorest kids most at risk
25 Mar 2025 at 12:32pm
Children living in more deprived areas were less likely to take up the vaccines than children living in more affluent areas.

The National

The National | Politics

Labour refusing to bring in a wealth tax but are fine with austerity cuts
25 Mar 2025 at 7:15pm

A new opinion poll has found that a large majority of Scots want taxes to be raised on the wealthy rather than cuts being made to benefits for the sick and disabled and front-line public services ...

Here's why we don't need a referendum to secure independence
25 Mar 2025 at 7:02pm

TWO letters in Monday?s National claim a referendum is the only route to independence. Why do the SNP never mention that referendums are rare, as most countries left British rule by voting at an election. Why would an indy party want that kept quiet?

Labour are draping moral bankruptcy in the language of ?tough choices?
25 Mar 2025 at 7:00pm

LET us not mince words: this scepter?d isle, once vaunted as the workshop of the world, has been reduced to a pitiful mendicant, outstripped in prosperity by the likes of Lithuania and Slovenia ? nations that, until yesterday, were themselves shackled by Soviet diktat or Balkan strife.

Scottish Labour MP slammed for saying he's 'proud' of bids to get people off ...
25 Mar 2025 at 6:19pm

A SCOTTISH Labour MP has been slammed after telling a constituent he is ?proud? of the UK Government?s attempts to get people off benefits. 

'Litmus test for SNP': Warning land reform will 'not touch' most Scottish est...
25 Mar 2025 at 5:54pm

The SNP Government is facing a ?litmus test? ahead of the 2026 Holyrood elections as MSPs gather to debate its Land Reform Bill, a Green MSP has said ...

Ian Murray says benefits cuts have 'zero impact' on Scottish budget
25 Mar 2025 at 5:13pm

The Scottish Government will see ?zero? impact to its budget as a result of Labour?s £5 billion cut to social security benefits, according to the Scottish Secretary ...

Oscar-winning Palestinian director 'in hospital' after 'beating by Israeli so...
25 Mar 2025 at 5:17pm

Hamdan Ballal, one of the Palestinian co-directors of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, is in hospital after being "beaten" by Israeli soldiers and settlers ...

Labour refuse to rule out 'copy and pasting' Tories' Rwanda scheme
25 Mar 2025 at 3:25pm

LABOUR have refused to rule out a ?copy and paste? of the Tories? Rwanda scheme for migrant deportations ...

UK Government ordered PPE firms to 'prioritise' England over Scotland, inquir...
25 Mar 2025 at 3:02pm

THE UK Government ordered suppliers of life-saving kit to ?prioritise? the NHS in England over Scotland during the pandemic, it was claimed at the Covid-19 inquiry.

'Credible evidence' MP harassed women, KC says amid bitter Reform UK row
25 Mar 2025 at 2:35pm

Complaints of harassment levelled against former Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe had ?veracity?, an independent KC has said ...

Holyrood Magazine

Holyrood Website

Chancellor to announce extra defence cash as SNP call for public service inve...
26 Mar 2025 at 6:00am
Rachel Reeves will deliver her Spring Statement in Westminster this afternoon

Jackie Baillie says Keir Starmer ?not a liability? in run-up to Scottish elec...
25 Mar 2025 at 10:30pm
Asked whether the prime minister was an asset or a liability, the Scottish Labour deputy leader said: ?Keir Starmer is not a liability?

Scottish tech project poised to boost quality of life of people with dementia
25 Mar 2025 at 4:30pm
The?Consolidate?network aims to develop technology to enhance the social, mental and physical capacities of people with dementia

Health experts warn ?people will die? from government cuts
25 Mar 2025 at 1:11pm
The warning comes on the eve of Chancellor Rachel Reeves? Spring Statement, where she will likely announce a wave of spending cuts

NHS Lanarkshire to introduce digital triaging to streamline care
25 Mar 2025 at 12:28pm
The health board will be the first in Scotland to use eTriage, following on from successful implementations south of the border

Douglas Ross eyes return to Westminster as he confirms he will stand down as ...
25 Mar 2025 at 11:54am
Praise from colleagues for former Scottish Conservative leader

Satellites to end connectivity crisis, Ofcom says
25 Mar 2025 at 11:36am
Ofcom proposes to roll out for ?direct-to-device? technology, which could eventually result in 100 per cent of the UK having mobile coverage

Sheku Bayoh: Police pay family out-of-court settlement
24 Mar 2025 at 11:16am
No admission of liability by police

Brian Leishman: Anas Sarwar has ?been very quiet? on saving Grangemouth jobs
24 Mar 2025 at 7:20am
The Scottish Labour leader said?during the general election?campaign?that his party would ?step in and save the jobs at the refinery and invest in that?transition?

Scottish Labour ?fantastically cohesive? despite welfare row, Anas Sarwar ins...
21 Mar 2025 at 12:50pm
MSPs Carol Mochan and Monica Lennon, as well as MP Brian Leishman, have?spoken out against the reforms

Guardian - Scottish Politics

Scottish politics | The Guardian

The battle for Glasgow?s Wyndford estate ? photo essay
24 Mar 2025 at 12:44pm
A carbon crime or bright new future? For nearly four years, a fierce debate raged over demolishing the site?s high-rise flatsFor nearly four years, a fierce debate raged over the future of the Wyndford estate in Glasgow, dividing residents and sparking wider national controversy. Was the demoliti...

Scottish voters split over free tuition as university financial crisis deepens
24 Mar 2025 at 5:00am
Poll finds up to 48% of voters believe Scottish students who can afford it should pay, with 29% opposedScottish voters are divided over Scotland?s policy of free tuition for Scottish students as the crisis over university finances intensified.A poll commissioned by the Carnegie Trust for the Univ...

?Hostile environment? drives many of SNP?s female MSPs to step down before 20...
23 Mar 2025 at 12:00pm
Women at Holyrood cite lack of support from party, abuse in chamber and online, and tolerance of bullyingHolyrood is becoming a ?hostile environment for women? and a significant number of female MSPs in the Scottish National party are stepping down before the May 2026 elections, citing lack of su...

Starmer must drop ?cruel? Pip proposals or face ?mother of all rebellions?, L...
19 Mar 2025 at 5:53pm
Richard Burgon says PM?s failure to defend new Pip eligibility rules at PMQs shows why ?cruel? plans should be dropped. This live blog is closedScores of Labour MPs raise concerns over welfare changesLast night, to back up its analysis of the disability cuts, the Institute for Fiscal Studies publ...

David Lammy says G7 considering further moves to pressure Russia into agreein...
17 Mar 2025 at 6:13pm
?We have more cards we can play,? foreign secretary tells MPs as he says G7 foreign ministers found ?common ground? when meeting last weekThe Reform UK press conference is about to start. There is a live feed here.Nigel Farage is going to announce that 29 councillors have defected to his party, a...

We know Nicola Sturgeon will stand down next year. But don't write her off ju...
14 Mar 2025 at 11:00am
For all the challenges, flaws and failures, there was a symbolism to her tenure that still engages the public and inspires younger activistsNicola Sturgeon must be sick of the sight of her own obituaries. Since she confirmed on Wednesday that she will not seek re-election as a MSP at next May?s H...

UK politics: Unison attacks ?shambolic? announcement of NHS England?s aboliti...
13 Mar 2025 at 6:12pm
Union says staff will have been left reeling after surprise news that body will be scrappedStarmer is now talking about regulatation, and giving examples of where he thinks it has gone too far.l give you an example. There?s a office conversion in Bingley, which, as you know, is in Yorkshire. That...

UK politics: UK expels Russian diplomat and says Moscow is seeking closure of...
12 Mar 2025 at 5:31pm
Move is in response to similar Russian measures earlier this week Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.PMQs is about to start. Continue reading...

Nicola Sturgeon to stand down as MSP next year
12 Mar 2025 at 11:43am
Scotland?s former first minister, who led SNP from 2014 until 2023, says she will not seek re-election in 2026UK politics live ? latest updatesScotland?s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced she is standing down as an MSP.Sturgeon, who led the Scottish National party from 2014 unti...

Dundee University faces ?hammer blow? amid plans to cut 635 jobs
11 Mar 2025 at 4:37pm
Interim principal says drastic measures needed to tackle £35m shortfall in day-to-day spendingDundee University has announced plans to cut more than 600 jobs and reduce its teaching by a fifth to help cope with a £35m deficit in its accounts.The university?s interim principal, Prof Shane O?Neill,...

Wee Ginger Dug

Wee Ginger Dug

Branchform?s meagre fruit
23 Mar 2025 at 12:19pm
It cost £2.3 million, it lasted four years. It originated in a politically motivated complaint from a notorious attention seeker with a habit of making nuisance complaints to the police, but Police Scotland’s Operation Branchform has finally come to an end – without any charges being brought against former first minister Nicola Sturgeon or former …

Labour out-Tories the Tories
18 Mar 2025 at 8:11pm
The head of the DWP, the Department of Wickedness and Persecution, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, the mad axe-woman of Westminster, today announced the biggest cuts ever to sickness and disability benefits, kicking away the crutches of some of the most vulnerable in society. The scale of the cuts is horrifying, all the more …

Visits from space aliens
16 Mar 2025 at 7:04pm
You may not have noticed, on account of doing something far more engrossing, like de-fluffing your navel, but last week Scotland was ‘graced’ – I use the term advisedly – by a visit from Russell Findlay’s boss Kemi Badenoch, a woman who makes the notoriously ill-tempered and uptight deputy leader of Reform UK, Richard Tetchy, …

Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer, we?ll kick your crutches out of here.
10 Mar 2025 at 8:18pm
Labour’s plan to target the disabled and the long term sick have been widely trailed in advance. The final details are to be announced at the end of this month, but it is expected that those on long term sickness benefits will come under greater pressure to find work or risk their already meagre benefits …

Chippy Richard Tetchy goes to the chippy
6 Mar 2025 at 7:32pm
Reform UK’s Nigel Farage mini-me, the notoriously bad tempered Richard Tetchy, sorry, Tice, was in Scotland this week in order to pretend that he and Farage’s private limited company masquerading as a democratically constituted far right English nationalist party actually care about Scotland. Spoiler alert, he failed miserably. It has been clear for some time …

The end of the Anglosaxon transatlantic alliance
1 Mar 2025 at 2:44pm
Anyone who’s not a fan of Putin or who hasn’t drunk deep of the MAGA Kool-Aid was horrified by the disgusting scenes in the Oval Office yesterday when America’s extortionist in chief and his pet rodent JD Vance ambushed the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who was in Washington DC ostensibly to sign a deal giving …

Rest in peace, Mary Docherty
28 Feb 2025 at 8:39pm
My friend Mary (known to her family as Maureen) Docherty passed away this morning. Mary was a huge lover of Scotland and a long time supporter of independence. Mary was one of the first people I met through this blog. Back in the blog’s early days, before the independence referendum when my late husband Andy …

Taking out the Nigel Garbage
27 Feb 2025 at 7:39pm
Nigel Farage, the man who makes you wish for a time machine so you could go back to the 1960s and insist his father used a condom, has announced that he’s planning a trip to Scotland in order to boost his far right band of millionaire enabling English ethno-nationalists in plenty of time for the …

The vile, gruesome people in charge of the Labour party
23 Feb 2025 at 7:21pm
Labour held its Scottish conference in Glasgow over the weekend. Naturally, it featured U-turn Sarwar and the pantomime Dame misrepresenting NHS Scotland, never mind that Labour is making a far worse job of running the NHS in Wales. Anas Sarwar is his own man, he makes his own decisions, and it’s entirely coincidental that he …

Starmer?s greatest betrayal, pandering to the far right
21 Feb 2025 at 5:04pm
This weekend sees the Labour party’s Scottish conference in Glasgow, when it was planned, it was going to be a triumphal occasion when Labour gloated about the destruction of the SNP, Labour’s impending return to power in Holyrood with Anas Sarwar as the next First Minister, and the final putting to bed of the independence …

The Courier

Scottish Politics News From Holyrood and Westminster | The Courier

Pamela Gillies: Who is Dundonian leading probe into University of Dundee crisis?
26 Mar 2025 at 6:00am
The former Glasgow Caledonian principal will lead an independent investigation into the root causes of financial problems.

7 key questions Dundee University probe will ask
25 Mar 2025 at 2:45pm
An independent investigation into the struggling institution?s financial crisis has been launched.

Dundee University crisis probe launched as cover-up claims set to be investig...
25 Mar 2025 at 10:01am
The Scottish Funding Council has commissioned an investigation into why university bosses were blindsided by the scale of the crisis.

Debate: Do you agree with John Swinney or Dundee United chief Mark Ogren on f...
25 Mar 2025 at 6:05am
Share your views here and take part in our poll on the future of Scotland?s alcohol ban in stadiums.

EXCLUSIVE: 5 Dundee University chiefs set for Holyrood grilling
23 Mar 2025 at 6:00am
Former international vice principal Wendy Alexander is among latest senior staff invited to appear.

Dundee University staff must not be ?used as cannon-fodder?, warns trade unio...
22 Mar 2025 at 6:02am
The struggling institution has proposed cutting 632 roles to plug a £35 million financial black hole.

Maggie Chapman is new Dundee University rector
21 Mar 2025 at 1:49pm
The North East Green MSP was backed by more than half of the students who voted.

EXCLUSIVE: SNP education chief says government open to giving Dundee Universi...
21 Mar 2025 at 6:00am
Speaking The Courier a day after university chiefs were grilled at Holyrood, Jenny Gilruth called for "transparency" over the issues that prompted the cash crisis.

£22m emergency funding package confirmed for Dundee University
20 Mar 2025 at 4:43pm
The Scottish Funding Council will make the cash available to support the struggling institution.

SNP motorhome: Key questions on £100k Fife campervan
20 Mar 2025 at 3:30pm
The SNP motorhome was taken by police in Dunfermline in April 2023.

Talking up Scotland

Talking-up Scotland

SNP now building nearly 50 times as many affordable homes as in last days of ...
25 Mar 2025 at 7:28pm
Professor John Robertson OBA In the last 5 years of the Labour/Lib Dem government, from 2002 to 2007, only 371 homes for affordable rent were built. In the last 5 years of the SNP Government, 2019 to 2024, 18 215 were built. That’s an astonishing contrast, 49.1 times as many, revealing clearly that the SNP, on this as on so many matters, has replaced the Labour Party as the party of the people....

Never reported by ?Scotland?s media? ? 97% of drug abusers referred to NHS Sc...
25 Mar 2025 at 6:49pm
From Public Health Scotland today: 9,429 referrals were made to community-based specialist drug and alcohol treatment services: 4,727 (50.1%) were for problematic use of alcohol, 3,397 (36.0%) for problematic use of drugs, and 1,305 (13.8%) for co-dependency (use of both alcohol and drugs). Nationally, the Standard was met for referrals to community-based services across all substances: drugs (...

Waiting list for care at home packages is more than 50% longer, per head, in ...
25 Mar 2025 at 4:48pm
Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland today: The estimated number of people assessed and waiting for a care at home package was 2,873 on 3 March 2025.1 All things being equal, with 10 times the population, England might be expected then to have around 28 700 assessed but still waiting. According to the latest data from GOV UK, for September 2024, it was 44 000, down from 51 0...

Cancer waiting times ? NHS Scotland treats significantly more within target w...
25 Mar 2025 at 4:25pm
Professor John Robertson OBA In NHS England for the quarter ending December 2025, 91.3% were first treated within 31 days from decision to treat and 69.6% were treated after an urgent referral within 62 days. The NHS England targets for these two points are 96% and 85% with the latter recently reduced from 95% in an effort to make it more achievable.1 In NHS Scotland for the quarter ending Dece...

Scotland has been putting patient safety first since 2007 and former Labour o...
25 Mar 2025 at 3:19pm
Professor John Robertson OBA It’s a bit much, Jeremy Hunt now worrying about patient safety, 15 years after he could have learned how to do it, 18 years after Labour could have, from SNP-led Scotland. In the Guardian, yesterday, the above, and: I am worried about something else being missed. In the huge blizzard of organisational change, there is a risk of eyes going off the ball when it comes ...

Vetting call over ?asshole? PhD examiners, ?trial-by-fire? vivas
25 Mar 2025 at 2:54pm
Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair This happens in Scotland too and it’s made worse by the common sense of inferiority toward some English academics. In the Times Education Supplement today: A new study of more than 300 PhD examiners found that most think the UK?s ?closed-door? vivas should be reformed, with three quarters calling for examiners to be more careful...

Disappearing the Celts
25 Mar 2025 at 12:12pm
Professor John Robertson OBA Back in 1990, I did research into history teaching across the UK and Europe. You’ll not be surprised to know that the history curriculum in Croatia then was a bit blood and soil but across eastern and central Europe it was still pretty ethnic nationalist, uncritically lauding their own heroes and damning their neighbours. Only Germany looked to be really shaking off...

Scotland?s schools ? better staffed, better funded and improving outcomes in ...
25 Mar 2025 at 8:56am
Professor John Robertson OBA, former schoolteacher, education lecturer, Associate Dean I was only a classroom teacher for three years (11 year-olds) before moving into higher education, but 18-24 year-olds can be hard work, scary at times, too. I was a bit lucky as well. I ran a winning school football team (cynically based on the Catenaccio – look it up) so if they crossed me they were oot! I’...

New Zealand government?s incompetence on new ferry builds, to avert further r...
24 Mar 2025 at 9:33pm
Professor John Robertson OBA, Global Ferry Correspondent From NBR on 4 March 2025, the above warning. Note that’s a simulation of one of the too-expensive, cancelled ferries for the Cook Straits in New Zealand for which replacements are not yet planned. From RNZ the same day: New documents reveal the coalition has set aside $300 million to cover broken infrastructure contracts and a break-fee w...

It?s not a scare story, it?s fact ? essential PPE supplies during Covid were ...
24 Mar 2025 at 6:57pm
Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks once again to AR for alerting me to this. Ignored, of course, by BBC Scotland and somewhat downplayed by STV in ‘Scotland didn’t have a Covid PPE VIP lane and we didn’t need one’ at https://news.stv.tv/politics/scotland-didnt-have-a-covid-ppe-vip-lane-and-we-didnt-need-one, this is a shocking revelation of how, when the going got tough, Scotland did not benef...

Scotland and Independence

"scotland independence -guardian" - Google News

Assa Samake-Roman: This is a moment independence movement should be seizing -...
26 Mar 2025 at 5:06am
Assa Samake-Roman: This is a moment independence movement should be seizing  The National

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

Sturgeon?s decade was a lost opportunity for Scottish independence - The Times
24 Mar 2025 at 5:00pm
Sturgeon?s decade was a lost opportunity for Scottish independence  The Times

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

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

New blow for Scottish independence as most Scots feel safer as part of the UK...
24 Mar 2025 at 10:34am
New blow for Scottish independence as most Scots feel safer as part of the UK  Scottish Daily Express

How would an independent Scotland survive in this dangerous new world? - Hera...
28 Feb 2025 at 8:00am
How would an independent Scotland survive in this dangerous new world?  HeraldScotland

Scotland?s ex-leader Nicola Sturgeon cleared in investigation into party fina...
20 Mar 2025 at 7:16pm
Scotland?s ex-leader Nicola Sturgeon cleared in investigation into party finances  South China Morning Post

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

Scotland?s Nicola Sturgeon Cleared After Party Finance Inquiry - The New York...
20 Mar 2025 at 6:21pm
Scotland?s Nicola Sturgeon Cleared After Party Finance Inquiry  The New York Times

SNP

"SNP" - Google News

SNP urge Rachel Reeves to 'ditch Tory fiscal rules' instead of Spring Stateme...
26 Mar 2025 at 5:06am
SNP urge Rachel Reeves to 'ditch Tory fiscal rules' instead of Spring Statement cuts  The National

Seamus Logan: Senedd reform shows up our Frankenstein?s monster of a system -...
26 Mar 2025 at 5:06am
Seamus Logan: Senedd reform shows up our Frankenstein?s monster of a system  The National

Nicola Sturgeon no longer a suspect in SNP finances investigation - BBC
20 Mar 2025 at 1:15pm
Nicola Sturgeon no longer a suspect in SNP finances investigation  BBC

What next for the SNP? Moving out from under the Branchform shadow - BBC.com
20 Mar 2025 at 7:28pm
What next for the SNP? Moving out from under the Branchform shadow  BBC.com

Police investigation 'could weaken SNP's election chances', top pollster warn...
20 Mar 2025 at 2:34am
Police investigation 'could weaken SNP's election chances', top pollster warns  Sky News

Nicola Sturgeon no longer under investigation over SNP fraud claims - The Gua...
20 Mar 2025 at 2:09pm
Nicola Sturgeon no longer under investigation over SNP fraud claims  The Guardian

Scotland?s Nicola Sturgeon Cleared After Party Finance Inquiry - The New York...
20 Mar 2025 at 6:21pm
Scotland?s Nicola Sturgeon Cleared After Party Finance Inquiry  The New York Times

Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon cleared in police investigation into SN...
21 Mar 2025 at 12:53am
Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon cleared in police investigation into SNP's finances  Sky News

Keir Starmer dismisses SNP call to axe Donald Trump state visit - BBC.com
2 Mar 2025 at 8:00am
Keir Starmer dismisses SNP call to axe Donald Trump state visit  BBC.com

SNP MP calls for Trump state visit to be scrapped - BBC.com
1 Mar 2025 at 8:00am
SNP MP calls for Trump state visit to be scrapped  BBC.com

Referendum (Google News)

"Scotland referendum -guardian -telegraph" - Google News

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

Sturgeon?s decade was a lost opportunity for Scottish independence - The Times
24 Mar 2025 at 5:00pm
Sturgeon?s decade was a lost opportunity for Scottish independence  The Times

John Swinney: Scottish independence vote left 'positive legacy' - BBC.com
18 Sep 2024 at 8:00am
John Swinney: Scottish independence vote left 'positive legacy'  BBC.com

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

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

New blow for Scottish independence as most Scots feel safer as part of the UK...
24 Mar 2025 at 10:34am
New blow for Scottish independence as most Scots feel safer as part of the UK  Scottish Daily Express

Why Scotland gave up on independence - The New Statesman
19 Sep 2024 at 8:00am
Why Scotland gave up on independence  The New Statesman

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

Election 2024: Scotland headed for huge change with SNP set to lose dozens of...
31 May 2024 at 8:00am
Election 2024: Scotland headed for huge change with SNP set to lose dozens of seats to Labour  The Conversation

Scottish independence: 10 years on - YouGov
17 Sep 2024 at 8:00am
Scottish independence: 10 years on  YouGov