Why do unionists hate it when Nicola Sturgeon appears on the global stage? 22 Oct 2021 at 5:30am
SHETLAND. Its name is never plural. It is not in a box in the Moray Firth. Its nearest railway station is not Bergen, Norway. Its people are not itching to create an independent Atlantic statelet. Oh, and ?it? is not remote: ?you? are.
Donald Macleod: Charity can be music to the ears and mind 22 Oct 2021 at 11:00am
THE Third Sector is in crisis, in some cases terminally so. The charity sector which pre-pandemic employed over 900,000 people and was worth £53.5bn has, since March 2020, almost ground to a shuddering halt.
Eat less meat: The truth politicians are too timid to tell 22 Oct 2021 at 5:30am
VEGGIE bacon. Oh, the controversy. Plant-based meat alternatives used to be regarded by foodies with the sort of disdain Carrie Johnson reserves for grey sofa cushions.
Agenda: Scotland has high hopes for COP26 22 Oct 2021 at 3:00pm
GLASGOW is about to host what is thought to be the most important global climate change conference ever. Six years ago, the Paris Agreement settled on the goal of limiting the total increase in the Earth?s temperature to ?well below? two degrees Celsius and to pursue efforts towards 1.5C.
COP26 climate change summit: Boris Johnson's new environmental hair-shirt ris... 22 Oct 2021 at 4:45pm
Despite being dumped as a Scotland Office junior minister, Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid loyally applauded Prime Minister Boris Johnson?s knockabout at the Manchester party conference?s Scottish reception this month, and was rewarded with a warm clap on the shoulder and a word of reassurance from the boss on the way out.
Michael Gove: 'I'm happy for the SNP to take credit for levelling up agenda' 22 Oct 2021 at 4:55am
Boris Johnson?s man in charge of delivering the Conservatives? UK-wide charm offensive through the ?levelling up? agenda has said he does not mind if the Scottish Government takes the credit for successful investment.
Tidying up 28 Sep 2021 at 8:37am
Right, as promised, one last piece of admin. (This post will be removed in due time.) We left yesterday’s piece and the associated poll up for two full days to make sure the people who don’t read Wings at weekends saw it and had the chance to vote in it too. But in truth it …
Under Her Thumb 26 Sep 2021 at 7:59am
When the Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts died last month, the first of their songs that popped into my head, for no particular reason, was “Under My Thumb”, a mildly controversial 1966 album track the band never released as a single in the West. Its most infamous place in history, though, is this. Until Watts’ death …
Lights out 25 Sep 2021 at 6:59am
This week in 2014, I drew a picture of a light going out. Seven years on, I’ve just done the same thing. Back then it was the union snuffing out Scotland’s candle of hope. This time around, it’s about our very own caped crusader hanging up his black rubber pants? at least for the foreseeable. …
Not-so-pretty Greens 24 Sep 2021 at 1:46pm
For many years now, whenever I’ve done one of those ?Which Political Party Should You Be In?? online quiz things, it always says that I’m a Green, which is weird because I really hate cyclists. Nevertheless, it was still the result when I did one most recently, just last month. So I decided that for the first …
All the right people 12 Sep 2021 at 9:28pm
…appear to be absolutely raging tonight about this: Folk used to accuse Wings of being divisive. But look who we’ve united! Dim young Mr Kiehlmann of the Twitler Youth there has in fact quite spectacularly misunderstood the judgement in our defamation case against Kezia Dugdale. But that aside, SNP, Greens, Labour, Tories, and desperately-failed old would-be intellectual …
Hearing voices 12 Sep 2021 at 12:17pm
Craig Murray’s speech to the Alba conference yesterday, delivered by his wife Nadira.
The Canary 31 Aug 2021 at 11:04am
Her Majesty’s Prisoner No. 157095, or Craig Murray as we still prefer to call him, is a fascinating piece of living evidence of the Kafkaesque country Scotland has become under the despotic rule of Nicola Sturgeon. Craig has a number of serious medical conditions, one of which causes him frequent dizziness and fainting spells. To …
I want to make one or two points for you to ponder while I am in jail. This is the last post until about Christmas; we are not legally able to post anything while I am imprisoned. But the Justice for Craig Murray Campaign website is now up and running and will start to have …
This blog will be going dark for a few months. The Queen kindly paid for my dinners for over twenty years while I was a British diplomat and Ambassador, and now she is going to be paying for my dinners again. That is very kind, I thought she had forgotten me. The following is a …
I was down in London last week for discussions around my appeal to the Supreme Court, and staying in a hotel close to Leicester Square, I wandered along to see the fans during their game with Ukraine and its very noisy aftermath. I was hoping to write a piece about disgusting uncouth yobs of racist …
On the final day of the Assange extradition hearing, magistrate Vanessa Baraitser refused to accept an affidavit from Assange’s solicitor Gareth Peirce, on the grounds it was out of time. The affidavit explained that the defence had been unable to respond to the new accusations in the United States government’s second superseding indictment, because these …
The pre-positioning of the BBC correspondent on HMS Defender shatters the pretence that the BBC is something different to a state propaganda broadcaster. It also makes plain that this propaganda exercise to provoke the Russian military was calculated and deliberate. Indeed that was confirmed by that BBC correspondent’s TV news report last night when he …
Sometimes it is worth stating the obvious. The United Kingdom does not have a coast in the Black Sea. British warships are not infesting the Black Sea out of a peaceful intent, and there is no cause for them to be entering disputed waters close to anybody’s coast. This is not a question of freedom …
UK agrees free trade deal with New Zealand 20 Oct 2021 at 11:06pm
The government says consumers and businesses will benefit from deal, but it is unlikely to boost growth.
Some concrete suggestions of how to achieve Yes unity 17 Oct 2021 at 9:39pm
I gather that Ruth Wishart has issued a call for an end to "internecine warfare" in the Yes movement, although ironically I can't see what she said because she blocked me in the summer after I sent...
Big drop in Labour vote as SNP win Falkirk by-election 15 Oct 2021 at 1:48pm
As you may have seen, the SNP won a local council by-election in Falkirk overnight. It's being reported as an 'SNP gain from Labour', although as is often the case with STV by-elections, things ar...
The curious Britishness of the pro-independence Scottish Government 13 Oct 2021 at 11:45am
Reading through the account in the Guardian of the report into the UK's catastrophic failings in the early weeks of the pandemic, I initially got the impression that the ludicrous fiction that ther...
Questions for Kirsty Blackman 5 Oct 2021 at 6:11am
Did Kirsty Blackman genuinely retweet a call for Joanna Cherry to be expelled? Any chance a screenshot was doctored or something like that? It's extraordinary (and appalling) if she did.? James Kel...
Sunday Miscellany 3 Oct 2021 at 5:37am
So a few miscellaneous things while I'm thinking of them. First of all, I meant to mention last week that I was quoted in Alasdair Soussi's latest piece for the Al Jazeera website, about the UK Go...
The REAL Scottish Politics: Michael Gove redefines word 'augmenting' 22 Oct 2021 at 5:30pm
THEY say that every day is an education, and Scotland can certainly rely on Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for gaslighting and dad dancing, to teach us new and surprising meanings to commonplace words in the English language.
Glasgow cleansing worker strikes and the crisis of the 1970s 22 Oct 2021 at 4:34pm
After Glasgow's forthcoming cleansing worker strike was brought to the UK's attention during last night's Question Time, two residents and campaigners discuss the situation and its connection to problems of the 1970s.
Jazz at The Third Eye 22-30 October ? Exclusive Footage 21 Oct 2021 at 3:58pm
Jazz at the Third Eye is a multi-media project exploring Glasgow?s visionary arts centre, launching this weekend. As a young man working in Glasgow City Centre in the early 1980s, the Third Eye Centre was always a draw. I spent many of my lunchtimes there and often headed straight there after work to view the …
Brexit Failure and the Blitz Spirit 17 Oct 2021 at 10:46am
In the latest wheeze of the Brexit debacle we’re told that foreign lorry drivers will now be able to make an unlimited number of pick-ups and drop-offs in a fixed period in the UK under changes to rules proposed by the government to prevent shortages of products in the run-up to Christmas and into the …
COP26 Protest Rights and Police Surveillance 16 Oct 2021 at 11:56am
This is an important document on the criminalisation of protest in the UK and in particular advice for activists for the upcoming COP in Glasgow. It covers the use of surveillance tactics including: facial recognition technology; mobile phone extraction; IMSI catchers; cloud extraction; social media monitoring; use of police drones; the use of “law enforcement …
Imagine ? Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2021 16 Oct 2021 at 8:02am
The Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2021 kicked off this weekend. Although it?s a welcome return to theatres and live audiences, to keep serving international audiences and to reach those who cannot attend in person, the team will also continue to develop the festival?s digital programme. A series of small-scale and safely distanced person-to-person events, including …
A Long March for Wales 15 Oct 2021 at 11:52pm
It was a drab Autumn evening when my friend Joe picked up the phone for our interview. As we spoke he was sitting in a tent near Gloucester, enduring the rain and wind with a good portion of his clothes soaked, but happy to chat politics with a fellow socialist for a while. The weather …
Bold on Beyond the Swelkie 15 Oct 2021 at 8:15pm
George Mackay Brown at 100. Jim Mackintosh and Paul S. Phillipou (eds), Beyond the Swelkie. A Collection of Poems and Writings Celebrating the Centenary of George Mackay Brown (1921 ? 1996) Tippermuir Books. 260 pp., £12. Stromness, 1975: hazy summer recollections of a slight man with a warm nature who connected easily with children, as …
Zero Carbon Spin for Edinburgh 15 Oct 2021 at 11:00am
“The Edinburgh Festivals have announced plans for how they will respond to the climate emergency and help Edinburgh achieve its goal of reducing carbon emissions to net zero by 2030.” So says, er, Edinburgh Festival City dot com. A new report called ?Taking Action on Climate Change? outlines how the festivals are “accelerating their own …
Alec Finlay ? Manifesto For Urban Crofts 14 Oct 2021 at 12:08pm
Writing is like trusting language and going for a swim in it Alec Finlay is no ordinary poet. You wont find him hanging in pubs in cliques or poetry circles, you wont find him reading at “spoken word” evenings. Yet his work has a reach beyond most poets, turning up in places where poets dont …
Men must challenge misogynistic behaviour, says Nicola Sturgeon 7 Oct 2021 at 3:16pm
Scotland?s first minister says society should stop expecting women to fix problems of sexism and harassmentMen across Scotland must challenge themselves and one another over misogynistic behaviour, Nicola Sturgeon has said, as she called for events of the past few weeks to mark a turning point ?w...
Constitutional rows must not affect rights of children, say Scottish campaigners 6 Oct 2021 at 2:02pm
Opposition parties accuse SNP of ?shamefully using children?s rights to play nationalist games?Children?s rights protections must not become the victim of constitutional argument, Scotland?s youth campaigners have warned, as they urge the Scottish government to work at speed to address a supreme ...
Queen calls on Scottish parliament to tackle climate change 2 Oct 2021 at 1:23pm
Monarch urges MSPs to build ?fairer and greener future? as she opens parliament ahead of Cop26The Queen has urged Scotland?s MSPs to tackle climate change and ?help create a better, healthier future? in a speech ahead of the Cop26 climate conference.The Queen also reflected on the ?deep and abidi...
Scottish Covid vaccine passport app hit by problems after launch 1 Oct 2021 at 9:18am
NHS app needed to enter nightclubs, large events and for overseas travel, but users complain it does not workCoronavirus ? latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageScotland?s Covid vaccine passport app is experiencing problems hours after its launch.The app, which proves someone is fully v...
Scotland delays Covid vaccine passports after backlash from nightclubs 28 Sep 2021 at 5:30pm
Businesses will get extra time to tackle practical challenges before legal action can be enforcedCoronavirus ? latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageNicola Sturgeon has delayed the start of legal enforcement of Scotland?s new vaccine passports by 17 days after a backlash from nightclub an...
Can Rashford and Southgate save the union? They?ll have their work cut out | ... 17 Sep 2021 at 5:13pm
Gordon Brown says they represent a new Englishness that Scots can warm to. But let?s not forget who?s in No 10You may have heard talk of Gary Neville as a future mayor of Manchester. But what about Marcus Rashford and Gareth Southgate as saviours of the union, the two of them combining to win a t...
Troops drafted in to help out Scottish ambulance service 17 Sep 2021 at 2:32pm
Government calls for military assistance as service faces ?unprecedented? pressureSoldiers will be drafted in to drive Scottish ambulances, the head of the ambulance service has confirmed, after reports of a succession of harrowing cases where patients have endured lengthy waits.The Scottish ambu...
Scottish government requests military support for ambulance crews 16 Sep 2021 at 6:17pm
Nicola Sturgeon apologises to patients experiencing long waiting times as she calls in army assistanceCoronavirus ? latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe Scottish government has officially requested support from the military to deal with pressure in the ambulance service that has exte...
Gordon Brown: Scots see that English values aren?t all about ?toffs and Brexit? 16 Sep 2021 at 12:01am
Former PM launches polling results showing unity among people of UK nations on equality and toleranceScots recognise that English values are more aligned with Gareth Southgate and Marcus Rashford than ?toffs and Brexit?, Gordon Brown has said.The former prime minister has launched polling results...
The Guardian view on the SNP: deliver on public services, not just a referend... 13 Sep 2021 at 6:48pm
It may be too difficult for the Scottish government to enact big bang reforms while pursuing an independence voteSince 2007, the Scottish National party has been the largest party in Holyrood, dominating politics to become a credible party of government. It has now begun its fourth term in power....
Gove: The Secretary of State for Gaslighting 22 Oct 2021 at 12:57pm
Michael Gove has a very important job in the British Government. He’s the Minister of State for Gaslighting, Glib Lies, and Oleaginous Mendacity. His role entails lying to the people of the UK, and specifically to the people of Scotland, by repeating blatant untruths so often yet so scrupulously politely that they become embedded in …
The Brexit chickens come home to roost 19 Oct 2021 at 1:39pm
Brexit, It’s going soooo well isn’t it. The whole of the UK is basking in the sunlit uplands of empty supermarket shelves, fuel shortages, rising prices, a Northern Irish trade war which is teetering on the brink, plummeting exports, livestock being culled because of a shortage of meat processing workers, and a looming and entirely …
Do as one says not as one does 17 Oct 2021 at 5:16pm
COP26 hasn’t even started yet and already I’m wondering just how much projectile vomiting adds to your carbon footprint, because I don’t think I’m going to be able to get through the fortnight without severe nausea caused by the British media’s sycophantic brown nosing about the supposed contribution made to the proceedings by the British …
SpeakGaelic is launched 15 Oct 2021 at 10:24am
It’s nice to be able to report something positive from the BBC for a change. No, the Corporation hasn’t finally admitted to its long term and systemic bias against Scottish independence and taken concrete measures to ensure that in the future its reporting on the Scottish constitutional question will be scrupulously fair and even-handed. Don’t …
Perfidious Albion rides again 14 Oct 2021 at 1:36pm
The phrase Perfidious Albion or Perfidious Angleterre has a very long history and an equally long justification. Otto the bishop of Freising in Bavaria used a similar phrase in the year 1191 to describe the untrustworthiness and bad faith of the English monarchy following a dispute between the crowns of England and Austria during the …
One year on 12 Oct 2021 at 12:58pm
Today marks the one year anniversary since I suffered what the medical staff in the hospital described as a massive stroke. An ischaemic stroke like the one I had occurs when a blood clot travels through the circulatory system and eventually gets lodged in one of the small arteries in the brain, blocking it. The …
Scottish independence: the Tories? worst nightmare 11 Oct 2021 at 8:13pm
The Conservatives, as we all know, have a deep and abiding aversion to giving government money to those they deem poor or feckless – although of course if you are rich and feckless that’s quite a different matter. The Tories fall over themselves to give tax breaks, grants, and civil list payments to the obscenely …
The Tories are erasing Scotland as a nation 10 Oct 2021 at 1:50pm
It’s good to see that Alister Jack is being called out for his outrageous comments in the banal collection of britipologetic essays edited by the equally banal free Andrew Bowie published before the recent Conservative Conference. The essays were supposed to demonstrate the case for the Union, but all they have done is to highlight …
Andrew Bowie?s bumper book of British banality 6 Oct 2021 at 10:59am
We’ve all been distracted by empty supermarket shelves, petrol shortages and soaring gas prices none of which have anything at all to do with the rank incompetence of the Conservatives and their fixation on getting the hardest possible Brexit as a favour to their money laundering friends, oh no. On top of that there’s the …
The Tories are sinking in a sea of sleaze 5 Oct 2021 at 2:30pm
The Conservative party conference in Manchester is still trundling on, rather like the Scottish Conservative party itself, long past the point where anyone is listening or cares what they have to say. It’s like a jaded reality show full of deeply unpleasant people that you’ve never heard of who claim to be celebrities, only instead …
Demand for ?urgent? answers on future of Fort George and Kinloss Barracks 21 Oct 2021 at 11:45am
The Scottish Government has warned UK defence chiefs that any accelerated move to withdraw the Army from Fort George and Kinloss Barracks would demonstrate a "complete disregard" for local communities in the north.
Challenging hate is not enough. We have to look at the collapse in trust 21 Oct 2021 at 2:51pm
Challenging hate is not enough. We have to look at the collapse in trust Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 20 October 2021 The aftermath of the murder of David Amess has rightly seen a huge public reaction and revulsion to the politics of hatred and violence and a yearning for things to be different. Much of …
Challenging hate is not enough. We have to look at the collapse in trust appea...
BBC Scotland: Time to move beyond Defend or Demolish to Democratising 21 Oct 2021 at 2:47pm
BBC Scotland: Time to move beyond Defend or Demolish to Democratising Gerry Hassan The National, 19 October 2021 BBC Scotland has long fascinated and agitated a large part of the country, independence supporters in particular. It is inarguable that the BBC?s shortcomings do more than irk one political constituency. Rather, BBC Scotland falls between several …
BBC Scotland: Time to mo...
Luftwaffle: The Trashing of the Last Good Story of Britain 15 Oct 2021 at 12:55am
Luftwaffle: The Trashing of the Last Good Story of Britain Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 13 October 2021 The Second World War looms large in the life of Britain. Never a day passes without a politician, public figure or celebrity making some crass reference to the war, linking it to the present convulsions and challenges which …
Luftwaffle: The Trashing of the Last Good Story of Brit...
The case for the union is not in a good way but that doesn?t mean independenc... 13 Oct 2021 at 12:48am
The case for the union is not in a good way but that doesn?t mean independence can be complacent Gerry Hassan The National, 12 October 2021 The pro-union argument has been playing hard ball of late but underneath the posturing is a profound lack of substance and coherence. One minute the Downing Street union unit …
The case for the union is not in a good way but that doesn’t mean ind...
Is this really the best Tory case for the union? 12 Oct 2021 at 12:49am
Is this really the best Tory case for the union? Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, 10 October 2021 Strength in Union: The Case for the United Kingdom, edited by Andrew Bowie, Centre for Policy Studies. The Tory Party are seeking a coherent strategy to deal with Scotland and the threat of independence ? one that twin-tracks …
Is this really the best Tory case for the union? appeared first...
The political times are changing: Boris Johnson?s broken economic Britain and... 6 Oct 2021 at 5:16pm
The political times are changing: Boris Johnson?s broken economic Britain and beyond Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 6 October 2021 Boris Johnson?s campaign of shameless differentiation from the Tory Governments that directly proceeded him goes on, as he tries to distance himself from David Cameron, George Osborne and Theresa May. It has now extended to a …
The political times are chan...
How to defeat the Tories and aid democracy 5 Oct 2021 at 11:13pm
How to defeat the Tories and aid democracy Gerry Hassan The National, 5 October 2021 Tory problems mount by the day. There?s fuel and food shortages evoking the 1970s, a Brexit that seems only to be delivering problems and, in Boris Johnson, a PM who seems to know and care little about detail and the …
How to defeat the Tories and aid democracy appeared first on Gerry Hassan - writin...
Keir Starmer, Labour and the Limits of Gordon Brown?s Britain 4 Oct 2021 at 2:04pm
Keir Starmer, Labour and the Limits of Gordon Brown?s Britain Gerry Hassan Sunday National, 3 October 2021 The state of Labour matters in UK politics – and to Scotland. Can it mount a serious challenge to Boris Johnson?s Tories, or does UK politics faces the bleak prospect of perpetual Tory Governments? Thus, the mood of …
Keir Starmer, Labour and the Limits of Gordon Brown’s Britain...
Glasgow School of Art, Power and the Chumocracy 28 Sep 2021 at 6:07pm
Glasgow School of Art, Power and the Chumocracy Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 28 September 2021 How power is held to account has been a problem in Scotland, predating the Scottish Parliament and the independence debate ? neither of which have aided the shining of a light into the recesses of public life which for too …
Glasgow School of Art, Power and the Chumocracy appeared first on...
Labour?s problems are about much more than Keir Starmer 28 Sep 2021 at 6:03pm
Labour?s problems are about much more than Keir Starmer Gerry Hassan The National, 28 September 2021 Labour meet in Brighton this week for another conference in opposition and in the wilderness, with clear evidence of being collectively bewildered and confused. Not only that but Keir Starmer?s leadership is openly being questioned across the party ? …
Labour’s problems are about much...
Am I missing something? Just transfer patients to other health boards? 22 Oct 2021 at 6:12pm
NHS Lanarkshire’s three hospitals are all full despite national Covid hospital admissions being at less than half of the peak in February and 15% down on late September. ICU cases, at 56 across the whole country, are down from over 100 a few weeks ago. Staff absences are down for the sixth week in a row and a quarter of the peak in April 2021. NHS Scotland has 279 hospitals some of which are on...
English and Welsh ?Brits? increasingly lax on masks but Scottish ?Brits? keep... 22 Oct 2021 at 5:46pm
This was written by a health editor based on ONS data. The ONS can easily break down the data for each of the 4 nations but has chosen not to do so. So, Scots are increasingly lax on masks too? Nope. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has been monitoring behaviour changes in terms of facemask wearing and social mixing. Notably, for the week-ending 29 September 2021, with rates fal...
No calls for Welsh Health Secretary to go 22 Oct 2021 at 5:35pm
Infection levels in Wales at 105.9 cases per 100K have now soared to more than twice the rate in Scotland, 46.5 per 100K. England’s surge though less perpendicular than that in Wales, also shows little sign of flattening at 70.5 per 100K. BBC Wales is not all over the story and the Tory leader in Wales (no idea) is not being platformed by BBC Wales to call for their Health Secretary (no idea) t...
Healthy rivers in Scotland 66% England ZERO! 22 Oct 2021 at 9:52am
On Day 4 of the Herald/Labour/Ferret hatchet job on the SNP Government’s record in protecting the environment, as we approach COP26: Scotland?s rivers, lochs, canals and burns are in the worst state on record, with more than 400 damaged by pollution and other problems, according to the latest official analysis. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/19660883.scotlands-rivers-lochs-worst-...
Is spiking by injection just another moral panic like 18th Century ?lady bott... 22 Oct 2021 at 9:00am
Between the spring of 1788 and summer of 1790 fifty seven complaints were made to London Magistrates by women alleging that they had been molested and stabbed on the buttocks by an individual stranger in public. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/412011/1/LIBRARY_COPY_PhD_Thesis_Final_Formatted_Version.pdf Reports of ‘lady bottom cutters’ then spread like wildfire across the newly emerging mass medi...
25 ambulances and 100 waiting but neither Johnson nor Javid under fire 21 Oct 2021 at 7:59pm
BBC Scotland headed their September 16 report with ‘Sturgeon under fire over ‘in crisis’ ambulance service‘ and gave Douglas Ross the leading role. They had no photos and no data on ambulances waiting outside A&E but faux angry tirades from three opposition politicians. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-scotland-58574791 BBC Cornwall report today: The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust (RCHT) has ...
Masking the differences as England surges barefaced 21 Oct 2021 at 7:34pm
Today’s infection rate in England, 44 400 with ten times the population, is almost twice pro rata that in Scotland, 2 400. It’s more than twice, pro rata in Wales at 4 200 with only 3 fifths of the population. Against that background, making a connection with reduced mask wearing, BBC Health’s Daniel Kraemar tells us: The proportion of people wearing masks has steadily declined. Between 18 July...
Only NHS Scotland need apologise despite the best emergency services in the UK 21 Oct 2021 at 12:29pm
In August (the most recent monthly data), NHS Scotland?s A&E department?s saw 77.8% within 4 hours. In the same period, NHS England saw, on average, only 66.2% and NHS Wales saw only 60.1%. NHS Scotland is thus 17.5% faster (11.6% of 66.2) than England and 26.5% faster than Wales. Today, as NHS Forth apologised for only treating 41% in 4 hours, BBC Scotland tell us: Scottish Liberal Democrat le...
Starmer far worse than FM says Robertson 21 Oct 2021 at 11:56am
Note first, the classic ‘Sturgeon’ disrespect. They’ve changed it on the website now to call him ‘Johnson’. I’m going to be lazy again, of maybe efficient (?) and just use my May 2021 rebuttal of Macwhirter’s ‘Sturgeon no better’ drivel. Here it is: Johnson and his SAGE chums delayed the lockdown. The power to do so, but still without the power to borrow for furlough, was devolved only at the e...
Say after us: ?Scotland is more polluted!? 21 Oct 2021 at 11:34am
The Herald’s one-sided ahistorical account, written for it by the Labour Party’s chums at the Ferret, reaches Day 3 with accounts of air pollution rising in some of our streets. You know, those places where combustion engines do cause a lot of pollution, do put lives at risk and, of course, where the decisions that matter if you’d like to change things, are reserved to Westminster and have been...
Joking aside 13 Oct 2021 at 2:00pm
Former Scottish Conservatives leader Jackson Carlaw is the guest on this week?s edition of the podcast, fresh from being named Wag of the Year at the Holyrood Political Awards. He reflects on a career in politics and what really happened when he stepped down as leader last year. Elsewhere, the team discuss Nicola Sturgeon?s comments about having ?time on her side? when it comes to a second inde...
The case for independence 6 Oct 2021 at 4:35pm
In this edition of the podcast, Mandy Rhodes speaks to former SNP deputy leader Jim Sillars about his life in politics and why he believes the current party leadership is failing to articulate the case for independence. Elsewhere, the team discuss a landmark legal ruling by the Supreme Court and Prime Minister Boris Johnson?s speech to the Conservative party conference.
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Where now for Labour? 29 Sep 2021 at 12:00pm
As the Labour Party meets for its annual conference in Brighton, journalist Andrew Learmonth talks to recently elected MSP Michael Marra on how the party can get back into government both at Holyrood and Westminster and how it heals itself following the division of the Jeremy Corbyn era. Marra also reflects on being named One to Watch at the recent Holyrood Political Awards. Elsewhere, the team...
Deal or no deal 10 Sep 2021 at 2:58pm
After striking an historic Green deal and announcing its 12-bill programme for government, has the SNP run out of steam or is it ready to power forward to independence? Mandy Rhodes interviews Professor James Mitchell.
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A Leap of Faith 3 Sep 2021 at 9:02am
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says the cooperation agreement is a ?leap of faith,? but which party has more to gain, the SNP or the Scottish Greens? Join the Holyrood team as they discuss all the latest developments, as well as the prospect of vaccine passports amid rising Covid cases and Michael Gove?s unexpected appearance in an Aberdeen nightclub.
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Captured by the Taliban 27 Aug 2021 at 6:00am
The guest on the podcast this week is journalist Yvonne Ridley, who was taken hostage by the Taliban while reporting from Afghanistan after 9/11.
Also on this episode the team discuss the deal between the Greens and the SNP and the prospect of a "circuit breaker" due to the worrying rise in Covid cases.
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Endgame in Afghanistan 20 Aug 2021 at 2:56pm
Amid political recriminations following the Taliban's seizure of Kabul, the Holyrood team talks to Afghans living in the UK, a former soldier and ex-International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander about whether the two-decade conflict was worth it.
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Code Red for Humanity 13 Aug 2021 at 8:29am
Environmentalist James Curran joins Holyrood editor Mandy Rhodes to discuss the publication of the IPCC?s report on climate change, which was described as a ?code red for humanity?. Also in this episode, the Holyrood team discuss the growing row over the Cambo oilfield in the North Sea and the possibility of a deal between the SNP and Scottish Greens.
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Roddy Dunlop QC 6 Aug 2021 at 6:00am
Roddy Dunlop QC, one of Scotland?s leading lawyers and dean of the Faculty of Advocates, joins deputy editor Chris Marshall to discuss recent political attacks on the legal profession, the Scottish Government?s controversial new hate crime legislation and the future of the not proven verdict. Also in this episode, the Holyrood team discuss the lifting of COVID restrictions and what can be done ...
Picture perfect 29 Jul 2021 at 6:00am
Scottish Lib Dem leader bows out leaving a gap in the political photo opportunity market.
Remember to Follow and Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. You can follow our hosts, Mandy, Chris, Louise, Jenni and Andrew on Twitter, and you can keep up to date with the latest news from Holyrood online at Holyrood.com, or on our Twitter @HolyroodDaily. Lastly, remember to read the last issue o...
In Context: Misogyny as a hate crime 21 Oct 2021 at 5:56pm
The sentencing of Sarah Everard?s murderer in late September has reinvigorated demands for misogyny ? the hatred of women - to be considered a hate crime, or as a standalone offence
