The Herald

The Herald | Politics


John Swinney warns Scots only to go to A&E if they have a 'genuine emergency'
by Katrine Bussey
23 Dec 2025 at 6:58am
First Minister John Swinney has warned Scots only to go to accident and emergency if they have a ?genuine emergency? ? warning people that services are expected to be ?exceptionally busy? over the festive period.


Scottish Government won't publish office working data - but pledges future 'c...
by rebecca.mccurdy@newsquest.co.uk | Rebecca McCurdy
23 Dec 2025 at 5:30am
The Scottish Government has refused to release data on how often its hybrid working policy for civil servants is met - but said a future publication with "context" is planned.


'The wounds have been cauterised. The blood has stopped flowing'
by ian.mcconnell@heraldandtimes.co.uk | Ian McConnell
23 Dec 2025 at 4:33am
The 'wounds' in the relationship between the Scottish Government and business have been 'cauterised', the senior figure says


Will John Swinney and Neil Gray really allow doctors' strike to go ahead?
by rebecca.mccurdy@newsquest.co.uk | Rebecca McCurdy
22 Dec 2025 at 4:23pm
Scotland has avoided NHS strikes - but will the Scottish Government allow January strikes to go ahead?


Teachers being pushed to 'breaking point' say Scottish Conservatives
22 Dec 2025 at 12:01am
Scotland?s teachers are being pushed to ?breaking point?, the Scottish Conservatives have said as figures revealed that almost 600,000 teaching days have been lost to mental health absences in the last five years.


Michael Shanks: Anas Sarwar will be First Minister after Holyrood 2026 elections
21 Dec 2025 at 2:29pm
The UK energy minister has said he is confident Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar will become First Minister after the Holyrood elections in May next year.


MSPs call for radical reforms to public inquiries amid soaring costs
21 Dec 2025 at 10:39am
Public inquiries in Scotland should have agreed budgets and timescales amid fears over soaring costs, a Holyrood committee has said.


Swinney?s Christmas card features photo of loch he took in ?moment of peace?
by jody.harrison@heraldandtimes.co.uk | Jody Harrison
21 Dec 2025 at 10:33am
First Minister John Swinney has urged Scots to get outdoors this festive season as he unveiled his self-taken Christmas card photo.


Does Glasgow University need to do more to fight hate speech amid Gaza protests?
by Josh.Pizzuto-Pomaco@newsquest.co.uk | Josh Pizzuto-Pomaco
21 Dec 2025 at 6:30am
Student activists have walked out of classes, gone on hunger strike, occupied buildings, thrown paint on walls, and blocked roads.


'The Trump effect' Expect shifting alliances and the blurring of boundaries ...
by david.pratt@heraldandtimes.co.uk | David Pratt
21 Dec 2025 at 6:15am
As the year draws to a close Foreign Editor David Pratt runs the rule over the global stories and themes likely to make the headlines in the coming year  


'Matter of urgency': Watchdog demands benefit to be automatic as in England a...
21 Dec 2025 at 5:00am
Labour and SNP ministers have been called on to ensure everyone eligible for an allowance to help heat their homes should receive the payment automatically.


Labour MSP to quit Holyrood over friendship with sex offender
21 Dec 2025 at 4:08pm
A Labour MSP will quit Holyrood after a damaging row over her continued friendship with a convicted sex offender, it is being reported.


?Jesus was a refugee?: Kirk Moderator speaks out against hate in Scottish soc...
21 Dec 2025 at 6:15am
The Rt Rev Rosie Frew has composed a special Christmas reflection for Herald readers. She talks to our Writer at Large about the need to love those on the margins of society


'Screaming into pillow': Why I'm furious with the government as an unpaid carer
by rebecca.mccurdy@newsquest.co.uk | Rebecca McCurdy
20 Dec 2025 at 8:00am
Being an unpaid carer is isolating and unrelenting, according to Lesley MacCulloch, a full-time carer for her 82-year-old mother with dementia.

The Scotsman

The Scotsman Politics


Driver with 36 points on licence still free to drive Scotland's roads
23 Dec 2025 at 6:00am

Calls are now being made to review the process

Scotland will not be able to meet its economic ambitions or create a fairer society without action on housing

Labour?s Brexit betrayals deserve not only our contempt

Operations face being cancelled if the first ever resident doctors strike in Scotland, planned for the second week of January, goes ahead.

BMA Scotland announced on Friday that its resident doctors would walk out for the first time in January.

Wings over Scotland

A matter of class
19 Dec 2025 at 5:14pm
Something very odd happened when the Sandie Peggie employment tribunal delivered its judgment – and it wasn?t just the made-up quotes and mangled law. Call it institutional bias, ideological capture, or just the law doing its job, but what Employment Judge Sandy Kemp?s tribunal delivered was the most one-sided outcome since Butch and Sundance decided …

Contempt Of Government
19 Dec 2025 at 11:47am
This is actually pretty serious. Because, y’know, you can call us old-fashioned purists or sticklers or whatever if you like, but government ministers probably shouldn’t openly lie in prepared statements to the High Court in order to pervert the course of justice. And this is as clear a knowing, deliberate lie as you could hope …

The Idiot Rodeo
14 Dec 2025 at 2:12pm
As recently as this weekend, the Scottish Government claimed that it has “made clear it accepts the Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland and is taking forward the detailed work necessary”. But as with so much the Scottish Government says, it’s a barefaced lie. And we know that not just from its total inaction, …

How Far To Go, How Far
12 Dec 2025 at 1:20pm
We thought we should keep track of all the issues with the Peggie tribunal judgment, now that Sandie Peggie has officially announced her intention to appeal it. Because this story has some distance left to run. PROBLEM 1 – THE FAKE FORSTATER QUOTE Severity: HIGH Status: PARTIALLY RESOLVED The judgment cited a quote from Forstater …

Strike One
11 Dec 2025 at 2:51pm
This is absolutely extraordinary. In the light of revelations exposed and detailed by Wings that the original contained several misleadingly-edited or completely made-up citations from previous cases, the Employment Tribunal today issued a corrected version of its judgment in the Sandie Peggie case. And much like NHS Fife’s repeatedly-edited previous statement on the tribunal, we …

The ginger stepchild
11 Dec 2025 at 1:38pm
According to a new poll, fewer than a third of SNP voters even think independence is in the top three priorities facing Scotland. It’s only five points ahead of immigration in fourth place, and seven ahead of housing. So it’s hardly surprising that the SNP aren’t bothering themselves about it. Their own support, like the …

Spoiler Alert
10 Dec 2025 at 12:08pm
One must assume from reading the Sandie Peggie judgment that the tribunal was more concerned with discouraging further litigation than with giving full and fearless effect to the Equality Act. At the heart of this case lies a straightforward question: does a biologically male employee have a legal right to undress in a female-only changing …

The Valley Of The Dolls
9 Dec 2025 at 3:42pm
The first and most important thing to note about yesterday’s judgment in the Sandie Peggie tribunal is that it’s a very big victory. The tribunal found that Sandie Peggie was gravely and heinously harassed by her employer through no fault of her own, and she’ll be entitled to substantial compensation as a result. It also …

The Long Walk To Freedom
7 Dec 2025 at 12:13pm
On 5 April 2021, I sent a short and simple Freedom Of Information (FOI) request to the Scottish Government asking for: ?All written evidence to James Hamilton’s QC investigation into the FM under the ministerial code. This includes evidence from the FM, her chief of staff Liz Lloyd and any other individuals within the Scottish …

The cost of failure
4 Dec 2025 at 1:19pm
For several years now, this site has recorded how the SNP’s continued existence is now entirely dependent on UK state funding. The party would simply go bust without Westminster money. And how precarious a position that puts it in is sharply illustrated by the latest release of donations income from the Electoral Commission. In a …

Craig Murray

Hunger Strikes and Court Cases
16 Dec 2025 at 9:15pm

Fighting the proscription of Palestine Action has become more urgent as eight brave activists enter the crucial period of their hunger strike. 12 January has finally been set for the court hearing on holding a Scottish judicial review of the proscription of Palestine Action. I am frankly terrified for the hunger strikers. Qesser Zuhrah Amu …

Hunger Strikes and Court Cases

The Skripal Novichok Hoax
12 Dec 2025 at 9:58am

I did not anticipate that an open public meeting in Salisbury itself would be 95% sceptical of the official Novichok hoax – but it was. Thanks to UK Column for putting this on. I hope you find it enlightening – there is information which goes beyond my previous articles on the subject. In about a …

The Skripal Novichok Hoax

Your Party, and Its Conference
9 Dec 2025 at 1:14am

It is probably no bad thing that health struggles have delayed my writing up Your Party’s extraordinary Liverpool founding conference. Perspective is definitely helpful to process something unique. Personally, I could not help but be struck by the number of participants who approached me as regular readers of my blog, certainly well into three figures. …

Your Party, and Its Conference

The Filton Trial
7 Dec 2025 at 8:35pm

“The policewoman attacked by a sledgehammer” has been the constant refrain of the government against Palestine Action. A couple of days before the judicial review of the proscription in England, and despite fierce reporting restrictions on the trial, the prosecution released to the media highly edited video footage from the current trial in Woolwich Crown …

The Filton Trial

The Terrifying Case of Natalie Strecker
2 Dec 2025 at 8:30am

I am confident that over 2 million people in the UK have shared thoughts on the Genocide in Gaza that are stronger than anything Natalie Strecker has expressed. I am quite certain that I am one of those 2 million. Yet Natalie Strecker, an avowed pacifist, today faces up to ten years in prison under …

The Terrifying Case of Natalie Strecker

Resisting Authoritarianism
28 Nov 2025 at 8:34am

In the last three days I have been in London at the judicial review of Palestine Action and today I am in Jersey for the terrorist trial of Natalie Strecker. I made a brief impromptu speech outside the High Court, in intervening to try and stop some people in wheelchairs from being arrested as “terrorists”, …

Resisting Authoritarianism

BBC Scotland

Resident doctor pay talks to continue over Christmas as strike looms
22 Dec 2025 at 2:52pm
Scotland's resident doctors have voted to strike in January, but the health secretary says it is an outcome both sides want to avoid.

Labour MSP to quit Holyrood over links to sex offender
21 Dec 2025 at 7:12pm
Pam Duncan-Glancy stood down as the party's education spokeswoman earlier this month after admitting a "serious error of judgement".

Call for time limits on public inquiries as costs soar
21 Dec 2025 at 9:20am
MSPs have recommended changes as they revealed almost £260m has been spent on Scotland's public inquiries since 2007.

First minister recalls 'moment of peace' as Christmas card revealed
21 Dec 2025 at 9:42am
John Swinney captured the image during a walk along the banks of Loch Ossian, on Rannoch Moor, in 2024.

No covert devices found in Holyrood bugging claims
19 Dec 2025 at 8:08pm
The Scottish parliament's presiding officer says the incident was part of an employment dispute involving an MSP.

Resident doctors in Scotland to go on strike for first time
19 Dec 2025 at 5:51pm
Their union BMA Scotland has accused the government of reneging on a commitment to restore pay to 2008 levels.

CalMac ferry Glen Rosa delayed again by up to six months
19 Dec 2025 at 3:33pm
The delivery date for MV Glen Rosa is pushed back by up to another six months while there is a further short delay with the Turkish-built Isle of Islay.

The 'fed up' Scottish town that voted for Reform UK
18 Dec 2025 at 6:16am
Why did the people of Whitburn - and nearby Blackburn - choose Nigel Farage's party over others?

MSP Ash Regan faces Holyrood ban over social media post
18 Dec 2025 at 11:39am
The independent representative has been found to have breached the Scottish Parliament's code of conduct.

Justice secretary apologises to grooming gangs expert
17 Dec 2025 at 3:24pm
Angela Constance has faced calls to resign after being accused of misrepresenting Prof Alexis Jay.

New £150m funding package to protect jobs at Grangemouth
17 Dec 2025 at 4:45pm
The UK government and owners Ineos say the funding will support 500 jobs at the site's ethylene plant.

'I learned languages and travelled Europe through Erasmus and Turing'
17 Dec 2025 at 6:04pm
Several years after it was scrapped, the UK is now set to rejoin the Erasmus scheme in 2027.

Scot Goes Pop

"Totally at odds with European values": should Israel's potential new aparthe...
22 Dec 2025 at 7:04am
Scot Goes Pop: The Final Fundraiser is underway (you can read more about why I anticipate it being the final one HERE) and it's already pretty close to halfway to its target figure of £1700.  A mil...

BBC Sports Personality of the Year and the "invisibling of Scotland"
20 Dec 2025 at 7:51am
Scott McTominay, in spite of his stellar year, was inexplicably excluded from the shortlist for BBC Sports Personality of the Year.  Meanwhile the Team of the Year award had a shortlist of three, o...

DESPAIR for Farage in Wales as Plaid Cymru stretch their Senedd lead in stunn...
19 Dec 2025 at 7:01am
Scot Goes Pop: The Final Fundraiser is underway (you can read more about why I anticipate it being the final one HERE) and it's already pretty close to halfway to its target figure of £1700.  A mil...

And the Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging chimes of doom, WELL...
18 Dec 2025 at 8:15am
Stew on Twitter: "People voting SNP for independence." pic.twitter.com/Y8U4XQ2SWA? Wings Over Scotland (@WingsScotland) December 17, 2025OK, Stew, now do people voting Reform UK "for independence"....

SNP are THIRTY percentage points ahead of Labour in fabulously festive Scotti...
17 Dec 2025 at 7:32am
Scot Goes Pop: The Final Fundraiser is underway (you can read more about why I anticipate it being the final one HERE) and it's already pretty close to halfway to its target figure of £1700.  A mil...

Stew, hear our plea: "REVEREND CAMPBELL, THINK AGAIN"
16 Dec 2025 at 9:18am

As Eurovision winner Nemo returns the trophy, a reply to a supporter of Israe...
14 Dec 2025 at 8:50am
I was a delegate yesterday at the SNP National Council in Dundee.  Regular readers may remember that when I was a delegate at the special SNP constitutional conference in March, I asked for advice ...

Pro-independence parties on course for their BIGGEST EVER majority of seats i...
11 Dec 2025 at 9:12am
Scot Goes Pop: The Final Fundraiser is underway (you can read more about why I anticipate it being the final one HERE) and it's already pretty close to halfway to its target figure of £1700.  A mil...

STV Politics News

Latest Politics News | STV News

UK Government raises inheritance tax threshold for farmers after protests
23 Dec 2025 at 12:20pm
Farmers across Scotland and the rest of UK have been protesting for months against the tax changes.

All NHS Scotland boards fail urgent cancer treatment time target, figures show
23 Dec 2025 at 10:46am
Public Health Scotland's report shows the wait times are the fifth-worst on record.

Aberdeen MSP sends P45 to Starmer over predicted loss of oil and gas jobs
23 Dec 2025 at 6:39am
The document has been sent by special delivery.

Government ?honouring? resident doctors? pay deal, says Gray ahead of talks
22 Dec 2025 at 10:31am
Doctors with BMA Scotland are due to go on strike as part of the pay dispute next month.

Streeting faces criticism as he appears to back joining customs union with EU
21 Dec 2025 at 11:36pm
Opposition parties accused Wes Streeting of putting ?political pitch-making? above his role as Health Secretary.

Labour MSP to quit Holyrood over friendship with convicted sex offender
21 Dec 2025 at 7:00pm
Scottish Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy announced on Sunday that she would be withdrawing as a candidate for the Scottish parliamentary election next year.

Presiding officer says no ?bugging devices? involved in Holyrood employment case
19 Dec 2025 at 7:37pm
Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone sent a letter to Dame Jackie Baillie on Friday.

Scottish Labour calls for ?urgent investigation? into claims MSP?s office was...
19 Dec 2025 at 11:41am
An unnamed individual who worked for the SNP reportedly bugged an MSP's office.

Former minister stood down due to ?credible? threat against her
19 Dec 2025 at 9:41am
Elena Whitham said everything she did was affected by thoughts of ?what possibly could have happened?.

UK ministers view devolved governments as ?subordinate?, claims Robertson
18 Dec 2025 at 9:46pm
The Scottish Constitution Secretary also told MSPs that relations with the Labour Government at Westminster are ?suboptimal?.

Reports of MSP?s office bugged ?utterly unacceptable?, says Swinney
18 Dec 2025 at 4:11pm
An unnamed individual who worked for the SNP reportedly bugged the office.

PPE firm linked to Michelle Mone wound up after being ordered to pay back £148m
18 Dec 2025 at 1:31pm
The decision, made by a judge at a hearing on Thursday, could mean that the Government is unlikely to see most of the £148 million owed to it by the company.

John Swinney faces FMQs after justice secretary survives no confidence vote
18 Dec 2025 at 11:49am
Angela Constance has been fighting for her job amid a grooming gangs row.

Alba MSP Ash Regan faces two-day suspension after complaint
18 Dec 2025 at 11:36am
Regan's conduct was called into question over a post she made on X in April 2025.

Daily Record

Daily Record - Politics

SNP MSP sends Keir Starmer P45 in row over how many Scots are losing North Se...
23 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
Rachel Reeves has firmly denied as many as 1,000 jobs were being lost across Scotland's offshore energy sector each month - a figure regularly repeated by Nationalists.

Young Scots in rural areas face 'very limited' opportunities due to low pay a...
22 Dec 2025 at 11:28am
EXCLUSIVE: Pay and job opportunities have become less favourable for youngsters across several parts of the country.

The SNP Government should be ashamed of its record on homelessness
22 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
In his Daily Record column, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar hits out at the SNP over their record on the housing emergency.

Over 100 homeless people died in temporary accommodation in Scotland
22 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
EXCLUSIVE: The figures reveal the tragedies of people passing away without a place of their own to call home.

Don?t let Farage poison Scotland as attacks on Glasgow schoolchildren new low
22 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
Record View says Farage is an ignorant man and Scots should ignore his poison.

Almost 600,000 teaching days lost to mental health absence in five years
22 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
The Tories said the figures are no surprise given there is an "epidemic of classroom violence".

Labour MSP Pam Duncan Glancy to quit Holyrood over friendship with convicted ...
21 Dec 2025 at 3:49pm
EXCLUSIVE: The Glasgow Labour politician will not stand for the Scottish Parliament in May after a Daily Record investigation.

Tory MSP claims salmon lobbyist 'threatened to sue' for questions over fishin...
21 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
Tavish Scott, CEO of trade body Salmon Scotland, allegedly made the threat to Tory MSP Edward Mountain.

Ex-council leader Cammy Day used fake name to lodge complaint about colleague
21 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
The former Labour leader of Edinburgh City Council has issued an 'unreserved apology' after the Sunday Mail uncovered evidence of the bizarre ploy.

Scotland's councils spend £100m on school taxis as spending triples
21 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
A Sunday Mail investigation found the majority of the huge bill comes from taking pupils with additional support needs to school.

The National

The National | Politics

Prime Minister branded 'no cheer Keir' as Budget forces pub prices up
23 Dec 2025 at 12:35pm

THE Prime Minister has been branded ?no cheer Keir? as a report shows that 90% of pubs will increase drink prices in response to Labour?s Budget.

Labour water down inheritance tax after months of farmer protests
23 Dec 2025 at 12:06pm

Ministers have watered down plans for an inheritance tax increase for farmers by raising the threshold for 100 per cent relief after months of protest

'Overworked and underpaid': Calls for festive workers to receive real living ...
23 Dec 2025 at 11:52am

Workers in retail and hospitality should be paid a real living wage as they face the holiday season, an MSP has said

Former prince Andrew stripped of gun licence by Met Police
23 Dec 2025 at 9:32am

THE former prince Andrew has had his firearms licence revoked following a security review

Donald Trump says US 'has to have' Greenland as special envoy appointed
23 Dec 2025 at 9:07am

DONALD Trump has said the US "has to have" Greenland for "national protection" after appointing a special envoy to the Arctic island

Why there is a place for optimism amid gloom and despair
23 Dec 2025 at 5:00am

In his latest book, The New Case For Optimism, Jim Sillars argues: ?Scotland is a junior partner within a state in its final stages of imperial decline, a state that is broke and broken. Scotland can only save itself by departing from the Union'

There's always a shocking new low for Keir Starmer?s government to sink to
23 Dec 2025 at 5:00am

At the last Prime Minister?s Questions of 2025, Stephen Flynn asked Keir Starmer how he?d be spending his final Christmas in Downing Street

Barclays urged John Swinney to crack down on Palestine Action, FoI reveals
23 Dec 2025 at 5:00am

BARCLAYS pressed the Home Office and the Scottish Government to crack down on Palestine Action before the group was proscribed, documents obtained by The National reveal.

Aberdeen MSP sends Keir Starmer P45 over predicted oil and gas job losses
23 Dec 2025 at 5:00am

AN Aberdeen MSP has sent Prime Minister Keir Starmer a P45 over a predicted loss of jobs in Scotland?s oil and gas sector.

The years ahead will be full of battles ? but also of possibility
23 Dec 2025 at 5:00am

Get ready for 2026, another year of monsters, and another year in which to struggle for a better world

Holyrood Magazine

Holyrood Website

Labour MSP to stand down at election
22 Dec 2025 at 7:43am
Pam Duncan-Glancy stepped down from the front bench earlier this month

UK Government data stolen in suspected Chinese hack
19 Dec 2025 at 11:13am
The trade minister Chris Bryant has confirmed that data from belonging to the UK Government has been stolen in a hack

UK Government moves to ban deepfake ?nudification? apps
19 Dec 2025 at 11:00am
The UK Government has announced new laws to make it illegal to create or supply artificial intelligence tools that can create nude images of people without their consent

How Reform UK is using Alex Salmond's image to get ready for the Scottish Par...
19 Dec 2025 at 10:53am
Leaked materials warn candidates not to 'drink and tweet'

Scottish Labour calls for 'urgent investigation' into MSP bugging allegations
19 Dec 2025 at 10:43am
Listening devices were allegedly planted in the office of at least one female SNP MSP

Nearly 50,000 RTS meters still in use in Scotland
19 Dec 2025 at 6:00am
Nearly 50,000 Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) meters are yet to be replaced in Scotland despite plans to switch the service off next year

Scientists?launch project to create 3D video of black holes?using AI??
19 Dec 2025 at 6:00am
Scientists based at Heriot-Watt University have launched a ?4m project to create the world?s first 3D videos of black holes using complex artificial intelligence systems

Why victims? rights need to stay at the top of Scotland?s political agenda
19 Dec 2025 at 6:00am
Our 40th anniversary theme of Listen, Act, Hope. was chosen to represent VSS?s enduring commitment to ensuring that victims are not voiceless in the system; that action is informed by their lived experience; and that together, this culminates in deliverin

A stronger regulator for Scotland?s water future
19 Dec 2025 at 6:00am
If we do this well, most people will never think about WICS, other than to know and to trust that customer interests are safeguarded.

Martin McCluskey: I?m not embarrassed by any of my music choices
19 Dec 2025 at 6:00am
The MP for?Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West tells Holyrood?about a Lady Gaga-based election night superstition and his love for Aretha Franklin

Guardian - Scottish Politics

Scottish politics | The Guardian

Keir Starmer planning new king?s speech after May elections
18 Dec 2025 at 1:19pm
Timing seen as moment to reset after potential loss of hundreds of council seats in England and defeat in Wales and ScotlandUK politics live ? latest updatesKeir Starmer is planning for a new king?s speech after crunch elections in May next year as a reset moment for the government amid speculati...

UK politics: Trump talks ?complete nonsense? about crime in London, says Met ...
12 Dec 2025 at 4:30pm
Mark Rowley says capital is a safe city, and claims of no-go areas are ?completely false?Members of the House of Lords have proposed ?totally unnecessary? and ?very cruel? amendments to the assisted dying bill in a bid to scupper it, Kim Leadbeater, the MP leading the campaign for the legislation...

Scotland?s looser rules on assisted dying could lead to ?death tourism?, say ...
10 Dec 2025 at 5:11pm
Cross-party group of MSPs says bill going through Holyrood could attract people from elsewhere in UKSenior Scottish politicians fear there could be a risk of ?death tourism? from terminally ill people travelling from other parts of the UK to end their lives in Scotland.A cross-party group of MSPs...

?It?s Scotland?s energy?: SNP to focus on renewables in Holyrood election
8 Dec 2025 at 6:05pm
Leader John Swinney says independence could cut household energy bills by a third in the long termThe future of Scottish renewables will underpin the Scottish National party?s Holyrood election campaign, the party leader, John Swinney, has said, as he claimed independence could cut household ener...

No 10 declines to comment on White House claim that Europe facing ?civilisati...
8 Dec 2025 at 5:49pm
US national security strategy takes aim at EU and other bodies over issues including migration, free speech and falling birthratesBadenoch is now taking questions.Q: From Sky News You said you did not want to leave any stones unturned. That is what Sajid Javid said when he ordered an inquiry in...

Farage dodges press as he unveils Reform?s first peer after Conservative defe...
6 Dec 2025 at 5:20pm
Party leader leaves latest recruit, Malcolm Offord, to field questions on antisemitism allegations at Scotland rallyNigel Farage has addressed Reform UK?s largest rally in Scotland to date but refused to engage with local journalists ? leaving the newly defected peer Malcolm Offord to field quest...

John Swinney defends immigration as Scotland faces rise of Reform
6 Dec 2025 at 9:00am
Exclusive: First minister mounts robust defence of diversity as SNP prepares campaign for Holyrood election in MayScotland needs immigration to bolster the size of its working-age population, the country?s first minister has said, mounting a forceful defence of diversity in the face of rising su...

Farage criticises BBC over racism allegations and claims one fellow pupil sai...
4 Dec 2025 at 6:01pm
This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereNigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said that in Essex county council elections were postponed. He said district councils were being replaced with a new ?pretty amorphous unitary authority?. Because of that, the area also needed ?a clea...

Starmer says budget did not break manifesto tax pledge ? as it happened
27 Nov 2025 at 5:54pm
PM says: ?We kept to our manifesto in terms of what we?ve promised. But I accept the challenge that we?ve asked everybody to contribute?Ask the Guardian your budget questionsShare your views on the new ?mansion tax?Budget calculator: find out if you are better or worse offThe Conservative party i...

Uk politics: Streeting defends asylum policy, but says he?s not ?comfortable?...
19 Nov 2025 at 5:31pm
Health secretary still maintains that forced removals are ?right thing to do for the country?Healey is now taking questions.Q: How close are are we to war?It is Labour that is the party of defence. Continue reading...

Wee Ginger Dug

Wee Ginger Dug

BBC Scotland, cheerleaders for Farage
20 Dec 2025 at 5:56pm
On Wednesday evening BBC Scotland’s flagship evening news programme Och Aye the News, AKA Reporting Scotlandshire carried its second puff piece about Reform UK’s recent narrow council by-election victory in West Lothian in which a Reform candidate with a questionable past scraped his way into a council seat on a 22% turnout. BBC Scotland never …

What?s in a name? The SNP and nationalism
15 Dec 2025 at 7:04pm
There’s nationalism and there’s nationalism. On the Rest is Politics podcast hosted by Tony Blair’s erstwhile Director of Communications Alastair Campbell, First Minister John Swinney addressed the issue of the SNP’s name, or rather, the non-issue. Both previous first ministers, Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon had expressed some disquiet that the SNP’s name, Scottish National …

The dangerous stupidity of Keir Starmer
10 Dec 2025 at 4:29pm
You can say many things about the opportunistic moral vacuum that is Keir Starmer, but he’s not stupid, he just behaves as though he was. The one time human rights lawyer Starmer’s latest foray into deliberate and dangerous stupidity was his plea to European leaders yesterday to curb human rights laws in order to introduce …

Westminster and Scotland?s energy, fool me once?
8 Dec 2025 at 6:21pm
Scotland is, by far and away, the most energy rich country of the islands of Britain and Ireland. Moreover it has more in the way of energy resources than just about any other country in Europe, with the exception of Norway (Russia’s vast fossil fuel resources are overwhelmingly concentrated in the Asian part of Russia …

Farage?s contemptible attack on Glesca weans
3 Dec 2025 at 9:15pm
Nigel Farage has been a racist bully again. But don’t worry, he’s only doing it indirectly and without intent to offend or insult. So that’s OK then. Just days after the Scottish Languages Act came into force the English nationalist golf club boor has taken aim at school children in Glasgow. Apparently it’s the “cultural …

The Scottish Languages Act
1 Dec 2025 at 6:56pm
Scotland’s status as a multilingual country is now recognised in law with the Scottish Languages Act coming into force on St Andrew’s Day. The Act beefs up the legal protections previously given to Gaelic and elevates it to the status of an official language of Scotland. For the first time in history, official legal recognition …

I?m disabled, here?s the truth about the Motability scheme.
29 Nov 2025 at 4:06pm
The Labour party has capitulated to right wing demonisation of the most vulnerable minority group in the country, the disabled. I’ve pointed this out before but it bears repeating. The disabled are the only minority group that anyone can become a part of at any time. Anyone can become involved in a serious accident that …

The lie that protects the rich from tax rises
27 Nov 2025 at 3:30pm
Better late than never, Rachel Reeves finally followed the lead of the SNP Government in Holyrood and announced that the heinous two child cap on benefits will finally be abolished from May next year, cue a load of hypocritical Labour MPs trying to pretend that they supported this measure all along despite voting to keep …

Hope of a better Scotland can defeat the far right
25 Nov 2025 at 2:42pm
Racists complain that migrants don’t want to learn English and integrate, but when migrants do want to learn English and integrate, racists mount a protest outside the school where English language lessons are being given to the mothers of some of the pupils, insisting that they are “protecting our kids” from unvetted adults on school …

The Scottish media?s covid double standards
21 Nov 2025 at 1:37pm
Did Nicola Sturgeon get everything right during the Covid pandemic when she headed a devolved government limited powers at its disposal and she was faced with an anti-independence Scottish media that screamed she was politicising the pandemic in order to further the cause of independence whenever she sought to diverge from the line being taken …

The Courier

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Scottish Politics News From Holyrood and Westminster | The Courier

Could Rosyth-Europe ferry set sail thanks to Brexit reset?
27 May 2025 at 6:01am
Hopes have been raised for a simple solution to a cross-border problem.

Kirkcaldy MP demands pro-suicide forum is torn down
26 May 2025 at 6:01am
Around 100 suicides have been linked to the sickening forum which provides guidance to people on ending their life.

UHI Perth aviation students warn of ?unsettling times? after training firm?s ...
26 May 2025 at 6:00am
Worried Samuel Hughes, 19, is among students sharing their fears at a time of crisis for Perth College.

Fresh Dundee University strike begins over compulsory Levehulme Centre job cuts
26 May 2025 at 6:00am
University staff are taking five days of industrial action as the institution pushes ahead with plans to axe the forensic research hub.

NHS Fife nurse at centre of controversial trans tribunal suing her own trade ...
25 May 2025 at 2:32pm
A&E medic Sandie Peggie is now taking legal action against the Royal College of Nursing.

EXCLUSIVE: Dundee University still to strike rescue deal with government
23 May 2025 at 5:46pm
Opposition MSPs have expressed concern at the time taken to agree a deal almost a month after the fresh recovery plan was unveiled.

6 senior figures who left Dundee University during financial crisis
23 May 2025 at 5:10pm
Several university chiefs have moved on since £30m financial black hole emerged.

Dundee University activist artist leads degree show protest over financial cr...
23 May 2025 at 4:45pm
Duncan of Jordanstone student Finn Millar says he wants to play a part in "keeping the university alive".

John Swinney admits constituents have expressed Perth leisure concerns to him
23 May 2025 at 6:01am
The first minister wants further talks between both sides of Perth leisure debate.

EXCLUSIVE: Dundee University chief operating officer Jim McGeorge quits
22 May 2025 at 1:58pm
Dr Jim McGeorge ? who was responsible for good governance - had been on a period of extended leave.

Talking up Scotland

Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz'

Cancer waiting times shorten in Scotland and hundreds treated faster than if ...
23 Dec 2025 at 11:37am
Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland’s Cancer waiting times 1 July to 30 September 2025 published today: 70.7% of patients started treatment within 62 days, compared with 69.9% in the previous quarter. 95.1% of patients started treatment within 31 days, compared with 95.3% in the previous quarter.1 The comparable figures for NHS England were 68.8% and 91.4%. Remember these f...

With 50% more registered nurses, no Scottish health board has scarily high mo...
23 Dec 2025 at 10:54am
Professor John Robertson OBA From the Times, three days ago, the above graph reveals that those health trusts in England which are increasingly using less qualified staff rather than fully registered nurses to care for patients, have been responsible for higher death rates than they should have, in clear contrast to those trusts which have not done so. Hospitals which have cut registered nurses...

Unionist think tank tries to reduce Maths pass rate for next year
23 Dec 2025 at 9:15am
As Jack McConnel’s political ‘think tank’ in the Scotsman and Herald thoughtlessly encourages next year’s S4 to avoid even trying maths because only 4 in 10 pass when in truth it’s 7 in 10, how does England do we wonder:

Factcheck ? 70% pass rate in S4 mathematics ? Someone who actually knows some...
22 Dec 2025 at 3:34pm
Professor John Robertson OBA, , former schoolteacher, education lecturer, head of department, Associate Dean (Quality Assurance), Research Professor, research methods tutor, Masters and PhD supervisor, multiple peer-reviewed international research author, Faculty Research Ethics Chair I have more detail on the above ‘research’, front page this morning and 35th by this afternoon. The only story ...

Scotsman ?newspaper? front pages incompetent, mendacious, self-important, sub...
22 Dec 2025 at 8:59am
Professor John Robertson OBA, , former schoolteacher, education lecturer, head of department, Associate Dean (Quality Assurance), Research Professor, research methods tutor, Masters and PhD supervisor, multiple peer-reviewed international research author, Faculty Research Ethics Chair The above is on the front page of the Scotsman, based on a report by the far from ‘independent‘, pompously self...

John Swinney knows not one Scottish Jew has been physically assaulted in an a...
21 Dec 2025 at 11:31pm
Professor John Robertson OBA According to the Scottish Daily Express yesterday: Jewish families are considering leaving Scotland in the face of a backlash against the community over the conflict in Gaza, with the First Minister accused of stoking tensions The Jewish population is in decline but that’s a result of intermarriage, aging, assimilation, secularisation and some movement historically ...

One of Scotland?s useless, jaundiced, hacks is so little read he can?t drag h...
21 Dec 2025 at 3:06pm
Professor John Robertson OBA I’ve written more times about McKenna than I care to remember and had resolved to just ignore his ill-informed and petty tirades against the SNP, but for dog (sorry Kev) knows what reason, I feel the urge. At the heart of his stuff is what seems to be an evidence-free feeling of anti-Catholic discrimination still pervading live in Scotland. The Great Professor Tom D...

Will Anas Sarwar be asked to stand up for Scotland as Labour Government ?quie...
21 Dec 2025 at 10:44am
Professor John Robertson OBA From the Guardian today: If the government was serious about reducing the growing welfare bill, it would be starting here and in the other parts of the country blighted by deindustrialisation and poverty. It would identify the parts of the country most in need ? Wales, Scotland and large swaths of northern England ? and love-bomb them. Yet instead of devoting more m...

UK Parliament to take at least three years longer than Scottish Parliament to...
21 Dec 2025 at 10:03am
Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC UK Breakfast above, the quick recognition that trail hunting is already banned in Scotland. It was January 2023. From the Independent today: The Government is set to ban trail hunting, for fear it is being used as a ?smokescreen? for chasing and killing wild animals.Trail hunting mimics a traditional hunt, with dogs following a pre-laid, animal-based scent ...

In the land with the best services for children the Herald?s sickening imager...
20 Dec 2025 at 8:49pm
Professor John Robertson OBA The Herald today with another of their tasteless, exploitative images and demands from charities, the latter lead by folk often more interested in honours from Sir Keir, to demand more from the ‘SNP’ government and, of course, failing to inform their readers of just what that party has already done to radically reduce child poverty, only here, and with the clear com...

Scotland and Independence

"scotland independence -guardian" - Google News

No independence referendum if SNP wins majority, Reeves says - BBC
27 Nov 2025 at 8:00am
No independence referendum if SNP wins majority, Reeves says  BBC

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

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

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

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

Scottish independence could 'reduce energy bills by more than a third', First...
8 Dec 2025 at 8:00am
Scottish independence could 'reduce energy bills by more than a third', First Minister John Swinney says  Sky News

X feature exposes Iranian-run pro-Scottish independence accounts - UKDJ - ???...
24 Nov 2025 at 8:00am
X feature exposes Iranian-run pro-Scottish independence accounts - UKDJ  ????? ??????????

Westminster slammed for £20m in refurbishment costs since independence refere...
21 Dec 2025 at 5:07am
Westminster slammed for £20m in refurbishment costs since independence referendum  TheNational.scot

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

John Swinney humiliated as flagship independence paper snubbed by Scots despi...
23 Dec 2025 at 12:01am
John Swinney humiliated as flagship independence paper snubbed by Scots despite huge reveal  Scottish Daily Express

SNP

"SNP" - Google News

Fury at SNP as NHS pays £9 for PARACETOMOL under 'free' prescription system -...
23 Dec 2025 at 9:55am
Fury at SNP as NHS pays £9 for PARACETOMOL under 'free' prescription system  Daily Mail

SNP leader John Swinney condemns alleged office bugging of female MSP - Sky News
18 Dec 2025 at 4:31pm
SNP leader John Swinney condemns alleged office bugging of female MSP  Sky News

Scotland's papers: SNP MSP's office 'bugged' and 'mortgage price war' - BBC
19 Dec 2025 at 6:31am
Scotland's papers: SNP MSP's office 'bugged' and 'mortgage price war'  BBC

?It?s Scotland?s energy?: SNP to focus on renewables in Holyrood election | S...
8 Dec 2025 at 8:00am
?It?s Scotland?s energy?: SNP to focus on renewables in Holyrood election | Scottish National party (SNP)  The Guardian

SNP remain ahead but Reform support in Scotland rises, while Labour support s...
10 Dec 2025 at 8:00am
SNP remain ahead but Reform support in Scotland rises, while Labour support slumps  Ipsos

SNP MSP sends Keir Starmer P45 in row over how many Scots are losing North Se...
23 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
SNP MSP sends Keir Starmer P45 in row over how many Scots are losing North Sea oil and gas jobs  Daily Record

SNP faces questions over alleged staff spying claim - The Herald
18 Dec 2025 at 4:32pm
SNP faces questions over alleged staff spying claim  The Herald

SNP should expect greater scrutiny on education in run-up to election - The S...
22 Dec 2025 at 6:00am
SNP should expect greater scrutiny on education in run-up to election  The Scotsman

How the SNP paralysed Scotland - New Statesman
5 Dec 2025 at 8:00am
How the SNP paralysed Scotland  New Statesman

Three female SNP MSPs 'bugged' by male aides in SPYING scandal 'covered up' b...
19 Dec 2025 at 2:14pm
Three female SNP MSPs 'bugged' by male aides in SPYING scandal 'covered up' by party bosses  The Scottish Sun

Referendum (Google News)

"Scotland referendum -guardian -telegraph" - Google News

No independence referendum if SNP wins majority, Reeves says - BBC
27 Nov 2025 at 8:00am
No independence referendum if SNP wins majority, Reeves says  BBC

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

Westminster slammed for £20m in refurbishment costs since independence refere...
21 Dec 2025 at 5:07am
Westminster slammed for £20m in refurbishment costs since independence referendum  TheNational.scot

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

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

Part Two: What an independent Scotland could look like - A Fresh Start with I...
8 Oct 2025 at 8:00am
Part Two: What an independent Scotland could look like - A Fresh Start with Independence  The Scottish Government

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

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

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

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