The Herald

The Herald | Politics


Ferguson Marine director?s verbal deal 'basis for £144,000 payment and huge t...
11 Mar 2025 at 2:34pm
A ?verbal agreement? from the former Ferguson Marine chief executive to a subcontractor led to the shipyard facing a bill for almost £48,000 in unpaid tax, MSPs have been told.


Glasgow?s oldest chippy 'review bombed' after holding event for Nigel Farage'...
11 Mar 2025 at 5:00am
Online trolls have targeted Glasgow?s oldest chip shop after the eatery played host to Nigel Farage's Reform UK.


Give Scots firms greater share of defence contracts, engineering boss declares
11 Mar 2025 at 4:31am
Scots company boss calls for dependence on overseas suppliers to end


Herald reporter recognised as 'Fuel Poverty Hero?
11 Mar 2025 at 5:41pm
I have become one of two people to be recognized as 'Fuel Poverty Heroes?.


Fergus Ewing has passed SNP vetting but will he stand for Holyrood in 2026?
11 Mar 2025 at 11:41am
Long serving MSP Fergus Ewing has finally been given the green light by the SNP to stand again for election to represent his Highland constituency - but will he do so?


Salmond's Alba successor to be chosen soon - but not before party civil war
10 Mar 2025 at 3:14pm
Alex Salmond's Alba Party is spiralling into a civil war as leadership candidates argue over who succeeds the former first minister.


Documents show Sarwar 'completely silent' on Grangemouth and WASPI campaign
10 Mar 2025 at 6:00am
FOI documents showed no correspondence between Anas Sarwar and Sir Keir Starmer on Grangemouth and the WASPI campaign.


SNP ministers 'must urgently end pause of prioritising housing for care leavers'
10 Mar 2025 at 5:00am
SNP ministers have been told to urgently end a pause on prioritising housing for care leavers amid rising homelessness concerns.


Kevin McKenna: Scotland's urban renewal queen has only just begun
10 Mar 2025 at 11:30am
You?ve been in this situation many times. An influential leader in business or politics or academia sits across from you in their elegant ? but minimalist ? office in a chrome and glass four-storey edifice in Glasgow or Edinburgh and begins to tell you about their humble upbringing in an edgy, working class neighbourhood.


Edinburgh University at risk of lawsuit over policy to make all toilets mixed...
10 Mar 2025 at 6:12pm
The University of Edinburgh's new trans policy, allowing staff to use facilities aligning with their gender identity, could breach health and safety laws requiring single-sex spaces, critics have warned.


Community group takes fight to secure supermarket for their area to United Na...
10 Mar 2025 at 1:30pm
A Scottish community group has taken their fight to secure a supermarket for their area to the United Nations.


Scottish Labour MPs say ?moral duty? to reform benefits as Reeves eyes up £6b...
10 Mar 2025 at 1:10pm
Scottish Labour MPs are backing controversial welfare cuts, arguing the system discourages work. Others in the party warn of ?deep concern? over the plans.


SNP minister Christina McKelvie announces she won?t seek re-election
10 Mar 2025 at 11:33am
Drugs and Alcohol Minister Christina McKelvie has announced she will not seek re-election in 2026. She becomes the 23rd MSP to confirm their departure from Holyrood.


Swinney speaks of ?huge benefits? from Commonwealth Games on milestone day
10 Mar 2025 at 7:06am
Hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow is a ?huge opportunity?, Scotland?s First Minister said as the city reached a ?milestone? in the countdown to the sporting contest.

The Scotsman

The Scotsman Politics


Why UK's defence spending boost will be good for Scotland
11 Mar 2025 at 6:00pm

The prospect of Russian forces in the North Sea is an unsettling one, and we must not compromise our security

Jill Wood, the policy manager for Engender, refused to comment when pressed by MSPs

The collision took place on Monday morning

An investigation has been launched to find out ?what went wrong?.

Police Scotland has published its latest data on Scotland?s level of drug deaths

The First Minister will once again be grilled on trans rights and single-sex spaces.

Wings over Scotland

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 …

Green Eggs And Bams
6 Mar 2025 at 12:47pm
In April 2021, the SNP were still the undisputed masters of all they surveyed. A poll conducted by Ipsos MORI that month showed them on 53% of the vote for the Scottish Parliament, a jawdropping 33 points ahead of their nearest rivals. When the Holyrood election a month later was held, they won 64 seats, …

The tint of rose
5 Mar 2025 at 12:42pm
What with this poll apparently being such terrific news for John Swinney’s runaway popularity with the people of Scotland, readers might be wondering why SNP MSP Graeme Dey has apparently forgotten to include the actual figures or link to the source so that people can find out for themselves. Or, y’know, you might not. Because …

Why I?m Never Leaving Twitter
27 Feb 2025 at 1:12pm
You just don’t get this sort of quality content on Bluesky. (They’d faint, poor lambs.) And all the furry nappy porn is a poor substitute.

Groundhog Decade
25 Feb 2025 at 2:07pm
Welcome back to what will hopefully be normal service after we’ve been spending the last few days battling off a determined and temporarily successful attempt at hacking the site. Apologies to those who had clicks intercepted and redirected to a malware site which tried to get people to download dodgy .EXE files, but our readers …

Challengers Deep
22 Feb 2025 at 1:03am

The Zone Of Interesting
21 Feb 2025 at 10:34am
A couple of days ago a reader asked on Twitter if we thought Reform, who continue to lead in UK opinion polling, might allow a second indyref if they actually got into power, as it would for obvious reasons be hypocritical of them not to. And to be frank we dismissed it out of hand, …

One simple question
20 Feb 2025 at 5:21pm
We actually agree with John Swinney here. ? The law – more specifically the Workplace (Health, Safety, and Welfare) Regulations 1992 –  is indeed “crystal clear”. It states, wholly unambiguously, that men and women must be provided with separate single-sex changing facilities, which could under NO lawful conditions include Dr “Beth” Upton and nurse Sandie …

Craig Murray

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

Ukraine, Diplomacy and War
3 Mar 2025 at 4:07pm

When politicians in power are extremely unpopular, they generally turn to militarism and jingoism for a quick boost. Starmer is now the darling of the UK media for his sabre-rattling over Ukraine and is busily churning out tweets of military imagery. In doing so he is attempting to pose as in defiance of Trump, and …

Ukraine, Diplomacy and War

Islamic Resistance Movements and Israel
28 Feb 2025 at 12:32pm

We were searching for a site in the northern Bekaa valley recently bombed by Israel. Hadi knew near which village it was located but, as we drove between large expanses of fertile, well-cultivated fields, it was plain his information was vague. We pulled up at a garage to ask the way. Lebanon has not gone …

Islamic Resistance Movements and Israel

UN Peacekeepers Watch Civilians Massacred
12 Feb 2025 at 8:52pm

On 26 January, 26 unarmed civilians were shot dead by Israel and 147 wounded in a massacre observed by heavily armed UN Peacekeepers who did not intervene. I asked the UN the very hard questions which nobody else is asking them. The civilians were simply attempting to return to their homes in accordance with both …

UN Peacekeepers Watch Civilians Massacred

United Nations Censures UK Over Abuse of Terrorism Act Against Journalists an...
6 Feb 2025 at 5:39am

Four UN Special Rapporteurs have written jointly to the UK government demanding explanation of its inappropriate persecution of journalists and political activists under the Terrorism Act. They state that those persecuted: appear to have no credible connection to “terrorist” or “hostile” activity The cases taken up by the United Nations are those of Johanna Ross …

United Nations Censures UK Over Abuse of Terrorism Act Against Journalists and Activists

Israel Slaughters and Destroys in Southern Lebanon
31 Jan 2025 at 1:24pm

We could very easily – in fact more easily – have made these mini-documentaries featuring the bodies of children slaughtered by Israel and the hideous aspect of the maiming of tens of thousands, or focusing on the tears of the bereaved and orphaned. We chose to go a different way and make that unavoidably implicit, …

Israel Slaughters and Destroys in Southern Lebanon

BBC Scotland

Ministers scrap green heating plans for new homes
11 Mar 2025 at 8:05pm
Acting net-zero secretary Gillian Martin told MSPs the legislation, drafted by the Scottish Greens, would "make people poorer."

Sarwar backs Starmer over welfare reform
11 Mar 2025 at 5:41pm
The Scottish Labour leader says the prime minister is taking the "right approach" amid reports of benefits cuts.

SNP appoints permanent chief executive
10 Mar 2025 at 11:29am
Former council chief executive Carol Beattie is expected to oversee the party's 2026 Holyrood election campaign.

Ministers sign £70m Argyll and Bute growth deal
10 Mar 2025 at 4:53pm
The UK and Scottish governments say the funding package will help boost tourism and support jobs.

Trump Turnberry vandalised by pro-Palestinian group
8 Mar 2025 at 9:30pm
Police Scotland is investigating the incident at the Ayshire resort owned by the Trump Organisation.

Falkirk sets largest council tax increase of 15.6%
7 Mar 2025 at 11:44am
It follow some of the biggest council tax increases in around 20 years at local authorities across Scotland.

Mhairi Black - I was flailing in life until ADHD diagnosis
6 Mar 2025 at 7:57pm
Following her decision to stand down, the SNP MP opens up on her mental health struggles at Westminster ahead of a new BBC documentary.

Business leaders urge backing of Acorn project
10 Mar 2025 at 10:13am
The project at St Fergus in Aberdeenshire would take greenhouse gas emissions and store them underground.

Council boss re-elected after assault charge dropped
6 Mar 2025 at 9:32pm
Prosecutors dropped the charge against Inverclyde's Stephen McCabe after "careful consideration".

Reform would scrap 'net stupid zero' policies - Tice
6 Mar 2025 at 2:37pm
The deputy leader of Reform UK said eco-policies are destroying jobs in the oil and gas sector in Scotland.

New proposals to expand victim notification scheme
5 Mar 2025 at 5:18pm
The Scottish government said the reforms put victims rights at the "heart of the justice system".

Shona Robison and Fiona Hyslop to stand down as MSPs
5 Mar 2025 at 5:29pm
Both Scotland's finance secretary and transport secretary have confimed they will stand down in 2026.

Scot Goes Pop

"Mad Dog" is Primus Suspect for yet another leak to the Sunday Mail about the...
9 Mar 2025 at 10:47am
Those of you who have read my lengthy email exchange with Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh from last spring will already have a sense of perhaps the most grotesque feature of the sickness at the heart of the A...

Labour's uncertainty transformed into despair using empirical strategies: Ref...
8 Mar 2025 at 9:41pm
I'm slightly baffled by this poll, because it's billed as the latest in a monthly series of polls by a firm called "Freshwater Strategies" on behalf of City AM, but I can't find much trace of the p...

Reform UK lead in Find Out Now poll for EIGHTH time in a row
7 Mar 2025 at 11:19pm
Reform UK went "Full Alba" today by removing the whip from one of their five MPs and referring him to the police.  In a small way that's good news for the SNP, because it now becomes slightly less ...

Some genuine good news for the independence cause: it seems that Alba will *n...
6 Mar 2025 at 9:53pm
On Monday night, a commenter on this blog asked for my objective verdict on the STV mini-debate between Ash Regan and Kenny MacAskill for the Alba leadership.  I was planning to write a blogpost gi...

The SNP must ignore the siren voice of Ian Blackford and hold fast to the pri...
6 Mar 2025 at 3:32am
When I rejoined the SNP two months ago, I was well aware that I would find myself in a minority in taking a somewhat nuanced stance on the Ukraine war.  Perhaps because of the party's pro-Europeani...

Is Donald Trump just a cosplay fascist, or does his threats to conquer Greenl...
5 Mar 2025 at 8:08pm
I was just watching a "highlights" video of Donald Trump's speech to Congress (if that's not a contradiction in terms) and I found it genuinely chilling when he said he was going to get his hands o...

The Alba Party's relentless war against its own members continues despite McE...
5 Mar 2025 at 7:59am
I said the other day that Craig Murray was naive for sticking to the article of faith that Alex Salmond must have had very good reasons for stitching up Alba's 2023 internal elections and that thos...

New YouGov poll suggests Labour's hopes of a "Falklands moment" for Starmer a...
4 Mar 2025 at 8:14pm
I've been awaiting the first GB poll since the Trump v Zelensky showdown with a degree of trepidation, because that incident has at least temporarily caused the London media to fall back in love wi...

STV Politics News

Latest Politics News | STV News

Is £6bn cut to disability benefits Starmer?s next spending battle?
11 Mar 2025 at 4:15pm
The UK?s welfare bill is at a historic high - and the Prime Minister has called the system 'indefensible'.

Suspected drug deaths fell 11% last year, figures show
11 Mar 2025 at 1:37pm
Health secretary Neil Gray welcomed the reduction but said more must be done to lower the death toll further.

Recovery: ?I was addicted to cocaine for 25 years, I was broken?
11 Mar 2025 at 1:37pm
Derek Harrison has been clean for six months.

New law must not undermine existing definition of domestic abuse, say MSPs
11 Mar 2025 at 7:01am
It comes after the Crown Office warned MSPs a new justice reform Bill risks 'diluting' the approach to domestic abuse.

Rural growth deal worth £70m signed for Argyll and Bute
10 Mar 2025 at 3:49pm
The deal includes the renovation of the grade A listed Rothesay Pavilion.

SNP interim chief executive to stay on permanently
10 Mar 2025 at 1:48pm
Carol Beattie was appointed to the role on an interim basis last year after the departure of Murray Foote.

MSP McKelvie who is undergoing cancer treatment to stand down next year
10 Mar 2025 at 11:05am
Christina McKelvie is on medical leave as she receives treatment for secondary breast cancer.

Ukraine set for pivotal ceasefire talks with US in Saudi Arabia
10 Mar 2025 at 8:31am
Volodymyr Zelesnkyy is due to arrive in Saudi Arabia on Monday with his top team ahead of the pivotal talks with the US on Tuesday.

?Ten years to make UK defence a credible deterrent?
10 Mar 2025 at 8:25am
The Strategic Defence Review was announced in July and is expected to be published in the coming weeks.

Scotland?s university funding system ?all but dead?, claim Scottish Liberal D...
9 Mar 2025 at 5:52pm
Scottish Liberal Democrats made the plea as research by the party suggested almost half of universities had run up a deficit last year.

John Swinney denies SNP gender policies have boosted Reform as Nicola Sturgeo...
8 Mar 2025 at 4:16pm
John Swinney made an appearance at the SNP's International Women's Day event, which was picketed by For Women Scotland.

John Swinney says women can be key to achieving sustainable peace on Internat...
8 Mar 2025 at 2:39pm
The First Minister has spoken about the Scottish Government?s 'commitment to international peace-building', making clear he wants women to have a 'central role' in that process.

Former SNP MP Mhairi Black says she could ?maybe? join another party in future
7 Mar 2025 at 2:17pm
She also said she did not go public with her ADHD diagnosis because she feared some at Westminster would use it against her.

Jess Phillips lists the names of women killed by men in the last 12 months
7 Mar 2025 at 8:47am
Minister Jess Phillips pledges the government's commitment to tackling violence against women and girls ahead of International Women's Day.

Daily Record

Daily Record - Politics

"Scotland unprepared for next Covid pandemic" as expert warns crippling cuts ...
11 Mar 2025 at 1:25pm
Roz Foyer, general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress has reflected on the last outbreak five years on.

Glasgow councillors warned they could be sued after golden goodbye report pub...
11 Mar 2025 at 12:53pm
EXCLUSIVE: Councillors on a town hall watchdog were informed they could be ?personally legally challenged? if they made defamatory statements.

Suspected deaths from drugs in Scotland drop by 11% but remains at 'horrendou...
11 Mar 2025 at 12:05pm
The figures are based on police estimates and may differ official data compiled by the National Records of Scotland.

Scots MP calls for legal crackdown on 'pimping websites' which profit from pr...
11 Mar 2025 at 11:48am
Tracy Gilbert urged her own party's government to "make profiting from the prostitution of another person a criminal offence."

Ending alcohol ban at Scottish football grounds could increase 'public disorder'
11 Mar 2025 at 11:31am
Fans cannot buy beer at Scottish football grounds due to a 45-year-old law that many supporters believe is now out-of-date and does not reflect the modern game.

Scots avoiding bus travel due to 'chronic antisocial behaviour' caused by SNP...
11 Mar 2025 at 10:02am
Anti-social behaviour in bus stations is a growing problem across Scotland.

Alex Salmond died without leaving will for wife Moira causing widow "stress a...
11 Mar 2025 at 4:30am
EXCLUSIVE: The former First Minister had property and business interests when he passed away last year.

Council tax in Scotland: Highest and lowest rates for 2025/26
11 Mar 2025 at 4:30am
The Daily Record has compiled a league table of the town halls with the highest levels of council tax.

DWP benefits changes - which payments could be slashed by Labour Government
11 Mar 2025 at 4:30am
The Government is hoping to get millions of people on sickness benefit back into work.

Pylon homes bill help welcomed as Scots living near projects to save £250 a y...
11 Mar 2025 at 4:30am
Record View says this is a welcome step by the UK Government, particularly for those rural communities that will have to live with these massive infrastructure projects for years to come.

The National

The National | Politics

Anas Sarwar accused of 'rolling over' for Westminster after backing welfare cuts
11 Mar 2025 at 9:11pm

ANAS Sarwar has been accused of ?rolling over? and failing to stand up for Scots after he backed Keir Starmer?s plans to cut billions of pounds in welfare funding ...

Anas Sarwar backs Keir Starmer's welfare cuts saying it's 'right approach'
11 Mar 2025 at 8:23pm

SCOTTISH Labour leader Anas Sarwar has reportedly backed Keir Starmer's plans to cut billions of pounds from the UK Government?s welfare budget ...

Wee Ginger Dug: Keir Starmer is Margaret Thatcher 2.0 going after welfare fun...
11 Mar 2025 at 7:00pm

It seems that I, along with millions of other disabled people, owe Keir Starmer a huge debt of gratitude. Thank you, Sir Keir, for teaching me that I am not in fact a disabled person who lives with challenging physical limitations which make my life much more expensive, exhausting, and difficult. I am actually just a work-shy scrounger who needs to be harangued, bullied, and threatened with pen...

SNP MSPs queuing up to leave suggests a lack of confidence about 2026
11 Mar 2025 at 6:30pm

CONGRATULATIONS and the best of luck to the SNP?s new chief executive Carol Beattie ? she is going to need all the luck she can get. The Scottish Parliament elections are now just over a year away and the SNP seem to be again aiming not for independence but hoping for, at best, five more years of managing devolved government.

I'm disabled, working, and on benefits ? why does Labour say I?m the problem?
11 Mar 2025 at 5:51pm

BROKEN. Indefensible. Taking the mickey. This is how the welfare system and people who claim benefits have been described ...

GB Energy ?has no employees?, UK Government concedes
11 Mar 2025 at 5:00pm

GB Energy doesn?t formally have any employees, according to the UK Government ...

Frankie Boyle backs The National's Medical Aid for Palestinians fundraiser
11 Mar 2025 at 4:58pm

FRANKIE Boyle has backed The National?s campaign to raise money for vital aid in Gaza ...

'Astonishing': Debt-ridden Manchester United plan £2bn stadium ? with Labour ...
11 Mar 2025 at 4:38pm

FURY has met plans from Manchester United for a new £2 billion stadium ? financially backed by the Labour Government ...

Scottish Government announces £2 million worth of cost of living support
11 Mar 2025 at 4:20pm

More than £2 million of support will be provided to individuals and families on low incomes to help with the cost of living crisis, the Scottish Government has announced ...

Holyrood pension scheme urged to divest from Tesla over Elon Musk 'toxicity'
11 Mar 2025 at 4:01pm

AN MSP has been raised concerns about the Scottish Parliamentary Pension Scheme?s investments in Tesla amid the global backlash against owner Elon Musk.

Holyrood Magazine

Holyrood Website

Experts debunk Elon Musk?s claim Ukraine caused X outage
11 Mar 2025 at 5:00pm
Cyber experts have called into question Elon Musk?s claim that a cyber-attack on X?was caused by Ukrainian hackers

Dundee University to cut over 600 jobs as it reveals ?35m deficit
11 Mar 2025 at 4:41pm
An externally-led investigation is to be undertaken

AI businesses to ?skip admin? in overhaul of innovation spending
10 Mar 2025 at 2:36pm
AI innovators will 'skip the admin and get on with driving growing' under overhaul of funding processes

Clamp down on ?drug-smuggling drones? continues, Barlinnie governor says
10 Mar 2025 at 12:49pm
Barlinnie governor Michael Stoney said drones are the 'latest scourge' and the 'battle' against them 'continues'

Christina McKelvie to stand down at next election
10 Mar 2025 at 12:45pm
Drugs and alcohol minister announces she will not seek re-election next year

Scottish Labour MPs back 'progressive' UK Government welfare reforms
10 Mar 2025 at 12:11pm
Get Britain Working group says 'hard choices' have to be made

SNP appoints Carol Beattie as new chief executive
10 Mar 2025 at 11:04am
Beattie has been the interim chief executive since October

Almost all female MSPs targeted by online abuse, survey finds
10 Mar 2025 at 7:00am
This includes rape threats, death threats and severe misogynistic abuse

Roundtable report: Faster, smarter, healthier
10 Mar 2025 at 6:00am
Listening to staff and patients is the key to successfully unlocking the benefits of digital care.

Plans to make phones safer for children watered down
7 Mar 2025 at 2:50pm
The safer phones bill would have banned the use of algorithms on young teenagers'?accounts by raising the digital age?of?consent from 13 to 16

Guardian - Scottish Politics

Scottish politics | The Guardian

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,...

Starmer says it would be ?big mistake? to think Ukraine no longer needs milit...
6 Mar 2025 at 5:21pm
This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our UK political coverage hereLucy Powell, the leader of the Commons, defended the government?s position on the new Sentencing Council guidelines (see 9.46am) during business questions in the Commons a few minutes ago.She was responding to the Co...

Trump criticises European leaders at Starmer?s Ukraine summit for saying they...
3 Mar 2025 at 6:22pm
US president claims admission that Europe needs US help to deter Russia ?not great in terms of a show of strength?. This live blog is closedAs Jakub Krupa and Martin Belam report on our Europe live blog, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, is floating proposals for a month-long ceasefire in Uk...

Starmer refuses to rule out defence budget being used to fund Chagos Islands ...
26 Feb 2025 at 5:05pm
This blog is now closed, you can read more of our UK political coverage herePMQs is about to start.Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.The threat from the far right is real, but that leaves me all the more convinced that working together is not only the right choice, but the only choic...

Scottish government ?firmly? backs single-sex spaces amid equality watchdog w...
25 Feb 2025 at 6:39pm
EHRC raises issues from tribunal brought by nurse who objected to sharing women?s changing room with trans doctorThe Scottish government ?stands firmly behind? the provision of single-sex spaces, a minister has said after the UK equality watchdog addressed issues raised by an employment tribunal ...

Scotland ?likely to miss net zero climate target by up to 20m tonnes?
23 Feb 2025 at 4:44pm
Exclusive: Top officials and climate policy experts believe delays in cutting emissions make it improbable 2045 target will be metScotland is likely to miss its legally binding climate target by up to 20m tonnes, according to official data seen by the Guardian.The Scottish government set itself ...

The Guardian view on Scottish Labour: a defining moment for Anas Sarwar | Edi...
20 Feb 2025 at 6:41pm
After a spectacular general election win, Keir Starmer?s party is struggling to repeat its success in the approaching Holyrood contest?Only a few months ago, Labour won the most votes and a majority of seats in Scotland for the first time since 2010. A 16-point swing from the Scottish National pa...

Scottish Labour faces ?challenge? to win next Holyrood elections, Sarwar admits
19 Feb 2025 at 6:00am
Exclusive: Increases in support for Reform UK and Scottish Greens suggest a comfortable win for the SNP in 2026Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, has admitted his party faces a significant challenge to win the next Holyrood elections after its popularity slumped in the polls.His party?s sup...

SNP avoids early election as it wins backing for budget at Holyrood
4 Feb 2025 at 8:06pm
Scottish parliament supports minority government?s tax and spending plans after intensive negotiations The SNP minority government has passed its budget and avoided triggering an early election after securing a coalition of support across the constitutional divide at HolyroodThe tax and spending ...

Exasperated Swinney forced to deny he plans to ban cat ownership in Scotland
3 Feb 2025 at 5:56pm
Keir Starmer?s spokesperson also rejects idea of UK ban after online misinformation prompted outrageScotland?s first minister and the UK prime minister?s spokesperson have been forced to deny there are plans to ban cat ownership in Scotland after media interest in feline welfare proposals prompte...

Wee Ginger Dug

Wee Ginger Dug

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 Thelma and Louise of Scottish politics
16 Feb 2025 at 6:55pm
Yet another Scottish opinion poll, this time by Norstat (formerly known as Panelbase) for the Sunday Times has confirmed the picture that is becoming clear from other recent opinion polling, Anas Sarwar and the Labour party in Scotland are in deep, deep trouble and unless there is some miracle between now and May 2026, Labour …

The nastification of British politics
14 Feb 2025 at 12:37pm
This week, yet another UK- wide opinion poll put Nigel Farage’s hard right anti-immigrant fan club Reform UK ltd. in poll position in Westminster voting intention. The poll, by YouGov, gave the Faragistes 26%, Labour 25% and the Tories 21%. This was shortly followed by another poll, this time carried out by Find Out Now, …

No jam tomorrow for Grangemouth with Labour
10 Feb 2025 at 12:16pm
We have become so used to the lies and betrayals of the Labour party that a term for them has entered the language, ‘jam tomorrow’. The term was first used in the Lewis Caroll novel Alice Through the Looking-Glass, published in 1871, but by the latter half of the 20th century it had come to …

The Courier

Scottish Politics News From Holyrood and Westminster | The Courier

EXCLUSIVE: Dundee University chief reveals institution could close if jobs ar...
11 Mar 2025 at 5:13pm
Interim principal Shane O'Neill said without the proposed 632 job cuts announced then the university could "cease to exist".

Staff and students slam Dundee University chiefs as job losses confirmed
11 Mar 2025 at 4:47pm
Around 20% of the workforce could be laid off as managers struggle to reduce a £35 million deficit. 

Dundee University confirms 632 jobs at risk
11 Mar 2025 at 1:40pm
Staff could lose their jobs while the university tries to recover from a £35 million financial crisis.

Ukrainian curlers keep sporting dreams alive at Perth ice rink
11 Mar 2025 at 6:00am
Nataliia Menzhega says 10 young adults have been able to work, study and keep competing in Tayside while Russia continues to attack three years on.

Angus superpylon campaigners say £250 a year bill rebate not enough
10 Mar 2025 at 1:14pm
The UK Government says residents within 500 metres of proposed new pylons will save cash on bills, while communities benefit from tens of millions of pounds.

Dundee University crisis: What we know so far and what happens next
10 Mar 2025 at 9:00am
We take a look at what has gone wrong at Dundee University and what is set to happen next as the first stages of the recovery plan are revealed.

?No excuse? to delay new Kincardine GP surgery
10 Mar 2025 at 6:00am
Dunfermline MP Graeme Downie wrote to health secretary Neil Gray about the "unacceptable" delay

EXCLUSIVE: Cash-strapped Dundee University seeks £200k transformation director
7 Mar 2025 at 1:57pm
Staff reacted furiously while jobs are at risk at the crisis-hit institution.

EXCLUSIVE: Dundee?s Shona Robison opens up on personal highs and lows after r...
7 Mar 2025 at 6:00am
The outgoing Dundee City East MSP revealed her most challenging, and fond, moments as a local politician and senior SNP government minister.

EXCLUSIVE: NHS Fife not paying full cost of trans row tribunal
6 Mar 2025 at 5:14pm
The health board has been criticised for refusing to disclose how much it has spent on the controversial case.

Talking up Scotland

Talking-up Scotland

Police Scotland ? progression in reducing domestic abuse offences by officers
11 Mar 2025 at 1:09pm
Professor John Robertson OBA In May 2023, former Chief Constable, Sir Iain Livingston launched a campaign to reverse discrimination in the force, including that against women.1 Notably, three days ago, it was reported that Police Scotland had rejected 25 applicants with tattoos including terms such as ‘sex slave’, an image of a ?decapitated geisha head gagged with a rope? and one with the ?rear...

Suspected drug deaths fall again for 3rd quarter in a row to lowest since 201...
11 Mar 2025 at 12:39pm
Professor John Robertson OBA From Suspected drug deaths in Scotland: October to December 2024, published today: During 2024 there were 1,065 suspected drug deaths, 11% (132) fewer than in 2023. This is one of the lowest numbers of suspected drug deaths recorded in a single calendar quarter since the start of the time series in 2017. https://www.gov.scot/publications/suspected-drug-deaths-scotla...

The Galloway National Park No Campaign and their friends in high places
11 Mar 2025 at 10:58am
Professor John Robertson OBA I knew the Galloway Hills well, oh so well, but sadly as I age, not at all anymore. I’ve been on top of every hill and some of them, multiple times. Solitude, I get it. Despite that, I’m not so well informed on the debate over the merits or otherwise of national parks. I’ve seen the media reports of human waste, litter, overcrowding, congested roads. I’ve been to th...

Factcheck ? School violence is in decline along with youth violence generally...
11 Mar 2025 at 8:13am
Professor John Robertson OBA I remember the constant threat of violence in my pupil days from 1956 to 1969. I wasn’t imagining it. All parts of Scottish society then were much more violent than they are now. I’m not doubting that a degree of violence persists, for pupils and teachers and that it remains a priority for all involved but facts matter and those facts tell us whether politicians are...

UK Government?s dysfunctional Under-Secretary at the Scotland Office will cle...
10 Mar 2025 at 12:47pm
stewartb Should anyone book a holiday for their family on a Scottish island this summer? Should a bank or other investor support a business based on a Scottish island that relies on serving customers off island? Should anyone thinking of moving from the UK mainland or elsewhere to set up a family home or set up a business on a Scottish island? Should any resident of a Scottish island with the o...

Assaults on police officers fall in Scotland but climb to 20% higher in Engla...
10 Mar 2025 at 11:23am
Professor John Robertson OBA From Freedom of Information request 25-0083 Officer/ Staff assault – related absence/ hospital treatment – 2022/23 TD – asking: In the financial years 2022/23, 23/24, and 24/25 (Up to 08.01.25), how many officers, PCSOs and support staff were physically assaulted by members of the public? Please provide a breakdown by role. we can see that the total fell from 4 670 ...

Labour Freedom of Information request on cervical cancer with figures edited ...
10 Mar 2025 at 10:36am
Professor John Robertson OBA I used to teach Research Methods to BA Journalism students. Nice kids with ambitions to helpfully inform readers. I worry for them now. Corporate and state media care little for informing, seek only to attract readers with scares and titillation and, must surely damage the mental health of those who work within. First, that claim – Wait times for cervical examinatio...

What the Glasgow teen murder does NOT mean for Scotland ? If you know a Sun r...
10 Mar 2025 at 10:05am
The Sun today, above, following the Record, two days ago with: Professor John Robertson OBA They’re just doing it to make money but it has consequences over time for regular readers – depression, anxiety, fixed negativity, agoraphobia (feart to leave the hoose) supporting Reform UK and so on. What follows is jus the same as my response to the Record article but I know from Talking-up Scotland‘s...

As the UK Ministry of Justice prepares for summer riots how only Scotland has...
10 Mar 2025 at 8:47am
By Professor John Robertson OBA From the Guardian today, the above and: Prisons are being prepared to cope with a sudden influx of offenders in case there is a repeat of last summer?s riots, the justice minister, James Timpson, has told the Guardian. The facts behind my headline: From BBC Scotland on 9 August 2024, in what must be an unauthorised ‘Scotland is the best‘ report by a junior report...

A passenger pushed to his death, fishermen killed by crew who don?t speak Eng...
9 Mar 2025 at 7:05pm
Professor John Robertson OBA Today Red Funnel should be Red Face ferries on the Isle of Wight cancel sailings and disrupt travel because they spend too much on shareholder dividends and executive bonuses and thus don’t spend enough on maintenance or replacement.1 In October 2024, a late-arriving passenger was pushed into the screws, to his death, in Greece. Then the crews all went on strike f...

Scotland and Independence

"scotland independence -guardian" - 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

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

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

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

Nicola Sturgeon: I am '100 per cent' sure I will live to see Scottish indepen...
13 Feb 2025 at 8:00am
Nicola Sturgeon: I am '100 per cent' sure I will live to see Scottish independence  The National

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

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

Is the dream of Scottish independence over? - POLITICO Europe
1 May 2024 at 8:00am
Is the dream of Scottish independence over?  POLITICO Europe

The agony and ecstasy of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum - BBC
18 Sep 2024 at 8:00am
The agony and ecstasy of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum  BBC

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 Indonesia

SNP

"SNP" - Google News

SNP appoints Carol Beattie as permanent chief executive - BBC.com
10 Mar 2025 at 11:29am
SNP appoints Carol Beattie as permanent chief executive  BBC.com

The SNP must shed its nervousness on defence - The Spectator
11 Mar 2025 at 5:48pm
The SNP must shed its nervousness on defence  The Spectator

SNP still refuse to confirm timeline for warmer, greener homes bill - Scottis...
11 Mar 2025 at 5:58pm
SNP still refuse to confirm timeline for warmer, greener homes bill  Scottish Green Party

SNP MSPs queuing up to leave suggests a lack of confidence about 2026 - The N...
11 Mar 2025 at 6:39pm
SNP MSPs queuing up to leave suggests a lack of confidence about 2026  The National

Anger over museum's SNP 'propaganda' exhibition about Covid pandemic - MSN
9 Mar 2025 at 11:38pm
Anger over museum's SNP 'propaganda' exhibition about Covid pandemic  MSN

Fergus Ewing has passed SNP vetting but will he stand for Holyrood in 2026? -...
11 Mar 2025 at 1:07pm
Fergus Ewing has passed SNP vetting but will he stand for Holyrood in 2026?  HeraldScotland

Holyrood must unite to demand action on energy bills, say SNP - Morning Star ...
11 Mar 2025 at 3:26pm
Holyrood must unite to demand action on energy bills, say SNP  Morning Star Online

SNP appoints new chief executive despite royal family social media row - The ...
10 Mar 2025 at 5:30pm
SNP appoints new chief executive despite royal family social media row  The Times

Letters: SNP will march to the beat of Keir Starmer?s war drum - Socialist Wo...
11 Mar 2025 at 2:24pm
Letters: SNP will march to the beat of Keir Starmer?s war drum  Socialist Worker

Swinney denies SNP gender stance boosted Reform as Sturgeon heckled at IWD ev...
8 Mar 2025 at 5:01pm
Swinney denies SNP gender stance boosted Reform as Sturgeon heckled at IWD event  The Independent

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

Scottish independence referendum: legal issues - Commons Library
16 Sep 2024 at 8:00am
Scottish independence referendum: legal issues  Commons Library

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

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 Indonesia

Is the dream of Scottish independence over? - POLITICO Europe
1 May 2024 at 8:00am
Is the dream of Scottish independence over?  POLITICO Europe

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

Alex Salmond, former Scottish first minister who nearly got Scotland's indepe...
12 Oct 2024 at 8:00am
Alex Salmond, former Scottish first minister who nearly got Scotland's independence from UK, dies at 69  PBS NewsHour

How Brexit has changed Scotland?s constitutional debate - National Centre for...
18 Sep 2024 at 8:00am
How Brexit has changed Scotland?s constitutional debate  National Centre for Social Research

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