The Herald

The Herald | Politics


Swinney: 'Starmer risks being remembered as a second Thatcher in Scotland'
8 Dec 2025 at 12:01am
John Swinney is set to warn that Sir Keir Starmer risks being remembered as ?a second Thatcher?, unleashing a new wave of "1980s-style deindustrialisation" across Scotland.


Pro-Palestine group to picket Hampden in Barclays protest ahead of cup final
7 Dec 2025 at 7:50pm
Protestors have often hit out at Barclays over its ties to Israel, claiming that the firm is ?bankrolling genocide?.


Fear and loathing in Inverness as pro and anti-migrant demonstrators clash
7 Dec 2025 at 3:09pm
On Saturday, duelling groups rallied on a housing estate near the barracks, primarily used for military families.


Offord says Farage is no racist, he just used 'intemperate' language at school
7 Dec 2025 at 12:14pm
Lord Offord says he does not believe Nigel Farage is racist despite a number of former schoolmates accusing the party leader of racist and antisemitic remarks from his school days.


MSP suspended from Labour says conduct probe has made life ?hell?
7 Dec 2025 at 8:50am
An MSP who was suspended from Scottish Labour amid an investigation into his conduct has said the allegations have made his life ?hell?.


State of the Nation report reveals Scots struggling for food, heat and housing
7 Dec 2025 at 10:00am
The Scottish Human Rights Commission will put the SNP government under pressure tomorrow with the release of a landmark report which says the level of poverty in Scotland now means many citizens are ?living without dignity?.


NHS Fife hires external PR advisers ahead of Sandie Peggie tribunal ruling
7 Dec 2025 at 11:31am
NHS Fife has hired external spin doctors to prepare senior bosses ahead of the outcome of the Sandie Peggie employment tribunal.


Protests in Falkirk during Nigel Farage's 'Scotland needs Reform' rally
6 Dec 2025 at 8:26pm
HUNDREDS of protestors marched through Falkirk today, while Nigel Farage held a Reform rally just four miles away.


Police Scotland say Farage wrong on claims of three Falkirk sexual assaults
6 Dec 2025 at 6:08pm
Police Scotland say Nigel Farage?s Falkirk claims were inaccurate, with officers confirming two linked assaults involving one suspect.


Malcolm Offord: The Tory fixer who walked out straight into Nigel Farage?s arms
6 Dec 2025 at 5:39pm
Lord Offord?s dramatic defection to Reform UK stunned his former colleagues. Why did the peer break with the Scottish Tories ? and what does it signal for Scotland?s political future?


?Intolerable?: Sickened human rights chief reveals how poverty is destroying ...
7 Dec 2025 at 6:15am
The head of the Scottish Human Rights Commission steps forward to say that poverty is robbing citizens of their dignity. She talks candidly to our Writer at Large


Millionaire Tory donor and former Scotland Office minister defects to Reform
6 Dec 2025 at 12:52pm
The millionaire peer was announced by Nigel Farage as the party?s latest high-profile member during a rally in Falkirk.


Farage due in Falkirk as Reform UK gears up for Holyrood campaign
6 Dec 2025 at 8:38am
Nigel Farage is due to hold a rally in Falkirk on Saturday, prompting John Swinney to accuse him of seeking to ?whip up hate?.


Leading cancer hospital 'chronically run down' amid leaks in roof, MSP warns
6 Dec 2025 at 5:30am
Scotland's leading cancer hospital, the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, has been described as "chronically run down" after roof leaks were discovered.

The Scotsman

The Scotsman Politics


Reform defector denies 'backstabbing' as he distances himself from Farage's G...
7 Dec 2025 at 2:43pm

Lord Offord has claimed Reform ?have no issue? with Glasgow schoolchildren Nigel Farage used to stoke fears over immigrants ?culturally smashing? the city.

The flu outbreak is expected to spread across all of the Scotland in the coming weeks, the Health Secretary has warned.

SNP ministers expect technologies such as carbon capture to clean up one third of climate pollution in Scotland.

I have long since accepted the mantle of terrible music lover

Wings over Scotland

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 …

Ain?t Got Time To Bleed
3 Dec 2025 at 8:12pm
It is our solemn duty to inform you we’ve received another legal threat, readers. Should we cease and desist? Let’s see. The article in question is this one, and this is everything it said about Mr McNeil: Only one “statement” is attributed to him – the words “The authorities will be there so we need …

Ginger beer and fruit and nuts
3 Dec 2025 at 1:44pm
We miss the days when this was parody, not “progressive” ideology. ? But we are where we are. And hey, it’s great news that their adult roles are still open to all.

Wishing for swans
1 Dec 2025 at 1:58pm
For lack of anything more interesting to write about, we thought we might do a monthly rundown of polling in the leadup to next year’s Holyrood election, with seat projections from a neutral source, in the shape of the newish Devolved Elections website. And very quickly, things got a bit weird. Our original thought was …

The Groomers? Friends
27 Nov 2025 at 12:59pm
We’re just putting this here for the record, really. It’s a “debate” from the Scottish Parliament last night, on a motion from Patrick Harvie complaining that vulnerable children aren’t being pushed into a programme of lifelong medicalisation, sterilisation and mutilation quickly enough. The motion completely ignored both the findings of the Cass Review and the …

Searching And Looking
22 Nov 2025 at 9:44pm
Disgraced ex-policeman and notorious vexatious serial complainant Lynsay Watson is having quite the meltdown on the groomer-and-paedophile haven Bluesky tonight. Let’s listen in. The trigger is that Watson has been asked to attend a voluntary police interview in connection with allegations of harassment against him – something that’s happened before, and which he’s managed to …

Reach For The Stars (And Stripes)
19 Nov 2025 at 8:49am
To be honest, we’re mainly putting these here so you don’t have to keep looking at that picture of Alan Cumming. But they also show what you can achieve, whether in football or politics, if you actually attack rather than being content to endlessly shuttle it all sideways and backwards until you get beaten without …

Over The Hill And Down The Slope
14 Nov 2025 at 1:15pm
We’ve just been leaked the SNP’s first poster roughs for Holyrood 2026. One more push, everyone!

Grift Away
8 Nov 2025 at 2:31pm
Oh good, another plan. Just three and a half years to wait. Should we, what’s the phrase, “Save The Date”? Rhetorical question, obviously. If you’re in a hurry, folks, just scroll down to the video and start there, because Believe In Scotland’s latest wheeze to get hold of your folding money and stash it in …

Craig Murray

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

Judicial Malfeasance and Palestine Action
26 Nov 2025 at 2:56am

The Scottish judicial review of the proscription of Palestine Action – funded so far by readers of this blog – has been simply shelved by delay tactics that plainly break the Scottish legal system’s own rules. Our case was ruled competent for us to serve the petition on the UK government. They replied in the …

Judicial Malfeasance and Palestine Action

The Beat of the War Drums
20 Nov 2025 at 6:34am

In fascist lockstep, the entire British media, broadcast and print, corporate and state, is leading with a Ministry of Defence press release about a “Russian spy ship” inside “British waters”. No British media appears to have been able to speak to anybody who knows the first thing about the Law of the Sea. Here are …

The Beat of the War Drums

UN Reform and Scottish Independence
14 Nov 2025 at 11:06am

Scottish Independence is an extremely attractive prospect to states at the United Nations, and for reasons that you might not expect. Every state knows that the current UN structure is outdated and indefensible, with five states – US, China, Russia, UK and France – having a permanent seat and a total veto on the Security …

UN Reform and Scottish Independence

BBC Scotland

Flu cases likely to 'spike' in coming weeks, warns health secretary
7 Dec 2025 at 12:23pm
Neil Gray says the rise in cases is a challenge and urges anyone able to get vaccinated to do so.

Is Holyrood bad at making law?
7 Dec 2025 at 9:23am
Recent emergency measures to fix legislative issues may point to a wider problem in how Holyrood operates.

Scottish Conservative peer defects to Reform UK
6 Dec 2025 at 5:23pm
Malcolm Offord appeared at a rally alongside Nigel Farage in Falkirk on Saturday to announce the move.

Scottish Labour frontbencher quits over links to sex offender
5 Dec 2025 at 10:13pm
Pam Duncan-Glancy has resigned as Labour's education spokesperson after reports she maintained links with a disgraced councillor.

Young people to lose benefits if they turn down work, says minister
7 Dec 2025 at 12:19pm
Pat McFadden says they would need a "good reason" to decline one of 55,000 new work placements.

Opposing rallies take place over Inverness barracks asylum plans
6 Dec 2025 at 5:36pm
The UK government has announced plans to accommodate about 300 men at the city's Cameron Barracks.

Swinney brands Farage comments about Glasgow pupils racist
5 Dec 2025 at 9:29am
The Reform UK leader said the proportion of children who do not have English as a first language in Glasgow was "cultural smashing".

UK and Norway form naval alliance to hunt Russian submarines
4 Dec 2025 at 4:55pm
The partnership aims to protect undersea cables, which Western officials say face increased threat from Moscow.

Flu cases in Scotland more than double in a week
4 Dec 2025 at 4:48pm
In the week of 24-30 November, lab-confirmed cases rose from 845 to 1,759, according to Public Health Scotland data.

Seven health boards given £230m bailout loans despite record funding
4 Dec 2025 at 6:12am
Despite record levels of NHS funding, seven health boards needed government help to balance their books last year.

GB Energy plan to focus on historical oil and gas areas
4 Dec 2025 at 6:12am
The new publicly-owned body says its investments will aim to support 10,000 jobs by 2030.

Scottish government orders review of grooming gangs evidence
3 Dec 2025 at 5:17pm
The review will inform a future decision on whether or not there should be a judge-led public inquiry.

Scot Goes Pop

Nigel Farage's rant about the native languages of Glasgow school pupils revea...
6 Dec 2025 at 7:52am
Today's video commentary below is in two parts.  Firstly, I look at how Nigel Farage's complaint that almost one-third of Glasgow school pupils do not speak English as a native language marks out R...

If Rachel Reeves' rejection of an independence referendum "carries little wei...
4 Dec 2025 at 8:41am
Stephen Flynn has said that Rachel Reeves' rejection of an independence referendum in the event of an SNP overall majority "carries little weight", but if it really doesn't matter what the UK gover...

"Utterly dominant": SNP soar to almost 40% support in latest Scottish subsamp...
3 Dec 2025 at 5:52pm
*  *  *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....

Scot Goes Pop: The Final Fundraiser (plus an update about the video blogging ...
1 Dec 2025 at 6:37am
Click here to go straight to the fundraiser page.Scot Goes Pop's annual fundraiser for 2025 ended up getting much, much closer to its target figure than I ever thought was possible, so a million th...

STUNNING YouGov polling confirms SNP are far more popular with voters in Scot...
30 Nov 2025 at 5:59am
* .* .*With just over one month of the year left to go, the 2025 Scot Goes Pop fundraiser is still short of its target figure.  If you'd like to help keep the lights on during the several months it...

IT'S OFFICIAL: Rachel Reeves confirms Scotland is in a FORCED union with Engl...
28 Nov 2025 at 11:17am
* .* .*With just over one month of the year left to go, the 2025 Scot Goes Pop fundraiser is still short of its target figure.  If you'd like to help keep the lights on during the several months it...

Does the Alba Party's "princess" Shannon Cullen regret her ill-judged associa...
27 Nov 2025 at 1:12pm
In a way it's ironic that the Alba Party have become so vehemently anti-monarchy, because they certainly believe in the principle of Royal Families within their own ranks.  Famously, Christina Hend...

Landmark YouGov poll shows how SNP could win independence by holding the bala...
26 Nov 2025 at 6:08am
* .* .*With just over one month of the year left to go, the 2025 Scot Goes Pop fundraiser is still short of its target figure.  If you'd like to help keep the lights on during the several months it...

STV Politics News

Latest Politics News | STV News

Former deputy Scotland secretary Malcolm Offord defects to Reform UK
6 Dec 2025 at 2:29pm
Malcolm Offord made the announcement at a rally attended by Nigel Farage in Falkirk on Saturday.

Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy resigns from shadow cabinet over friendship with...
6 Dec 2025 at 10:41am
Pam Duncan-Glancy resigned from the shadow cabinet with immediate effect after the Daily Record approached her over her links to former councillor Sean Morton.

Scotland?s energy industry facing ?existential threat?, John Swinney warns Ke...
5 Dec 2025 at 2:39pm
The First Minister met with the Prime Minister ahead of a summit of the British-Irish Council in Wales.

John Swinney brands Glasgow schoolchildren comments made by Nigel Farage as ?...
5 Dec 2025 at 2:33pm
The Reform leader posted a video on social media claiming one in three Glasgow schoolchildren do not speak English as their first language.

Prime Minister announces strategy to cut child poverty by 550,000 by 2030
5 Dec 2025 at 12:42pm
Approximately 4.5 million children are currently living in poverty in the UK.

Sarwar?s fingerprints ?all over the Budget?, says Starmer
5 Dec 2025 at 9:34am
The Prime Minister touted his Scottish leader?s influence as he addressed members on Thursday.

UK Government unwilling to support Scottish industry, John Swinney claims
5 Dec 2025 at 7:09am
The First Minister is expected to push for ?urgent? support for Scottish industry.

SNP has damaged rather than improved Scotland, says Starmer
4 Dec 2025 at 8:35pm
The Prime Minister spoke with less than six months to go to the next Holyrood election.

John Swinney defends justice secretary Angela Constance over grooming gang re...
4 Dec 2025 at 4:43pm
The Scottish Tories accused the justice secretary of 'misleading the Scottish Parliament and the public'.

Swinney ?waiting with expectation? for UK ministers to secure whisky tariff deal
4 Dec 2025 at 2:54pm
The Scottish First Minister said he has put ?significant effort? into seeking an agreement to cut the US levies.

?John Swinney?s head is completely in the sand over NHS crisis?, warns Libera...
4 Dec 2025 at 1:33pm
An Audit Scotland report found promises to improve the NHS have not been met, despite more spending and staffing.

John Swinney to face FMQs after ordering a grooming gangs evidence review
4 Dec 2025 at 11:45am
The review will help the Scottish Government understand the 'extent and scale' of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Business minister to announce Scotland?s space strategy will be refreshed
4 Dec 2025 at 7:30am
Richard Lochhead will make the announcement at Space-Comm Expo in Glasgow later on Thursday.

Starmer to visit RAF base with Norwegian PM as he heads to Scotland
4 Dec 2025 at 7:15am
Sir Keir is also expected to meet campaigners and MSPs to discuss his government?s child poverty strategy.

Daily Record

Daily Record - Politics

Whistleblower felt 'dismissed' after complaining about Labour MSP's links wit...
8 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
EXCLUSIVE: Emails obtained by the Record show concerns were raised with Labour nearly one month ago about Pam Duncan-Glancy's continued friendship with disgraced Sean Morton.

John Swinney to claim independence will reduce electricity bills for Scots ho...
8 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
EXCLUSIVE: The SNP leader will today unveil the "It's Scotland's Energy" campaign ahead of the next Holyrood election.

NHS Scotland requires 'serious changes' to survive as SNP accused of overseei...
8 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
Anas Sarwar said McKirdy report proved "the SNP is the architect of the crisis in our NHS ? they will never be the ones to fix it".

Scots as young as 15 seeking advice after suffering botched botox and filler ...
8 Dec 2025 at 4:29am
MSPs are considering tightening the rules on clinics which offer cosmetic procedures.

This SNP Government is incapable of saving Scotland's NHS for future generations
8 Dec 2025 at 4:29am
Writing in his regular column for the Record, Anas Sarwar highlights the publication of a major new report examining how and why Scotland's health service continues to struggle.

Pubs in Scotland could open late for World Cup so Tartan Army fans can 'enjoy...
7 Dec 2025 at 11:25am
Neil Gray said he wanted to "make sure people are able to enjoy the celebration as Scotland get out of the group of death".

SNP government to back Labour MSP Monica Lennon's Ecocide Bill at first stage
7 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
Nats minister Gillian Martin signalled the move to MSPs which could see Scotland establish a specific crime of mass environmental destruction.

Nigel Farage accused of false claims on sex attacks at Reform rally in Falkirk
7 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
Cops said the Reform chief's claims of 'three serious sexual assaults in Falkirk in the last week' - used to criticise asylum seekers - were inaccurate.

Labour MSP suspended over sexual harassment claims breaks silence on 'living ...
7 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
Foysol Choudhury, 56, said he still has not been told what he is accused of and threatened legal action over the allegations made 10 weeks ago.

Scottish Labour MP blasts Westminster colleagues as 'obedient fools' on Gaza
7 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
Brian Leishman, Alloa and Grangemouth, slammed the Labour government's "complicity" in Israel's assault on Gaza which has killed more than 70,000.

The National

The National | Politics

Revealed: Scottish peer's £34k expense bill before defecting to Reform UK
7 Dec 2025 at 6:00pm

MALCOLM Offord claimed more than £34,000 from the taxpayer for attending the House of Lords in the space of seven months, The National can reveal

'Come clean': Anas Sarwar challenged after Welsh Labour warn of devolution 'r...
7 Dec 2025 at 3:35pm

THE SNP have challenged Anas Sarwar to clarify whether he backs his Welsh Labour colleagues in the Senedd who have accused Keir Starmer?s government of ?rolling back on devolution"

Katie Maguire: Politicians and media must stop pushing false narratives about...
7 Dec 2025 at 2:59pm

AUTISM seems to be the word of the moment. From Reform UK?s Richard Tice?s recent diatribe about a ?crisis of overdiagnosis?, to men on dating apps looking for ?slightly autistic girlfriends? and Donald Trump?s infamous ? and wholly debunked ? rant about the so-called ?dangers? of paracetamol consumption in pregnancy, society has never discussed it more

Andrew Tickell: England?s legal folly exposes bizarre reliance on amateur mag...
6 Dec 2025 at 9:22pm

?I HAVE a right to trial by jury under Magna Carta.? In the public legal consciousness, and even in the odd newspaper column, jury trial remains the symbolic cornerstone of criminal justice

Aussie firm says battery site will tackle climate change. Locals claim fire r...
7 Dec 2025 at 1:36pm

A COMPANY owned by an Australian investment firm dubbed the ?vampire kangaroo? has plans for a lithium battery facility in rural Kintyre, prompting fears the ?unique environment? of Scotland?s west coast risks ?being industrialised by developers? and of fire risk at the site

Flu cases in Scotland expected to rise in coming weeks, warns Health Secretary
7 Dec 2025 at 1:45pm

FLU cases in Scotland are likely to rise further in the coming weeks after the recent sharp increase, the Health Secretary has said.

Scottish peer who defected to Reform dismisses Nigel Farage racism allegations
7 Dec 2025 at 12:10pm

MALCOLM Offord has said he "doesn't believe? Nigel Farage is racist after announcing his defection to Reform

'Hasn't been easy': Zarah Sultana defends 'messy' establishment of Your Party
7 Dec 2025 at 10:58am

ZARAH Sultana has defended the "messy" establishment of Your Party, saying it ?hasn?t been an easy process? because neither she nor Jeremy Corbyn have set up a political party before

Former deputy Angela Rayner will return to Cabinet, says Keir Starmer
7 Dec 2025 at 9:56am

KEIR Starmer says the ?hugely talented? Angela Rayner will return to his Cabinet.

MSP suspended from Scottish Labour breaks silence amid conduct probe
7 Dec 2025 at 9:19am

An MSP who was suspended from Scottish Labour amid an investigation into his conduct has said the allegations have made his life ?hell?

Holyrood Magazine

Holyrood Website

Scottish space sector calls for increased funding in strategy review
5 Dec 2025 at 2:50pm
In the wake of business minister Richard Lochhead?s announcement that a review of Scotland?s space strategy is on the cards for 2026, Holyrood asked key players in the Scottish space sector what they are hoping for from the strategy

Edinburgh Airport suspends all flights after IT crash ?
5 Dec 2025 at 11:20am
Edinburgh Airport suspended all flights in and out of the nation's capital earlier today due to an IT issue with their air traffic control provider

Keir Starmer sets out 'moral mission' to tackle child poverty
4 Dec 2025 at 10:30pm
Scottish charities have called for the government to do more?

Keir Starmer: Nigel Farage is a ?disgrace?
4 Dec 2025 at 7:07pm
The prime minister was on a visit to Glasgow when he called out comments made by the Reform leader

John Swinney has ?head in the sand? on NHS woes
4 Dec 2025 at 12:56pm
Auditors warned that despite record levels of investment, the NHS had not improved in line with government commitments

Richard Lochhead launches review of Scotland?s space strategy ?
4 Dec 2025 at 10:43am
Business minister Richard Lochhead has announced a review of Scotland?s space strategy

Reform UK banks ?10m war chest thanks to crypto investor
4 Dec 2025 at 10:17am
Electoral Commission publishes third quarter donations

NHS in Scotland ?unsustainable? despite record levels of investment
4 Dec 2025 at 7:05am
A damning assessment by Audit Scotland found that activity remains below pre-pandemic levels

Keir Starmer to meet Norwegian PM in Scotland
4 Dec 2025 at 6:00am
The PM will also be in Glasgow to meet Anas Sarwar

Malcom Burr wins lifetime achievement award at Scottish Public Services Award...
3 Dec 2025 at 11:01pm
Malcom Burr, the chief executive of Western Isles Council,?has been a public servant for over 40 years, working in the former Strathclyde region, Orkney,?and the Western Isles

Guardian - Scottish Politics

Scottish politics | The Guardian

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...

Starmer stands by McSweeney and says he has been ?assured no briefings agains...
13 Nov 2025 at 6:06pm
This blog has now closed, you can read more on this story herePA Media has more on what the monthly performance figures from NHS England show. PA says:The data shows 180,329 people in England had been waiting more than a year to start routine hospital treatment at the end of September, down from ...

Scotland plans to issue £1.5bn of its own bonds ? ?kilts? rather than gilts
13 Nov 2025 at 12:48pm
Announcement by first minister John Swinney comes after Moody?s and S&P give country same credit rating as UKThe Scottish first minister John Swinney has said Edinburgh is on track to issue its own government bonds, nicknamed ?kilts?, after the country was given the same credit rating as the UK.T...

The Guardian view on Scottish land reform: vast estates remain feudal in scal...
9 Nov 2025 at 5:25pm
Half of the country?s privately owned countryside is held by just 421 owners. New legislation suggests democrats still fear powerful interestsNo other European country has such a narrow base of proprietorship as Scotland. Half of all privately owned rural land is held by 421 people or entities. T...

Nicola Sturgeon: I understand why people doubt my ignorance of alleged SNP em...
7 Nov 2025 at 3:20pm
?Trust me, I had no idea? about potential wrongdoing in Scottish National party, says former first ministerNicola Sturgeon on leadership, scandal and trolling the trolls ? podcastNicola Sturgeon has said she fully understands why many people find it hard to believe she had no idea about alleged e...

Nicola Sturgeon on leadership, scandal and trolling the trolls ? podcast
7 Nov 2025 at 5:00am
In a special, bonus episode of Politics Weekly, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey sit down with Scotland?s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon for a frank conversation about her time in office and the future of nationalist politics.Nothing is off the table: her leadership, Covid, the gender row tha...

Wee Ginger Dug

Wee Ginger Dug

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 …

A Labour vote in Scotland is a vote not to matter
19 Nov 2025 at 5:01pm
You’ve got to hand it to the Labour party, they are certainly consistent, consistent in their shafting of Scottish workers. It’s almost as though, despite Labour’s protestations to the contrary, Scottish votes don’t matter to the Labour party and its strategists. We’ve seen a party which campaigned on the slogan vote Labour to save Grangemouth …

Starmer?s Labour enables fascism
17 Nov 2025 at 6:58pm
When the race baiting far right criminal Stephen Yaxley-Lennon and the hard right Reform UK are praising Labour’s policies, you know that something has gone profoundly wrong in a party which purports to be on the centre-left. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced a set of measures which are aimed at making the lives of …

Just get your boots off our necks, Westminster
14 Nov 2025 at 3:23pm
In an interview with The National newspaper, the actor Alan Cumming, who currently hosts the US version of the popular show The Traitors and who is outspoken in his support for Scottish independence, demanded “Get just get your boots off our necks, Westminster.” He made the powerful call for Scottish self-determination in connection with the …

No, independence supporters? compaints about BBC bias are nothing like Trump
12 Nov 2025 at 3:01pm
There is certainly no love lost between supporters of Scottish independence and the BBC. It is however egregious I’m-not-a-nationalist-I’m-British bollocks to suggest, as former Labour party hack Carlos Alba writes in Wednesday’s Herald newspaper, that Yes supporters are now on the side of Donald Trump as he threatens the Corporation with a billion dollar lawsuit …

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'

NHS England?s high risk repair bill backlog is FIVE times greater per head th...
7 Dec 2025 at 12:28pm
By stewartb The Herald amplifying and elaborating upon ? on its front page no less ? Tory health spokesperson, Dr Gulhane?s sighting of buckets catching rainwater from a hospital?s leaking roof, presents a fine, cutting-edge example of the best of mainstream news media serving Scotland ? doesn?t it? In its article The Herald reports: ?Earlier this year, it was revealed that the NHS in Scotland ...

?We?ve had a lot from Scotland but the tail cannot go on wagging the dog any ...
7 Dec 2025 at 12:10pm
By Liz S ?Nigel Farage was once run out of Edinburgh . Now Scottish voters are embracing his rabble rousing?. Really ? Which scottish voters (with a small ?s?)? Is it not really, in reality , just actually some scottish (with a small ?s?) voters ? Some who may live in Scotland and so then get to vote in various elections. However their allegiance is not with Scotland but instead it is elsewhere...

SNP ordered separate NHS app because of need for Scotland?s better-funded, be...
7 Dec 2025 at 11:59am
Professor John Robertson OBA In the Daily Telegraph, 24 November 2025: SNP ministers decided to create their much-delayed Scottish NHS app from scratch after being warned against the ?political optics of adopting? the existing English version. An assessment prepared for the Scottish Government on whether to ?re-use? the English NHS app admitted that it was an ?already usable and scalable digita...

Road accident rate per head in England nearly THREE TIMES as high and casualt...
7 Dec 2025 at 9:53am
Professor John Robertson OBA From the Scotsman on 30 November 2025: ‘Ridiculous’ SNP failure to introduce speed awareness courses despite success in England. SNP ministers? failure to introduce speed awareness courses despite their success in England has been condemned as “ridiculous” and “deeply concerning” by opposition parties. MSPs are frustrated at the lack of progress, a decade after the ...

Scotland?s natural gas surplus is worth more than £40 billion per year
7 Dec 2025 at 8:53am
Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian yesterday, the above and: Without secure supplies and adequate subsurface storage, the UK has come close to running out of gas, most notably in March 2013, when we were within hours of doing so. Given that 85% of the roughly 30m homes in the UK currently rely on gas for heating and cooking, pivoting away from the energy source is not going to happen ...

Scottish voters unlikely to embrace Reform UK
6 Dec 2025 at 4:33pm
Professor John Robertson OBA Dani Garavelli, not for the first time, in the UK media telling them things about Scotland that make little sense: Almost 13 years ago, at a press briefing to launch Ukip?s first Scottish byelection campaign, Nigel Farage was run out of Edinburgh by jeering protesters. Back then, Ukip?s support was running at nearly 25% in the English local elections, and less than ...

Part-time MSP and GP allowed to malign Glasgow?s leading Cancer hospital base...
6 Dec 2025 at 10:40am
Professor John Robertson OBA Sandesh Gulhane MSP, Conservative Shadowy Health Secretary has a casual visit to Scotland’s leading cancer care centre and spots rain-bins, after several days of rain last week. We don’t hear the number nor see any photos but with no other evidence offered, he and his Herald chums work up the above disgusting account. A Healthcare Improvement Scotland inspection rep...

?Westminster should learn from Holyrood before another generation pays the pr...
6 Dec 2025 at 9:13am
Professor John Robertson OBA This comparative assessment of the effectiveness in reducing child poverty with Labour's newly announced Child Poverty Strategy or Scotland's now established Child Payment has not been directly biased in favour of the views of Labour, the SNP or me but, unavoidably, will have been impacted by the weight of the recent media presence of the former. Nevertheless, I fee...

Why frailty among older people seems less common to GPs in Scotland ? Stronge...
5 Dec 2025 at 11:39pm
Professor John Robertson OBA From the Guardian yesterday: GPs failing older people living with frailty, National Audit Office finds Did the national audit report blame the Labour Government for any of this? Did it note that England had far fewer GPs per head than Scotland. No and no. I asked AI: Are there reports of GPs failing older people living with frailty in Scotland? While there are no ex...

Internationally acclaimed Scottish writer?s latest on Scotland?s Radicals wil...
5 Dec 2025 at 1:49pm
Professor John Robertson OBA Ron Culley needs no introduction from me because AI can do it so much more fully it seems: Ron Culley is a Scottish author and former public sector executive, best known for his work as a novelist specializing in historical fiction, political thrillers, and biographical works with a focus on Scottish and Irish history.Literary CareerCulley has published over a dozen...

Scotland and Independence

"scotland independence -guardian" - Google News

Richard Murphy: Scotland?s banks, not its currency, hold the key to real inde...
8 Dec 2025 at 5:04am
Richard Murphy: Scotland?s banks, not its currency, hold the key to real independence  TheNational.scot

Scotland to outline independence bid TODAY after 'destroyer' Keir Starmer giv...
8 Dec 2025 at 5:37am
Scotland to outline independence bid TODAY after 'destroyer' Keir Starmer given private dressing-down  GB News

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

Scottish political snapshot, November 2025 - YouGov
17 Nov 2025 at 8:00am
Scottish political snapshot, November 2025  YouGov

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

John Swinney to claim independence will reduce electricity bills for Scots ho...
8 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
John Swinney to claim independence will reduce electricity bills for Scots households 'by over a third'  Daily Record

Nigel Farage to rally in Scotland as Reform UK gains ground ahead of election...
6 Dec 2025 at 7:48am
Nigel Farage to rally in Scotland as Reform UK gains ground ahead of elections  France 24

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

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

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

SNP

"SNP" - Google News

SNP ministers told to clear delayed discharges by using care home beds - The ...
8 Dec 2025 at 5:34am
SNP ministers told to clear delayed discharges by using care home beds  The Herald

NHS Scotland requires 'serious changes' to survive as SNP accused of overseei...
8 Dec 2025 at 4:30am
NHS Scotland requires 'serious changes' to survive as SNP accused of overseeing health service's downfall  Daily Record

Scotland to outline independence bid TODAY after 'destroyer' Keir Starmer giv...
8 Dec 2025 at 5:37am
Scotland to outline independence bid TODAY after 'destroyer' Keir Starmer given private dressing-down  GB News

Development of a cost-effective, multifunctional SNP panel and analysis workf...
19 Nov 2025 at 8:00am
Development of a cost-effective, multifunctional SNP panel and analysis workflow for Wolf monitoring in Finland  Nature

How the SNP paralysed Scotland - New Statesman
5 Dec 2025 at 5:09am
How the SNP paralysed Scotland  New Statesman

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 liberal UK city raging over illegal migrants: How a row over flags and Ch...
7 Dec 2025 at 4:12pm
The liberal UK city raging over illegal migrants: How a row over flags and Christmas lights reveals simmering tensions in SNP-led Aberdeen  Daily Mail

SNP welfare quango ?turning a blind eye to benefits fraud? - The Telegraph
5 Dec 2025 at 3:52pm
SNP welfare quango ?turning a blind eye to benefits fraud?  The Telegraph

Lumsden Accuses SNP of Letting Fishing Apprenticeships Collapse - The Fishing...
5 Dec 2025 at 10:49am
Lumsden Accuses SNP of Letting Fishing Apprenticeships Collapse  The Fishing Daily

The SNP have crossed the line on abortion - The Spectator
18 Nov 2025 at 8:00am
The SNP have crossed the line on abortion  The Spectator

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

Forget Nostradamus, Indyref2 likely depends on one thing: Scotland?s ?settled...
2 Dec 2025 at 4:23pm
Forget Nostradamus, Indyref2 likely depends on one thing: Scotland?s ?settled will?  The Herald

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

Scottish political snapshot, November 2025 - YouGov
17 Nov 2025 at 8:00am
Scottish political snapshot, November 2025  YouGov

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

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

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

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

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

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