The Herald

The Herald | Politics


Sarwar promises community crime prevention officer in all 355 Scottish counci...
22 Nov 2025 at 3:23pm
Anas Sarwar vows a community and crime prevention officer for every ward as Labour outlines major policing reforms to free frontline officers.


Scottish Labour to create new emergency service for mental health patients
22 Nov 2025 at 12:40pm
A Scottish Labour government would create a new emergency service to ensure people in mental health crisis get urgent and specialist care, Anas Sarwar has said


For Women Scotland condemn transgender prison policy in award win
22 Nov 2025 at 6:00am
For Women Scotland used an award speech at The Herald's Politician of the Year Award to condemn the Scottish Government's policy on transgender prisoners.


Lord Robertson pays tribute to the press as he receives Lifetime Achievement ...
22 Nov 2025 at 5:01am
Lord Robertson of Port Ellen paid tribute to the Scottish press as he was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at The Herald's Scottish Politician of the Year Awards 2025, held in association with ScottishPower.


MSPs demand answers from Robertson over evidence after bombshell email leak
22 Nov 2025 at 5:01am
MSPs are demanding to know why they were not told of key evidence when Angus Robertson appeared before them to answer questions on Historic Enivronment Scotland.


'Demise of the Kirk has had negative effect on Scotland. Its values were good...
22 Nov 2025 at 6:30am
'The Church of Scotland has not always in the past been kind to people like me who are Roman Catholics,' says historian Sir Tom Devine but he believes its demise has robbed the nation of a set of values with which to lead a "decent way of life"


IN PICTURES: The Herald's Scottish Politician of the Year Awards 2025
21 Nov 2025 at 12:00pm
A recap in pictures of The Herald's Scottish Politician of the Year Awards 2025, held in association with ScottishPower.


Sandie Peggie employment tribunal judgment expected in 'coming weeks'
21 Nov 2025 at 12:32pm
The judgment in the Sandie Peggie employment tribunal against NHS Fife is due in the "coming weeks".


'SNP went astray after Alex Salmond's departure and Sturgeon followed a false...
21 Nov 2025 at 6:30am
The accolades keep coming for Scotland?s greatest living historian. Professor Sir Tom Devine is as delighted with this new one as he is of the knighthood, the Pope?s medal and all the fellowships. Herald writer Kevin McKenna meets him


Breast cancer fundraiser launched in memory of late SNP MSP Christina McKelvie
20 Nov 2025 at 10:00pm
A breast cancer charity fundraiser has been launched in memory of the late SNP MSP Christina McKelvie.


John Swinney wins The Herald's Scottish Politician of the Year 2025
20 Nov 2025 at 9:41pm
First Minister John Swinney has been named Scottish Politician of the Year at The Herald?s Scottish Politician of the Year Awards 2025, held in association with ScottishPower.


Nicola Sturgeon says she 'put independence to one side' during Covid pandemic
20 Nov 2025 at 5:44pm
Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has moved to 'categorically refute' that politics played any role in her handling of the Covid pandemic


Boris Johnson presided over 'toxic' culture during Covid-19 pandemic, inquiry...
20 Nov 2025 at 5:03pm
Boris Johnson presided over a "toxic" culture during the Covid-19 pandemic, with a public inquiry concluding a failure to take it seriously cost 23,000 lives.


Covid Inquiry: Nicola Sturgeon was 'dilligent' leader but failed to plan
20 Nov 2025 at 4:04pm
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry finds Nicola Sturgeon?s Government failed to anticipate the pandemic, sidelined Cabinet colleagues and relied too heavily on the UK response.

The Scotsman

The Scotsman Politics


Businesses in final plea to Rachel Reeves - scrap the windfall tax and change...
23 Nov 2025 at 12:01am

1,000 jobs are being lost every month across the oil and gas sector

The Scottish Labour leader said his party would ?get police back on Scotland?s streets?

Scottish Labour leader promised he would lead ?a government that works as hard as the people it serves?.

Calls for ?life-changing reforms? ahead of next week?s key Budget

Thousands of Scotland fans are due to fly out to the world cup in 2026.

MPs Euan Stainbank and Brian Leishman have written to Kate Forbes to ask for clarity around the third round of a new fund for electric buses

Wings over Scotland

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 …

Rise Of The Machine
7 Nov 2025 at 11:49am
It’s Wings’ 14th birthday today, and to be entirely honest with you, readers, like a lot of teenagers we’re having a bit of an existential crisis. It’s quite difficult to see any point in being a Scottish political journalist for the next five years, because it’s just going to be one depressing Groundhog Day after …

How To Create Racists
29 Oct 2025 at 2:36pm
This really is an extraordinary headline, for multiple reasons. Because what actually IS “the rise of Reform”? ? The only thing “the rise of Reform” can possibly mean here is “more and more people choosing to vote for, or express their support for, a particular lawful political party in a democracy”. Why are we supposed …

Great news, everyone!
27 Oct 2025 at 11:04am
We?re important! Something to look forward to there, then.

The Music That Nobody Likes
24 Oct 2025 at 12:42pm
Perhaps the key graphic from last night’s by-election in Caerphilly is this one (green means Plaid Cymru in the context of Wales): In the end, Plaid won pretty comfortably in what had been predicted to be a very tight contest between them and Reform, with a majority of almost 4,000. But Plaid aren’t going to …

The Icarus Folly
22 Oct 2025 at 4:27pm
Last month, when half a football team of armed police ambushed and arrested comedy writer Graham Linehan at Heathrow Airport for a couple of tweets, we said this: Today, even more swiftly than we thought, this happened: Rarely can a hand have been overplayed so badly. Fans of free speech owe a huge vote of …

Courage Calls To None
17 Oct 2025 at 1:24pm
We should point out right at the start that a reader donated £12 back in the summer specifically to send us to Nicola Sturgeon’s book event in Bath last night. We assume it was someone we’d upset in some way. We arrived bang on 6.30, expecting to be among the first on the scene, but …

Craig Murray

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

The Four Mentors of King Charles
6 Nov 2025 at 3:40pm

As Godfather to Prince William, heir to the British throne, Prince Charles chose his close friend and adviser Laurens van der Post. A paedophile. Van der Post raped a 14 year old girl who had been given into his care for the sea voyage from South Africa to London. He then installed her in a …

The Four Mentors of King Charles

UK Government Opposes Application for Scottish Judicial Review of Palestine A...
30 Oct 2025 at 5:27pm

The UK government – in the undistinguished shape of Baroness Smith of Cluny, Labour party hack, youngest daughter of John Smith and Advocate-General for Scotland – has responded to the court in our request for a Scottish judicial review of the proscription of Palestine Action. The Government asks that the judicial review be denied on …

UK Government Opposes Application for Scottish Judicial Review of Palestine Action Terrorist Proscription

Urgent ? We Need a Federal Your Party
29 Oct 2025 at 2:34pm

The draft Your Party constitution is for a highly centralised, London-based party which echoes the Labour Party. It “devolves” – they literally use the word – power from the centre to non-autonomous entities in Scotland and Wales. We need a Federal party – a completely different approach – where authority lies with the members, and …

Urgent – We Need a Federal Your Party

I Have Joined Your Party
27 Oct 2025 at 6:55pm

I am taking the plunge into Your Party. My worries remain about its centralist tendencies and lack of democracy, but I will work against those from within. Your Party is not a unionist party. It does not yet have a policy on Scottish Independence. I shall of course be striving for it actively to support …

I Have Joined Your Party

BBC Scotland

Scotland cannot rely on migrants to fill social care jobs - Sarwar
22 Nov 2025 at 5:17pm
Anas Sarwar said the UK's "broken immigration system" needed to be fixed, and better wages were needed to attract Scottish workers.

Immigration changes will 'profoundly impact' Scottish care workers
21 Nov 2025 at 2:28pm
The UK government is proposing that workers on post-Brexit health and social care visas wait 15 years before permanent settlement.

Sturgeon excluded ministers from Covid decisions, inquiry says
20 Nov 2025 at 6:32pm
An inquiry criticises the former first minister for making decisions within a small group of ministers and advisers in response to the pandemic.

'This area is really struggling - Mossmorran closure is bad news'
21 Nov 2025 at 6:20am
The closure of the petrochemical plant could hit the already struggling town of Cowdenbeath.

Being a mum is harder than being deputy first minister, says Kate Forbes
21 Nov 2025 at 6:20am
The politician once tipped to be Scotland's leader talks about why she is walking away.

UK government will not change law for more legal drug rooms
20 Nov 2025 at 2:48pm
A committee urged the government to change the legal framework for drug consumption facilities but this was refused.

Plans for flexible four-day week in class for Scottish teachers
20 Nov 2025 at 12:54pm
Two teaching unions are holding strike ballots over how long teachers should spend in the classroom.

Starmer vows support for Mossmorran workers
19 Nov 2025 at 4:10pm
Hundreds of staff have been told their jobs are at risk as ExxonMobil prepares to close part of the site.

Ministers seek major changes to prostitution bill
19 Nov 2025 at 1:13pm
A bill to outlaw paying for sex looks likely to run out of time after ministers voiced concerns.

Scottish government drops heat pumps bill for second time
18 Nov 2025 at 5:08pm
The bill, aimed at driving the move from fossil fuel heating systems, has been delayed until next year.

Scottish ministers 'deeply concerned' about new UK asylum plans
17 Nov 2025 at 8:02pm
Most asylum seekers will have to wait 20 years to apply to settle permanently under new Home Office plans.

Sex case ruling will not harm victims' rights - lord advocate
17 Nov 2025 at 9:01am
Dorothy Bain KC says "safeguards remain firmly in place" which protect those giving evidence.

Scot Goes Pop

My response to Chris McEleny's allegation that I defamed him in reference to ...
22 Nov 2025 at 4:10am
I received an unsolicited email out of the blue a few hours ago from the Alba Party's disgraced former General Secretary, Chris McEleny, who was sacked and then expelled from the party due to his "...

BREAKING: Stew ducks the debate - it turns out he's NOT a Charlie Kirk type a...
21 Nov 2025 at 4:12pm
After issuing my video debate challenge to controversial blogger Stuart "Stew" Campbell, I said this: "Please do let me know your thrilling excuses for ducking / ignoring this debate challenge at y...

A challenge to Stew: you claim to be a debate-loving Charlie Kirk type, so it...
21 Nov 2025 at 4:16am
Stew on Twitter: "Ultimately this Bindel-Webberley thing is like when I foolishly tried to engage in a debate with James Kelly. Just like him, Webberley doesn't really want to engage and is incapab...

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh: the ego has landed
20 Nov 2025 at 10:07pm
If the history books even bother telling the story of how the Alba Party died, their verdict will probably be a paradoxical one: that the party failed because it was fundamentally un-Salmondite in ...

18th November 2025: WHAT A NIGHT to be Scottish, as the SNP rack up yet ANOTH...
19 Nov 2025 at 6:19am
As you may have seen, The National actually contacted YouGov and asked them for a reaction to my video from Monday, in which I pointed out that they seemed to have suppressed an independence poll i...

Support for independence SURGED in "secret YouGov poll in September" - so why...
17 Nov 2025 at 5:07pm
* .* .*With less than two months 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 i...

There is a YES MAJORITY in the average of all Scottish independence polls con...
17 Nov 2025 at 5:52am
* .* .*With less than two months 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 i...

Uncharted territory as party in favour of Scottish independence takes second ...
14 Nov 2025 at 1:32pm
* .* .*With less than two months 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 i...

STV Politics News

Latest Politics News | STV News

Sarwar outlines Scottish Labour plans for mental health emergency service
22 Nov 2025 at 11:57am
The party leader declared Scotland?s mental health services are in 'crisis' and accused the SNP of 'neglect'.

Scottish sport organisations warn they are ?running on empty?
21 Nov 2025 at 4:41pm
Leaders from various sports are calling for urgent reassurances from John Swinney.

Charity ball in Glasgow to honour life of late SNP MSP Christina McKelvie
21 Nov 2025 at 10:51am
The Christina McKelvie Ball is to take place on April 4, 2026 at Hilton Glasgow.

Swinney named as Scotland?s Politician of the Year at awards ceremony
21 Nov 2025 at 8:06am
The SNP leader picked up the top honour, which he had won back in 2009.

Tax the banks to offer £300 energy bill cuts, Reeves urged
21 Nov 2025 at 6:37am
The SNP compared its proposals to the Energy Bills Support Scheme, which provided £400 payments under the last Tory government.

Nicola Sturgeon says ?the buck stopped with me? during coronavirus pandemic a...
20 Nov 2025 at 6:24pm
The former first minister spoke out on Thursday following the publication of the UK Covid inquiry report.

I regret the suffering Covid inflicted, says John Swinney ahead of inquiry re...
20 Nov 2025 at 2:25pm
The First Minister was speaking ahead of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry publishing its report into how governments across the country responded to the virus.

John Swinney at FMQs as hundreds of jobs set to go at Mossmorran plastics pla...
20 Nov 2025 at 11:58am
The First Minister will take questions from MSPs at Holyrood.

Mossmorran ExxonMobil plant ?currently losing £1m a week?, Prime Minister Kei...
19 Nov 2025 at 1:48pm
ExxonMobil announced that it is planning to close its plant in Fife, putting more than 400 jobs at risk.

Keir Starmer faces PMQs after announcing ?sweeping? asylum reforms
19 Nov 2025 at 11:14am
The UK home secretary introduced plans to completely overhaul the UK's asylum and returns policy on Monday.

Russian spy ship on edge of Scotland as defence secretary tells Putin ?we are...
19 Nov 2025 at 10:40am
Defence secretary John Healey directed a message to Putin, stating 'we are ready'.

Swinney warns Starmer and Reeves of ?risks? if Budget fails to end austerity
19 Nov 2025 at 7:06am
Scottish First Minister John Swinney said the ending of austerity was what people are ?desperately seeking?.

Teachers to be balloted on strike action over class contact time and ?excessi...
19 Nov 2025 at 6:32am
NASUWT warn the government's failure to reduce class contact time is leaving teachers 'burned out and overwhelmed'.

ExxonMobil to close Mossmorran plastics plant with 400 jobs at risk
18 Nov 2025 at 11:30am
The facility which produces key raw materials from ethane employs 180 staff, 200 contractors and dozens of others at the site in Fife.

Daily Record

Daily Record - Politics

Rachel Reeves to give EV buyers' grant £1.3bn boost in Budget amid pay-per-mi...
22 Nov 2025 at 10:45pm
The Chancellor seems set to boost the scheme that knocks up to £3,750 off the price of an electric vehicle.

Sarwar vows 'big, bold and meaningful change' on the way if Labour wins at Ho...
22 Nov 2025 at 5:50pm
Anas Sarwar outlined the "new ideas, new energy and new solutions" that Labour offers while speaking at a Scottish Labour police conference in Edinburgh today.

Anas Sarwar vows new emergency mental health service if Scottish Labour win e...
22 Nov 2025 at 12:13pm
New Labour plan would put trained professionals, not police, first on mental health emergencies.

Assisted dying terrifies me and MSPs must think again about supporting it
22 Nov 2025 at 4:30am
Writing for the Record, Scottish Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy explains why assisted dying proposals leave her terrified

Criminals under 25 to face jail under crackdown plan backed by Scottish Labour
21 Nov 2025 at 10:30pm
EXCLUSIVE: Scottish Labour will review anti-jail sentencing guidelines if they win in May.

Reform UK fall short of first election win in Scotland after defeat to the To...
21 Nov 2025 at 2:33pm
The Tories pipped Reform in a close local by-election contest.

Scotland 'falling further behind England' in assessing children for ADHD or a...
21 Nov 2025 at 2:13pm
Labour MP Imogen Walker spoke out after NHS Lanarkshire said it was only now appointing kids who were referred to its Neurodevelopmental Service in August 2021.

Boris chaos during pandemic led to needless deaths of those we loved
21 Nov 2025 at 4:30am
Record View says the inquiry report does not feel like justice for those who suffered the most.

Nicola Sturgeon denies she 'behaved politically' during coronavirus pandemic ...
20 Nov 2025 at 6:05pm
The former first minister said it was "very difficult" working with Boris Johnson during the peak covid years in 2020 and 2021.

Nicola Sturgeon leadership style 'excluded ministers during pandemic'
20 Nov 2025 at 5:25pm
The claim was made by Rhona Arthur of the Scottish Covid Bereaved Group

The National

The National | Politics

We can?t let our nation be shaped by Reform UK's MAGA mindset
22 Nov 2025 at 8:32pm

Let's cut through the rancid propaganda. Richard Tice isn?t a statesman; he?s an unqualified snake-oil salesman

Inside the world?s only library for those experiencing homelessness
22 Nov 2025 at 7:38pm

Working with homeless people on a poetry zine is one of the best projects writer Julie McNeill says she has ever tackled

At least 90 arrests at major Palestine Action protest in London
22 Nov 2025 at 4:49pm

At least 90 people have been arrested at a protest in London against the banning of Palestine Action as a terror group

Is GB News right to claim abortion will be 'legal until birth in Scotland'?
22 Nov 2025 at 3:53pm

We fact check claims on GB News that 'abortion will be legal until birth in Scotland and will be permitted on the basis of the sex of the fetus'

Jacinda Arden: My experience of politics is similar to Nicola Sturgeon
22 Nov 2025 at 1:32pm

The former prime minister of New Zealand has likened her experience of politics to that of former Scotland first minister Nicola Sturgeon

Anas Sarwar says Scottish Labour will not win majority at Holyrood election
22 Nov 2025 at 12:08pm

Anas Sarwar has said Scottish Labour will not win a majority at next year's Holyrood election

Zack Polanski invites Zarah Sultana to defect from Your Party
22 Nov 2025 at 9:01am

Zack Polanski has invited Zarah Sultana to defect from Your Party to the Greens

Kate Forbes: Scotland?s industry is being hollowed out by Westminster
22 Nov 2025 at 5:00am

WORKERS at ExxonMobil?s Ethylene Plant in Mossmorran, Fife, on Tuesday received the devastating news that their jobs were at risk, and that the plant would begin the process of closure from February ...

Owen Jones: UK is far more like Vladimir Putin?s Russia over trans people
22 Nov 2025 at 5:00am

THE descent of the ?United Kingdom? into cruelty and naked bigotry has been swift and steep ...

Food and drink should be central in every Holyrood 2026 manifesto
22 Nov 2025 at 5:00am

AS Scotland approaches next year?s Holyrood election, the policies parties commit to in their manifestos will shape the nation?s economic future for decades to come ...

Holyrood Magazine

Holyrood Website

Tories narrowly beat Reform in council by-election
21 Nov 2025 at 3:53pm
This is the closest Reform has come to winning an election in Scotland so far

UK Government launches new AI growth plan
21 Nov 2025 at 12:20pm
The UK Government has launched a new plan intended to boost the growth of the artificial intelligence sector

UK armed forces test drone-destroying laser weapon ?
21 Nov 2025 at 10:34am
The UK armed forces have successfully tested a laser weapons system capable of destroying drones travelling at up to 400 miles per hour

Christina McKelvie Ball announced in memory of late MSP
21 Nov 2025 at 10:29am
The event will raise funds for cancer charities

UK Covid-19 Inquiry: Scottish Government response was 'too little, too late'
21 Nov 2025 at 7:07am
Official probe criticises all UK governments for lack of preparation

Nicola Sturgeon accepts 'mistakes and misjudgements' made during Covid pandemic
20 Nov 2025 at 5:31pm
Deputy first minister Kates Forbes earlier said ministers were ?committed to learning from the past?

Nicola Sturgeon's response to Covid Inquiry report in full
20 Nov 2025 at 5:30pm
Nicola Sturgeon's full response to the Covid Inquiry's?report

First Minister grilled over missing Mossmorran transition plan
20 Nov 2025 at 1:16pm
Conservatives and Greens pile on pressure over future for ExxonMobil workforce

Edinburgh University researchers develop software to make AI 10 times faster
20 Nov 2025 at 12:47pm
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have developed a software system that could allow artificial intelligence systems to operate 10 times faster

Angela Constance not present to answer question on grooming gangs
20 Nov 2025 at 12:00pm
Constance said during a debate in September that the child protection expert did not support further?inquiries?into child sexual abuse

Guardian - Scottish Politics

Scottish politics | The Guardian

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...

Lammy says he was not ?equipped with the details? when facing questions on mi...
6 Nov 2025 at 5:22pm
This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereDavid Lammy, the deputy PM and justice secretary, has welcomed the fact that Billy Smith is back in custody, but described the spike in release mistakes as ?unacceptable?.According to PA Media, Lammy said:William Smith is back in c...

Met police issue statement with more information about missing Algerian priso...
5 Nov 2025 at 6:18pm
This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereDavid Lammy starts by saying the PM is in Brazil.He says the thoughts of all MPs are still with the victims of the appalling attacks in Huntingdon and Peterborough, where, he says, he was at school for seven years. Continue reading...

Reeves says she should have checked rental licence had been obtained as letti...
30 Oct 2025 at 6:50pm
No 10 releases redacted emails between Reeves? husband and letting agentRachel Reeves? rental error: standards adviser looking at new informationRobert Peston, ITV?s political editor, says he thinks it is a mistake for the Conservatives to be saying Rachel Reeves should have to resign over the re...

MPs vote down Farage?s proposal for UK to leave ECHR ? as it happened
29 Oct 2025 at 5:20pm
This blog is now closed, you can read more of our UK political coverage hereMark Sedwill, the former cabinet secretary and former national security adviser, goes next. He is now a peer, and a member of the committee.He says the deputy national security adviser, Matthew Collins, thought there was ...

Wee Ginger Dug

Wee Ginger Dug

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 …

Believe in Scotland?s path to independence, the routemap we need
10 Nov 2025 at 7:25pm
I have previously blogged about my view that the UK is entering a terminal phase crisis which it is unlikely to survive in its current form. The pro-independence campaign group Believe in Scotland is of a similar opinion and believes that this crisis provides Scotland and Wales with a unique opportunity to seize independence and …

Labour?s doomed attempt to paint the SNP as a threat to national security
6 Nov 2025 at 3:34pm
The oil is running out, all the banks will leave, you won’t have a pension, you can’t use the pound, the EU won’t let you back in, and now we have – the SNP are a threat to national security. This wasn’t an off the cuff remark from a harried Labour minister being put under …

The need for iGERS
4 Nov 2025 at 5:13pm
The pro-independence campaign group Believe in Scotland has proposed a replacement for the discredited GERS (Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland) figures which are published every year to the delight of British nationalists up and down the land. These statistics, which as Professor of Accountancy Practice Richard Murphy regularly points out, are based on unreliable and …

Migrant hysteria, the lie driving the rise of the far right
31 Oct 2025 at 6:30pm
The far right is on the rise, and it’s on the rise due to an artificial panic manufactured by rich and powerful interests in order to distract public attention from the greed and avarice of the wealthiest in society, a tiny segment which has hoarded ever greater wealth over the past few decades even as …

Rising support for independence and the end of the so-called Union
27 Oct 2025 at 7:58pm
There have been some mixed messages recently from opinion polling about the SNP’s chances of winning a majority at next year’s Holyrood election. Over the weekend The National published a report of an analysis of recent polling which suggested that the SNP could win a majority in its own right. This contrasts with other polling …

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'

Scottish teachers have enjoyed by far the best pupil/teacher ratio and conseq...
22 Nov 2025 at 7:21pm
stewartb No less an authority(!) than the UK government on November 13 published this: ?Reporting year 2025: Education and training statistics for the UK.? Among the statistics given for the four constituent nations are pupil:teacher ratios for publicly-funded primary and secondary schools.  See https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-and-training-statistic...

The devolved nations governments were not responsible for delays and mistakes...
22 Nov 2025 at 2:59pm
Professor John Robertson OBA Under pressure to have a bit of time off, I’ve relied on AI for this. If you see any flaws in the report, please let me know. Is there evidence of Dominic Cummings trying to limit the influence of devolved nations at Covid Cobra meetings? Evidence from the UK COVID-19 InquiryYes, there is direct evidence from Dominic Cummings’ testimony to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry (M...

How dare SNP ministers responsible for already giving us the best pay and con...
22 Nov 2025 at 2:23pm
Professor John Robertson OBA The Herald and the Scotsman and Scottish Labour just love the EIS. I was in education for nearly 4 decades. I never did a proper survey but it seemed like there was a lot of moaning going on. I’ve worked in chemical works, a power station, a psychiatric hospital laundry, sawmills and a parks department. It was often difficult – too cold, too hot, smelly, disgusting,...

As with Google and now AI, did Victorians suspect that encyclopaedias would l...
22 Nov 2025 at 9:15am
Professor John Robertson OBA Watching BBC ‘s ‘Have I Got News for You’, last night, there was panel unanimity that, as Ian Hislop put it – ‘AI is strawndnry unreliable.‘ Readers will know that I’ve begun to use it more as a short-cut to finding evidence but that I do worry about the absence of media studies in the core curriculum in schools, to prepare younger, less-experienced, less sceptical ...

It was only in Scotland that opposition parties were regularly invited on to ...
21 Nov 2025 at 7:34pm
By brendarobb I see only the BBC Scotland web page headline names a politician within a negative framing, in Wales & N Ireland headlines are negative but no names initially, the England page has no story and the UK page headline has already moved on to how things could have been handled differently, letting them balance out the criticism of Boris Johnston?s government with the message that all ...

Scottish Government launches major initiative to improve winter care and only...
21 Nov 2025 at 4:38pm
Professor John Robertson OBA Today the Scottish Government announces: Almost £1 million is being allocated to help reduce pressures on A&E departments and improve patient flow over the winter months. The Scottish Ambulance Service will receive £995,000 to increase staffing for a clinical hub model, which uses GPs to triage patients as calls come in to prevent unnecessary ambulance dispatches an...

The evidence that UK Government ?suspicion of the Scots? led to inferior Covi...
21 Nov 2025 at 2:43pm
Professor John Robertson OBA In the National 24 January 2025: Mark Drakeford: Tories? ?suspicion of the Scots? hindered UK in Covid THERE was an ?inherent suspicion? in the way the UK government dealt with its devolved counterparts during the Covid pandemic because they were ?worried about the Scots,? the former first minister of Wales has said. The above table is summarised by the Joseph Rownt...

Why has STV forgotten their own report ? ?World Health Organisation tells Sco...
21 Nov 2025 at 2:18pm
Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to https://x.com/G4ilM for reminding me of this: From STV, the above and: A special envoy to the World Health Organisation has said he is impressed with how Scotland is handling the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr David Nabarro said Nicola Sturgeon?s prudent approach to easing lockdown restrictions was a good policy. He said he admired the approach by the Scottish Gove...

How good is STV?s new former Spectator writer, Westminster Correspondent? Wel...
21 Nov 2025 at 12:30pm
Professor John Robertson OBA Lucy Dunn, above – I’m getting that artist to do me a lovely caricature of me for the blog. A Reform surge in Scotland? In January 2025, between 9% and 13% in the last 10 Holyrood polls but between 22% and 25% in the last 10 Westminster polls. At best, only half as popular in Scotland. Today, between 14% and 22% in the last 10 Holyrood polls, currently 17 points beh...

Safe Drug Consumption Facilities ? A year after UK researchers confirm they w...
21 Nov 2025 at 12:12pm
Professor John Robertson OBA In 2017: The largest review ever undertaken, of 349 research studies, from across the globe though mostly in Europe, carried out by the Centre for Criminology at the University in South Wales in 2017, found that ?safe? or ?supervised? injection rooms significantly reduced drug-related harms, dramatically cut mortality and offered a range of benefits for the wider po...

Scotland and Independence

"scotland independence -guardian" - Google News

Scottish political snapshot, November 2025 - YouGov
17 Nov 2025 at 11:03am
Scottish political snapshot, November 2025  YouGov

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

Leading pollsters failed to publicise Scottish independence 'surge' - TheNati...
18 Nov 2025 at 4:41pm
Leading pollsters failed to publicise Scottish independence 'surge'  TheNational.scot

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

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

Scottish independence paper sets out defence and NATO plans - UK Defence Journal
4 Nov 2025 at 8:00am
Scottish independence paper sets out defence and NATO plans  UK Defence Journal

Border Telegraph letters round-up: Autumn leaves and Scottish independence - ...
18 Nov 2025 at 8:00am
Border Telegraph letters round-up: Autumn leaves and Scottish independence  Border Telegraph

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

SNP

"SNP" - Google News

Why SNP must realise Scotland needs urgent grooming gangs inquiry - The Scotsman
22 Nov 2025 at 6:00am
Why SNP must realise Scotland needs urgent grooming gangs inquiry  The Scotsman

STEPHEN DAISLEY: The SNP never face accountability. They get an accountant in...
20 Nov 2025 at 8:06pm
STEPHEN DAISLEY: The SNP never face accountability. They get an accountant instead...  Daily Mail

Abortions based on sex of babies could be legalised under plans considered by...
14 Nov 2025 at 7:10pm
Abortions based on sex of babies could be legalised under plans considered by SNP  The Telegraph

Nicola Sturgeon: I understand why people doubt my ignorance of alleged SNP em...
7 Nov 2025 at 8:00am
Nicola Sturgeon: I understand why people doubt my ignorance of alleged SNP embezzlement  The Guardian

SNP moves to have MPs strip Prince Andrew of all titles - BBC
21 Oct 2025 at 8:00am
SNP moves to have MPs strip Prince Andrew of all titles  BBC

UK government funding for Scotland's fishing industry is an 'insult', says SN...
18 Nov 2025 at 3:32pm
UK government funding for Scotland's fishing industry is an 'insult', says SNP minister Mairi Gougeon  Sky News

Former SNP MP Mhairi Black to play a detective in BBC drama Counsels - BBC
29 Oct 2025 at 7:00am
Former SNP MP Mhairi Black to play a detective in BBC drama Counsels  BBC

SNP take over running of Stirling Council - BBC
10 Nov 2025 at 8:00am
SNP take over running of Stirling Council  BBC

The SNP have crossed the line on abortion - The Spectator
18 Nov 2025 at 3:53pm
The SNP have crossed the line on abortion  The Spectator

The SNP plan for sex-selective abortion - The Critic
18 Nov 2025 at 10:38am
The SNP plan for sex-selective abortion  The Critic

Referendum (Google News)

"Scotland referendum -guardian -telegraph" - Google News

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

Scottish political snapshot, November 2025 - YouGov
17 Nov 2025 at 11:03am
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

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

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

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

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

One Cause, Many Voices: Scotland?s Divided Independence Movement Strategy - A...
4 Sep 2025 at 8:00am
One Cause, Many Voices: Scotland?s Divided Independence Movement Strategy  Australian Institute of International Affairs