Scotland
Can Labour win back Scotland?
When the political cabinet met on Tuesday, by-elections were on the agenda. The Prime Minister is facing four of them.…
Nicola Sturgeon’s arrest was inevitable
There was an air of inevitability about the arrest today of Nicola Sturgeon. The SNP had been braced for it.…
Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon arrested in SNP finance investigation
Nicola Sturgeon has been arrested in connection with the probe into SNP finances. A spokesperson for Nicola Sturgeon confirmed: ‘Nicola…
In defence of the Free Church of Scotland
Recent days have shown an upsurge of interest in a small Presbyterian church (the Free Church of Scotland, colloquially referred…
The SNP leadership race has turned into the mother of all culture wars
Bring back Nicola Sturgeon. The race to replace her as SNP leader and first minister has turned into the mother…
Is it time to replace Scotland’s sporting anthem?
‘Flower of Scotland’ is the unofficial national anthem north of the border but soon enough we may never hear its…
Why we pick the wrong holiday destinations
Having returned from a fortnight’s break, I wonder if we get holidays all wrong. In northern Europe, the custom is…
The Queen’s act of Union
In death, as in life, Elizabeth II has been a unifying force for her country. For all the political rancour…
Money won't keep the Union together
Despite its name, Gers Day is not an annual celebration of the Ibrox side that makes up one half of…
The gender debate is getting nastier
Elaine Miller is one of the grown-ups. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, with a specialism…
Sturgeon isn't an 'attention seeker'
There is a lot of pearl-clutching over Liz Truss’s dismissive remarks about Nicola Sturgeon. Much of it involves conflating a…
Portrait of the week: Scottish independence, striking lawyers and the end of Roe vs Wade
Home Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, said that military spending had to increase. Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, reacted to…
Nicola Sturgeon has put Boris Johnson in a tight corner
Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she will not contemplate breaching the rule of law by holding an independence referendum was pretty blatant…
Another Scottish independence referendum is coming
Despite what the SNP and its supporters insist, Nicola Sturgeon did not ‘announce’ a second referendum on independence today. Far…
A brief introduction to Scottish art
When Nikolaus Pevsner dedicated his 1955 Reith Lectures to ‘The Englishness of English Art’, he left out the Scots. The…
I’ve written the perfect book
I met a Canadian couple for lunch in Edinburgh. They were from Vancouver – he a judge, she an opera…
This is how to save the Union
Devolution has failed in Scotland. Nothing that follows will be of use to you if you remain in denial of…
Letters: The Scottish government must be held to account
Backward devolution Sir: Thanks for once again highlighting the many issues with government in Scotland (‘Sturgeon’s secret state’, 9 April).…
Nicola Sturgeon’s secret state
Holyrood is one of the most opaque regimes in the democratic world
Covid is rising again. Should we worry?
For some time now, Covid has been rising in Scotland – there are now more Scots in hospital with Covid…
No, Scottish independence is not like the war in Ukraine
Perhaps it’s the absence of any oppression of their own country that compels Scottish nationalists to latch onto the oppression…
Unmasking 'panda diplomacy'
The star of the Beijing Winter Olympics wasn’t an athlete: it was Bing Dwen Dwen, the spacesuit-clad panda mascot. It…
We could learn a thing or two from Swiss democracy
There was another referendum in Switzerland over the weekend. This one was about protecting the young from the evils of…
Nicola Sturgeon’s last laugh
I was delighted to discover that the University of Bristol has been advising students how to address those who identify…
Sex, trans rights and the Scottish census
It takes some doing to make a census interesting. So congratulations to the National Records of Scotland (NRS). NRS, which administers…