Scotland
Your guide to the 2021 election results
This week will see the biggest set of polls in UK history outside of a general election. Contests are under…
Las Vegas resident urges Scots to vote SNP
Sunday’s anti-climactic finale looked set to be the biggest Line of Duty let-down for fans of the hit BBC series.…
What’s so great about ‘super’?
‘Wizard,’ said William. ‘Super,’ said Ginger, in William and the Moon Rocket (1954). More recently we have had Alex Salmond,…
Letters: There’s nothing libertarian about vaccine passports
Taking liberties Sir: I feel that Matthew Parris is absolutely wrong about liberty (‘The libertarian case for vaccine passports’, 10…
Letters: The inconsistencies of Mormonism
A leap of faith Sir: I live not far from the ‘London Temple’ of the Church of Jesus Christ of…
Portrait of the week: Vaccine passports, Northern Ireland riots and a cocaine-smuggling kayaker
Home The government sketched a scheme for a coronavirus passport, or ‘Covid status certification’, to be tried out at the…
Drowning the sorrows of Scotland’s virulent nationalism
There is a more depressing subject than the lockdown. The evening began with a bottle of 18-year-old Glenmorangie. It was…
Could Holyrood ever be abolished?
Although Alex Salmond and his Alba party have understandably been getting most of the attention, the separatists aren’t the only…
How Alex Salmond can game the loophole in Scotland's voting system
Two decades after devolution, the Scottish Parliament’s election system still confuses ordinary voters and seasoned political observers alike. Politicians on…
Where did Alex Salmond’s ‘Alba’ party get its name from?
‘What, old monkey-face!’ said my husband with unnecessary lack of gallantry. He was referring to the 18th Duchess of Alba,…
Community music-making is the jewel in the British crown
Community music-making is the unifying jewel in the British crown, says James MacMillan
Letters: Britain should hang on to its vaccines
Ticket to freedom Sir: While I sympathise immensely with the spirit of last week’s lead article (‘Friends in need’, 27…
Portrait of the week: Alex Salmond’s party, China’s H&M ban and protests in Bristol and Batley
Home More than 30 million had received their first dose vaccination. The government remained confident of supplying second doses and…
The economic case for the Union isn't enough
There is a certain kind of critic of independence who hears the news that public funding for Scotland is 30…
Boris has a trump card in denying Sturgeon an 'illegal' referendum
Amidst all the dry economic arguments, one of the more emotive fronts on which the 2016 referendum was fought was…
Sturgeon's rush for a referendum could backfire
The Holyrood election campaign kicks off with Nicola Sturgeon buoyed by James Hamilton’s report concluding that she did not break…
The Crown Office, The Spectator and a fight for a free press
The power wielded by Nicola Sturgeon and her Scottish government means it’s hard to hold her to account for basic…
George Galloway is toxic to the Unionist cause
My mob originates, we have come to assume, from somewhere in Ireland, though exactly where we don’t know. Humza Yousaf,…
Scottish Tories must be more than the angry party of no
Among the many challenges facing Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has been the question of definition. It is difficult to…
Is Sturgeon losing support for Scottish independence?
Every politician likes to say that they don’t pay attention to opinion polls. In my experience, this is almost universally…
Letters: What happens if interest rates rise?
Spinning plates Sir: Kate Andrews is right to highlight the looming risk of inflation (‘Rishi’s nightmare’, 6 March), but to…
Alex Salmond and the trouble with revenge
Ancient Greeks were not slow to express their enthusiasm for taking revenge. Observing the recent proceedings in the Scottish parliament,…
Will the SNP finally see sense on its flawed Hate Crime Bill?
The saga of the SNP’s Hate Crime Bill is drawing to a conclusion. This week, Holyrood will cast a decisive vote…
Portrait of the week: A Covid Budget, a Cotswold meteor and Angelina Jolie sells Churchill’s painting
Home First-dose coronavirus vaccinations totalled more than 20 million. A study suggested that in the over-eighties, a single dose of…
Emmanuel Macron’s vaccine muddle
In 2000, this magazine dipped its toe in murky Irish water. Stephen Glover wrote three articles, one provocatively entitled ‘The…
