Scotland
A Scottish revolution is coming, and everyone’s losing their heads
Normally, if a candidate whose party came fourth in a constituency last time tells you they’re going to win, you…
Danny Alexander’s diary: Trying to put an undercover reporter at ease, and the unicorn poop question
It’s dangerous, in my line of work, to promise you’ll be anywhere by 8 p.m. I made this mistake recently,…
The real threat to Britain (and it’s not the SNP)
What a load of mendacious balls everybody talks about Scotland. It’s like a disease. It’s like, you know how they…
My plan for Question Time: mug up and fail anyway
I was invited on Question Time this week, which gave me a few sleepless nights. Natalie Bennett’s disastrous interview on…
Immigration, not money, will improve Scotland's most deprived schools
I suppose we should be thankful that Nicola Sturgeon has acknowledged there’s a problem with Scotland’s public education system, even…
How Labour lost Scotland (and could lose the Union)
Just four months ago Scotland was the scene of great cross-party co-operation — unprecedented in peace-time politics. Gordon Brown was…
The long ordeal of Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art
I was working on the final edit of my book — a fictionalised account of the year Charles Rennie Mackintosh…
The tragic tale of the Two Roberts is a story of two artists cut off in their prime
In 1933, two new students met on their first day at Glasgow School of Art. From then on they were…
Cognac and the Viking connection in la France profonde
The chestnut trees were still resplendent in yellow leaf along the banks of a misty autumn river on its glide…
The National shows just how much danger the Union – and Scotland – is still in
The successful launch of a nationalist newspaper shows just how much trouble the Union is still in
Scotland’s miraculous century (it started with the Union)
In 1707 Scotland surrendered what it had of its independence by the Treaty of Union with England. That independence had…
Why does Amazon think my friend is a kidnapper?
About four years ago, an irate father in Minneapolis walked into his local Target shop with a complaint. He wanted…
Say no to devolution without democracy
Imagine if, in one of her first acts as First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon announced that, in spite of…
Ukip is a party for people who hate London. That’s why Labour should be scared
It is interesting that neither Scotland nor Wales have been much bitten by the Ukip bug. The supposedly sensible view…
Scotland needs Jim Murphy (even if he doesn’t want to go back there)
There should, by rights, have been a stampede of candidates to replace Johann Lamont as the leader of the Scottish…
Effie Gray can effie off
Effie Gray, which has been written by Emma Thompson and recounts the doomed marriage of Victorian art critic John Ruskin…
Why everywhere should be more like Essex
Apart from the Wye Valley, where I grew up, there are only two places in Britain I’d consider living: Kent…
Portrait of the week: Cameron visits UN HQ, Scotland checks its bruises, and a Swede sells his submarine
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, visited New York for talks at the United Nations; he said Britain supported the…
Yes or no, I’ll never feel the same about the Scots
I doubt I’m alone among English readers of this magazine in having felt uncomfortable with our last issue. ‘Please stay…
The ‘no’ campaign’s problem was that it sounded like me
Journalistically speaking, it’s been a good year to be Scottish and Jewish. Had I been a Welsh Zoroastrian, say, I…
Santander’s secret: to conquer the world, stay like a small-town bank
Four years ago, I wrote that I knew no dark rumours about Santander, the rising force in UK high street…
Reasons for feeling Scottish
Sometimes I say I’m Scottish, a claim often greeted with understandable derision. I was born in England, in Hertfordshire, went…
One week to save Britain
Next week, the most important vote in recent British history will be held. Indeed, it may well turn out to…
Countries shape character (so get ready to like Scots less)
Is national character real? If so, how is it formed?
How independence will impoverish Scottish culture
Daniel Jackson foresees an impoverished cultural landscape for an independentScotland, with artists forced to do Salmond’s bidding
