The Mummy Diaries: pregnancy week 33

HELLO, my name is Emma. I have been married for nearly three years and we have a wee boy of 22 months called Jamie. So for my first blog, I’m going to tell you my ...

Restaurant review: The Kitchin, Leith – Sheer heaven

A VISIT to the Kitchin in Edinburgh is always a much-anticipated treat as my hubby and I have had some outstanding meals there over the years. 

My husband’s first visit was November ...

Why the black shirt fits both left and right

UNTIL RELATIVELY RECENTLY I thought that anti-Semitism was more or less dead in Britain. Popular fiction from before 1939 regularly contains the sort of casual unpleasant remarks about Jewish people that are rarely heard in ...

Right of reply? Unite show how not to do it

Unite cannot ignore Sikorsky fatalities by pointing only to the Super Puma

Talking ‘bout my generation

“The things they do look awful cold

I hope I die before I get old”

I’D LIKE TO BE ABLE to claim that the catalyst for this article was ...

Our liberal culture is smarter than failed planners such as Blair

A FRIEND OF MINE who knew Tony Blair when he was a young barrister described him to me as “a chameleon, a snowball and a prat”.   I disagree; I think Blair has a worldview that forces ...

The Christian meaning of Easter today

ANOTHER Easter Weekend has come and will soon be gone – and too many Easter Eggs eaten. Why in 21st Century Scotland do we still celebrate Easter? For Christians the meaning of Easter is Jesus Christ's victory ...

Death by misadventure? It's now all about the money

A TRAGEDY HAPPENED at Buncrana, Co-Donegal in 2016 when Sean McGrotty decided to drive down a harbour pier covered with algae and was unable to stop the car sliding into the waters of Lough Swilly. ...

Finding the Holy Grail: The pursuit of happiness

Happiness, happiness, the greatest gift that I possess
I thank the Lord I've been blessed
With more than my share of happiness

Ken Dodd 1927-2018

The Nazi Pug and the limits of free speech

THE CASE OF Count Dankula’s Nazi-saluting dog has this week put the Scottish justice system in the international spotlight. On Tuesday, at Airdrie Sheriff Court, 29-year-old Mark Meechan of Coatbridge (aka Youtube comedian Count Dankula) was ...

Book review: Silent, upon a peak in Darien

Darien: A Journey in Search of Empire  

by John McKendrick QC (Birlinn Publishers, 2016 – Paperback, March 2018)

THIS REVIEW begins, I’m afraid, with an apology. ...

Who’d be a policeman these days?!

I AM PROUD to say that I have a long family association with the police in Scotland. On the right side of the law, I hasten to add! One of my close relatives, in fact, is ...