Generational theft and social care – how to end the crisis

TODAY’S YOUNG PEOPLE have inherited two deeply indebted Ponzi schemes from their parents and grandparents; the state pension and social care.

A Ponzi scheme is an assurance offer that promises high pay ...

The debate on medicinal cannabis is as hazy as ever

I FIND FEW THINGS in medicine as bizarre as the medical marijuana debate. And it has a lot of competition.

It attracts, centrists, libertarians (not me) and socialists alike. It is enticing ...

Unequal voices should not alter our course towards Brexit

SYMMETRY is a sign of health and beauty, so we search for it everywhere.  We naturally think that our opinion is as valid as anyone else’s, and mistakenly assume that both sides of an argument ...

It's time to pause the merger of British Transport Police with Police Scotland

THE REMIT of the British Transport Police (BTP) involves policing railways, stations and trains throughout the UK. BTP officers are accountable to the BTP Chief Constable, the BTP Authority (BTPA), and ultimately, the UK Parliament. ...

Prestwick revelations expose SNP hypocrisy on RBS

I HAVE EVERY SYMPATHY with those in rural communities facing the prospect of losing their RBS branches. Just a few weeks ago, I joined more than 100 local residents in The Square, Aberfeldy, to protest ...

Time’s Up Cabinet Secretary

POLICING IN SCOTLAND is going through an extremely contentious period.

Chief Constable Phil Gormley has dominated the news after last week saw the seventh allegation being filed against him. This came two ...

Want a democratic revolution? Smash the party system

IN 2016 we had the deaths of an extraordinary number of famous people that had shaped the previous century; Hibs won the Scottish Cup; the SNP lost its majority at Holyrood while Labour came third ...

We know these things are true

SO FAR, January has been something of a phoney war, confined to preliminaries by the Sherpas, no news conferences, and everyone said to be working to a timetable to agree transition by March and a ...

Jordan Peterson – a liberal hero for our times

TWO WEEKS AGO, there were probably very few people in this country who had even heard of the Canadian academic Jordan Peterson. He has become well known across the pond as a free-thinking public intellectual, ...

What, if anything, should be done about prostitution?

THE ISSUE OF PROSTITUTION, and what to do about it was debated in Holyrood in December. I grew up in Leith in the 80’s and 90’s, which brought home the effects of prostitution, on both individuals ...

Without coal how do we keep the lights on?

THERE HAVE BEEN several announcements in the last two years on the BBC and in press releases by Renewables UK noting that the proportion of electricity generated by renewables has reached record levels.  They deduce ...

Scotland's place in Europe - so long as it has no place in the UK

I'VE READ THROUGH the Scottish Government report on Brexit. The latest one that is, imaginatively titled Scotland’s Place in Europe: People, jobs and investment.

The first thing that jumps out is how ...