Politicians – more in common, but not with us

TWO YEARS ago I was debating Brexit at the Royal Society of Edinburgh on behalf of the Bow Group. It was a testy meeting as a room full of remain-supporting academics invariably is.

Russia? It’s not just the football that deserves a look

AS THE WORLD anticipates a thrilling football World Cup football from Russia, few minds will be dwelling on the Russian Civil war that began a century ago. Yet I hazard to ask what relevance, if ...

Fiscal Commission reveals how Derek Mackay is taking us into the red

IN THE EARLY DAYS of the Scottish Parliament, arguments raged as to whether it should acquire additional tax-raising powers. Those of us who supported this cause within the Scottish Conservatives argued that this would make ...

Restorative justice needs to be taken seriously

THIS WEEK saw the publication of Lord Bracadale’s “Independent Review of Hate Crime Legislation in Scotland”. This was commissioned by the Scottish Government last year to examine the country's hate crime laws and is a full ...

Can Glasgow survive the arrival of Channel 4?

CITIES ARE FRAGILE ENTITIES especially in the absence of prudent elites and representative community groups capable of foiling unwise decisions. Look around at Glasgow’s boarded-up churches or at the statues of military and religious figures ...

How Holocaust equivalence went uncorrected in The National

THERE IS no issue in this World that drives the glitterati and the chatterati mad like the Arab-Israeli conflict. Not even Brexit. As Rev David Robertson observes, there exists for some political causes a deep ...

SNP’s Growth Commission promises “Austerity Max”

ONE OF THE MANY acknowledged weaknesses of the 2014 ‘Yes’ campaign was the Scottish Government’s White Paper on Independence, particularly in relation to economic issues. In more than 600 pages, there was just one devoted ...

The laid-back Irish are confronted by a life or death choice

“THERE ARE so many children and young people around here” is an observation I’ve heard frequently from other visitors to Ireland.  

The Irish Republic has one of the highest birth-rates in the ...

Confusion reigns at Holyrood over prisoner voting rights

SHOULD prisoners be given the right to vote in elections? That was the issue considered by the Scottish Parliament this week, following a report from the Equalities and Human Rights Committee, published on Monday.

More intellectual rigour and less virtue signalling needed by the SNP government

ELSEWHERE on this website, Murdo Fraser argued about Fracking in the manner an opposition spokesman usually does, legitimately, when a government is in a mess.  My view, however, is a reflection of a deeper anxiety about ...

The fracking ban that wasn’t a ban?

The Scottish government could not have been more clear. One senior figure after another repeated it boldly: fracking had been banned in Scotland.

In October last year, the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon ...

How the SNP baby-boxed itself into a corner

IN AUGUST 2017, the SNP Scottish Government introduced its baby box scheme for newborns. The box itself was to provide a ‘safe sleeping space’ for babies, while the contents – much of it made in ...