Peter Murrell, collective denial, and the reckoning Scotland hasn’t had THE SOCIOLOGIST Eviatar Zerubavel observed that denial is never merely a personal act. It is
First published on 17 June 2021 WHEN Nicola Sturgeon was pressed by an STV journalist for comment on swirling allegations of a missing £600,000 independence
FOR YEARS in Scotland we have been told the third sector is the beating heart of civil society. Volunteers. Campaigners. Stakeholders. Independent voices speaking truth
Payback at the Pillars of Hercules? Madrid has spent years undermining Western interests while expecting unquestioned Western solidarity. Ceuta and Melilla offer the perfect point
WHEN Keir Starmer announced in September 2025 the government was bringing in ‘mandatory Digital ID Cards’ or a ‘Britcard’ to ‘stop the boats’ the British
WINNING is all that matters in sports. True greats like Novak Djokovic are machines, winning through strong, unfazed, consistent responses. In tennis it works a treat. Bat it back, score a few points and
SOMETHING is shifting in post-industrial Britain. It is not a sudden national swing or a dramatic revolt. It is quieter than that. For decades, London-focused
They say it will “benefit the city” – here’s what happened where they tried it. WE’VE HEARD the script before. A supervised drug consumption room
WHEN Councillor Fiona Higgins stood up to question how Glasgow’s education cuts were being presented, she thought she was doing something entirely ordinary. An elected
IF YOU’VE LIVED in Scotland over the past few years you could be forgiven for thinking public life has become one long group chat argument
The reality behind what really happened in Munich this time round. THERE IS a particular theatre to Bavaria, Southern Germany in February: the snow, the
The minimum wage and the law of unintended consequence IN RECENT YEARS, British governments of both political hues – Conservative and Labour – have significantly