Venezuela’s tragedy: state thieving of private property hurts everyone

SINCE THE ELECTION of Chavez, and the ‘Bolivarian Revolution’ that continues under Maduro, the Venezuelan private sector has been heavily damaged. Twenty years ago, there were more than 650,000 private companies in Venezuela. Today, there ...

Mike Russell exposes himself as the unprincipled opportunist he is

IT WAS NOT the best day at the office for Michael Russell. The SNP’s Constitution Secretary has never lacked self-confidence, and must have thought he was in for an easy ride when he appeared in ...

Commonwealth forces recruitment is about making the numbers up

SECRETARY OF STATE for Defence Gavin Williamson recently announced that rules regulating recruiting personnel from Commonwealth countries into the British armed services are to be relaxed. Hitherto, with various exceptions, potential recruits from Commonwealth countries ...

The wages of sin taxes and shame measures is the death of dignity

GEORGE ORWELL’S Nineteen Eighty-Four showcases to the reader a plethora of horrifying prospects. His hapless everyman protagonist, Winston Smith, lives in a world in which people are “unpersoned”, hounded by the Thought Police, and ...

The captain has gone rogue; it's time to take back control

THERE ARE FEW THINGS left to the imagination after the past 48 hours. The crew of the EUSS Compromise are sounding worried but nae fear, surely Scotty can bend the laws of reality, integrity and ...

The bastard verdict – time to ditch ‘Not Proven’?

IT WAS SIR WALTER SCOTT who described it as “that bastard verdict”. He was referring to the outcome of ‘Not Proven’ in a Scottish criminal court, prompted by a jury determining the verdict in a ...

Cometh the hour cometh the resignations?

SO NOW we have a draft deal, which Theresa May is to try to sell overnight to her cabinet. By this time tomorrow, she will either have bulldozed them ahead of the formal cabinet meeting ...

Venezuela's tragedy: self-inflicted hyperinflation

HYPERINFLATION in Venezuela has reached astonishing levels, making life extraordinarily difficult for ordinary people and causing immense economic damage. Inflation is currently running at some 200,000 per cent and is projected by the IMF to ...

Our Union must be indivisible before, during and after Brexit

THERE IS MORE that brings together the nations of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland than divides us. The ties that bind go beyond nations to individuals. As citizens, we have built the UK together. We have traded ...

Theresa May's transition assurance is political theater to negate Scots Tory MPs' efforts

FOLLOWING WELCOME PRESSURE by Conservative MPs, in unison with Scottish Secretary David Mundell, Theresa May has been forced to state the UK will not accept an extended transition for the fishing industry.

Hammond delivers for Scotland – but can MacKay?

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER Philip Hammond is a man with the demeanour of a small-town undertaker. He seems an unlikely character to be the bearer of good news. And yet, in his Budget delivered ...

Brexit: are we being prepared for a stitch-up?

ON TUESDAY NIGHT I spent an illuminating hour listening to David Davis and Shanker Singham in conversation with Mark Littlewood at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London.

David Davis remarked that ...