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 ...

Venezuela's tragedy: the amazing corruption machine

IN 2003 Hugo Chavez implemented a currency control system in Venezuela, which in turn created a black market for foreign currency and the means for corrupt insiders to manipulate these controls to earn huge sums ...

Sturgeon’s dishonesty on the costs of independence is counterproductive

LAST MONTH the campaign group Scottish Business UK set out the costs of independence to the Scottish economy. It didn’t say anything particularly new, except to point out how much more damaging ...

Brexit agreement 95% ready? Pull the other one

THE PRIME MINISTER has sought to dispel the torrent of criticism facing her by claiming that the draft Brexit agreement with the EU is “95% complete”. Here is how we would score it.

Optimism in short supply as Romania marks unification centenary

CELEBRATIONS to mark the unification of Romania, which occurred a century ago this December, are currently going ahead. I'm just back from a conference that examined the breakthrough for Romanian Unionists as well as the ...

The magical mystery Brexit

THERE ARE a sequence of events that create a mystery in the whole Brexit process to date, and is important to solve going forward. 

In January 2017 the Lancaster House speech set ...