Today’s Thinking

Ewen Stewart

'Stay Alert?' Johnson trusts the people – Sturgeon does not

THE UNEASY STAND-OFF did not last long. The First Minister of Scotland seems not to know what ‘stay alert’ means and has made it very clear those living in Scotland should “stay home,” with unsubtle ...

Victor Clements

Nurses and farmers should define our futures, not unionists and nationalists

WITH ALL that is going on in the world, to think that there are still people in Scotland talking about the constitution is just pathetic, and shows just how shallow our politics and those who ...

Eben Wilson

Universally Based Indifference will not help the poor.

NICOLA STURGEON has suggested that a Universal Basic Income may be an idea whose time has come. Actually, it’s more probable that it’s another bandwagon she’s realised it would be good to jump on. UBI is, ...

Tom Gallagher

The retreat of reason accelerates in Scotland

THE GRIM TRUTH about politics in Scotland for at least twenty years is that it disproportionately attracts destructive people (warriors or else those unable to promote improvement) rather than builders or visionaries. Office holders predominate who achieve ...

Jonathan Stanley

Bunker down for the Contango Fandango that Scotland's missing out on

OIL HAS TAKEN QUITE A BEATING in recent weeks. A rollercoaster of policy gaffes by Washington and European countries has seen oil demand slump from Covid-19's forced shutdown of the global economy while the Saudis ...

Tom Gallagher

As long as Tories underestimate the ruthlessness of their foes, Britain is in peril

NEVER IN ITS HISTORY has the European Union been faced with a crisis of such gravity as now, owing to the coronavirus exacerbating the systemic failings of the single currency. But, at the same time, ...

Tom Gallagher

Community peace is a casualty of Sturgeon’s type of rule

NICOLA STURGEON has pulled off the feat of shrinking the size of the Scottish political stage in order to accommodate her own needs as a ruler. Most decisions are taken with a single, overriding calculation ...

Jonathan Stanley

Covid-19 is opening a Pandora's Box on race relations in the NHS

IT HAS NOT ESCAPED THE ATTENTION of anyone who has worked in healthcare that there is a devastating impact being suffered by NHS staff from Covid-19. There are doctors and nurses, and auxiliaries dying. There ...

Tom Gallagher

Labour and the SNP plot amidst Downing Street’s titanic struggle

THE EASY VICTORY in the Labour leadership contest obtained by 58-year-old Keir Starmer on 4 April was only really noticed by the media classes. They are easily the noisiest and most visible branch of the clerisy, a term ...

Neil Stratton

The UK or EU - which is the model union for the Scottish fishing industry?

THE SNP AND FELLOW TRAVELLERS would have us believe that Scotland is being held back on all fronts by being shackled to a United Kingdom dominated by England. Now, following the vote to leave the ...

Jill Stephenson

The power of education: Part I – How it empowers people

MY VIEW OF EDUCATION is a very simple one. Education is empowering. Without education, or with an inadequate education, a child’s life chances are stunted. Education begins in primary school, and that is where the ...

Linda Holt

Calderwood's double standards sinks the simple message below the waterline

LATE ON SATURDAY night the Sun published pictures of Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood out for a walk with her family and dog on Earlsferry golf course. She was spending the night at ...