Today's Thinking
The economy-wrecking incoherence of Net Zero
THIS ARTICLE started off as a technical investigation into the inefficiency-betraying trend of falling UK wind power capacity factors but along the way it grew
Douglas Brodie
November 12, 2026
After the blue tsunami, is the age of populism over?
THE REPUBLICANS took an absolute thumping in the US elections earlier this week. This wasn’t a slight tilt to the Democrats; it was an anti-Trump,
Mark Littlewood
November 10, 2026
We need to play more cricket… The Christian, the Hindu and the Muslim
THERE IS A STRIP of concrete in a yard that slopes so sharply that the word ‘pitch’ feels like a courtesy. It runs uphill. It
Dominic Wightman
October 22, 2026
National Millstone Day- £107,000 for every family in the land
ON WEDNESDAY 21st October the UK’s debt officially breached the £3 trillion milestone equivalent to £107,000 for every family in the land. Like it or
Ewen Stewart
October 22, 2026
Think Politics
Edinburgh’s George Street, but not as we know it!
WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT? The City of Edinburgh Council has achieved a rare feat in civic mismanagement: after spending a decade on endless consultations it
Iain Whyte
November 12, 2026
Despite Andy Burnham’s games, ‘Never Again’ must be the lesson
THE TENTH anniversary of the 2016 Brexit vote was marked by a flurry of books and newspaper articles looking back over that momentous day and
John Petley
November 11, 2026
SNP faces a gathering storm after Burnham cramps Swinney’s ‘style’
ANDY BURNHAM’S decision to visit Scotland during the SNP’s annual conference in Aberdeen was a calculated political intervention, and one which took the wind out
Stuart Crawford
October 21, 2026
In Edinburgh, 777 seems more like 666
BUS LANE STORIES in the Edinburgh Evening News are like buses themselves. None come for ages then two or three turn up at once. Following
Iain Whyte
October 15, 2026
Think Culture
King James VI & I – the first Unionist
Divine Right of Kings versus Magna Carta and the common law THE ORIGINAL UNIONIST was a Scot, the most intelligent and educated monarch who ever
Ian Mitchell
November 3, 2026
The next Bond? Meghan, full of Surprises. As ever.
NOT SINCE Severus Snape has Joe Public got someone so wrong. Poor Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Imagine taking knocks from the press about cutting off
Dr Gail MacDonald
October 29, 2026
Charles Darwin’s second great book is a rewarding read
Coming down from the family tree LET ME SAY right away that this book illustrates what real publishing is for. I can hardly remember a
Ian Mitchell
October 28, 2026
The pain of Aberfan is real, but would we react differently now?
WATCHING WHAT HAPPENED at Aberfan is incomprehensible. All those children lost in what reads like a horror folklore story where a little generation were stolen in a
Dr Gail MacDonald
October 22, 2026
Think Business
When the trade Union calls, who owns your business?
MANY BUSINESSES today emphasise teamwork. As British industry emerged from its strike-prone years in the 1970’s, new factories taking over from the old often adopted
Eben Wilson
November 9, 2026
Ten years fighting for Scottish business and the union
FOR THE PAST ten years, I have had the privilege of serving as Chief Executive Officer of Scottish Business UK, alongside my great friend the
Struan Stevenson
November 3, 2026
Burnham’s supine loyalty to the EU will cost farmers dear
IT IS THE HEIGHT OF ABSURDITY that the UK Government argues that joining the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme will protect the UK’s exports – when
Catherine McBride
October 2, 2026
Scotland’s dependency culture cannot be denied and must change
THIS MAY SEEM a bit obvious but sometimes one needs to go back to basics such is the nature of the discourse of the ruling
Ewen Stewart
August 19, 2026