Scotland is paralysed – and Sturgeon's undemanding fan base may explain why

ONE OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS in my new novel "Flight of Evil" is Clova Bruce, a nationalist with a background in the musical entertainment business. 

She is too easily written-off ...

For the UK Government “no deal” has never been better than a bad deal – and it’s now paying a price for such weakness

THE BREXIT NEGOTIATIONS commence again this week and as usual EU actions will be widely influenced by political consideration. The EU’s inception, the Schuman plan (prepared by Monnet), created the European Coal and Steel Community ...

Right of reply? Unite show how not to do it

Unite cannot ignore Sikorsky fatalities by pointing only to the Super Puma

How much is enough? Scotland puts the cart before the horse

SCOTLAND HAS one of the highest levels of public spending, per capita, and relative to the size of the state, in the developed world. Unfortunately this is supported by a small and relatively narrowly focused ...

Brexit ‘power-grab’ is unnecessary posturing

FOR THOSE WONDERING why the escalating stand-off between Nicola Sturgeon and Theresa May over the alleged Brexit ‘power-grab’ by Westminster hasn’t yet been resolved, let me offer the perspective of businesses in Scotland.  

Catalonia – why we are where we are

THE ST ANDREWS ACADEMIC, Clara Ponsati, is facing extradition to Spain. The Vice Chancellor of the university has come to her defence, as have many other people in Scotland, on the grounds that Ponsati is being “targeted ...

Talking ‘bout my generation

“The things they do look awful cold

I hope I die before I get old”

I’D LIKE TO BE ABLE to claim that the catalyst for this article was ...

How green transport threatens the Orangutan – and other consequences

UNDENIABLY we live in interesting times. Whether you consider that a curse or a blessing is probably down to your worldview but, in any case, we all have to cope with it. Nearly every change ...

Spain’s courts averted partition. Will Scotland’s courts facilitate it?

GIVEN THE STATE of Scotland’s public sector, from collapsing urban roads to lengthening waiting times for life-threatening illnesses, who can blame the SNP for putting the constitutional question front and centre at every opportunity?  

How capitalism works; let’s hail a ride with Jaguar and Waymo

WHEN I FIRST READ that Jaguar has an order for twenty thousand of its new i-Pace cars from Waymo, part of the Google empire, to become self-driving “ride-hailing vehicles”, I was puzzled. But then I ...

Our liberal culture is smarter than failed planners such as Blair

A FRIEND OF MINE who knew Tony Blair when he was a young barrister described him to me as “a chameleon, a snowball and a prat”.   I disagree; I think Blair has a worldview that forces ...

Economic prospects following Brexit are not reliable

“GUNS OR BUTTER” used to be every undergraduate’s introduction to the economic analysis of the benefits of trade, but in Harvard’s Professor Mankiw’s Principles of Economics there is a more “fanciful” analogy: television commercials or grass mowing!