We should cut the UK's aid budget to fund social care

THERE IS A BOX in the Emirates Stadium that cost £30m. It wasn’t paid for by Arsenal’s owners. It wasn’t paid for by a Russian oligarch. It wasn’t even a retirement gift for Arsene Wenger.

An Amazon Tax! Really? Imagine if Maggie had taxed Argos?

I UNDERSTAND 1979 was a rather tough year. The high street was full of bin bags the unions wouldn't collect. Cheap crinoline skirts, flared jeans and only Mrs Slocum's pussy to console us.

The Mummy Diaries: Two babies – Week 8

HOW TO DEAL with a 2-month-old and the terrible twos? Anyone? We have well and truly entered the dreaded terrible two phase this week. To be honest, I had read about this and been told ...

Saving carbon emissions from electric vehicles could be illusory

THE DROUGHT this summer has kept the issue of global warming and carbon emissions in the public eye.  Road transport is the principal sector where emissions continue to rise and the government has proposed to reduce ...

Transgender schooling of infants must be opposed – but will our political leaders speak out?

THE CULT of transgenderism has taken a very ugly turn. As a libertarian I consider sexuality, whisky and voting in the same bracket. For adults only and in their own privacy.

The ...

Are you local? Edinburgh's charity shops need a thorough clear-out

EDINBURGH is a rather special city. There is no other in the UK like it. A capital, a village, a tourist theme park, a financial centre. It has a lot going on and a lot ...

The Mummy Diaries: Two babies – Week 7

THANKFULLY we managed to survive a full week without the family helpers. The next challenge however, was to manage an outing with just my two little darlings and me!

This week has ...

In praise of older workers

ACCORDING TO the Equality Act of 2010, it is illegal in most circumstances to discriminate against an employee, or in an advertisement for a job, on account of age. Yet many recruiters and head-hunters will ...

‘Capture them young’ - the watchwords of demagogues down the ages

IT CANNOT HAVE TAKEN MUCH for Nicola Sturgeon to have talked one of the many compliant third sector groups into collaborating with her in a propaganda stunt with young people. On 12 September she will ...

Rt Hon Sir Alex Fergusson – an appreciation

THE SAD DEATH this week of my great friend and former colleague, Sir Alex Fergusson, leaves the Scottish Conservatives – and Scottish public life – without one of its most significant, and well-respected, figures.  Alex ...

Cricket was a metaphor for how Alex Fergusson lived his life

THE FIRST TIME l met Alex Fergusson was in April 1999 when he was one of our candidates in the first Scottish Parliament election campaign.

I had spent most of that month being ...

The McNanny State: How the smoking ban closed Scottish pubs

IT WAS SUNDAY 26 March 2006. Nothing much seemed different from the previous weekend. The Old Firm had won their matches, the weather was poor, and the odd empty beer can tumbled down the road. ...