The McNanny State: Scottish exceptionalism - and why Holyrood was born to be a bully

THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT was born to be different. Of course it was always intended to bring a greater degree of scrutiny and accountability to the elected ministers of the parliament’s new executive, who replaced ministers ...

A note to my son about our Brexit betrayal and what it means

LAST WEDNESDAY night, just before the big game in Moscow with Croatia kicked off, my son (also a William) called me from Sao Luis, Brazil. This is on the verge of the great rainforest. The ...

May is hell bent on terminating Brexit, we must terminate her premiership instead

LISTEN, and understand. That Terminator is out there. It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until we ...

Boris – for He is an Englishman, for better or worse

BORIS Alexander de Pfefel Johnson, has done it. He's finally resigned. It is a shame that Downing Street and Northumberland Avenue issued statements on this before he did, but the usual manners seem to be ...

We did not vote for this

MUCH HAS BEEN written over the last few days of the Cabinet’s agreement on its negotiating position with the EU. Having reflected on it, over the weekend, I am not surprised.

It clearly is a ...

Battering the battery option

RENEWABLE POWER, particularly wind turbines, offer a very unreliable and unpredictable means of generating electricity.  Their output can vary over a range of 100 over two days ie from 5000 MW down to 50 MW.  The idea ...

The NHS needs radical reform – this is how I'd start

FOR TOO LONG the NHS has been treated as an institution instead of a service. The reason politicians do this is because by definition institutions are owned by the establishment ...

How to change Scotland's small towns – avoid big government

SOME YEARS AGO I was asked at a meeting of local councillors how we could revive Scotland’s small towns. At the time, I had to admit that I did not know, but for some time ...

Never mind the facts, feel the faux indignation

IN A SHORT but devastatingly effective speech in the House of Commons on Monday the MP for Moray, Douglas Ross, expertly dispelled the torrent of lies that has spewed forth from the volcanic crater of ...

Ian Blackford rode a pantomime horse to battle

THE SNP can always be relied upon to resort to grudge-laden media stunts when things don't go its way. Its politicians’ lack of respect for democracy and accountability at Holyrood rode south to London yesterday.

The Euro, Brexit and everything about the EU is political, not economic

THERE HAVE been many warnings about the future of the Euro, but so far it has survived the many shocks and crisis it has faced. Now the economic and political challenges from Italy presents its ...

Enjoy the sun but don't rely on wind turbines for your power

MOST OF THE UK has seen ten days of ideal summer weather, with a settled anticyclone producing little rain and daytime temperatures consistently in the range 20-25C.  It may be the holiday season, but industry and ...