In the wee hours of Friday 13 December 2019, as it became undeniably clear a Boris Johnson-led Conservative Party had driven a coach and horses through Labour’s impenetrable red wall, Andrew Neil speculated aloud whether a northern resurgence would be rewarded by northern investment. This question was answered weeks later when we entered 2020, theContinue reading “Sunak’s Budget Embraces a Spring of Despair”
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Finding a Middle Ground on Gender Reform
Today is International Women’s Day and will be the 113th anniversary since the first recorded in 1909. It comes at an interesting juncture in our political history as Dundee City East MSP, Shona Robison, unveiled the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) bill on behalf of the Scottish Government last Thursday. Gender reform sits under the socialContinue reading “Finding a Middle Ground on Gender Reform”
Education as the Best Days of Life?
“School is the best days o’ yer life” was a phrase that rankled with me as a young man. For those of an academic or attentive disposition this may undoubtedly have been true. Sadly, my report cards conveyed a different story – one of a young man with a propensity for being “easily distracted”. HavingContinue reading “Education as the Best Days of Life?”
What the Dickens is Going On?
We live in a peculiar crevice in the history of time. As the pioneer of Amazon experiences unassailable post-pandemic wealth and the chasm widens between those who are surviving, striving and thriving, never has Dickens’ opening line in A Tale of Two Cities felt more appropriate. In 1859, he wrote: “It was the best ofContinue reading “What the Dickens is Going On?”
Divergent Political Priorities
Just before Christmas, I spoke to a working mum in Dundee who saw a drop in her household income. She was prepared, and had budgeted for, £80 less each month when the Universal Credit uplift ended. However, having enquired further, she discovered the reason she was a further £40 down was her daughter had turnedContinue reading “Divergent Political Priorities”
Cutting the Cord to London
What the Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Labour and Scottish Liberal Democrats share is an umbilical association to a southern patriarch which tends to hinder rather than help their electoral prospects. The late Margaret Thatcher’s early introduction of a poll tax before other devolved nations in 1989, Tony Blair’s illegal invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003Continue reading “Cutting the Cord to London”
The Advance of Technology in 2022
Are you as glad 2022 has arrived as I am? After the last two years, it feels as if the most appropriate individual, sadly no longer with us, to deliver an opening address for this new year would have been Rikki Fulton’s Rev IM Jolly with his iconic and withering “Hullo”. Rarely do I bidContinue reading “The Advance of Technology in 2022”
The Saviours of the Welfare State?
What will the long-term legacy of Boris Johnson be? The American philosopher William James once said: “The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” You would think that when Conservative cheerleaders like Daily Telegraph columnist Allister Health and The Spectator editor Fraser Nelson turn against you then yourContinue reading “The Saviours of the Welfare State?”
Why Would an Independent Scotland Join the EU?
“On Wednesday, it is five years since the vote to leave the European Union. I am still stunned it happened.” This article appeared in the print edition of the Evening Telegraph on 21/06/2021 On Wednesday, it is the five-year anniversary of the vote to leave the European Union and, although I voted to leave, I still find myselfContinue reading “Why Would an Independent Scotland Join the EU?”
Universities and the Stifling of Free Speech
“At no point, have I ever regarded defining a woman as someone who has a vagina as a contentious idea.” This article appeared in the print edition of the Evening Telegraph on 21/06/2021 I would never have regarded defining a woman as someone who has a vagina and the capacity to reproduce nor stating men have a geneticContinue reading “Universities and the Stifling of Free Speech”
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