Scotland

Humza Yousaf’s government is adrift, of that there can be no doubt. The question is how much longer the drift will be allowed to continue before the SNP leader corrects course. In the four months since he replaced Nicola Sturgeon, Yousaf has staggered from one catastrophe to another. The First Minister has seen his predecessor and other senior figures arrested (and released without charge) by police investigating the SNP’s financial affairs. His government’s flagship deposit return scheme has imploded after failing to gain the support of business and Westminster. He has been forced to U-turn on plans to ban fishing in 10 per cent of Scottish waters. A scandal-wracked ferry-building

The SNP Scottish government has rolled out its latest paper on independence, this time focused on citizenship. Like others in the series (this is the fifth paper on secession in twelve months) it offers nothing new, goes big on fantasising about a future that won’t happen, and is completely removed from the day-to-day needs of Scots. The paper works off the assumption that an independent Scotland will be a member of the European Union. Yet it ignores the obvious economic and potential political impediments to this happening, at least in any reasonable timeframe. The appropriateness of civil service resources being used in this way is questionable at best It also

Burgundy passports, dual citizenship and rejoining the EU were a few of the items at the top of Humza Yousaf’s fifth independence paper, published earlier today. The First Minister’s latest independence document in the ‘Building a New Scotland’ series outlines the Scottish government’s proposals for citizenship in an ‘open, inclusive’ and independent Scotland.  Holding a finger up to the UK government over post-Brexit changes, Yousaf’s paper describes how Scottish passports would be a ‘right’ available to Scottish citizens from day one of independence. In imitation of the old-style EU passports these would be burgundy in colour, not blue, and would follow EU regulations – despite the fact an independent Scotland

Scottish Labour lined up behind the SNP’s bungled attempt to reform the Gender Recognition Act last year and in doing so the party set itself firmly against the majority of voters. Around two-thirds of Scots are opposed to the SNP’s gender bill, but Labour chose to ignore their views and back the nationalists’ controversial legislation instead. When Scottish Secretary Alister Jack intervened to block reform of the gender bill by Holyrood — on the grounds that changing the law in Scotland would negatively impact on the UK-wide equality act — the Labour party found itself unable to cash in. While the Scottish Tories loudly proclaimed their support for the majority

Ian Blackford, the SNP MP, is to stand down at the next election. And last night he gave an interview to Anand Menon of the think-tank UK In a Changing Europe. The mood was cosy, the questions as soft as marshmallows. Menon opened with the issue of independence and he allowed Blackford to change the subject from ‘process’ to ‘the kind of country Scotland will be’. Blackford stated correctly that Scotland’s status as England’s poorer neighbour encourages the best and brightest Scots to move south. And he quoted a statistic suggesting that England has benefited from Scottish inward migration in every decade since the 1850s. He outlined a solution that

A fierce new critic of the SNP has burst onto the Scottish political scene. This acid-tongued detractor describes Humza Yousaf’s deputy Shona Robison as ‘a bit of a cold fish’, ‘like an automaton’ and ‘painful to listen to’, and says Angus Robertson’s promotion to the Scottish cabinet meant ‘the ego has landed’.  Who is this merciless mocker of the Nationalists? Step forward, Elena Whitham, SNP MSP and Scottish government drugs minister. Whitham, who recently called for the decriminalisation of all drugs, is splashed across the front page of today’s Daily Record.  The paper has acquired her contributions to a WhatsApp group of SNP politicians. In addition to making known her feelings about Robison

The Labour party should be experiencing its best time in recent politics with victory very much expected at the next election. Yet it’s not all plain sailing at Labour HQ. Not only does the party still lack a convincing agenda, there is disquiet about the nature of the Starmer leadership, in terms of what it believes in, how it does politics inside the party and how it manages dissent. Discontent has been bubbling away for a while, with the left accusing the leadership of a plan to oust Corbynistas to create a new loyal Labour party. But now the internal fallout has burst into the open with the potential expulsion

Angus MacNeil’s attempt to hold the SNP to ransom on the matter of independence has played out both predictably and rather entertainingly. After the SNP MP was suspended for a week over an unseemly public spat with Chief Whip Brendan O’Hara, MacNeil announced he would not consider seeking readmission to SNP ranks until October. Once the party’s autumn conference has taken place, MacNeil said that he will then decide whether the party has, to his satisfaction, redoubled its efforts to achieve independence. MacNeil has taken a hostage. The only problem is that the hostage is himself — and party leader Humza Yousaf has no desire to pay the ransom. A

The sad thing about the BBC’s dedicated Scottish channel, which has suffered another collapse in viewing figures, is that it’s actually rather good. Their flagship news programme The Nine, broadcast from BBC Scotland’s cavernous HQ at Pacific Quay on the Clyde, is very professional. It is presented by the excellent Martin Geissler, whose name you won’t find on the Daily Mail’s plutocratic presenter list of shame. They don’t pay that kind of money up here — and what they do get paid, they have to work twice as hard for. When I was asked to come north from Westminster to present the Holyrood Live programmes many years ago, I found the staffing was

In fairness to the Nats, they never let things get too dull. Just days after losing his party’s whip, SNP MP and Salmond ally Angus MacNeil has now announced that he will sit as an independent candidate until at least October. MacNeil was seen in the Commons last week having a bust-up with Chief Whip Brendan O’Hara but time is yet to heal his wounds, judging by the fiery statement he has released this afternoon.  ‘I will only seek the SNP whip again if it is clear that the SNP are pursuing independence,’ sniped MacNeil. ‘At the moment, the SNP has become a brand name missing the key ingredient. The

They say all publicity is good publicity. But perhaps that sentiment isn’t shared by those in Bute House at the news that Alex Salmond is launching his own pro-independence TV programme. The former First Minister will become the latest politician to turn TV presenter this week when he launches his new show on Thursday: ‘Scotland Speaks – with Alex Salmond.’ Like a Tartan Tucker, he will be hosting it on social media from Slàinte Media’s brand new Glasgow studio. But with the National having mastered the art of Scexit propaganda, is there really any need for more separatist media coverage? Salmond certainly thinks so. ‘At an important time in Scotland’s story, both

Scotland is the drug deaths capital of Europe and changing that is going to take something radical. The Scottish government thinks it’s found that something: the decriminalisation of all drugs for personal use. Humza Yousaf’s administration has issued a call for ‘a caring, compassionate and human rights informed drugs policy, with public health and the reduction of harm as its underlying principles’.  Between 2000 and 2021, 14,426 Scots died a drug-related death. For perspective, that is more than four times the death toll in the Troubles from 1969 to 2001 Yousaf proposes decriminalisation with a wider review of drug laws, calls on the UK government to legislate this and other changes or devolve the