Iain Macwhirter is a former BBC TV presenter and was political commentator for The Herald between 1999 and 2022. He is an author of Road to Referendum and Disunited Kingdom: How Westminster Won a Referendum but Lost Scotland.
Only Gordon Brown could come up with a 40-point plan for constitutional renewal. ‘Less is more’ is not a principle with which the former Prime Minister is familiar. When his UK constitutional commission was launched in 2020 we were promised a ‘radical alternative to nationalism’ and a ‘constitutional revolution’ to remake Britain along federal lines. What has
So much for Plan B. Supporters of Scottish independence are putting a brave face on the emphatic ruling by the Supreme Court that – surprise, surprise – the Scottish parliament does not have the power to call a referendum on independence. Lord Reed cast aside the sophistry that ballot would be ‘merely advisory’ — so
‘A man’s a man for a’ that’ said Robert Burns. Well, perhaps not for much longer. The Scottish Parliament has recently voted in favour of legislation to allow lads to become lassies, and vice versa, merely by declaration. No medical intervention or diagnosis of gender dysphoria required. Under the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which
I always advise younger journalists never to use irony or make jokes on social media, so when I was effectively sacked for alluding to an edible fruit of the palm family, I should have known better. And of course I did know better. I deleted my three-word tweet within minutes. But screenshots live for ever.
