Matt Kilcoyne

In the wake of the Black Lives Matters protests last year, Edinburgh Council announced the creation of the 'Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review Group'. Headed by Sir Geoff Palmer — an academic and human rights activist — the group is looking at all public memorials on council land that ‘perpetuated racism and oppression’ with the option of ‘removal or re-interpretation’ for problematic monuments. The grave of Adam Smith, as well as a statue dedicated to the Enlightenment thinker, have both been identified by the review due to a passage in which Smith, according to the body, ‘argued that slavery was ubiquitous and inevitable but that it was not as profitable as free labour.

Nicola Sturgeon sank to a new low this morning. The SNP leader bizarrely seemed to compare opposing a second independence referendum in Scotland to Trump refusing to concede the US election. https://twitter.com/NicolaSturgeon/status/1324622924813393920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw This is, of course, the same SNP leader who still refuses to accept the SNP’s 2014 referendum loss – a referendum her party claimed would be a ‘once in a generation’ vote. Perhaps Sturgeon should take a long hard look in the mirror before claiming that ‘politicians who rage against democracy don’t prevail’.

There have been a great many political betrayals of late, but there is nothing worse than seeing the government propose a policy that makes Jamie Oliver this happy. The celebrity chef’s face lit up when he appeared on Sky and Channel 4 News this week, as he relished the fact that the government is going to ban all adverts for anything considered to be high-fat, high-salt, and high-sugar on TV before 9pm and online. Jamie Oliver told Channel 4 News’ Jon Snow that ‘the cost of ill-health in society... is an economic conversation. Having a fitter, healthier, more agile Britain is absolutely more profitable.’ Oliver is certainly one to talk about profitability. In May last year, 22 of his restaurants closed, with the loss of 1,000 jobs.

Forget what you’ve been told about the Conservative leadership campaign. The Boris campaign's weekend meltdown has not lost him the election. And Jeremy Hunt has not suddenly leapt into the lead. This is still Boris’s election to lose and the odds are that he will almost certainly triumph. The reason is simple. Boris is following the tried-and-tested playbook of successful campaigns the world over. He is speaking plainly and to the right people. And he has a simple message that he repeats often, reassuring party members that he is the man to trust on the issue that they care about: Brexit. In recent weeks, Boris's campaign has changed dramatically. But this was a tactical shift and wasn't a sudden panic.

We're familiar with the warnings about the cost of Brexit. The 'People's Vote' campaign released an estimate yesterday suggesting that Theresa May's deal will leave the UK £100bn worse off a year. Tomorrow, the Treasury will unveil its forecasts of the economic impact of Brexit. But what about the price of staying put in the EU? Whatever those clamouring for a 'People's Vote' might claim, no Brexit does have a cost. Firstly, the price in terms of political capital will be significant. What does going back on the referendum result say to the 17.4million voters who voted Leave? What about the damage done to trust in our institutions and our politicians?