Stephen Daisley

Tributes are pouring in for Menzies Campbell, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, and generally considered a decent chap for a politician. He hailed from the Scottish Liberal tradition, one which dominated politics north of the border in the 19th century, and made a modest return in the second half of the 20th. His instincts were broadly centre-left but he was not a firebrand like Jo Grimond. He articulated his party’s internationalist conscience with the passion, if not the glitz, of an Archibald Sinclair.

King Cnut is misremembered as a deluded fool who tried to subdue the sea. In fact, he was a wise and pious man who wished to demonstrate to his subjects the limitations of regal power. ‘You and the land on which my throne is standing are subject to me,’ Cnut admonished the tide. ‘No one has ever defied my royal commands and gone unpunished.’ When the waters began splashing at his feet, the monarch turned to the crowd and proclaimed: ‘Let all the world know that the power of kings is a vain and trifling thing.’ There was, Cnut said, only one true sovereign: ‘That King whose commands heaven, earth and sea obey, according to eternal laws’. Keir Starmer is no Cnut.

Matt Gutman has the hairstyle of Anderson Cooper and the literary style of Danielle Steel.  In a special report on the Charlie Kirk assassination, ABC News’s chief national correspondent wistfully described text messages between the suspect, Tyler Robinson, and his roommate and alleged boyfriend. The exchanges were, Gutman gushed, ‘very touching in a way that I think many of us didn’t expect’ and ‘a very intimate portrait into this relationship’. Gutman quoted Robinson’s sweet nothings (‘my love’ and ‘I want to protect you, my love’) and mused on a ‘duality’ between the aggravated murder charge and ‘on the other hand, he was, you know, speaking so lovingly about his partner’.

Scottish daily the National is known for its inimitable approach to journalism. The mainstream media bombards SNP ministers with impertinent questions about missed NHS targets, widening attainment gaps, and delayed ferries. The National, on the other hand, does proper reporting, like its front page denouncing the inclusion of Reform on a Question Time panel, the hard-hitting coverage of a Tory politician’s quip about Nicola Sturgeon’s hairdo, and an uncompromising expose on a Labour candidate’s ‘deeply disrespectful’ attitude towards the Gaelic language. While other newspapers fixate on the actions of government, the National is out there bravely holding the opposition to account.

Well, if they’re arresting comedians, at least Nish Kumar is safe. Graham Linehan, not so much. The British like to sniff that Americans don’t get irony. Arresting a comedian fresh off the plane from the US after months of dismissing US concerns about freedom of speech is one way to teach them. Not only was Linehan detained by the police for tweets attacking an establishment-approved ideology, he was subsequently bailed on the condition that he not post any further tweets. Britain is never beating the allegations.  I’m a Glinner (his X handle) sceptic.

The flag-raisings in towns and cities across the country are an inevitable consequence of elites’ seeming preference for every flag but England’s. High-status flags: Ukraine, Palestine, Pride. Low-status flags: Union Jack, St George’s Cross. It is possible, of course, to favour multiple flags. Although a Scot, I am quite partial to St George’s Cross, a simple emblem that stirs up a thousand years of English history – of blood and bravery, trial and triumph – in a crisp, snapping flutter of its folds. The Ukraine flag is the banner of a people who, rather than surrender their homeland, have chosen to fight to the death for it. However you feel about your compatriots flying another country’s flag, Kyiv’s is at least an honourable one to fly. Honour.

There is a certain worldly cynicism aroused by the announcement that a politician is stepping down to spend more time with their family. It was for a long time the refuge of MPs who had earned themselves an entry in the News of the World, the Who’s Who of romeos, rogues and reprobates, for their activities with ladies – or young gentlemen – of the night. Less commonly, it was regarded as an admission that someone could not hack it or was frustrated by their slow progress up the greasy pole. After all, no one wants to quit politics. Contra the cynics, Kate Forbes. Scotland’s deputy first minister will stand down from Holyrood at next May’s elections, having somehow crammed a whole political life into ten tempestuous years.

Foreign relations are among the most political functions of a government. Ministers favour or disfavour other states based on calculations about which relationships might better serve the national interest. Human rights violations are condemned here, while a blind eye is turned there. Dictators are treated as democrats and democrats as dictators depending on the diplomatic needs of the day. It’s a dishonest, venal, hypocritical business conducted by people with almost no morally redeeming characteristics. Like I said, it’s politics.  Too many state actions are compelled – or claimed to be compelled – by law or judicial interpretation of the law.

France intends to recognise a state of Palestine at the United Nations, which I’m sure will be followed by UK recognition of the same. We can be sure of this because the UK does not have an independent foreign policy when it comes to the Middle East. Inside or outside of the European Union, London’s stance on Israel and the Palestinians has become indistinguishable from the position of the European Commission. The European Commission simps for the Palestinians and Britain simps for the European Commission. I take the somewhat contentious view that Britain should simp for itself, which is why in my occasional (read: incessant) Coffee House posts recommending, beseeching, UK recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel I have made a case based on the British national interest.

The trials of Sandie Peggie are a parable of where power lies in a country when lies are power. Peggie is a nurse from Fife, by all accounts a hard-working professional dedicated to her vocation and her patients. Things went awry, however, when she objected to undressing in a changing room in front of Dr Beth Upton, a male medic who identifies as a woman. If that sentence sounds absurd, that’s because it is, but we are supposed to pretend otherwise – especially if we want to be considered good people. Dishonesty is the best policy. Following a complaint from Dr Upton, Peggie was suspended by NHS Fife in January 2024, and she took the health board and Dr Upton to an employment tribunal.

Ross Greer is for Palestine, trans rights and riling up the Daily Express, making him the ideal candidate to lead the Scottish Greens. At an event in Glasgow today, the West Scotland MSP put himself forward as a successor to Patrick Harvie, who is standing down after 17 years at the helm of the environmentalist party that occasionally takes an interest in the environment. Under Harvie’s leadership, the Greens have prioritised cultural and identity politics over economics and ecology, helping to push the Gender Recognition Reform Bill through Holyrood and press for free bus travel for asylum seekers (an idea pinched by the SNP-run Scottish government).

The scenes of a tearful Rachel Reeves are all anyone is likely to remember from yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions. The Chancellor wept openly, her expression distraught; it was difficult to watch. The death of Princess Diana and the extraordinary outpourings of public grief that followed marked the end of stiff-upper-lip Britain. Vestiges remain, however, and we still become uncomfortable at the sight of the prominent and powerful brought to tears. It triggers a Pavlovian response in much the same way that the mention of religion in polite company has our toes scrunching in our shoes, as we try to dig a hole to escape the awkwardness. The tearful politician has been with us for some time In fact, the tearful politician has been with us for some time.

Spare a thought for Chris Coghlan, who has learned to his horror that not only is the Pope a Catholic, his own priest is one too. The Liberal Democrat MP, who voted to legalise assisted suicide, attends St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Dorking. He complains to the Observer that Father Ian Vane ‘publicly announced at Mass that he was… denying me Holy Communion as I had breached Canon Law’. Coghlan believes this represents a ‘completely inappropriate interference in democracy by religious authorities’. If you’re not a Catholic, at this point you’re thinking one of two things: ‘No thanks, I’ll leave the Papists to their internal disputes’, or ‘Canon Law would be a cracking name for a courtroom series about a priest turned barrister’.

A more gracious person would refrain from saying, ‘I told you so’, but I’m not a gracious person. So, as George Galloway announces his backing for another Scottish independence referendum, allow me to say – nay, crow – I told you so.  Galloway, leader of the Workers party, says he and his party ‘support the right of the Scots to self-determination’ and that ‘the time for another referendum is close’. He adds: ‘Speaking personally, I can no longer support the British state as presently constituted.