Iain Macwhirter
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Tony Blair is innocent of this ridiculous sale of honours charge
I hope if I’m arrested for a criminal offence Labour MPs, like Jon Cruddas, will be popping up on the BBC to praise my integrity. A noble act of friendship toward his best mate Des Smith, and in no way an attempt to influence Scotland Yard, whose officers had just arrested Mr Smith, under the … Continue reading
Smoking ban shows it’s time to look again at drug laws
And then – nothing happened. It’s three weeks since the smoking ban hit Scotland’s pubs, clubs and cafes. We were warned of mass civil disobedience. It was an offence against civil liberties, said critics, and Scots would defend their freedoms against the nanny state. The result would be chaos. Well, surprise surprise – the overwhelming … Continue reading
Could Berlusconi Bring Down the Curtain on Tony Blair
First lesson: don’t insult the electorate. Silvio Berlusconi’s fate was surely sealed when he called voters “dickheads” – at least those that didn’t agree with his tax cuts – at the height of the Italian election campaign. Mind you, that was relatively mild from the former Prime Minister of Italy. Earlier in the campaign he’d … Continue reading
State Funding of Parties Must Take Account of Scotland
The cash for coronets affair seems to have brought about a fundamental, indeed historic change in Britain’s attitude towards the funding political parties. Suddenly, everyone wants the state to pay for our politics. The Tories want a cap on donations of £50,000, applied to individuals, organisations and firms, plus 60p per voter at election time. … Continue reading
The New Labour Project Has Just Lost
David Cameron did his best to divert attention from Labour’s loan scandal last week by making a full disclosure of Tory loaners which was somewhat less than full. Some five million pounds worth of cash, much of it from foreigners, remained unaccounted for. This was because the party had paid it back. Yes, the Tories … Continue reading
