Iain Macwhirter
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Give it a break Gordon – we know that you’re backing Britain. You don’t have to name your next child Wayne Rooney Brown.
In 1996, in a rather desperate bid to head off Scottish home rule, the then Tory Scottish Secretary, Michael Forsyth, decided to return the Stone of Destiny. Seemed like a good idea at the time. What better way to symbolise the permanence of the United Kingdom than for England to hand back this relic of … Continue reading
Shetland wants Sakchai Makao, so why is he being deported
Last week, almost the entire population of Shetland united in opposition to the compulsory deportation of Sakchai Makao, a young Thai athlete who has lived in Shetland for 13 years. Makao had been arrested by police officers at his home in Lerwick and flown to a detention centre in Durham to await deportation. Makao works … Continue reading
Hey, Reid leave them judges alone
“There appears to be a disconnect between the public’s common sense view of right and wrong and how it sees that reflected in judicial decisions” according to the Prime Minister’s spokesman yesterday, referring to the five year sentence handed down to paedophile, Craig Sweeney. Disconnect there certainly is, though I’m not sure common sense comes … Continue reading
This flag worship isn’t progressive nationalism, it’s national laddism.
11/6/06 The most extraordinary sight of the week, indeed the year, was the leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition riding into Westminster with a Cross of St George Fluttering from the back of his bike. We’ve all gone flag crazy – except in Scotland where it’s viewed with more than a little unease. Tessa Jowell, the … Continue reading
What are the Liberal Democrats for?
What use are the Liberal Democrats? What are they for? It’s a question which has long been asked by Labour and Conservative politicians, but now even some Liberal Democrats are beginning to ask if they know what they are here for. Both the Independent and the Guardian, the two newspapers closest to the LibDems, have … Continue reading
Putting prisoners back on drugs and then taking away their children away when they are released is madness. There is a better way.
Some issues are so serious that it takes a comedian to tell the truth about them. Ben Elton didn’t tell the MSPs on Holyrood’s drug and alcohol committee anything they didn’t know last week. They are acutely awar that hard drug abuse is one of Scotland’s key social problems. So, why did they feign shock … Continue reading
Why the World Cup means a red card for Blair
John Prescott has, in a very real sense, become the unacceptable face of New Labour. Those grumpy jowls, that Les Dawson mouth, the fiery eyes – it’s not so much that people hate him, more that they are fed up with the sight of him. And the sound of him. They don’t want to be … Continue reading
McConnell is right not to support England
Football isn’t a political matter – it’s much more important than that. The First Minister, Jack McConnell, was taken severely to task last week for failing to support England in the World Cup. There have been cries of outrage from the guardians of the Scottish media. McConnell is supposed to be a unionist, they cried! … Continue reading
Iain Macwhirter 