Iain Macwhirter
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2010: An apology.
2010 will always be, for me, the year of apology, the year of humble pie, the year I go it wrong. Yes, I know: I get things wrong all the time – I’m a political journalist after all. But this was different. During the general election campaign in May, I suggested that in certain … Continue reading
2011: the End of Work.
And so this is Christmas, and what have you done? Or so sang John Lennon, the 30th anniversary of whose death was commemorated this month. Can it really be that long ago?. Curiously, the music and image of the former Beatle doesn’t seem dated, even though he is a figure from digital prehistory. Lennon died … Continue reading
2010: Year of Protest.
It all started with a carnival atmosphere, as tens of thousands of students and six formers took to the streets to protest about the state of higher education and inequality in society. Students carried placards with witty and sometimes obscure slogans such as “Be realistic, ask the impossible” and “Under the paving stones, the beach”. … Continue reading
Result. SNP rules out tuition fees.
Who said protest never changed anything? The bill to introduce £9,000 tuition fees in England may last week have passed in Westminster, despite the demonstrations by students, lecturers and school pupils. But Scotland is another country, and it look as if the students have had a result here. The SNP government has now unofficially committed … Continue reading
Tuition fees CAN be stopped in Scotland.
What happens now? The bill to triple student fees in England became law on Thursday, even as Parliament Square itself was ablaze, and the heir to the throne besieged in his limousine by angry demonstrators. Is that it? Will the students now go back to their rooms to study while the nation indulges in … Continue reading
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
Sorry, but I am getting heartily sick of the Great Girn, the endless moaning about the weather. We’ve turned into a nation of whinging children desperate for someone to blame. Stuff happens. Weather happens. But instead of just getting on with it, and using the gift of community to adapt to the challenge, we … Continue reading
Calman tax powers are a milestone to Scottish independence, not a millstone for Holyrood.
If there was a twinkle in the eye of Alex Salmond last week, as he scoffed at the new tax powers being offered in the Scotland Bill , it may be because, under the table, he was pinching himself. I’m pinching myself. I still can’t quite believe that a Tory-led coalition government in London … Continue reading
Iain Macwhirter 