Iain Macwhirter
SNP.
2015: the year Scotland turned SNP yellow while England remained Tory blue.
N the early hours of May 8, 2015, a 20-year-old politics student, Mhairi Black, defeated the Labour campaign chief, Douglas Alexander MP, one of the most experienced and highly regarded figures in the UK Labour Party. It was the most dramatic and poignant moment in the most extraordinary general election in Scottish history, which drew … Continue reading
Mind the gap. SNP realise that Scotland will not be able to reverse Tory welfare cuts.
Gotcha! Labour and the Scottish Conservatives have been laying a fiscal trap for the SNP, and yesterday it looked as if John Swinney had fallen into it. Challenged on whether or not the Nationalists would reverse the UK Government’s tax credit cuts, he said there was “a significant amount of doubt” about whether the future … Continue reading
Tomorrow belongs to us, say SNP. But does the left?
“Corbyn can’t even snub the Queen properly,” remarked one commentator last week as the embattled Labour leader side-stepped his bowing-and-scraping session with Her Majesty. Mr Corbyn had said he was unable to attend his first Privy Council meeting because of prior engagements. He is now in a classic double bind: when Corbyn finally does do … Continue reading
After 8 years in office, has the SNP succumbed to the sleaze disease?
Sleaze, cronyism, conflict of interest, ministerial double-dealing; such are the common afflictions of long serving governments. Perhaps the remarkable thing, looking at the SNP’s eight years in office, is that they haven’t experience a serious sleaze problem before. Some think they now have one in spades. The suspension from the party of Business Affairs spokeswoman … Continue reading
Cybernats are playing into Jim Murphy’s hands.
During the referendum campaign, Better Together was adept at exploiting the intemperate language used by some supporters of independence on the internet. The outpourings of the so called “cybernats” against JK Rowling, Jim Murphy and the Queen were handed to a willing press who hung them around the neck of the Yes campaign. This was … Continue reading
Will Nicola Sturgeon be the first FM to raise taxes?
READ IAIN ON TUESDAYS, THURSDAYS AND SUNDAYS ONLY IN THE HERALD AND SUNDAY HERALD. We had the Iron Lady, now we have the Irn Bru Lady, said a speaker on BBC’s Morning Call. I’m not sure which is worse, being compared to Margaret Thatcher or Scotland’s other national drink. But Nicola Sturgeon should get … Continue reading
Nicola Sturgeon wants veto on Brexit. Is she mad?
READ IAIN ON TUESDAYS THURSDAYS AND SUNDAYS ONLY IN THE HERALD AND SUNDAY HERALD. 30/10/14 ‘What part of No does Nicola Sturgeon not understand?” asked Ukip MEP for Scotland David Coburn yesterday. The First Minister designate’s call, effectively, for a Scottish veto on any UK referendum vote on British withdrawal from the European Union … Continue reading
Cameron’s legal expert endorses independence timetable. Are the Unionists trying to lose?
Is there a nationalist mole in Whitehall, an evil genius undermining the case for the Union? On Monday, the UK Coalition published its legal advice on the status of Scotland after independence. Scotland would be a new state, the government lawyers concluded, after also identifying the religious leanings of the Pope. There would be … Continue reading
Aliens in warning against independence. SNP needs to lead constitution debate, not follow it.
Things fall apart. The SNP has got the right question, but it isn’t getting the right answers. The Nationalists have been on the defensive for the last six months over relatively obscure procedural issues about relations with Europe, currency union and the mechanics of transition to independence. The Yes for Scotland campaign has … Continue reading
Independence – it’s whatever you want it to be.
Sunday Herald 3/2/13 The Scottish Electoral Commissioner, John McCormick, caused a parliamentary row last week by suggesting that both the Unionists and Nationalists should get together and make a “joint statement” on what a yes vote would mean in practice. You might as well try to get the Professor Richard Dawkins and Cardinal … Continue reading
Iain Macwhirter 