Scotland

There is a perception that Scotland is a socialist basket case where a mammoth public sector is showered with English money, and I’m here to tell you that this perception is racist, offensive and… not entirely without foundation. The latest Scottish budget analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) examines public sector pay north of the border and concludes that the burgeoning bill poses a ‘fiscal challenge’ to Scottish government finances. State employees now account for 22 per cent of the entire workforce, compared to 17 per cent in England, with an annual pay bill of £27 billion. Salaries for public sector workers, whose number has increased 11 per

At long last, Scottish Labour has clearly and decisively set out its position on gender self-identification. Party leader Anas Sarwar and his deputy Jackie Baillie have now robustly stated the case that Scottish Labour supports single-sex spaces based on biological sex. Good, clear, precise messaging of the type entirely absent from the SNP leadership – and long overdue. Yet that clatter you hear is the sound of jaws dropping violently at the audacity. Shock at this astonishing volte face by Sarwar will be most keenly felt by two of his MSPs, Claire Baker and Carol Mochan, who were forced to resign their frontbench posts in the Scottish parliament when they declined to

Back to Scotland, where the Sandie Peggie v NHS Fife case has sparked outrage across the country. After nurse Peggie questioned a transgender doctor for using the female changing rooms, she was suspended by her health board. The move pushed her to bring a landmark tribunal against NHS Fife and Dr Beth Upton for harassment and discrimination. While the tribunal case has been adjourned until July, it has now emerged that Peggie could herself face dismissal over the whole thing – after being accused of having ‘misgendered’ Dr Upton by using male pronouns when talking to and about the junior doctor. You couldn’t make it up… Alongside the ongoing employment

Across the UK, NHS services are coming under increasing pressure. Hospital waiting lists are too long while A&E departments struggle with patient demand. Nevertheless, at an employment tribunal in Scotland this week, we have learned that health boards like NHS Fife can apparently afford to suspend a senior A&E nurse with 30 years’ experience and an unblemished record for months simply because she dared to question the presence of a transwoman doctor in the ladies changing room. Sandie Peggie’s remonstration with Dr Beth Upton was described as a ‘bullying’ incident by the junior doctor. However that did not deter nurse Peggie, who lodged a claim against both Dr Upton and the

To Scotland, where Nicola Sturgeon is, er, not very busy. In fact, Mr S can reveal the SNP’s former Dear Leader has made a grand total of two spoken contributions in the Holyrood Chamber over the last 12 months. One was during a debate on Ukraine while another speech reminded MSPs that more needs to be done by her own government to protect Scotland’s young people. Talk about taking a back seat, eh? The former first minister may be keeping a low profile in the Scottish parliament but she has suggested, rather curiously, that she might not quit frontline politics just yet. It transpires that Sturgeon has submitted her application

With just 15 months to go until crucial devolved elections in Scotland, 2025 will be a momentous year in Scottish politics. Few leaders understand this better than Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who hopes he will be the man to end two decades of SNP dominance come May 2026.  Yet Scottish Labour has fallen down in the polls in recent months and Sarwar needs to figure out how to make his party stand out. It was therefore little surprise that he began 2025 by pledging to use the year to set out how he and his party would chart a ‘new direction’ for Scotland. ‘In each area of responsibility for

A few days ago I was alerted to a new mental health campaign video for the NHS service Mind To Mind. ‘Life is full of ups and downs,’ the clip started. Cut to a middle-aged woman looking out of her window, a little fraught, but then resiliently donning a colourful bobble hat before leaving her house. ‘So we need to look after our heads,’ she smiled to the camera. This 60-second social media film was posted by NHS Fife on 4 February, urging people to take care of their mental health by connecting with others experiencing the same difficulties. I became aware of it thanks to X’s algorithm repeatedly catapulting

To Scotland, where the SNP is hard at work vetting its candidates for the 2026 Holyrood poll. But in typical Nat fashion, the rather non-transparent process has prompted questions about how thorough the whole thing really is – after it emerged via party insiders that both Nicola Sturgeon and Colin Beattie of Operation Branchform fame have been allowed to run as election candidates. How very interesting. The SNP’s former Dear Leader has so far refused to say whether she will indeed stand for reelection in 2026 while Beattie, the party’s ex-treasurer, is thought likely to do so. The pair were arrested in 2023 over the police probe into the SNP’s

Uh oh. There’s more trouble in nationalist paradise. A series of interviews with past and present Scottish government ministers have been published on the Institute for Government website as part of a devolved government series – and they make for some rather revelatory reading… As if the Nats hadn’t aired their dirty laundry enough, the IfG interviewees – including former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and disgraced ex-health minister Michael Matheson – pulled no punches when conversations turned to their colleagues. One person in particular came out of it all worse for wear – with hapless Humza Yousaf on the receiving end of a rather lot of criticism. First, the SNP’s

To Scotland, where today the SNP government’s embattled Health Secretary Neil Gray is in the firing line. The Scottish Tories have tabled an amendment – which will be voted on today – calling for the ‘Limogate’ minister to step down after Gray admitted to inadvertently misleading parliament over using taxpayer-funded cars to transport him to sports matches. Dear oh dear… Gray used chauffeur-driven cars to take him to nine football games between 2022 and 2024, which the Health Secretary claims he attended on ministerial business. Yet his journey to the 2023 Scottish League Cup Final between Aberdeen and Rangers raised eyebrows after Freedom of Information requests revealed that there was

Last year, marking the tenth anniversary of Scotland’s independence referendum, I wrote an article for The Spectator looking at the state of Scotland’s political conversation and the prospects for the cause of independence a decade on from defeat.   After setting out why I thought MSPs ought to pass a budget that crossed the nationalist-unionist divide, softening the intense tribalism that has become a hallmark of parliamentary exchange, I also cast an eye forward to next year’s Holyrood election, in which no party is likely to have overall control. Recent polling trends show that Reform UK are hoovering up support from disillusioned Conservative and Labour voters alike, with Nigel Farage’s party likely to

Well, well, well. Just when the Scottish government thought it had steadied the SNP ship after two rather tumultuous years, another scandal has hit the party. Health Secretary Neil Gray is in the spotlight after it transpired that he had been using taxpayer-funded ministerial cars to take him to sports matches in the latest ‘Limogate’ development. Gray had initially claimed he attended matches in a work capacity and had minutes for every meeting – but this evening the SNP minister has now admitted to inadvertently misleading MSPs over the matter. Between 2022 and 2024, Gray attended nine football matches involving Aberdeen or Scotland using taxpayer-funded, chauffeur-driven cars. His attendance at the 2023

Back to Scotland, where SNP health secretary Neil Gray is in the spotlight over some rather curious expense claims. The nationalist minister has come under fire after it emerged that he had been using ministerial cars to take him to sports matches – and now further questions are being raised about just how justified these trips were. Between 2022 and 2024, Gray attended nine football matches involving Aberdeen or Scotland using taxpayer-funded, chauffeur-driven cars. The SNP health secretary declared his excursions in line with official guidance, logging two of the games as meetings with the Scottish Football Association on the ‘social impact’ of sports investment while the other two were