Alex Massie is Scotland Editor of The Spectator.
Oh, look, it’s time for another episode of Jocksplaining. That is, time to remind some people south of the wall that what’s obvious to them is not at all obvious to the folk north of the wall. There has been, in recent days, a flurry of articles claiming that, look, there’s no need to worry about a
I love the new politics. It warms my heart even on cold and gloomy winter mornings. The novelty of the always-new, freshly-minted, happy-shiny, more-decent-than-thou new politics will never fade. Consider this stirring tale from beyond the wall. The Scottish Asian Women’s Association (SAWA) was launched amidst what tradition dictates we must refer to as great fanfare at
David Mundell, the Secretary of State for Scotland, is gay. And you know what, so what? Of course Mundell is not the first gay Tory cabinet minister, merely, it’s believed, the first to “openly” acknowledge the fact. He did so in typically low-key fashion, writing on his website: Having taken one of the most important
Minority sects are often more interesting, and more colourful, than their more popular rivals. That must explain why the Scottish Tories continue to be the subject of so much fascination. Barely a month passes without someone, somewhere, asking if this — at long last — is the moment for a Scottish Tory revival. Spoiler alert:
Yesterday a new Scottish opinion poll reported that 58 percent of voters intend to endorse SNP candidates when the choosing time comes for next year’s Holyrood elections. By any reasonable measure this is excessive, even extravagant. But there we have it. As it happens, I would be surprised if the SNP polled that well on
Let it be understood that, in the realms of pressmen everywhere, the sight of two blowhards hammering away at one another is worth the silent stoicism of a thousand sensible folk. Let it also be understood that Henry Kissinger’s evaluation of the Iran-Iraq war also applies to the increasingly intemperate – by which I mean
You know what’s tough these days? Being a left-wing polemicist, that’s what’s tough these days. You don’t need to take my word for this. Just ask Owen Jones. Here he is, complaining about the “unfree media” that makes it “impossible to have a rational conversation about Jeremy Corbyn, Labour, or just politics full stop.” Now you may be
Expediency is usually just trouble deferred. That’s the first thing to remember about David Cameron’s ham-fisted approach to his european referendum problem. The second thing to remember is that it is not, and never has been, about europe at all. It’s always been about the Tory party. Which means the third thing to know is
This morning a pair of judges in Edinburgh dismissed a petition seeking to overturn the result of the general election in Orkney and Shetland. Alistair Carmichael is not guilty of breaking the Representation of the People Act (1983) and may remain a Member of Parliament. There will be no by-election in the northern isles. Obviously this
Everyone knows how useful a dead cat can be, right? The Australian political strategist – and Tory campaign chief – Lynton Crosby is credited with coming up with the dead cat ploy. It has the great virtue of being as simple as it is colourful. When, Crosby says, you are in a hole or faced
A few weeks ago, a shivering intimation of imminent mortality was felt all across literary Scotland. Willie McIlvanney was not well. Very far from well. The kind of unwell that requires a lung transplant. If the news was hardly revelatory – McIlvanney had, for more than sixty years, given his body a pretty thorough work-out
Last September, the House of Commons debated the merit and wisdom of sending British servicemen and women into action yet again. The enemy was the same then as it is now and many of the arguments for and against military action were just as familiar. But back then, back in September 2014, parliament was convinced.
Well, this is another fine mess, isn’t it? Jeremy Corbyn opposes (surprise!) extending the UK’s anti-ISIS mission from Iraq to Syria and this, we are told, is the Labour party’s official position. Nevertheless, Labour MPs will not be whipped whenever the matter is eventually put to a vote in the House of Commons. They will
It’s all over. In fact, it was over before it ever really began. I knew it, you knew it, and even many of the poor fish who voted for Jeremy Corbyn knew it. And now everyone knows, as Morrissey put it, That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore. The Labour party, it should now be obvious to everyone,
Update, 5.59pm: Natalie McGarry has now resigned the SNP whip over the campaign fund probe. First there were 56. Then there were 55. Pretty soon it seems entirely possible there will be only 54. SNP MPs, that is. Natalie McGarry, the 34 year old MP for Glasgow East, is the latest (that is, second) member
Weakness comes in many guises. Last night, for instance, I found myself feeling something close to pity for Jeremy Corbyn. Pictures of the House of Commons may be notoriously unreliable but they can still tell a story. And there it is: Corbyn Alone, Jeremy Agonistes, Jezza Contra Mundum. Mocked by his enemies and abandoned by his notional
Of course it is complicated. Of course there are no obvious or simple or even, perhaps, persuasive solutions. And yet, despite that, some things are clear. First, is confronting Islamic State in this country’s interest? Yes. Because the alternative is even worse. Foreign policy only rarely affords the choice between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ options. It
It is shocking isn’t it? I mean, who knew Stop The War (sic) threw a Christmas party each year? You’d have thought they’d be more of a Winterval crowd. Perhaps there is hope for them after all. But it is not at all shocking that Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Her Majesty’s loyal opposition, is, as matters stand, going to attend the
We weep with France today. Tears of sorrow but also, unavoidably, of rage. And behind those tears lies something else: a fearful sense of apprehension rooted in the knowledge that this will happen again, somewhere else. It already is happening elsewhere. The assault on Paris last night followed another Islamic State attack in Beirut in
A few weeks ago, I suggested that many of the arguments that will be trotted out during the forthcoming – and lacklustre – EU referendum will be wholly familiar to anyone who paid attention to last year’s referendum on independence for Scotland. And so it is proving. Sensible people – of whom there are more
