Alex Massie is Scotland Editor of The Spectator.
When he assumed the Office of Prime Minister, Boris Johnson also took upon himself the responsibility of being, he said, ‘Minister for the Union’. Whatever you may feel about the manner in which he has performed as First Lord of the Treasury, his record in his other post has been miserable. So much so, indeed,
Tiresome things, words. And it is even more tiresome when people insist they retain their traditional meanings. Thus I suppose one may sympathise with Peter Murrell, chief executive of the SNP and — for this is not irrelevant to the subject being discussed here — husband to Nicola Sturgeon. In January 2019, Alex Salmond was
Peggy Noonan, the doyenne of conservative American columnists, once published a ‘story of Ronald Reagan’ that bore the title ‘When Character Was King’. It has sometimes been objected that Noonan prizes grace and civility in public life to the exclusion of much else, including plenty that is vital. There is some truth in this assertion
In January, Sir Keir Starmer told Border Television’s Peter MacMahon that, look, of course an SNP victory in next year’s Holyrood elections would plausibly constitute a mandate for a second independence referendum. It might, indeed, be argued that the SNP have such a mandate already, there being a pro-independence majority in the current Scottish parliament,
Sometimes you just need to accept that some political problems do not have a solution. One such is the Labour party’s increasingly fraught relationship with Scotland. One opinion poll published earlier this summer suggested the erstwhile people’s party now commands the support of just 14 per cent of Scottish voters. The optimistic view of this
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Governments around the world have adopted extraordinary powers to deal with coronavirus – but could they end up doing more damage than good? (01:00) Next, is the best way to deal with the threat of Scottish secession to negotiate a hypothetical Scottish exit deal? (16:04) And finally, are Britain’s graveyards suffering a spate of indecent
The English cannot be understood without some appreciation of their attachment to their games, and yet this is an area of their story often overlooked by historians. Or perhaps it is simply considered beneath their interest. This is the central message of Robert Colls’s superb account of England viewed through the medium of its sports
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Poll after poll is showing the surge in support for Scottish independence – so what can Boris Johnson do about it? (00:35) Plus, how many more pandemics does nature have in store for us? (13:20) And finally, is it time to bring back the British holiday camp? (28:00). With our Scotland Editor Alex Massie; commentator
Boris Johnson is far from being the first prime minister to holiday in Scotland. David Cameron used to slip off the radar at his father-in-law’s estate on the Isle of Jura, and plenty of other Conservative premiers have enjoyed a Scottish August on the grouse moor. But Johnson may be the first to holiday north
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After a week of feet dragging, the Scottish government has today dramatically U-turned on downgrading exam results for 76,000 students. Those who received lower marks will now revert to the original predicted grades given by their teachers. Meanwhile, we are two days away from the English A-Level results being out, so will Gavin Williamson also
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London is the motor to Britain’s economy, so how can it rebuild after the pandemic? (00:55) How can the new Tory leader in Scotland, Douglas Ross, keep the United Kingdom together? (17:50) And why the looming conflict between India and China isn’t in Kashmir, but rather in the Bay of Bengal. (29:33) With economist Gerard
As a boy, Douglas Ross, the new leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party, had two interests: cows and football. Growing up on a dairy farm in Moray, he never aspired to hold political office. He enjoyed the solitude of early morning milking. ‘Some people like big tractors, other people like sheep. I was
John Hume, the first and the greatest of the Irish peacemakers, has died aged 83. Few political leaders are truly indispensable, but it remains difficult to imagine a Northern Irish peace process without John Hume. Without Hume’s questing belief that peace was not only desirable but possible, there might have been no peace process at
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James Forsyth writes in this week’s Spectator that the Union is the biggest challenge facing this government, despite everything that is going on with the pandemic. Support for Scottish independence continues to grow north of the border. On the podcast, Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and our Scotland Editor Alex Massie about what the
A long, long time ago – by which I mean last month – I was firmly under the impression that no-one had any interest in conflating gender with biological sex. This, at any rate, was what some trans-people and many trans-activists told me and everyone else who cared to involve themselves in the boiling argument
Shall we start with an easy question? As a general rule, would it be appropriate for a 15-year-old boy to enter athletic or sporting competitions restricted to children under the age of 12? I fancy that, like most people, you think the answer to this is ‘No’ – just as you accept that it would
Danny Kruger, formerly Johnson’s political secretary and now the MP for Devizes, has – perhaps inadvertently – done the country some small service. In a note sent to newly-elected Tory MPs, Mr Kruger has reportedly advised his colleagues that ‘calling for Dominic Cummings to go is basically declaring no confidence in [the] prime minister.’ Well,
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The government has come out in defence of Dominic Cummings’s decision to travel to Durham during lockdown. On the podcast, two Spectator writers give their opposing views on whether or not he made the right decision.
Most aspects of this present emergency are complex and resist easy solutions. Only a handful are elementary but one of these, and quite obviously so, is the Dominic Cummings affair. He must go and he must go now. There is no alternative, no other way out, no means by which this ship can be saved.
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With Alex Massie, the Spectator’s Scotland Editor, and Fraser Nelson. Presented by Katy Balls.
