Politics

Not so very long ago, Scotland’s nationalist minority was mustering behind a catastrophic plan to treat the next general election as a ‘de facto’ referendum. Having over-promised for years about her ability to deliver a second vote on the constitution, former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon declared that a majority of votes for pro-independence candidates would give her the green light to open secession talks with whoever was prime minister. ‘Hurrah!’ cheered nationalists, ‘This is a brilliant idea.’ Then Sturgeon resigned amid a police investigation into her party and was succeeded by Humza Yousaf, who declared he was not in favour of Sturgeon’s ‘de facto’ referendum idea. No matter the concessions

The Ukrainian counter-offensive has duly started and, needless to say, there is a rush to judgement. It is going to play out over the coming weeks, even months, though, and at present we are still working off partial and often deceptive information. But, while there is relatively little one can say about the events unfolding on the battlefield, there is more to be said about the way they are being spun. After weeks of diversionary actions and then days of feints and probes, the fighting has begun in earnest. It is focused on the rubbled ruins of what were once Bakhmut, the towns of Avdiivka and Marinka towards the city

Last night, Boris Johnson unexpectedly resigned from the House of Commons. His graceless and indignant resignation statement made clear that he blamed the Privileges Committee for his departure, arguing that he had been forced out of parliament over partygate. The committee had written to Mr Johnson in advance of the publication of its report, outlining its proposed criticisms. It seems pretty clear that Johnson seems to have jumped before he was pushed. Yet, if one looks more closely at Johnson’s account of events, it contains a some significant inaccuracies which go far beyond the usual rough and tumble of politics. Johnson’s decision to stand down is a tacit admission that