Scotland

So here’s a thing. Last week a prominent defence lawyer broke ranks and declared that the police investigation into alleged misuse of SNP party funds – Operation Branchform – had been going on too long and should be wound up pronto. Scottish criminal defence lawyer Thomas Leonard Ross KC told Sky News the probe ‘cannot go on indefinitely’. ‘Once somebody is charged then they have the right to a trial within a reasonable time,’ he said. Many Scottish politicians have been saying this privately too – not all of them nationalists. Then, by a remarkable coincidence, the Sunday Mail revealed exclusively this weekend that ‘prosecutors investigating SNP fraud allegations are examining evidence

To Holyrood, where Scotland’s politicians have overwhelmingly voted to oppose the Labour government’s winter fuel payment cuts. 99 MSPs voted in favour of the motion tabled by SNP First Minister John Swinney, which called on the UK government to ‘reverse the introduction of means testing for the winter fuel payment’ – and in a sign of cracks emerging in the party, it transpires that Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has faced a mini-rebellion over the matter. Oh dear. Of Scottish Labour’s 22 MSPs, only 16 voted on today’s motion. Earlier today, rumours began to circulate that several of Sarwar’s MSPs were expected to break the whip and back the SNP

Back to Scotland, where the police probe into the SNP’s funds and finances continues to rumble on. Now it transpires that prosecutors are looking into findings that suggests a non-existent company was paid for refurbishment work carried out at SNP HQ. More than £100,000 was coughed up for work on a ‘media suite’ in the party’s Edinburgh office – yet officers are probing evidence that suggests the company paid wasn’t, um, real. The SNP’s 2020 accounts detail the party paid £615,000 to refurb the party’s offices, with the money going on upgraded furniture and tech. One source told the Sunday Mail that: One of the biggest items being looked at

Back to the Tory leadership contest which is gathering pace post-conference season. In a matter of days, MPs will cast their votes to leave just two contenders in the race, before the membership gets its say. But there is consternation about the final two among the Holyrood group – which only appointed a new leader itself last week – after growing frustration about some of the frontrunners having snubbed Scotland. How very interesting. Half of the Scottish Tory crowd – which only appointed a new leader itself last week – have publicly thrown their weight behind Tom Tugendhat, who has the backing of 16 of the party’s 31 MSPs. The

Hard-working Scots could be forgiven for resorting to a stiff drink tonight as they contemplate an extraordinary triple attack on their living standards. The minimum unit price of alcohol has risen by 30 per cent, peak-time rail tickets have nearly doubled, and the energy price cap has just gone up by 10 per cent or £149. Oh, and many pensioners have also lost their winter fuel payments thanks to Rachel Reeves, ‘the pensioner freezer’, as the Labour chancellor is being called, even by some in the Scottish Labour party. But that hike in the minimum unit price of alcohol, which adds insult to injury, is entirely down to the Scottish

While one Tory leadership contest rumbles on, another has come to a close. Russell Findlay was made the new leader of the Scottish Conservative party on Friday – and he’s enjoying his victory lap at Tory conference this weekend. At a fringe event today, the former crime journalist was keen to hammer home that his premiership will be about change – doesn’t that sound familiar – and told his audience he wants to ‘get down to the hard work of earning back the trust of the voters we’ve lost’. And with the recent leadership race shining a light on party infighting, he’s certainly got his work cut out… But the

Of all the self-inflicted harm to have felled politicians and undermined governments, was there ever a more curious case than that of self-ID and the SNP? In so bullishly battling the cause of Gender Recognition Reform (GRR), that would have allowed for trans-identifying people to self-declare their new gender, the SNP suffered the largest backbench rebellion of the Scottish parliament’s 25-year tenure, saw a minister defect to Alex Salmond’s Alba party, and lost two first ministers in rapid succession.       And after all such calamity, the SNP’s GRR Act was merely blocked by Westminster using a Section 35 order, a dead man’s switch designed to prevent Holyrood’s lawmakers

The first of two Conservative leadership contests has concluded and today it has been announced that the new leader of the Scottish party is Russell Findlay. The former crime journalist was widely seen as the party establishment favourite after former leader Douglas Ross announced he would be resigning from the post in June. Now Findlay faces the rather daunting prospect of reuniting his group after months of bad briefings mired the race in scandal. Best of luck… Ross stepped down after losing the support of his colleagues when he ousted ill colleague David Duguid in the Westminster parliamentary selection process. Not long after the ex-party leader had announced he would

The general election may have been and gone but north of the border another fight is shaping up. The SNP has lost both members and support in the wake of Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation, the police probe into party finances and the party’s inability to find a new indyref strategy. Meanwhile, Scottish Labour under Anas Sarwar has seen its fortunes markedly improve – and even ex-SNP MPs have confessed to Mr S they see the group leader as the country’s next First Minister. How very curious… Sarwar spent a lot of his time at Labour conference making moves around the 2026 Holyrood election. Speaking in Liverpool in conversation with Andrew Marr,

Labour’s first conference from government in 14 years might not be taking place against an ideal backdrop, with the Prime Minister and other ministers under scrutiny for accepting designer clobber and other goodies from party donors, but there is an unlikely glimmer of hope in the form of Anas Sarwar. Unlikely, that is, because Sarwar is leader of Scottish Labour and for almost a decade that great clunking juggernaut of electoral inevitability had sputtered to a halt and begun to rust. Reduced to just one seat north of the border and in a distant third place at Holyrood, the Scottish party had become an ominous lesson in how thoroughly Labour

To Liverpool, where Sir Keir Starmer is enjoying his first Labour conference in government, against the backdrop of rather stormy weather and an even worse week of press. On Sunday night, the Prime Minister attended the Scottish Labour reception to welcome new MPs north of the border and ramp up support for his Caledonian lot ahead of the 2026 Holyrood elections, enthusiastically endorsing the Scottish leader as speculation about the fortunes of the party grows. A jubilant PM told the crowd: We’ve got a Labour government with 37 Scottish Labour MPs who want and are willing to stand for election. Places like that in Scotland – they don’t fall from

As we mark 10 years on from Scotland’s independence referendum, the entire political ecosystem in Scotland is engaged in attempts to define, or redefine, the narrative of that time. Those on my side of the independence argument remember a campaign of energy, optimism and positivity that is simply unmatched. It’s also the case that, for many on the pro-union side, they recall a divisive and hostile experience of the Yes movement. Both points of view can, of course, be true and are equally valid. Yet, it’s a uniquely Scottish curiosity that my side – ultimately, the losing side – speaks more fondly of that time than the actual winners. But this is Scottish politics,

To Glasgow’s Science Centre, where on Saturday Scotland’s former first minister Alex Salmond brought together a whole host of pro-indy voices for a nationalist natter. Featuring former SNP MPs Joanna Cherry, Alex Neil and Dr Philippa Whitford as well as online blogger Stuart Campbell (aka. Wings Over Scotland), Salmond’s ‘The Ayes Still Have It!’ was presented to an enthusiastic crowd. But for Mr S, there was one interview in particular that rather stood out… SNP MSP Fergus Ewing has made headlines in recent months for his overt criticism of his own party – and on Saturday, the Inverness and Nairn politician was certainly pulling no punches. Bringing his segment to

While Sir Keir Starmer is trying hard to ban fun, the Scottish National party is hot on his heels. Now it transpires that, er, pint glasses with logos are proving too offensive for the Nats – with a possible crackdown on the horizon. Priorities, priorities… The SNP government has, it emerged, ordered experts to investigate the impact of a ban on branded pint glasses, t-shirts and umbrellas in an attempt to get a handle on alcohol-related deaths – which in Scotland rose to a 15-year high of 1,277 mortalities in 2023. In a bid to cut the figures, SNP Health Secretary Neil Gray informed parliamentarians that Public Health Scotland will