Scotland

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Union chief in second home hypocrisy row

Well, well, well. The general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress has found herself at the centre of a rather embarrassing scandal. It transpires that Roz Foyer – who has repeatedly blasted second home ownership – owns a total of, er, five homes, including a flat in Spain as well as a £100,000 plot of land. Talk about hypocrisy, eh? As revealed by the Mail on Sunday, Foyer – who earns up to six figures a year – lives in a £280,000 four-bedroom home in north-west Glasgow. On top of this, however, she has a £240,000 flat in Edinburgh, a £145,000 terraced house in Glasgow, a £125,000 Spanish flat

Is Labour right to remain positive about this week’s Scottish by-election?

Nigel Farage will make his first political visit north of the border in six years this week, causing intense excitement in the Scottish media. The Reform UK leader’s trips here rarely pass without incident, including the time he sought refuge from protesters in an Edinburgh pub or when a nearby branch of McDonald’s was asked by police not to sell milkshakes. Activists are already targeting the visit to Hamilton. Which is, of course, precisely what the media-hungry Farage wants. To date, media coverage of the Scottish parliamentary by-election campaign in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse in the heart of the central belt has breathlessly predicted a Reform breakthrough, which could push Scottish Labour into third place

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Ash Regan’s prostitution blunder

To Scotland, where once Britain’s greatest schools were found. These days, sadly, that can no longer be said, thanks to the SNP’s mismanagement over the past 18 years in office. One of those who served as a minister in its wretched regime was Ash Regan, who held the Scottish Government’s Community Safety brief from 2018 to 2022. Having failed to win the party leadership in 2023, she now sits as an MSP in the Alex Salmond fan club that is the Alba party.  Her latest Holyrood initiative is to restart the debate on prostitution north of the border. Regan is championing a new ‘Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill’ which

Can Scotland learn to love Farage?

There’s not much that’s green in Larkhall, Scotland. So staunchly Protestant unionist is the ex-mining town in South Lanarkshire that it has scrubbed itself of anything associated with Irish Catholicism. The local Subway franchise has grey panelling on its front, and local pharmacies have opted for blue signage. The 15,000-strong area has one football team: Rangers FC. Go deeper into Larkhall’s suburbia and you’ll find Union Jacks on flagpoles interspersed with those bearing the Red Hand of Ulster. Kerbstones have been painted in the colours of the British flag while rumours abound of youths trying to set fire to the grass. ‘In our schools, the wains aren’t taught that traffic

Scotland’s Ecocide Bill is pure moral posturing

Here we go again. The Scottish parliament risks embarking on yet another exercise in legislative virtue signalling: the Labour MSP Monica Lennon’s emotively titled Ecocide Bill. The Scottish government is reportedly looking favourably on this legislation, which would make destroying the environment a criminal offence punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Does this Bill open the door to criminal proceedings against operators in the North Sea? Needless to say, destroying the environment – intentionally or recklessly – is already illegal under numerous statutes: the Environmental Protection Act, the Wildlife and Countryside Act, and the Climate Change Act, to name but three. But, like the ill-fated Named Person Act, the Gender

Thomas Kerr: Reform will reform Holyrood

Thomas Kerr made headlines when he – as The Spectator exclusively revealed – defected from the Conservatives to Nigel Farage’s Reform in January. Kerr was seen as a rising star in the Scottish Conservative party and was selected in 2023 to contest the Rutherglen and Hamilton West Westminster by-election after the SNP’s Margaret Ferrier was suspended over breaking Covid rules. He was unsuccessful but rose through the ranks to become the Tory leader on Glasgow City Council before he left for more turquoise pastures at Reform. A week from the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, in which his party is projected to do well, Kerr speaks to The Spectator about

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NHS Fife refuse to reveal costs of trans tribunal

To NHS Fife, which is once again making headlines for all the wrong reasons. The Scottish health board has been slammed by the country’s information tsar for failing to publish its spend on an ongoing employment tribunal brought against it by nurse Sandie Peggie. Whatever happened to transparency, eh? After nurse Peggie questioned a transgender doctor for using the female changing rooms, she was suspended by the Scottish health board. The move pushed her to bring a landmark tribunal against NHS Fife and Dr Beth Upton for harassment and discrimination and prompting heated discussion about what the Equality Act says about the provision of single-sex spaces. But when investigators approached the

Can Reform conquer Scotland?

23 min listen

Dissatisfaction with the established political parties is driving a ‘tartan bounce’ in Scotland for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. Far from being an English phenomenon, Reform is polling favourably with Scottish voters. There will be a by-election next week for the Scottish Parliament seat of Hamilton, in what will be Reform’s first big test inside the politics of devolved government.  For councillor Thomas Kerr, who defected from the Scottish Conservatives to Reform earlier this year, Reform’s appeal in Scotland is no surprise. He joins Lucy Dunn to explain why he thinks the ‘sky is the limit’ for Reform, why Farage is an asset to the party in Scotland and to explain

Why is Scottish Labour giving Farage free publicity?

If the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is sincere in wishing to deprive Nigel Farage of the ‘oxygen of publicity’, he’s got a funny way of going about it. In a vituperative interview on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland today, he gave the Reform leader another blast of oxygen by offering a public debate on the eve of his visit to next week’s Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election. This is publicity Reform couldn’t buy with any of the money it has so far devoted to a blitz on social media. Sarwar is incensed at a mischievous attack ad last week in which Reform doctored a quote to suggest that the Scottish Labour leader

Stephen Daisley

Is Reform trying to race-bait Scottish Labour’s leader?

Nigel Farage’s party is taking heat for a Meta ad it has run as part of the Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse by-election. (The incumbent MSP, the SNP’s Christina McKelvie, died from breast cancer in March.) Reform is pushing its candidate, local councillor Ross Lambie, and claims it stands a chance of capturing the seat, which would have been ludicrous not so long ago and is still hard to fathom today. A Reform victory here in Lanarkshire would be a historic upset and would give credence to a series of polls which suggest the party is on course to make gains in next year’s Holyrood elections.  The disputed ad, which ran on Facebook and

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Scottish Labour leader accuses Farage of poisoning politics

To Scotland, where in just over a week’s time, the first Holyrood by-election for six years will take place. It’s set to a be a tight race in the constituency of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse and tensions between the political parties in the running are rising. Now Nigel Farage has hit out at Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, rather bizarrely accusing the Glasgow politician of introducing ‘sectarianism into Scottish politics’ as the spat between the pair continues. Dear oh dear… Farage’s remarks follow the feud over Reform UK’s attack ad, which has selectively clipped one of Sarwar’s speeches from 2022 to claim that the Scottish Labour leader will ‘prioritise the

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Reform gains another Scottish Tory councillor

To Aberdeenshire in Scotland, where a fourth Scottish Tory councillor has defected to Reform UK. It transpires that Dominic Lonchay – represents the East Garioch ward on the council – has jumped ship to Nigel Farage’s real army in another blow to the Scottish Tories. Lonchay’s defection makes him the 13th councillor to join Reform UK in Scotland – and the fourth on Aberdeenshire Council. The tide is turning… Commenting on his decision, Lonchay remarked:  The reasons for this decision are many, and I have particularly recently been unable to influence the running of the council for the benefit of my constituents. I have therefore decided to join Reform Scotland, and I

The SNP attack on Starmer’s EU deal makes no sense

To mutilate the words of PG Wodehouse, it is never difficult to distinguish between a Scottish nationalist with a grievance and a ray of sunshine. Fury is the fuel that drives the SNP, which has been in power at the Scottish parliament for 18 years. So it is hardly a surprise that First Minister John Swinney has reacted angrily to the new deal struck between the United Kingdom and the European Union. The agreement reached between Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will increase freedom of movement, create closer relationships between businesses, and increase cooperation on food standards. These are things that the

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Sturgeon earns more from second jobs than her MSP role

To the SNP’s Dear Leader, who just can’t seem to keep out of the spotlight. Now Scotland’s former first minister – who is still a sitting MSP – has been accused of prioritising herself over her constituents after her declared extra earnings reveal she is earning more from her second jobs than her role as a parliamentarian. Alright for some! Alongside her £74,000 a year MSP salary, it transpires that Sturgeon has declared almost £200,000 of additional earnings since resigning from the top job as FM in 2023. Alongside her day job, the Glasgow politician has received yet another bumper sum of £76,500 for her upcoming memoir, Frankly, which is

Stephen Daisley

The fight against assisted dying in Scotland is not over yet

Assisted suicide has cleared its first hurdle in the Scottish parliament, but there could be many more to come. On Tuesday evening, MSPs voted 70 to 56 to progress Liam McArthur’s Assisted Dying Bill. It would allow patients to request and be prescribed lethal drugs if they are diagnosed with an advanced, progressive and unrecoverable condition which ‘can reasonably be expected to cause their premature death’. The patient would have to be 16 or older and mentally competent and, unlike Kim Leadbeater’s Commons bill, which is limited to those with no more than six months to live, McArthur’s Bill would not require that the patient be in the final stages

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Scottish Labour leader turns on assisted dying bill

To Holyrood, where parliamentarians will tomorrow vote on Scotland’s assisted dying bill. Scottish Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur has put forward legislation that would allow those deemed terminally ill north of the border to take their own lives – as Kim Leadbeater’s bill for England and Wales makes its way through Westminster. But support for the Scottish legislation is waning north of the border, and now Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has announced he will not back the bill. How very interesting… Sarwar will vote against the assisted dying bill tomorrow after stating he does not believe the proposed legislation include ‘sufficient safeguards to provide the reassurance and protection that would

Is support for Scotland’s euthanasia bill dying?

While Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill makes its way through the UK parliament, in Scotland a separate assisted dying bill will be voted on next week. Scottish Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur has put forward legislation that would allow those deemed terminally ill north of the border to take their own lives, with MSPs allowed a free vote on the issue on 13 May. The decision to back the bill is a matter of conscience for parliamentarians. But now, less than a week before decision day, both First Minister John Swinney and his predecessor Humza Yousaf have announced that they will vote against it. First Minister John Swinney and his predecessor

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Could Reform become the official opposition in Scotland?

To Scotland, where some rather curious polling has been published – suggesting that after next year’s Holyrood election, Reform UK could become the largest opposition party north of the border. The Survation survey for True North projects the current party of government, the SNP, will become Scotland’s largest party – taking a third of the constituency and regional list vote and winning 58 seats – with Nigel Farage’s lot leapfrogging both the Tories and Scottish Labour to end up in second place, taking a fifth of the vote to end up with 21 seats. It’s quite the turnaround! Anas Sarwar’s Scottish Labour lot may be punished at next year’s poll

A year on, has John Swinney turned things around for the SNP?

It’s difficult to imagine a more cautious revolutionary than John Swinney. When the First Minister was unexpectedly swept into Charlotte Square just one year ago – answering the call of a party in need of healing and direction in equal measure – few expected him to author a radical’s reset. The party of the late Alex Salmond’s braggadocio, Nicola Sturgeon’s sure-footedness and Humza Yousaf’s faltering optimism had turned, perhaps inevitably, to the reassuringly experienced veteran whose political style has been compared to that of a Blairgowrie bank manager.  When he returned to the frontline, some thought Swinney was to play the part of a political caretaker – a soothing interregnum

How long can Scotland’s nonsensical nuclear ban last?

Just outside Dunbar, a short drive from Edinburgh, sits Torness nuclear power station. In its 40 or so years of operation, it has produced more than 300 terawatts hours of zero-carbon electricity – enough to power every single home in Scotland for 36 years. Torness was set to close in three years, but received a two-year stay-of-execution from the nuclear regulator. There are hopes that a further extension is possible, yet most industry experts expect Scotland’s last nuclear power station to close before 2035. When that eventually happens, Scotland will be without nuclear power for the first time since 1959. And when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t