Scotland

Donald Trump touches down in Scotland today on what is ostensibly a private visit to open an 18-hole golf course dedicated to his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born on the Isle of Lewis. The State Visit isn’t until September. But Police Scotland aren’t taking any chances. Trump will be pursued by a ragged coalition of Scottish Green Party activists, Pro-Palestinian groups and trades unionists Around six thousand officers, including many drafted in from across the UK, will be on duty as the US president perambulates around his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and the Menie Estate near Aberdeen, pursued by a ragged coalition of Scottish Green Party activists,

When nurse Sandie Peggie complained about the presence of a trans-identifying man in the women’s changing room at Falkirk’s Victoria Hospital, she was treated as a dangerous bigot. A witch-hunt saw her suspended from the job to which she had devoted thirty years of her life and she faced horrifying allegations of placing patients in danger. Today, Peggie is not only a household name in Scotland, she’s fast becoming a national hero. An industrial tribunal called by the nurse – started in February, paused, then resumed last week – has heard how doctors and management turned on her while rallying round Dr Beth Upton, a man who claims to be

As the 2026 Holyrood election looms, parties are scrambling to get their candidate lists finalised. Today the Scottish Greens have released their regional list names – with some rather interesting selections amid party splits. One of the most significant decisions sees the current MSP for the North East region, Maggie Chapman, demoted on the list as her rival Guy Ingerson secures the top spot. While Chapman is second on the list, party insiders have admitted they are not expecting to elect two MSPs in the area – which would mark the end of the eco-activist’s five-year career in frontline politics. Attempts were made to oust outgoing co-leader Patrick Harvie from

On 18 September 2014, Scotland went to the polls to decide its future in the United Kingdom. While the outcome was decisive – 55 per cent of voters couldn’t bring themselves to back independence – the turnout for the poll, at 85 per cent, was one of the highest recorded in Britain. The significance of the ‘one-off’ vote (plus anxieties on either side of the debate about the outcome coming down to the wire) saw full-throated campaign efforts deliver a swathe of voters to polling stations. A number of these were under 18-years-old, including me – with my birthday falling just six days before the poll. It was the 2012

The trials of Sandie Peggie are a parable of where power lies in a country when lies are power. Peggie is a nurse from Fife, by all accounts a hard-working professional dedicated to her vocation and her patients. Things went awry, however, when she objected to undressing in a changing room in front of Dr Beth Upton, a male medic who identifies as a woman. If that sentence sounds absurd, that’s because it is, but we are supposed to pretend otherwise – especially if we want to be considered good people. Dishonesty is the best policy. Following a complaint from Dr Upton, Peggie was suspended by NHS Fife in January 2024, and she took the health

The Sandie Peggie case against NHS Fife is only getting stranger. The tribunal resumed on Wednesday morning, after first being heard in February after nurse Peggie lodged a complaint of harassment related to a protected belief under the 2010 Equality Act after being suspended for complaining about sharing a changing room with a transgender doctor. Just weeks after the case adjourned, the Supreme Court backed the biological definition of a woman – and just this week Peggie’s lawyer announced NHS Fife had cleared Peggie of all gross misconduct allegations. Now those present have witnessed another baffling twist –the senior diversity officer who gave advice that allowed a transgender medic into

To Scotland, where the nurse at the centre of a trans tribunal against NHS Fife has been cleared of all gross misconduct allegations. On Tuesday night, Sandie Peggie’s lawyer said that the health board had cleared the nurse of four gross misconduct allegations – following Peggie’s suspension in January 2024 after complaining about sharing a changing room with transgender medic Dr Beth Upton. Peggie then lodged a complaint of sexual harassment or harassment related to a protected belief under the 2010 Equality Act while earlier this year Dr Upton had made an allegation of bullying and harassment against the nurse. The case regarding single sex spaces was heard for ten

Ross Greer is for Palestine, trans rights and riling up the Daily Express, making him the ideal candidate to lead the Scottish Greens. At an event in Glasgow today, the West Scotland MSP put himself forward as a successor to Patrick Harvie, who is standing down after 17 years at the helm of the environmentalist party that occasionally takes an interest in the environment. Under Harvie’s leadership, the Greens have prioritised cultural and identity politics over economics and ecology, helping to push the Gender Recognition Reform Bill through Holyrood and press for free bus travel for asylum seekers (an idea pinched by the SNP-run Scottish government).  The pragmatic radicalism on offer

Just when the SNP thought Operation Branchform had disappeared, the curious case into the party’s funds and finances has reared its head again. Now it transpires that former SNP chief Peter Murrell – and ex-husband of Dear Leader Nicola Sturgeon – has been granted legal aid after being charged with embezzlement, meaning the taxpayer will, um, fund his legal bills. Good heavens… As reported by the Daily Record, the onetime chief executive of the Scottish National party had his application for solemn legal aid approved by the Scottish Legal Aid Board. The 60-year-old will receive support which is usually granted to those who cannot afford to pay for legal help

Oh dear. It’s not been a good year for the Scottish Conservatives, who have seen multiple councillors defect to Reform UK ahead of next year’s Scottish parliament elections. Now, in a further blow to the Tories, it transpires a former Conservative MP has jumped ship to Nigel Farage’s party. Talk about a sinking ship, eh? Ross Thomson – who had formerly backed Kemi Badenoch for the party leadership – less than a year after claiming his old group was the only party able to overcome the ‘threat’ of Farage. The eighth Conservative member in the region to turn his back on the blues, Thomson revealed his new colours after appearing

Last week, I had the privilege of interning with the broadcast team at The Spectator ­– a magazine that has been stirring up debate since 1828. True to form, my arrival seemed to do the same. A Scottish newspaper managed to spin my internship into something resembling a scandal because I’m currently a sitting councillor in Renfrewshire. The whole thing would be flattering if it wasn’t so confusing. I suspect the real issue is not the internship. It is my defection – and my decision to challenge the political orthodoxy of the mainstream parties According to the National, ‘a Scottish Reform defector has been called out for taking a new job with the London-based

With less than 11 months to go until the Holyrood election, things aren’t looking quite as rosy for the SNP as in previous elections. The party is 15 points down on where it was 2021, it lost the recent Hamilton by-election with Reform hot on its heels and now it has been dealt another blow. SNP veteran Fergus Ewing has confirmed that he will run as an independent at the 2026 Scottish parliament election, turning his back on a political institution he has represented in Holyrood for over a quarter of a century. It’s quite the move from a politician who grew up as SNP royalty, being the son of

SNP MSP Mairi McAllan appears to be rated rather highly by First Minister John Swinney, who created an entirely new job for her on her return to Holyrood from maternity leave – but the Scottish government’s new housing secretary hasn’t had the smoothest start to the job. A rather awkward interview with STV this week highlighted the Cabinet minister isn’t quite as on top of her brief as she should be. Oh dear… The SNP claims on its website that ‘since taking office, we have delivered 96,750 affordable homes, nearly 67,000 of which were for social rent’. But on how many people are currently waiting for a social home in

A small but not insignificant morsel of data on the state of education after 18 years of the SNP running Scotland. New figures show the gap between the poorest and wealthiest school leavers has widened to a five-year high. In the least deprived areas, just 3 per cent of school leavers fail to go to a ‘positive destination’, the Scottish Government’s term for higher or further education, training, employment or voluntary work. Yet in the most deprived areas, areas like the former Lanarkshire industrial town from which I’m writing this, more than one in ten children leave school to what is euphemistically called ‘other destinations’, i.e. unemployment. Scottish Labour’s education

Dear oh dear. With just days to go until the Scottish Conservative conference, party leader Russell Findlay will have been hoping for a quiet news week. He has had no such luck however – at the eleventh hour, it transpires that yet another one of his Aberdeenshire councillors has defected to Reform UK. Lauren Knight has become the party’s fifth representative on the council – and party officials insist that with the support of two independent councillors, they now have an official group. The tide is turning… Knight, who represents the ward of Huntly, Strathbogie and Howe of Alford, was previously a Tory party member. But her move to Reform

It’s a busy day in politics and the SNP is keen not to be left out of the action. As Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveils her spending review in London, today the Scottish Cabinet has undergone a reshuffle. The looming return of ex-net zero secretary Mairi McAllan from maternity leave had in recent weeks sparked speculation about how First Minister John Swinney would reorganise his top team, and his party’s rather dismal result in last week’s Hamilton by-election has led to much frustration – public and private – about the strategy deployed by the SNP government. Swinney’s reshuffle today may be modest, but the First Minister has, with 11 months to