Euan McColm is a columnist for the Scottish Daily Mail, The Scotsman, and Scotland on Sunday.
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
Journalists are prone to a bouts of tiresome nostalgia. Stick a handful of us round a table, add a couple of bottles, and the war stories will flow. Having once been one of the new generation (I’m 55, now, and started this nonsense 37 years ago) I know how exhausting encounters with aged hacks can
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
The remarkable story of nurse Sandie Peggie, suspended from her job after she complained about the presence of a male doctor in a staff changing room, has what politicos describe as ‘cut through’. Over the past week, a tribunal in Dundee has heard jaw-dropping evidence about how the nurse was treated when she questioned the
Quarterly reports from the office of National Records of Scotland confirm time and again the existence of an ongoing drug deaths crisis north of the border. And, time and again, the Scottish government reveals itself to be devoid of ideas for how to tackle it. Now, however, there has been a flicker of progress with
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney began 2025 in the traditional manner – with a chorus of Auld Lang Syne. Speaking at Edinburgh University on Monday morning, Swinney called for unity across the political divide and urged opposition leaders to get behind his government’s budget. Failure to do so, said the FM, would ‘feed the forces
If there’s one thing the SNP truly excels at, it’s maintaining double standards. The extraordinary case of the Scottish government and the missing legal advice makes clear just how hypocritical the SNP is when it comes to conduct in public life. Scottish nationalists are swift to condemn opponents at the slightest whiff of impropriety but,
If you need proof that the SNP’s modus operandi in government is to make it up on the hoof, consider the party’s plan for a National Care Service (NCS). Announced by former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, the NCS was to be a radical – even visionary – solution to growing pressure on both the National Health
Ten years ago today the Scottish independence referendum took place. The result was a resounding defeat for those who wanted Scotland to break away. The decade since has not been kind to the Scottish nationalist project. It all seemed very different for nationalists on the afternoon of Thursday September 18, 2014 Former SNP leader Alex
Humiliation really does concentrate the political mind, doesn’t it? Over the years when the SNP dominated the Scottish parliamentary chamber, ministers spent little time reaching across party lines. Indeed, by the time Nicola Sturgeon was first minister in 2014, for every SNP MSP missing the point in Holyrood, there was another pointing and jeering at
Loath as I am to indulge in the national pastime of Scottish exceptionalism, we do pretty well when it comes to producing writers. From the mainstream to the fringes, and across the world, many key literary figures were born, or are based, north of the border. Creative Scotland is over. The organisation has managed to make
The Scottish government has today confirmed that it will follow Westminster’s decision to end the universal payment of winter fuel payments to pensioners. Instead, a Holyrood-run alternative will ensure that those elderly Scots most in need are still supported through means-testing. Social justice secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville insists she is unhappy about the decision, stating today
Many Scots – including political leaders who should know better – talk of their fellow countrymen as if we are uniquely moral and decent. The rise of the SNP has been accompanied by a new wave of Scottish exceptionalism; simply to have entered the world in a Glasgow hospital is to confer up on a person
The SNP may be in crisis, with police investigating the use of party funds and support from voters sliding, but the current General Election campaign obliges leader John Swinney to pretend everything in the garden continues to bloom. Launching the Nats’ manifesto in Edinburgh on Wednesday, the First Minister acted as if his scandal-scarred party
‘The thing is,’ says one Conservative member of the Scottish parliament, ‘that we wanted rid of him – just not like this.’ Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross’s decision to stand in next month’s General Election infuriated colleagues. His response to that backlash – to resign his position – has driven some of them positively apoplectic
In public, Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party is all humility. Starmer might currently be heading towards a general election landslide victory but the line is consistent: The party’s taking nothing for granted. Privately? Well, one of two of the party’s candidates and strategists might concede they expect things to go rather well for them on
Twenty-five years have passed since the opening of the Scottish parliament and the issue of just how well devolution is working is a rather awkward one for the current SNP-led government. This week, both the Scottish Conservative and Scottish Labour parties have made entirely clear that reform is needed. Labour believes that Scottish mayors might
Winnie Ewing, SNP royalty – Madame Écosse to those who had served alongside her in the European Parliament – opened proceedings with a song in her voice and a twinkle in her eye. ‘The Scottish Parliament,’ said the oldest of its new members, ‘adjourned on 25th day of March in the year 1707, is hereby
So much for Scotland being the home of ‘radical’ progressive politics. After almost two decades of the Scottish National party saying that Scots are fundamentally different to their neighbours – wiser, more compassionate, just generally better – the party now reckons Scottish voters might just share the same priorities as those south of the border.
Accepting the leadership of the SNP on Monday, John Swinney said his political priority as Scotland’s seventh First Minister would be the eradication of child poverty. If he is sincere in his desire to achieve this ambition, then Scotland’s economic growth – just 0.2 per cent last year – needs be a great deal better.
