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Out of touch Holyrood has created the conditions for rise of the great Reform con

Some of those who like to flash their liberal credentials are fond of deploying words like ‘Fascism’ and ‘bigotry’. Thus, if you are considering...

yesterday 40

Herald Scotland

Kevin Mckenna

When AI kills off the ScotRail lady, you know we’re all in trouble

I found myself having a conversation with AI last month. I’ve resisted engaging with this monster technology until now, but my voyeuristic...

yesterday 5

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

Scottish hydropower boom hopes fade amid threats to bumper projects Hopes that Scotland is set for a hydropower boom that could create hundreds of jobs are fading amid concerns about schemes planned for Argyll and the Highlands

Hopes that Scotland is set for a hydropower boom are fading as giants delay key projects amid tensions with the Government. SSE and Drax caused...

yesterday 5

Herald Scotland

Mark Williamson

I lived through 15 years of the tramworks on my street - here's what I learned My children grew up with the Edinburgh tram works on our Leith street. A new line is proposed. Here's what I learned

Sometime towards the end of the tram works on my street, I came across a tweet, actually from a few years beforehand, sharing a short bit of...

yesterday 4

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

'Edinburgh must remain a lived-in city not ruined by the tourism its beauty attracts'

I am fortunate in being able to say that I love the place in which I live. Not everyone has that good fortune, particularly in a world in which the...

yesterday 4

Herald Scotland

Alexander Mccall Smith

Edinburgh must not kill off the golden goose that makes its fortune

It’s over 150 years since Lord Cockburn lived in a townhouse on Charlotte Square in Edinburgh. Since then we’ve had two world wars and dizzying...

yesterday 4

Herald Scotland

Stephen Jardine

War's climate toll. Emissions from Gaza may be 3/4 of Scotland’s annual The carbon footprint, a report says, of the first 15 months of the war on Gaza will be greater than annual emissions from many individual countries.

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. An article in the Guardian, based on a recent report, caught my eye this week. The...

yesterday 4

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

A Pride hate crime on Arran? No, just a sign of where we are now

Arran hasn’t had many LGBTQ Pride events but it so happens I was staying on the island in 2023 when they had one of their first. I remember...

previous day 40

Herald Scotland

Mark Smith

Reform voters aren't stupid or racist - but they have been let down, says STUC chief

Elections can do strange and surprising things to folk. But we shouldn’t really be surprised with Reform UK’s latest antics in the Hamilton,...

previous day 10

Herald Scotland

Roz Foyer

North Sea row appears to be reaching boiling point The North Sea windfall tax has been sharply in focus again over the last week.

The North Sea windfall tax has been sharply in focus again over the last week. Major players in the territory are banging their drums loudly...

previous day 20

Herald Scotland

Ian Mcconnell

Energy can make or break the 2026 Holyrood elections

High energy prices are still taking a toll on the electorate at the sharp end of the continuing cost of living crisis. Pressures are being felt...

previous day 9

Herald Scotland

Matt Revett

It is high time that irresponsible campervan users are taxed off the NC500

To some, they are the best way to travel as you basically just pack all your stuff in the back and head off into the day, only stopping when you’ve...

01.06.2025 5

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Public sector workers who refuse to come into the office should be sacked

Just what is the problem that Scots in particular have with the private sector delivering public services? Do Tesco and Aldi do a bad job of...

01.06.2025 7

Herald Scotland

Guy Stenhouse

Rise of Reform means Scots are now so scunnered they want to set the world on fire I UNDERSTAND the impulse to vote Reform. If your job is paying you peanuts and your town is full of ghost shops and your football team has been destroyed and your prospects are nil and not a single establishment party seems to have a plan or give a damn, then why wouldn’t you feel the urge to lash out at yourself and others? It’s the same impulse that prompts people to take to the streets with Molotov cocktails or creep out of their beds in the dead of the night and fell a centuries-old sycamore. They are acts born of frustration and battered self-esteem, and they provide a temporary release. But then you wake up and see that nothing has changed. Except now the last community centre on your estate has all its windows panned in, and there’s a vast emptiness where once there stood a tree.  If the panic of SNP and Labour canvassers is anything to go by, the constituency of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse is teetering on the brink of just such self-immolation. In the by-election prompted by the death of Christina McKelvie, it now seems likely Reform will come second, and no longer inconceivable it could win, giving Holyrood its first Reform MSP. In a dilapidated street next to a shuttered off-licence, Nigel Farage’s gurning face leers down from a billboard that reads “Hamilton Needs Reform”. If the party does well, it won’t be down to his personality; polls and vox pops suggest most Scottish voters still consider him “an a***hole”. It will be because some people are so scunnered with the calcification of Scottish politics, they want to set the world on fire, while others are too scunnered to head to the polling booths and extinguish the blaze. This didn’t happen with Ukip. In 2016, Scotland seemed largely immune to the allure of British nationalism, rejecting its manifesto of xenophobia and backing Remain by a ratio of 3:2. For a significant number of people back then, the answer to Farage’s question: “Who is really running [your] country?” wasn’t Europe, but Westminster, while the anti-establishment party promising to cut them loose was the SNP.

I UNDERSTAND the impulse to vote Reform. If your job is paying you peanuts and your town is full of ghost shops and your football team has been...

01.06.2025 3

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

This 'speakeasy' bar has one of the best views in Edinburgh Hidden on the 11th floor of the W in Edinburgh is João's Place.

On the 11th floor of the W in Edinburgh, visitors are invited to discover João's Place. This apartment speakeasy mixes influences of Brazil and...

01.06.2025 7

Herald Scotland

Moa Reynolds

Yes to Flamingoland, no to National Parks: what is the SNP playing at?

As an Irishman there’s a risk that what I’m about to say will result in an exclusion order placed on me the next time I try to return to the land...

31.05.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

Parties of the left must not allow Farage to steal their ground

Let me give you a list of policy proposals and ask you a quick question. Fully reinstating the £200 Winter Fuel Allowance for all pensioners,...

31.05.2025 5

Herald Scotland

Mark Mcgeoghegan

It's like a Scottish suburban Pride and Prejudice - I can't wait for its TV return

News has landed that hit TV sitcom Two Doors Down is to be reprised with a Christmas special. But will the doors of audience appreciation slam back...

31.05.2025 7

Herald Scotland

Brian Beacom

Campaign to recruit new foster families must go on

John Lewis helped to put fostering services back on the map with its highly praised Christmas advert of 2022, and this was a platform that we – as...

31.05.2025 4

Herald Scotland

Sandy Mayhew

'I want to be involved in a disability sport, but I just don’t know how?'

Last year, I had the honour of writing on the Paralympics. However, it also opened my eyes to the number of opportunities for individuals with...

31.05.2025 4

Herald Scotland

Victoria-Jayne Scholes

Scotland's educational establishment is betraying our children - and our economy

Going backwards is generally accepted as being undesirable. In most cases, we are better off concerning ourselves with the future rather than the...

31.05.2025 6

Herald Scotland

Andy Maciver

Does 'ferry fiasco' vessel offer hope for Arran? What has the Glen Sannox's arrival meant for Arran, including hotels on the island?

Describing the Glen Sannox ferry as worth the wait would probably not be the best way of putting it, given the huge troubles the excruciating delay...

31.05.2025 8

Herald Scotland

Ian Mcconnell

The best building in Glasgow, and what we can learn from its tragedy People say the Hatrack on St Vincent Street is the building Glaswegians love the most but I look at it and think: really, that one, why? I know it’s a good example of art nouveau and everything and that’s fine, but don’t you think all the spikes and prongs and urns and wings are a bit much? And what’s with the screaming goat’s head over the front door? You know who’d feel right at home there? Rosemary’s baby.

People say the Hatrack on St Vincent Street is the building Glaswegians love the most but I look at it and think: really, that one, why? I know it’s...

31.05.2025 7

Herald Scotland

Mark Smith

I walked these by-election streets - and discovered why Reform are on the rise In England, the unlovely rhetoric of Nigel Farage has exploited the fears of a white, working class cohort anxious about the effects of mass immigration in their communities. In Scotland, though, Reform has become the focus for something else entirely.

The big chap seemed to emerge from nowhere and I was immediately on my guard. He was tall and solid with a no-nonsense haircut and looked like he...

31.05.2025 1

Herald Scotland

Kevin Mckenna

Sir Tom taught us one thing: chin-stroking doesn't build houses - private money does

The applause from Hibernian supporters for Sir Tom Farmer as the hearse carrying his body passed Easter Road stadium this week took me back to the...

31.05.2025 5

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan

Brian Taylor: The fundamental battle which unites Donald Trump and Nigel Farage

People do not seek much from their elected tribunes.  Mostly, they want peace and quiet, security and reassurance.  An absence of turmoil.  Right...

31.05.2025 5

Herald Scotland

Brian Taylor

I’m getting tired of playing the cost of living game

Last week the media was a-buzz about a seven per cent reduction in the Ofgem energy price cap. And we all dutifully played the quarterly game of...

31.05.2025 2

Herald Scotland

David Hilferty