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Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson

The Scotsman

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Brian Wilson: We need big ideas from parties for the 2026 election

Brian Wilson: We need big ideas from parties for the 2026 election

Any party which is serious about winning next year’s Scottish elections should be thinking hard about big ideas. Alternatively, it will come down to...

yesterday 1

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson: The great SNP ferry scandal has a long, long way yet to run

Brian Wilson: The great SNP ferry scandal has a long, long way yet to run

Valdivia sounds a charming place, an old colonial city in the Los Rios region of southern Chile. It just seems an unlikely one in which to build the...

24.01.2025 30

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson: Want Scotland to cash in on Donald Trump's roots? Better think again

Brian Wilson: Want Scotland to cash in on Donald Trump's roots? Better think again

There is something a little sad about the non-relationship between Donald John Trump and Lewis. Despite his genetic proximity to the place, he has...

17.01.2025 4

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson: We'll judge you on what you deliver, Mr Swinney, not what you promise

Be grateful for small mercies. We have been spared this year’s edition of the Scottish Budget faux drama in which a bit player emerges from a...

09.01.2025 5

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson: Labour does not have five years - the Scottish elections are looming Keir Starmer’s government is only six months old. It has inherited a horrible economic legacy. It deserves to be given a much longer chance to establish itself. But none of these caveats can eliminate the political reality that it would be well advised to generate a lot more positivity and hope in the second six months than in the first.

Labour MPs and particularly Ministers should be given some important work to deliver over their festive breaks. I don’t just mean honourable...

25.12.2024 4

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson: The Salmond case must continue or the baddies will have won

There are very good reasons for the action raised in the Court of Session by Alex Salmond to continue and I hope reports that some public-spirited...

20.12.2024 20

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson

We were promised radical change for our ferries - turns out that promise was a lie

Throughout the ferries debacle which has consumed so many millions of pounds, not to mention column inches, there appeared to be one small light at...

13.12.2024 5

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson: Another SNP budget low on ambition and high on political point-scoring

The Scottish Budget statement is a tired ritual and there wasn’t a lot to keep us awake yesterday. “More of the same” would be the most optimistic...

05.12.2024 5

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson: Get Scotland working, for the sake of the people as well as the economy The figures are startling. While unemployment stands at almost 1.5 million, the number classified as “economically inactive” has soared to 9.4 million

The figures are startling. While unemployment stands at almost 1.5 million, the number classified as “economically inactive” has soared to 9.4...

28.11.2024 3

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson: SNP selection process will show exactly how the party views Holyrood The SNP’s list of Holyrood candidates has potential as a warm-up act for the Glasgow Comedy Festival at which Nicola Sturgeon is already billed as an unlikely source of side-splitters, writes Brian Wilson.

The SNP’s list of Holyrood candidates has potential as a warm-up act for the Glasgow Comedy Festival at which Nicola Sturgeon is already billed as...

14.11.2024 4

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson: Forbes needs to stop grandstanding on energy and answer hard questions

Whatever else has happened since the General Election, there is one manifesto commitment being pursued with relentless vigour. The drive towards...

07.11.2024 3

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson: Our islands more than pay their way. They deserve respect in return

It would be pleasing to report that National Geographic’s designation of the Outer Hebrides as a “Best in the World” destination for 2025 was...

24.10.2024 4

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson: When are we going to get to grips with undemocratic quangos?

Quangos are the hidden hands of government in Scotland; agencies which nobody voted for but hold far more power than is healthy, much of it leeched...

17.10.2024 3

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson: Please can someone tell me what's happening with Crown Estate Scotland?

The Crown Estate has always been a curious beast with extraordinary powers which I have been tracking on and off for over 40 years. At that time it...

26.09.2024 3

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson

'Support for independence has always been a spasm rather than a sustained demand' So what did you do on the day of the referendum, daddy? Well, actually, I spent it rather pleasantly in Salzburg, listening for the sound of music and watching a football match in the evening. Scott Brown scored, which makes the date memorable.

So what did you do on the day of the referendum, daddy? Well, actually, I spent it rather pleasantly in Salzburg, listening for the sound of music...

18.09.2024 2

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson: The surest way to address fuel poverty is to get bills down

There is a thin line between political courage and masochism. The former involves having the honesty to tell it like it is, even if it is not what...

12.09.2024 3

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson: Labour won't raise taxes for working people, so rich will have to pay

It is always reassuring to be attacked by the Daily Telegraph, which rarely disappoints as a parody of itself. “Labour plans to make Britain even...

22.08.2024 3

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson: Contempt for the islands: How could they reappoint CalMac chiefs? At least the directors of Cunard were on board the Titanic, even if they were first to claim the lifeboats. The directors of CalMac make a point of remaining at a safe distance from tedious islands and islanders

I occasionally look at the Scottish Government Appointments web-page, to see which trusties of the quango circuit have been leveraged into another...

15.08.2024 10

Herald Scotland

Brian Wilson