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Carlos AlbaHerald Scotland |
Have you heard the Christmas fairy tale about the prince and the spy? An odious royal, who happens to be the King’s brother, gets in league with...
There are some things so irrationally, quintessentially British that they defy categorisation, or even explanation. I’m not talking about quaint...
When my dear old grandmother was in politically expansive mood, she would often opine that the best way to sort out Britain’s (in her view,...
One of the most predictable developments following a violent outrage, or exposure of abuse or wrongdoing, is the slew of subsequent new stories...
I can clearly remember reading about the death of Elvis Presley as I walked across Glasgow's Arran Drive, at the foot of Mosspark Avenue. It was on...
For anyone with even a vague sense of history, one of the most perplexing things about the current age of populism is how it has normalised the...
If the first duty of a government is to keep its citizens alive, then the government at all levels in Spain, has epically failed the people of...
The public revelation by Sir Chris Hoy that he has an untreatable form of cancer, which started in his prostate, was a selfless act by a remarkable...
The Scottish Government’s decision to scrap free bus travel for asylum seekers is, in the words of the Scottish Greens’ transport spokesman Mark...
The key to understanding what made Alex Salmond tick is to know that he was a gambler. Depending on who you speak to, his habit ranged from enjoying...
One of the first things you notice when visiting Denmark is how utterly, beguilingly pleasant everyone is. Unlike their counterparts in Germany,...
The cut to the winter fuel allowance, rows over ministers accepting gifts and donations, conflicted advisers working at the heart of Downing Street,...
Who doesn’t love a freebie? I mean, what’s not to love? You get something you can’t afford, or wouldn’t otherwise buy for yourself, and it’s...
“The people have spoken, the bastards,” declared Democrat hopeful Dick Tuck in his concession speech, following defeat in the 1962 California...
You wonder what went through Alex Salmond’s mind when a producer from Firecrest Films called to ask him to participate in a documentary called...
“The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to...
Long ago and in a different life, when I lived in Edinburgh, I used to dread festival time, not least because my place of work was just off the Royal...
Who benefits, asks Neil Oliver in a recent episode of his doomsday monologues on YouTube, understatedly entitled “Civil War”. Attired in a...
In a depressing survey of electric car use published this week, the most significant statistic was that only 1.4 per cent of motorists in Scotland...
The Olympics is one of the few occasions when we have an opportunity to feel collectively and unashamedly British, without the distracting taint of...
Long before Mondeo Man and Worcester Woman, there was another group of voters so powerful that it won every argument, referendum, and election. The...
Paul Wilson was a Lance Corporal in the Royal Highland Fusiliers and a member of the regimental band, who played at some of Britain’s highest...
I was not even a year old when England won the football World Cup in 1966. While I have no memory of the event or its aftermath, it has cast a long...
The polls had yet to open, far less close, when the predictions began. The 2024 General Election would be remembered as the moment when the threat of...
There was a time when elections were straightforward affairs for voters, reflecting the binary nature of society and politics. If you came from a...
It’s said that everyone remembers what they were doing when the second plane hit the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York on September...
Another international football tournament and another example of the kind of disorder involving England and Serbia fans that we hoped was a thing of...
When prospective MPs and MSPs go to Politician School, it seems the first lesson they are taught is the holy trinity of political excuses. The first...
When 50 or more Scottish writers gather to address an issue of pressing public concern, you know it’s time to look to the skies, imagine the vast...
It was the kind of searing, humid summer’s day when lifelong memories are forged, when the sights, sounds and the pulsating sensations were the...
The Infected Blood Inquiry, into the scandal which saw 30,000 people contract HIV or Hepatitis C., was described a ‘day of shame for the British...
I’d like to tell you about a guy I know – let’s call him a friend – who went out with a girl – let’s call her Scarlet, the flame haired,...
For people of my generation, porn was something you found in bushes on the way to school or in your friend’s father’s toolbox. The reason buses...
Well, what the hell was that about? A week ago, last Monday, we were all going about our lives, getting up for work, going to Lidl for our mince, and...
Asked which issue is most important to them when casting their vote few, if any, Scots would say the cost of building ferries. Fewer still would...
Some policies are so flawed that their catastrophic shortcomings can be articulated in a single image. General election campaigns are peppered with...
I knew there was a need for radical social and economic change when I first saw the £10 loaf. I’d heard the rumour of this fabled retail...
Were you still up when Michael Portillo lost his seat? It’s difficult to believe now that the genial presenter of TV railway journey programmes was...
The car you drive can say much about the kind of person you are and, for people who love their cars, that’s just the way they like it. In...
Every school had one: a golden girl or boy super-achiever who swept all before them and was voted one of the most likely to succeed, only to end up...
Every school had one: a golden girl or boy super-achiever who swept all before them and was voted one of the most likely to succeed, only to end up...
Every school had one: a golden girl or boy super-achiever who swept all before them and was voted one of the most likely to succeed, only to end up...
Do you ever long for a time when the world was a simpler and more enjoyable place, when food tasted better, people were more pleasant and tolerant,...
In some small way, George Galloway helped me to decide on my future career. As a student, I campaigned for him in the 1987 General Election, when he...
In some small way, George Galloway helped me to decide on my future career. As a student, I campaigned for him in the 1987 General Election, when he...
For someone who never ventured north of the Border if she could possibly avoid it, there’s a bitter irony that Margaret Thatcher continues to...
Do you believe that every morning is brighter and sunnier than the last; that simply getting out of bed is a special gift – another golden...
At what point do you admit that one of your longest standing friendships, which you’ve shared since way back when, has finally run its course? You...
That we never properly understand something until it’s considered in hindsight, has rarely been more evident than with the misogyny, in all its...
That we never properly understand something until it’s considered in hindsight, has rarely been more evident than with the misogyny, in all its...