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Dani Garavelli

Dani Garavelli

The Guardian

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Criminals like Peter Murrell truly flourish under the Groundhog Day of indy tribalism

Criminals like Peter Murrell truly flourish under the Groundhog Day of indy tribalism

When Nicola Sturgeon’s autobiography, Frankly, was published, I wrote that it had been written way too soon. While its proximity to her resignation...

01.06.2026 10

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

Yes, Burnham coup is an epic gamble for Labour – but the UK’s future depends on him

As Labour struggles under Keir Starmer, Andy Burnham has emerged as the charismatic, emotionally intelligent figure who many believe is the only...

17.05.2026 20

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

Come on, even the most naïve of 16-year-old Scots know independence is pie in the sky

As young Scots drift from stale mainstream politics, the Greens may be capturing disaffected idealism with authenticity, housing pledges and sharper...

03.05.2026 30

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

Yes, Sturgeon's enemies were wrong to mock her leaving speech on political tribalism

It was fitting that Nicola Sturgeon should bow out of the Scottish Parliament with a speech on the Promise – promise was something her leadership...

22.03.2026 30

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

I am indy-lite - but Sarwar could win my vote if he keeps Starmer away from Scotland

Columnist of the Year Dani Garavelli explains why Anas Sarwar will not only have to convince her that he's dancing to a different drum than Keir...

26.01.2026 20

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

From frogs to freedom: the slow creep of authoritarianism

As fear-driven narratives tighten their grip, civil liberties are being chipped away in plain sight — from Trump’s visa diktats to UK politicians...

15.12.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

Nigel Farage was once run out of Edinburgh. Now Scottish voters are embracing his rabble-rousing

06.12.2025 10

The Guardian

Dani Garavelli

Why the fight over fair trials and rape shield laws is far from over

The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on Scotland’s rape shield laws has sparked fears of appeals and delays, raising difficult questions about how...

17.11.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

From beyond the grave, Virginia Giuffre has proved not even princes are untouchable

On Thursday night, after the King announced his brother was to be stripped of his remaining titles and thrown out of his house, I spent some time...

03.11.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

What do my childhood choir, Edwyn Collins and the menopause all have in common?

As quickly as she recalled the whimsy of youth, Edwyn Collins and Riot Women helped Columnist of Year Dani Garavelli balance nostalgia and the...

20.10.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

The Baroness of blag: Michelle Mone and the politics of no shame

Once hailed as a working-class success story, Michelle Mone’s tale now reads like a cautionary fable of greed, privilege, and the corrosive power of...

06.10.2025 30

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

I feel deep shame at the King and Keir Starmer bowing to Donald Trump's monstrous ego

Trump’s UK visit exposed a humiliating deference from Starmer, royals and politicians alike, says our multi award-winning opinion columnist Dani...

22.09.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

History tells us the scapegoating of migrants by Nigel Farage is nothing new

AS part of a work project, I’ve been researching Italian immigrants in the UK and particularly their experiences between the wars. In World War I,...

08.09.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

Sorry Keir, these protests will continue until you stop treating migrants as burdens

SKIMMING news programmes on the recent hate-fests outside asylum hotels in Epping and Falkirk, I stumbled across a clip of the former Conservative...

25.08.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

I’m far from convinced by BBC’s self-flagellation and faux introspection over Wallace

ON a BBC radio phone-in show callers were debating the rights and wrongs of the decision to air episodes of MasterChef in which disgraced hosts Greg...

11.08.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

Horrifying images are clearly the tipping point for public outrage over Gaza What does it take for a genocide to reach a “tipping point”? It takes photographs of starving children to be splashed all over our TV screens and front pages.

What does it take for a genocide to reach a “tipping point”? What does it take for the UK government to concede that something beyond hellish is...

28.07.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

The glee over Salt Path's downfall is ugly and elitist

WHEN the great American writer Joseph Mitchell was having his reputation tarnished by a biographer who claimed he invented characters and embroidered...

14.07.2025 40

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

History will judge this Labour government for targeting protesters

A FEW years ago I interviewed Donna McLean, one of the women lied to and seduced by undercover police officers from a special unit set up to...

30.06.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

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...

02.06.2025 40

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

Transgender ruling may resolve the law but it can’t make our society whole again

When I saw the women raising their champagne glasses after their Supreme Court victory, I felt that same queasy way I always feel at the end of long...

21.04.2025 40

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

US favouring those guilty of Gaza genocide over ones who call it out is outrageous ON Monday night, I switched on BBC News at Ten to find out more about a horrific incident I’d seen fleeting headlines on earlier in the day.

ON Monday night, I switched on BBC News at Ten to find out more about a horrific incident I’d seen fleeting headlines on earlier in the day. It...

07.04.2025 30

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

Disturbing TV hit Adolescence exposes a chasm that has opened up between generations

WHAT does it take, these days, to start a national conversation? The answer would appear to be a bingeable TV or Netflix drama that “touches the...

24.03.2025 40

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

USA is a rogue state and all the certainties that once framed our lives have now gone WE all have guilty pleasure films. One of mine is A Few Good Men.

WE all have guilty pleasure films. One of mine is A Few Good Men. I watch it almost every time it’s on, not because I am a fan of Tom Cruise or...

10.03.2025 40

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli