menu_open Columnists
John Mclellan

John Mclellan

Herald Scotland

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

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 90s...

01.06.2025 5

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan

Surprisingly, telling people road closures are 'for their own good' goes down badly

I’d never been to New York until last month, and like most people visiting for the first time, I was blown away by the experience. Hamilton on...

25.05.2025 3

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan

More than 60 transport schemes cancelled in Scottish city in one fell swoop

Most folk enjoy a good old moan about the state of the roads, if enjoy is the right word. Potholes, speed limits, bad junctions and all that sort of...

18.05.2025 10

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan

John McLellan: Suspended Cammy Day wants to rejoin the Labour benches in Edinburgh

There are few occasions Edinburgh councillors are in full and genuine agreement, but Thursday’s emotional tributes to the late Val Walker, the...

11.05.2025 4

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan

John McLellan: Tear up the council red tape - and let the builders build Well-meaning they may be, but the lesson from the Scottish Government’s emergency rent caps, only lifted a fortnight ago, is they are a disincentive to house builders and investment funds who simply take their business elsewhere. “Rent controls and cost increases have killed the market,” said one senior Edinburgh economic development figure.

It was the local government equivalent of the “I’m Spartacus” moment when Kirk Douglas was about to be nailed up at the end of the 1960 sword...

13.04.2025 2

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan

John McLellan: Stop the fighting: Scotland’s two great cities need to pull together The last vehicle to roll out of the Madelvic factory in Granton was before the First World War ended, one of the first casualties in the sorry saga of motor manufacturing in Scotland.

The last vehicle to roll out of the Madelvic factory in Granton was before the First World War ended, one of the first casualties in the sorry saga of...

06.04.2025 5

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan

John McLellan: Will we ever find out truth about Edinburgh whistleblowing scandal?

Now Sir Keir Starmer’s bandwagon has been derailed in spectacular fashion by a litany of broken principles and promises, the chances of Anas Sarwar...

30.03.2025 8

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan

My message to councillors: dump the virtual signalling and fix our towns and cities

It’s very, very easy to take the mick out of your local councillors, puffed-up panjandrums lording it about their communities like the big bloke in...

23.03.2025 7

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan

John McLellan: Impact of tourist tax means Edinburgh needs to rethink arts offering

Edinburgh International Festival-goers are well used to seeing the Dunard Fund credited as one of a small handful of principal sponsors, without which...

16.03.2025 5

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan

Plans for major cycle route on prestigious Scottish street may already be dead

For the past two years, Edinburgh residents have been getting used to a ban on cars and buses from George Street at the heart of the New Town, and the...

09.03.2025 10

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan

John McLellan: Poor old Princes Street – what on Earth has gone wrong?

Sauchiehall Street is a bomb site, Aberdeen’s Union Street is a wasteland, now three central Edinburgh community councils have united to brand...

02.03.2025 10

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan

John McLellan: The lurid green monstrosity that sparked an Edinburgh turf war The Raeburn Place Plook, to give it a good Scottish name, is like a BP garage gorged on steroids. It will never fit in with the leafy surroundings of the beautiful cricket ground, the meandering Water of Leith and the towering grandeur of Saxe Coburg Place

The Stockbridge Slug, the Inverleith Toad, the Zit, call it what you will, not since the Golden Turd adorning the St James Quarter has an Edinburgh...

23.02.2025 8

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan

Pity the poor council tax-payers as politicians can't wait to stick knife in again

Barely a day goes by without more scaremongering about the rise of Reform UK, as if the collapse of civilisation as we know it is just round the...

16.02.2025 10

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan

John McLellan: We must clear up Edinburgh whistleblowing saga The investigation by former Scottish Information Commissioner Kevin Dunion, approved by councillors on Thursday, into the allegations against Cammy Day and any other councillor going back to 2003, may turn out to be significantly wider than first expected.

One of the basic rules taught to trainee reporters is not to comment on live criminal cases, especially if someone has been charged. The beaks will...

09.02.2025 4

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan

There was orchestrated campaign to discredit Edinburgh's ex-council leader Cammy Day

Under normal circumstances, the tourist tax would be dominating the thoughts of City of Edinburgh councillors after approving the UK’s first such...

02.02.2025 7

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan

John McLellan: Something stinks about Edinburgh's whistleblowing culture

Lessons have been learnt, it’s all in the past, times have changed, all the fault of a handful of rotten apples in a very big barrel. It’s the...

26.01.2025 10

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan