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Kevin McKennaHerald Scotland |
Long before doom-scrolling became an internet contagion, the primary school hymns of a Catholic childhood were preparing me for a lifetime on the edge...
The big men who dominated political talk in my 1970s childhood home were all hewn from the same seam. They were born and raised in working-class...
Some people have wilfully misunderstood Jenny Gilruth’s recent comments about Scotland’s poor showing in the PISA standings (Programme for...
One of the most significant breakthrough events in Alex Salmond’s adroit stewardship of the independence movement was the rapprochement he achieved...
We all now routinely subscribe to the theory of the "failed state" and apply it to the usual ASBO countries. This list includes nations like...
Kevin McKenna imagines John Swinney's keynote speech at the SNP conference this week The SNP is having its annual conference in Aberdeen this...
I think we should be saluting the UK Green Party in its efforts to create a welcoming environment for its conference delegates. Prior to last week’s...
Naïve as it now may seem, I’d once thought I belonged to the generation that had witnessed the end of anti-Semitism, the world’s oldest hatred....
Devotees of the heavy rock and metal music genre have long fought against discrimination and wilful distortion. We’re dismissed as rough and...
As a small child growing up in Glasgow, Saturday afternoon trips into the city centre came with free al fresco theatre. On Sauchiehall Street there...
At a meeting of Holyrood's Transport Committee last Wednesday morning, Collette Stevenson initiated proceedings by asking a detailed question...
If you want to observe what a dusk-till-dawn curfew looks like, visit Lennoxtown towards the end of next month. For five days, when darkness falls,...
The celebration of Holy Mass on Sunday morning featured a much-loved tract from Matthew’s Gospel. Before this bit though, Jesus lays down the law...
When you behold once more the medieval Gothic splendour of Glasgow Cathedral, an uncomfortable truth becomes apparent. We Glaswegians fondly portray...
Like many other right-minded Scots, I was delighted to learn that the SNP is to discuss its future governance following the Peter Murrell embezzlement...
There were several factors in the SNP’s 2007 Holyrood power-grab. Not the least of these was the complacency, turning eventually to entitlement,...
The Greens are surely due the nation's gratitude for backing a campaign to elevate the Scottish Morning Roll to UNESCO world heritage status....
There’s a process by which some public bodies, established with good intentions, turn rogue over time. It exploits the trust and goodwill of the...
After about 10 minutes of BBC Scotland’s Disclosure documentary on Glasgow city centre, I’m filling out my mayhem bingo card. You do this when...
In late 2018, I saw what authentic Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in our elite academic institutions looks like. For the previous 10 years, Glasgow...
A chat last year with a leading public figure in Scotland continues to resonate. As we discussed the quality of political debate, he suddenly...
My academic career at Glasgow University ended around 40 years ago, degreeless and in abject ignominy. I’d been urged to embrace the student life...
To be fair, almost a full two hours had elapsed before Nicola Sturgeon uttered the dread words ‘the far right’ like a parental threat to keep the...
You’re tempted to spare a thought for John Swinney after reading Nicola Sturgeon’s new epilogue for her memoir, Frankly. Mr Swinney has spent the...
You might as well be entering another country when you spend time in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Other regions of the UK have their own...
Henry Kissinger was perhaps the first global statesman to recognise – and deploy – the football’s soft power. The great US diplomatic chiseller,...
In a downstairs cavern in Glasgow’s Garage nightclub, a rock god is rehearsing an intimate concert for 100 or so devotees later that evening. This...
It’s tempting to frame the forthcoming Scottish Labour leadership contest within an end-of-days scenario. Having lost the last five Scottish...
When some otherwise reasonable and contented men approach middle age, they embark on a final desperate attempt to drink from the elixir of their...
It’s around 10pm on the Broomielaw and two young African lads are taking pictures of each other looking over the river near the Bell’s Bridge....
It became clear on Tuesday afternoon how little Scottish politics now matters. At no other time since the birth of devolution have the nation’s...
Andy Burnham’s meteoric rise to the top of British politics reminds me of Billy Connolly’s 1974 masterpiece, The Crucifixion. In this, Mr Connolly...
When Fifa say they want to stop political messaging in football, it’s like political parties seeking to kick out lying. No-one can question their...
Among my best-loved poems is The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock by TS Eliot. I first read this work when I was 17 as a means of closing the quality...
Some of the reactions to Ann Widdecombe’s death last week showed that she was deeply admired across English society but there were some who hated...
It’s highly unlikely that Count Binface would ever consider standing for Holyrood. The inter-galactic politician is one of the two main creatures...
Those churls who said that the World Cup’s expanded format would devalue it have all been proved wrong. Instead, the participation of nations like...
Almost a year after the Deputy First Minister announced she’d be quitting politics, her Christianity and integrity continue to trigger civic...
In the end, it wouldn’t have mattered if Scotland had stuck three or four goals past Haiti in their opening World Cup game, we were still returning...
So many by-elections; one big winner; many losers. Who knows if Andy Burnham’s success at Makerfield will see him evict Sir Keir Starmer from 10...
Today’s Westminster by-elections in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry and Aberdeen South could see Scottish Labour sink to a new historic low. Nothing...
I feel that we need to show some gratitude to our political class for showcasing Scotland as a land of opportunity. In the last week this has been...
The violent unrest following Monday’s stabbing in Belfast has led to a wave of attacks. But our politicians, both left and right, should have seen...
The 2026 FIFA World Cup starts tomorrow and Scotland have finally made it after a 28-year absence. Sadly, our wretched history at this level is full...
In Scotland’s artisan, cycle-lane neighbourhoods where jeopardy only lurks in changing bin-collection times, they talk occasionally of livelier...
The smartphone footage is shocking enough, had it been recorded anywhere else in the world. The fact of it occurring on a Saturday afternoon on...
You’re tempted to reach for the wisdom of Winston Churchill when seeking to comprehend the events of the last seven days in Scottish politics. In...
You can choose your own analogy from history and mythology to portray what’s befallen Nicola Sturgeon, her estranged husband, Peter Murrell and the...
Earlier today, the oil giant BP removed its chairperson, Albert Manifold. The company’s board said it had “serious concerns” about “important...
Until this year, every Scottish and UK election I’ve covered has been characterised by one or two dominant themes. These are issues that have cut...
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