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New ‘Temperance Movement’ is needed to tame the social evil of Big Tech

MI6 issues warnings, great thinkers call for action, and Australia lands the first blow on social media giants. Our Writer at Large says 2026 must be...

yesterday 3

Neil Mackay

We all know the BBC is a mess but we mustn’t let Donald Trump destroy it

The BBC may be bad, but we need to defend it as the alternative would be far, far worse, argues Neil Mackay By any measure, the BBC, particularly...

thursday 7

Neil Mackay

Know what, Robinson? Christ would be on a beach giving tea and blankets to refugees

Extremists like Tommy Robinson are trying to pervert Christianity for their own political ends, disgracing the good that Jesus represented, argues Our...

17.12.2025 3

Neil Mackay

In Scotland, unlike England, Farage needs to be careful what he wishes for…

Opinion polls show that the rise of Reform has driven support for independence into the majority position in Scotland. It’s a case of blowback, our...

13.12.2025 5

Neil Mackay

Why I won’t set foot in Trump’s America – even for the World Cup

Do events in America outweigh the desire of fans to watch Scotland play? Writer at Large Neil Mackay says he won’t go to the USA as long as Donald...

12.12.2025 6

Neil Mackay

I had the jag yet still this monster flu tore me apart. Here’s what you need to know

Our Writer at Large was floored by the mutated strain of the flu that is now shutting wards and surging across Scotland. He paints a vivid portrait...

10.12.2025 3

Neil Mackay

Farage in Falkirk? It should make our stomachs heave to have him north of the border

Amid allegations of anti-semitism and the targeting of Glasgow children, it is an affront that the leader of Reform dares cross the border into...

07.12.2025 10

Neil Mackay

Europe trades on culture - yet Glasgow is slashing the very thing keeping us relevant

Funding cuts to flagship institutions like the Glasgow Film Theatre will deny access to the arts for our poorest citizens and kill the city’s...

05.12.2025 5

Neil Mackay

Robbie Williams is playing the Barrowlands? Great but £140 a ticket is ridiculous

The gouging of music-lovers by stars has created the corporatisation of culture, leaving art and entertainment out of reach for the average punter,...

03.12.2025 5

Neil Mackay

I’ve quit Twitter and now the world is a beautiful and happy place again

Writer at Large Neil Mackay says that the hate and violence on Elon Musk’s X site was having a profoundly negative effect on him. Now he’s quit,...

03.12.2025 5

Neil Mackay

Must Scotland consult Nostradamus to find out how we hold another referendum?

The UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves says there won’t be another vote even if the SNP wins a majority at Holyrood in May – that’s a democratic...

29.11.2025 4

Neil Mackay

Epstein is Trump’s breaking point – and Greene shows where MAGA’s limits lie

The power dynamic in the Trump movement has shifted, Neil Mackay argues, with his most loyal supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene turning on the president...

21.11.2025 2

Neil Mackay

If Tommy Robinson is celebrating Labour, then the party deserves to die

The UK government’s new asylum and immigration rules are the antithesis of everything Labour is supposed to represent, Neil Mackay argues. By...

19.11.2025 20

Neil Mackay

Even when Scotland gets a global thumbs-up financially the SNP get zero credit

In Scotland, any news – even good news – is subjected to partisan point-scoring. It means we repeatedly fail to have the debates we really need,...

15.11.2025 2

Neil Mackay

Scotland will be Starmer’s Waterloo … unless he takes this one daring gamble

The Labour Party is now fighting like cats in a sack, and the Prime Minister risks being ousted after May’s elections unless he is brave enough to...

14.11.2025 4

Neil Mackay

Crisis-hit BBC is just another casualty of the collapse of the 20th century rulebook

Like the Tory-Labour duopoly and the NHS, the BBC is a hangover from an age that’s dying. We must find how to make the media relevant again, before...

11.11.2025 3

Neil Mackay

Welcome to the Oligarchy: Musk’s obscene $1 trillion deal heralds a dark new era

Nobody needs more personal wealth than the average nation. It’s time that we brought the super-rich to heel before it’s too late, our Writer at...

08.11.2025 10

Neil Mackay

The poppy has been hijacked – why I won’t wear it

As Remembrance Day approaches, Neil Mackay reflects on a lifelong ritual disrupted by the far-right’s hijacking of the poppy — and the moral...

06.11.2025 4

Neil Mackay

If you thought 'woke' was bad wait until you see what is coming next

The right-wing is becoming more and more radicalised and we’re entering a very dark time politically, our Writer at Large Neil Mackay warns This...

05.11.2025 4

Neil Mackay

What the Caerphilly by-election means for Scotland, the SNP and the Union

The Caerphilly by-election signals imminent destruction for Labour, but rather than take the necessary action, the party will just head further right....

25.10.2025 10

Neil Mackay

It’s not John Swinney insulting Scotland, it’s you Starmer, you flailing buffoon

If the SNP gets a majority at the next election and London still says No to indyref2, then the party should recall its MPs from Westminster, our...

24.10.2025 9

Neil Mackay

Here's why the working class is vulnerable to Reform, and it's not racism

It's often said that working-class people back Reform because they're inherently racist. That’s nonsense, argues our Writer at Large Neil Mackay ....

22.10.2025 6

Neil Mackay

The New Left: The Greens are on the rise and it spells ruin for Labour

North and South of the border, it’s boom time for the Greens. They’re capitalising on Keir Starmer’s abandonment of the left and could even...

18.10.2025 10

Neil Mackay

Reality TV and politics now share a revolving door and this cultural titan proves it

The original reality show Big Brother is 25 and The Traitors is now the biggest hit on TV. Our Writer at Large Neil Mackay explores the influence of...

17.10.2025 3

Neil Mackay

Politics is such a mess right now there's only one option for Scots like us

Neil Mackay voted Labour until the Iraq War. Now, with little faith in Westminster, our Writer At Large is ready to re-evaluate his political stance...

17.10.2025 3

Neil Mackay

Claudia and The Traitors shaped the politics of hate

The original reality show Big Brother is 25 and The Traitors is now the biggest hit on TV. Our Writer at Large Neil Mackay explores the influence of...

16.10.2025 5

Neil Mackay

Alas, poor England: a suffering nation now the biggest threat to the Union

A case could be made that the best medicine for what ails England would be an English departure from the Union, argues Writer at Large Neil Mackay ...

15.10.2025 5

Neil Mackay

The killing of drug rehab bill at Holyrood disgraces the principles of devolution

Proposed legislation which would have given addicts the legal right to treatment has just been shot down at the Scottish Parliament, proving that...

11.10.2025 7

Neil Mackay

Reform and Tories are in a racialised race to the bottom. They disgrace us

Policies from Farage and Badenoch for mass deportations and ICE-style removal squads are the antithesis of everything Britain stands for, our Writer...

10.10.2025 5

Neil Mackay

Growing brains in labs to power computers... this is like a horror movie

Humanity has godlike powers when it comes to science but emotionally we’re too lacking to handle our abilities, argues our Writer at Large Neil...

08.10.2025 7

Neil Mackay

We’re a cultural colony of America dominated by their imported trash

As Donald Trump inflicts 100% tariffs on all films made outside the US, our Writer at Large Neil Mackay argues we must wean ourselves off American...

05.10.2025 20

Neil Mackay

Nationalists are now out in front in all four home nations… what comes next?

The SNP, Plaid Cymru, Sinn Fein and Reform are all nationalist parties and all in the lead. Our Writer at Large Neil Mackay says this reveals major...

04.10.2025 10

Neil Mackay

We will all grow old: Scotland’s broken care system is everyone’s problem

As Scotland’s care system teeters on the brink, a damning undercover report and personal reflections expose the moral crisis at the heart of how we...

03.10.2025 4

Neil Mackay

So the rumours were true: time to ask some serious questions about Reform and Russia

As a former prominent leader of Reform faces jail for taking bribes to make pro-Russian statements, Neil Mackay says we have to ask serious questions...

01.10.2025 7

Neil Mackay

With a Yes majority, Swinney should call indyref2 and dare London to stop him

This article appears as part of the Unspun: Scottish Politics newsletter. There are no rules when it comes to Scotland and the...

27.09.2025 20

Neil Mackay

American idiots have declared war on science - we need a firewall to protect us

Claims by the US president that vaccines cause autism and climate change is fake aren’t just dangerous, they’re stupid and unworthy of even...

26.09.2025 9

Neil Mackay

Praise the TV gods: Coldwater is come to burst Scotland's progressive bubble

The ITV drama Coldwater helps us take a good hard look at ourselves – and that can only be a good thing, argues Herald Writer at Large Neil Mackay ...

24.09.2025 9

Neil Mackay

The scourge of 'performative reading' … we can't let the troglodytes hijack books

There’s a new trend which sees influencers taking selfies of themselves with books they aren’t even reading. Herald columnist Neil Mackay rages...

21.09.2025 5

Neil Mackay

The left only played at cancel culture, the right are absolutely pros

As MAGA America clamps down on free speech, and protesters are arrested in Britain, our columnist Neil Mackay says cancel culture is back where it...

20.09.2025 7

Neil Mackay

Banquo at the banquet: The spectre of Epstein haunts Trump’s visit

The state visit of the US president reveals shocking truths about the gulf between ordinary people and those who rule in the 21st century, Herald...

18.09.2025 7

Neil Mackay

A Muslim child was racially attacked in my neighbourhood … what have we become?

A schoolgirl in Newton Mearns has been assaulted in a reported race hate incident . Columnist Neil Mackay says this is evidence that bigoted violence...

17.09.2025 8

Neil Mackay

Ever wondered why films are so bland now? Here's why

Humanity is in danger of being taken over by technology, particularly in the arts sector, warns Writer at Large Neil Mackay, and we've only got...

14.09.2025 6

Neil Mackay

People like Peter Mandelson are the reason why conspiracy theories exist

The Epstein scandal reveals a world not just of sexual crimes against children, but of his gilded friends living lives of luxury and privilege none of...

13.09.2025 9

Neil Mackay

Mob rule shows the divide between Scottish and English politics

It is worrying how stories of vigilante groups and mob riots in England have become almost normalised because of the Ulsterisation of British...

12.09.2025 10

Neil Mackay

Farewell, Melvyn Bragg, our greatest broadcaster and my working-class hero

The departure of Melvyn Bragg from Radio 4's In Our Time sadly brings to an end an era of intellectual broadcasting, says our Writer at Large, Neil...

10.09.2025 20

Neil Mackay

Farage got the daylights kicked out of him in America… not that you’d know

This article appears as part of the Unspun: Scottish Politics newsletter. Is there anyone left in Britain who still cannot see the kid-glove...

06.09.2025 40

Neil Mackay

From 'taking the knee' to waving an England flag, the strange journey of Keir Starmer

Prime minister Keir Starmer says his Downing Street flat is bedecked with St George’s flags. “I always sit in front of the Union Jack,” he...

05.09.2025 9

Neil Mackay

The mad dog of racism is loose on the streets and empathy has fled

Writer at Large Neil Mackay argues that a wave of protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers, including in Scotland, demonstrate that...

03.09.2025 20

Neil Mackay

The SNP must tool up for a dirty fight to the death with the far right

John Swinney and the SNP are at a fork in the road when dealing with Nigel Farage and Reform's rise, the ascendency of the far and hard right, and the...

30.08.2025 20

Neil Mackay

Do you like playing music on public transport without headphones? Then I despise you

The world is divided. The country is divided. Communities are divided. Even families are divided. But there’s one thing which unites us all...

29.08.2025 20

Categories

Sources

Popular

New ‘Temperance Movement’ is needed to tame the social evil of Big Tech

Neil Mackay

We all know the BBC is a mess but we mustn’t let Donald Trump destroy it

Neil Mackay

Know what, Robinson? Christ would be on a beach giving tea and blankets to refugees

Neil Mackay

In Scotland, unlike England, Farage needs to be careful what he wishes for…

Neil Mackay

Why I won’t set foot in Trump’s America – even for the World Cup

Neil Mackay

I had the jag yet still this monster flu tore me apart. Here’s what you need to know

Neil Mackay

Farage in Falkirk? It should make our stomachs heave to have him north of the border

Neil Mackay

Europe trades on culture - yet Glasgow is slashing the very thing keeping us relevant

Neil Mackay

Robbie Williams is playing the Barrowlands? Great but £140 a ticket is ridiculous

Neil Mackay

I’ve quit Twitter and now the world is a beautiful and happy place again

Neil Mackay

Must Scotland consult Nostradamus to find out how we hold another referendum?

Neil Mackay

Epstein is Trump’s breaking point – and Greene shows where MAGA’s limits lie

Neil Mackay

If Tommy Robinson is celebrating Labour, then the party deserves to die

Neil Mackay

Even when Scotland gets a global thumbs-up financially the SNP get zero credit

Neil Mackay

Scotland will be Starmer’s Waterloo … unless he takes this one daring gamble

Neil Mackay

Crisis-hit BBC is just another casualty of the collapse of the 20th century rulebook

Neil Mackay

Welcome to the Oligarchy: Musk’s obscene $1 trillion deal heralds a dark new era

Neil Mackay

The poppy has been hijacked – why I won’t wear it

Neil Mackay

If you thought 'woke' was bad wait until you see what is coming next

Neil Mackay

What the Caerphilly by-election means for Scotland, the SNP and the Union

Neil Mackay

It’s not John Swinney insulting Scotland, it’s you Starmer, you flailing buffoon

Neil Mackay

Here's why the working class is vulnerable to Reform, and it's not racism

Neil Mackay

The New Left: The Greens are on the rise and it spells ruin for Labour

Neil Mackay

Reality TV and politics now share a revolving door and this cultural titan proves it

Neil Mackay

Politics is such a mess right now there's only one option for Scots like us

Neil Mackay

Claudia and The Traitors shaped the politics of hate

Neil Mackay

Alas, poor England: a suffering nation now the biggest threat to the Union

Neil Mackay

The killing of drug rehab bill at Holyrood disgraces the principles of devolution

Neil Mackay

Reform and Tories are in a racialised race to the bottom. They disgrace us

Neil Mackay

Growing brains in labs to power computers... this is like a horror movie

Neil Mackay

We’re a cultural colony of America dominated by their imported trash

Neil Mackay

Nationalists are now out in front in all four home nations… what comes next?

Neil Mackay

We will all grow old: Scotland’s broken care system is everyone’s problem

Neil Mackay

So the rumours were true: time to ask some serious questions about Reform and Russia

Neil Mackay

With a Yes majority, Swinney should call indyref2 and dare London to stop him

Neil Mackay

American idiots have declared war on science - we need a firewall to protect us

Neil Mackay

Praise the TV gods: Coldwater is come to burst Scotland's progressive bubble

Neil Mackay

The scourge of 'performative reading' … we can't let the troglodytes hijack books

Neil Mackay

The left only played at cancel culture, the right are absolutely pros