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Neil Mackay

Neil Mackay

Herald Scotland

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

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 ...

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Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

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

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

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

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

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

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

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

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

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

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

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

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

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

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

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

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

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

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

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

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

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

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

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

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

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

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

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

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

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

Herald Scotland

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

Herald Scotland

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

Herald Scotland

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

Herald Scotland

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

Herald Scotland

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

Herald Scotland

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

Herald Scotland

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

Herald Scotland

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

Herald Scotland

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

Herald Scotland

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

Herald Scotland

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

Herald Scotland

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

Herald Scotland

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

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

A nation which makes a martyr out of Lucy Connolly has lost its moral bearings

BURN them in their hotels, she said. And try to burn them in their hotels they did. On July 29 last year, Lucy Connolly wrote on the social media...

27.08.2025 8

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

All hail the death of Crocs, but wait til you see what’s set to replace them

My daughter once had a boyfriend who I liked a lot, but couldn’t look at from the knees down. Unlike most of her failed suitors, this rather...

26.08.2025 4

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

Prosecutors are diverging on Palestine Action… is another devolution fight brewing?

Look closely and it’s possible to discern the outline of a new battle brewing between the Scottish and UK governments. The contention is how to...

23.08.2025 7

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

Neo-Nazis now brazenly stalk Scotland’s streets … blame malevolent politicians

The claim that protestors outside asylum hotels are all just ‘concerned citizens’ is a lie. Concerned citizens don’t perform Nazi salutes, as...

22.08.2025 6

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

Can't we see the danger? Mobile phones must be banned from schools

Do we need more warnings? Can we still, as a society, not see what is staring us in the face? Giant tech companies are colluding in the corruption of...

20.08.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

Watching Sturgeon live rent free in her enemies’ minds is joyous political theatre

This article appears as part of the Unspun: Scottish Politics newsletter. Keep up to date with our coverage on Nicola Sturgeon's memoir It was...

16.08.2025 5

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

The absurdity and horror of everyday life in a time of genocide

There are moments which send a shudder of moral disjunction through the soul. They come faster and more frequent as the tide of blood rises. We all...

15.08.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

Ed Sheeran feels ‘culturally Irish’. So can you be ‘culturally Scottish’?

In 2021, my wife and I held a private celebration. It wasn’t a special wedding anniversary, but it did mark a significant moment in our lives. ...

13.08.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

I hate podcasts with a passion - but I’ll make an exception for these two

I’m not a violent man. In fact, I consider myself a pacifist. However, these days, if someone says the words ‘I’m starting my own podcast’ to...

10.08.2025 4

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

I’m a shock-seeker, so I watched Masterchef and chucked my morality away

This article appears as part of the Unspun: Scottish Politics newsletter. I’ve always been drawn to the forbidden. When tabloids scream ‘ban...

09.08.2025 3

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

Us vs them: why the rich are destroying our world

Inequality in America is today equivalent to that of Ancient Rome during slavery. That statistic came roaring off the page at me yesterday. You’ll...

08.08.2025 9

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

We don’t need to be tied to the prejudices of our upbringing: Sandie Peggie take note Sandie Peggie admitted using racial slurs but said she was “brought up like that", But people can rise above the prejudices of their upbringing

"They f**k you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had And add some extra, just for...

06.08.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

Corbyn’s new party doesn’t just threaten Labour, it’ll badly wound the SNP too

This article appears as part of the Unspun: Scottish Politics newsletter. The leak is about to become a flood. All across the west, political...

26.07.2025 7

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

Make indy great again? Why Swinney should hijack Trump’s visit to Scotland

John Swinney needs a Hail Mary shot. It’s not that he’s doomed to lose the next Scottish election and see the curtain fall forever on his...

25.07.2025 8

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

Your life ruined for an affair… what kind of puritanical world is this now?

Love is meant to be difficult. The human heart is hard terrain to navigate. Nobody who has ever truly loved did so without some suffering. Any love...

23.07.2025 7

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

John Swinney’s chat about independence is just getting embarrassing now It’s all becoming a wee bit sad lately. John Swinney starts talking about independence and nobody cares.

This article appears as part of the Unspun: Scottish Politics newsletter. It’s all becoming a wee bit sad lately. John Swinney starts talking...

19.07.2025 4

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

Children are now dying of measles. Anti-vaxx conspiracists have blood on their hands

When the history of this absurd era is eventually written, one major theme will surely be the ease with which those unfit and unqualified rose not...

18.07.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

Anti-woke stormtroopers are gunning for Superman. Has the world gone mad?

There's a peerless meme on social media which sticks a stiletto up the idiot nostril of the anti-woke league. It spoofs the old Ladybird books. On...

15.07.2025 5

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

When it comes to violent rhetoric, the right says what it wants but left is silenced “Now let’s bomb Glastonbury,” reads the headline to a recent Spectator article. Promoting the piece by the writer Rod Liddle, whoever runs the magazine’s social media feed tweeted on Elon Musk’s X platform: “One on Glasto, one on Brighton, and the UK would soon begin its recovery.”

This article appears as part of the Unspun: Scottish Politics newsletter. “Now let’s bomb Glastonbury,” reads the headline to a recent...

12.07.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

The Epstein Files and Donald Trump: when conspiracy theories come back to bite

The saga of Donald Trump and the Jeffrey Epstein files is a parable for the 21st century. It stands as a warning to those who would dare use...

11.07.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

So this is what it's come to: arresting pensioners and priests for protesting Should I have thought twice before writing this? Do my opinions put me in the crosshairs of a government that’s drawn up a list of those to be silenced?

Should I have thought twice before writing this? Do my opinions put me in the crosshairs of a government that’s drawn up a list of those to be...

09.07.2025 50

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

Starmer is a charlatan without principles – Labour should dump him for Angela Rayner You may not have liked Margaret Thatcher – I certainly didn’t – but you knew exactly what she stood for as a leader. Even with Boris Johnson you knew what he stood for: himself. But what does Keir Starmer stand for?

This article appears as part of the Unspun: Scottish Politics newsletter. Even with the u-turn, he’s created a two-tier system where those who...

28.06.2025 6

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

Trump said ‘f**k’ and I started to agree with him. What the hell is happening to me? On Tuesday evening, I found myself in the frankly remarkable position of nodding along with Trump. Momentarily, I thought I was going mad.

In The Art of War, the ancient Chinese military textbook, Sun Tzu wrote: "If you wait by the riverbank long enough, eventually the bodies of your...

27.06.2025 5

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

Remember the blood and lies of Iraq? We can’t go through that again with Iran I WAS in the midst of a family party when news of America bombing Iran sucked the life from the room.

I was in the midst of a family party when news of America bombing Iran sucked the life from the room.  The night was ending. The youngest there,...

25.06.2025 8

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

SNP treats indy like Monster of Glamis: a shameful secret to be locked in the attic It’s clear that the surest route to another independence referendum is through creating a sustained Yes majority in opinion polls – something like 55% for at least six months. And the only way to achieve that is by showing that the SNP is fit for government.

I must have blinked and missed it.   This was the week John Swinney was supposed to set out his ‘vision’ for independence. The irony...

21.06.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay

Strange: our government can’t even remember which torture sessions it took part in

Memory is rather unfashionable these days. Nobody seems able to remember a simple fact anymore, unless prompted by the phone in their pocket.  ...

18.06.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Neil Mackay