It's been a very strange last couple of weeks. First came the shock news that Nicola Sturgeon had resignedas First Minister. I don’t think anyone saw that coming and I have to admit to not sharing the glee that some of my fellow Liberal Democrats expressed at this development. Nicola Sturgeon has a somewhat mixed legacy, but there can be no denying her commitment to equalities or her skills as a communicator. In those respects at least, she will be a tough act to follow. In the coming weeks and months we will perhaps find ourselves in a better position to appraise Nicola Sturgeon’s legacy ..read more

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has managed to generate a fair bit of interest after appearing on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg and promoting the idea of an increased minimum wage for care staff. During the interview, Mr Davey explained that "when I go and talk to people the biggest thing is the NHS crisis. Non-one thinks there is a silver bullet, a quick fix, but our policy to increase the minimum wage for carers - an extra £2 per hour - would deal with one of the big problems: namely, we don;t have enough carers. If we get these care workers, by paying them decently, then we can ensure that ..read more

Secretary of State for Scotland, Alister Jack (Photo: Daily Record) The UK government has made a significant and unprecedented intervention this evening to undermine the independence of the Scottish Parliament. Secretary of State for Scotland Alister Jack made a statement defending Westminster’s decision to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) bill: "The bill would have a significant impact on, amongst other things, GB-wide equalities matters in Scotland, England and Wales. I have concluded, therefore, that this is the necessary and correct course of action. If the Scottis ..read more

Last year, as I have for over a decade, I made some predictions for the coming year. Unusually, I got some things spectacularly right... but of course one or two things not quite so right. Let’s take a look at some of my more impressive predictions from last year before I look at what 2023 may bring.  I was right that things would get worse for Boris Johnson and that his MPs would lose patience with him. I was also correct that he would be succeeded by Liz Truss, who would beat Rishi Sunak in the leadership election, and that her choice as chancellor would be an unwise one. She did, how ..read more

The Supreme Court has today ruled on the legal position of the Scottish government's right to hold an independence referendum.  The verdict can be read here. The verdict is not remotely surprising. It emphasises that the Scottish Parliament has no jurisdiction over reserved matters and that holding a referendum without Westminster's approval would be outwith Holyrood's legislative competence. Clearly the devolution settlement was never intended to give the Scottish Parliament this power and the UK's "defence" was essentially to point to the Scotland Act.  What the verdict does is ..read more

  Congratulations to the Lib Dems' newest MP! Sarah Green emerged victorious in the Chesham and Amersham by-election and will now be a powerful voice for Liberalism in the House of Commons. I don't know what to make of the result other than to express my amazement at the scale of Sarah's majority. When the by-election was first called, I only had a vague idea of where Chesham and Amersham is. As polling began to suggest a very close race between Sarah and the Conservative candidate, Peter Fleet, I became more hopeful that - with a bit of good fortune - we may snatch the seat. The smart ..read more

The unquestionably disappointing results of last week’s Scottish parliamentary election have got a lot of Lib Dems talking. There is a general acceptance that the party has fundamental problems, that we’re facing real challenges outside of a few constituencies and that we are experiencing an existential crisis. That’s not to say some of us aren’t finding some positives from the campaign, especially as far as local campaigning and more positive messaging is concerned, but overall it’s fair to say that the mood isn’t particularly positive. Yesterday, Kit Fraser, the convenor of East Lothian Li ..read more

After all the furore, when the so-called big clubs climbed down they caved in completely. Announced on Sunday, the idea of a European Super League was dead in the water late on Tuesday evening as the six English clubs -  under pressure from UEFA, the FA, politicians and anyone who cares about the game of football - capitulated and feebly announced their withdrawal from the elitist project they claimed to be a sporting competition. Enough has been written about this saga elsewhere that I don't feel the need to add anything to the conversation. It has got me thinking though...there's be ..read more

This is the question everyone is asking. Personally, I believe it's the wrong one but obviously we can't have a country without a Prime Minister and the 1922 Committee have set the wheels in motion for yet another leadership election. So who are the likely candidates? Who will be the next person to attempt the near-impossible task of leading the Conservative party while simultaneously running the country? Here's my review of some of the likely - and one or two unlikely - successors to Liz Truss. Name: Boris Johnson Age: 58 What would he bring? Experience of actually being Prime Minist ..read more

  This is the latest campaign from the Scottish Liberal Democrats: Bin the Referendum Bill! Today I received an e-mail from the party with a link to a petition. The petition reads as follows: We call on the First Minister to Bin the Independence Referendum Bill. The Scottish Government should put recovery from the pandemic first. In the lockdown last year, the First Minister suspended all government work on independence, but she has refused to suspend that work now that the country is in lockdown again. Thousands have lost their lives, many more have lost their job and the NHS is unde ..read more