The Bute House agreement between the SNP & the Scottish Greens always had a false premise. The SNP did not need a coalition agreement with the Greens to form a government. In 2016 Nicola Sturgeon led an SNP government which lasted until 2021. The SNP did not have an overall majority, nor did it have a coalition. This neither hindered Sturgeon making the case for independence nor did it prevent her introducing legislation. Sturgeon introduced the Bute House agreement because she hoped somehow that it would make it easier for her to introduce legislation regarding a second independenc ..read more

The roots of recent events go far back. The SNP changed when it first gained power in 2007 and even more when it gained a majority in 2011. But it changed most during the long independence referendum campaign that started when David Cameron agreed that there was going to be a referendum and built momentum until it reached a sort of frenzy in September 2014. Despite having a Scottish father and a Scottish surname David Cameron understood nothing whatsoever about Scotland or Scottish politics. He didn’t grasp that granting a referendum would itself fuel Scottish nationalism. He didn’t grasp tha ..read more

Part 22 Once upon a time Penelope Queen of Ithaca was writing her memoirs, only because this was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away she wrote her memoirs by means of a tapestry. Unfortunately, her husband Odysseus King of Ithaca had been away from home for the past twenty years. It was rather like in the Railway Children. Daddy was away somewhere, but no one said where as it was a long time ago too and English people kept a stiff upper lip about daddy being somewhere unmentionable until daddy returned at the end. While Odysseus was away someone in the bar with the barmaid called Lynn ..read more

  The other day I was driving in a city I am not allowed to mention where I drive rarely. Suddenly I was confronted with LEZ written on the road. Now as it happened, I had already checked that my car was compliant, and it turns out that despite the paint on the road we have not yet started charging people for driving naughty cars. But then I saw just ahead a sign on the road saying Bus Gate. What was I to do? I could attempt to perform a u-turn, but this would undoubtedly have been a worse offence than driving through the bus gate which may or may not have been active. So, I had to just k ..read more

  It is very early days after Dr Hilary Cass’s review on gender services provided by the NHS in England. I am not a doctor, but my initial thought is that it is completely devastating for the transgender argument. No one denies that there is such a thing as gender dysphoria, nor that there are people who wish to live their lives as the opposite sex or indeed sometimes as non-binary. The issue is how medicine ought to treat children who present with gender dysphoria. Up to now the tendency both medically and politically has been to accept that when a boy or indeed a man claims to be a gi ..read more

  I had never heard of Wilma Brown the former Labour candidate who was suspended for liking various posts on Twitter/X. I had likewise never heard of the person who had gathered the various posts which can be found here. But it is necessary to point out that in most cases the posts liked by Wilma Brown were innocuous, arguable, or true. The first post liked is Humza Yousless is going to be raging, as @jk_rowling is being called the new Queen of Scots. She's slain Humza Yousless and the trans movement, by using her speciality weapon, words, well played ma'am #DoffsCap Does the Labour par ..read more

  The biggest question of our age is apparently “What is a woman?” The Labour Party is unable to come up with a definition. I think also J.K. Rowling’s recent attempt in terms of DNA and large gametes fails on the grounds that we have only known about such things for a short time while we have know what a woman is from when time began. The question in fact is much simpler to answer than anyone realises. The answer to “what is a woman?” is the same as the answer to “what is grass?”, “what is the sky?”, “what are bricks?” and what are any number of other things we talk about. We have a sh ..read more

  The year 2024 could turn out to be one of the most monumental years in British politics, but no one is interested. Labour could win 450 seats and more. The Conservatives could be reduced to 100 or even less. It is possible that the Lib Dems might be the opposition. In Scotland it is reasonable to expect that the SNP will be reduced to less than 20 seats. After the past week things may be even worse for the SNP. There may come a point when enough Scots decide to punish the SNP by voting for the party most likely to defeat the SNP in each constituency. In that case the SNP could be redu ..read more

  I have very limited experience with the Scottish police, which is as it should be in a free society. They are invariably pleasant, polite and helpful. The police don’t stop you for no reason. They don’t come round your house or place of work without cause. If you are a law-abiding citizen, you have no reason to fear the police at all. This is what makes Scotland different from most countries. The police do important work and I wish they were allowed to just get on with it. They have to conclude their investigation into SNP finances.  The have to investigate serious crimes like frau ..read more

  I wish to report a hate crime. Not merely am I reporting one hate crime I am reporting five hate crimes under each of the protected characteristics. Unfortunately, I was born with a blue nose. But not merely is my nose blue, the whole of my body is blue too. I may not look blue to you, but I identify as blue and in particular I identify as having a blue nose. Recently my husband who has a tendency to wear white and green stripes took to mocking my blue nose. He called me a Hun and he didn’t use it as short for Honey. He thinks that blue people are worse than everyone else who lives in ..read more