Sketch: Canape, won’t pay

aving unavoidably missed a few weeks of First Minister’s Questions, I managed to tune in to the final session and, as I saw the familiar coupons – Whitton, McNeil, Eadie, Curran – behind Elmer Fudd variously emoting bile or vacuity, my own face fell, and clouds of gloom threatened my sunny spirits.
I don’t know what [...]

Fury over PR referendum clash with Scottish election

Scottish ministers reacted with fury this morning after it emerged that the UK Government intends to hold a referendum on proportional representation on 5 May next year – the same day as the Scottish Parliament elections.
Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, is expected to announce in the next few days that the referendum on the [...]

Has Alex Salmond lost his edge?

lex Salmond is still the biggest beast in the Scottish political jungle. He is a politician of rare skill, a quick and occasionally devastating debater and a strong leader.
All those traits remain but a convergence of other factors have prompted murmurings to grow louder in the background, from inside and outside the SNP. In short, [...]

UK areas to get referendum rights – but maybe not on independence

esidents in any area of the UK will be able to instigate referendums on any issue, according to the coalition deal between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives published today.
The partnership agreement states: “We will give residents the power to instigate local referendums on any issue.”
So does this mean the green light for a referendum [...]

Salmond wins Scottish leaders’ debate as Murphy pushed into corner

lex Salmond emerged as the narrow winner of the live Scotland election debate this morning – partly because he was the most assured and experienced performer and partly because of a concerted assault on Jim Murphy by the three other party spokesmen which left the Scottish Secretary struggling on a range of issues.
Mr Salmond’s [...]

Scott sets Lib Dems election target of quarter of Scottish seats

avish Scott, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, has set his party the ambitious target of winning more than a quarter of all the seats in Scotland in this year’s General Election.
In an interview with The Caledonian Mercury on the eve of his party’s Scottish conference, Mr Scott said he believed his party [...]

Sketch: To be or not to be or not to mention the ‘I’ word at all

Good old Holyrood. Just when you think you’re in for a dull time, matters always liven up. Put another way: thank goodness for Annabel Goldie.
And thank goodness somebody mentioned independence.
I’m not saying that knife crime – the subject that opened First Minister’s Questions – is dull. Far from it, obviously. It’s just that [...]

SNP publishes Scottish independence referendum bill

Alex Salmond published his draft referendum bill this morning and, in doing so, he revealed the route he hopes will take Scotland to independence.
The First Minister said he wanted to ask two separate questions in a referendum: the first on more powers for the Scottish Parliament and the second on independence.
He said this two-question strategy [...]

Independence referendum bill delayed until summer … at the earliest

Alex Salmond announced this morning that his long-awaited Bill on a referendum on Scottish Independence will be delayed again and will not now appear until the summer, at the earliest.
The Bill had been expected to be published on Burns’ Night this year three weeks ago. When it didn’t appear then ministers said they were confident [...]

Labour in a guddle over independence referendum

cottish Labour leaders were trying to extricate themselves from tricky accusations of hypocrisy this morning over their approach to a referendum on independence.
Up until now, the Scottish Labour position has been this: we can’t have a referendum now because of the recession, this is no time to become embroiled in constitutional wrangles.
All fine and straightforward [...]

Money first, independence second

It seems that the head rules the heart in the SNP government, at least for now. Ministers were due to unveil their independence bill today but delayed it – causing much glee among their opponents.
No-one really seemed to know why it had been delayed but it has now emerged that ministers decided they could not [...]

The way is not Bard for independence bill

There was always only going to be one date of significance this month as far as Nationalists were concerned and that was Monday 25 January.
Not only is this Burns’ Night but this was the day the SNP Scottish Government was supposed to publish its Independence Referendum Bill.
It is now clear, however, that Burns’ Night 2010 [...]