Tight security. Defection drama. An unexpected reference to Deacon Blue's Dignity. A dispatch from the Farage frontlines: www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

Nigel Farage has told potential Holyrood defectors to get in touch “within the next few days” if they want to jump ship to his party: www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

💥 The latest episode of The Steamie is out now! Scottish Budget: soundbites over substance? Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/1hCb... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

Big boost to Scotland’s offshore wind sector this morning. The huge Berwick Bank wind farm has secured a UK government contract for difference. Could also be crucial for a proposed blade factory in Leith pushing ahead.

Analysis: SNP's pre-election Budget favours soundbites over substance www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

EXC: More than half of Scots do not believe higher income tax rates north of the Border have delivered better public services, a new poll has found. www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

🔴 EXC: Concerns raised after "disturbing occult-style paraphernalia" found at the David Hume mausoleum in Edinburgh: www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

Swinney launches court bid to stop release of secret Sturgeon inquiry evidence www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

Finally dipping my toe into LinkedIn. Hit me up and we can #synergise and circle back.

Enjoyed this line from Angela Constance yesterday: "At the end of the day, the biggest critic of me is me." Fair to say in politics that is extremely unlikely to be true.

A big first day back of campaigning for Scottish Labour and the SNP ahead of May's Holyrood election. @alistairkgrant.bsky.social and me on Anas Sarwar and John Swinney showing what we can expect over the next four months on the campaign trail. www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

Flower of Scotland lyrics are 'cringe', says Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay suggested the unofficial national anthem should be replaced with Loch Lomond www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

Huge day for those who love Scottish political speeches (…hello? Is this thing on?…) 💥 @davidbol.bsky.social will be in Glasgow to cover John Swinney’s speech 💥 I’ll be in Edinburgh for Anas Sarwar and Russell Findlay

✍️ A New Year's resolution for our MSPs: don't be a passenger Why enter politics just to fill out the backbenches? www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

EXCL: Labour will use a "cutting edge data-driven" strategy in its bid to win May's Holyrood election. Insiders have revealed how Labour can win in what Anas Sarwar told me would be the “biggest and most ambitious political campaign that Scotland has ever seen”. www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

✍️ A New Year's resolution for our MSPs: don't be a passenger Why enter politics just to fill out the backbenches? www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

A grand Christmas

Kirk moderator: I get angry at the doom and gloom stories about the Church www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

Years ago I watched film clips with Terence Stamp from his great career: Fellini, Pasolini, Priscilla, The Hit, Superman. He was elegant, reflective, generous, insightful. The conversation is back on the BBC www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

2025 in Review: Council By-Elections A bad year for Labour in by-elections bodes ill for May, no matter how much they may spin one fluke and one narrow Parliamentary by-election win.

EXC: Kirk moderator: Asylum protests make me so ashamed of Scotland www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

Loved this. Weirder, darker and more mysterious than the film. I can see why there’s been ‘discourse’ about the adaptation.

Exclusive: 'Jaw-dropping': SNP MSP's office was 'bugged by male staff member who still works for party' www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

🛢️ I asked Chancellor Rachel Reeves if she thinks it’s true that 1,000 jobs are being lost in the North Sea every month because of the windfall tax, as industry representatives say. "No, no I don't." www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

Watchdog slams 'unacceptable weaknesses' in management of Historic Environment Scotland www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

SNP ministers ditch plan to cut single carriageway speed limit to 50mph www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

💥🎧 In the latest episode of The Steamie, we discuss Nigel Farage’s visit to Scotland tomorrow — and his comments about Glasgow. Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/5vYb... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/n...

🔴 EXC: Around 3,200 Covid deaths still being probed by special Crown Office unit www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

🔴 EXC: One in four Scots doctors say services in their department 'normally unsafe', according to BMA Scotland survey www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

Excl: Kate Forbes has called on the UK government to decide whether to allow a Chinese firm's Highlamds turbine factory, warning a "vacuum" has been created. She also insisted the "antidote" to Shell pulling out of ScotWind is to accelerate renewables investment. www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

📰 Good morning! Here is the front page of The Scotsman for Thursday.

'Chaotic' Budget nevertheless sparks optimism for Scottish Labour My analysis in today’s @scotsman.com www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

There’s yer Budget

Holyrood's committee structure is a "joke" and the quality of debate is "woeful", the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats has said: www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

Dream jobs do come along… I’ve spent the last few months immersed in BBC Scotland’s City Lights as Assistant Producer on a new 60min doc telling the story of the show. With vintage clips + new interviews, it’s pure dead brilliant! On telly/iPlayer 30th November. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

“The effect is mesmerising: it captures better than anything I know the strange hypnogogic state between sleeping and waking when the world itself feels woozily pliant to the near-conscious mind.” This a fantastic piece.

When I finished my travels, never in my lifetime had Scotland felt so adrift and cut off from itself, writes @dominicmhinde.bsky.social for @scotsman.com here: www.scotsman.com/news/opinion... His new book 'Drifting north' is out now! #Scotland #booksky

Fewer than one in five of those who voted Labour at the general election in Scotland last year approve of the party's record in government to date, damning new polling has found: www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

Bit of old-school light relief from me in today’s Guardian. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

🔴 Exclusive: Culture Secretary Angus Robertson denies misleading Parliament over Historic Environment Scotland scandal, via @alistairkgrant.bsky.social www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

🔴 SNP minister Angus Robertson denies misleading Parliament over Historic Environment Scotland scandal www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

Scottish Government special advisers 'must be brought out of the shadows and exposed to scrutiny' www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

Hard agree - I interviewed Alan Cumming and director Jono McLeod about My Old School a few years ago, it's such a brilliant, gentle dissection of an extraordinary lie and it's consequences

If you haven't seen it, My Old School is currently on iPlayer. A top, top documentary. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Alex Salmond died with debts of nearly £350,000, formal notice reveals, via @alistairkgrant.bsky.social www.scotsman.com/news/politic...