NEW: Unemployment in Scotland fell slightly in the last quarter while the UK rate has risen to its highest level in more than four years, according to the latest figures Read here: www.thenational.scot/news/2...

Starmer’s allies fear a leadership challenge: his “chaotic strategy pushes Labour MPs toward regime change..driven to the brink by the party’s woeful standing. But as one Labour MP said: (No 10) could try not being paranoid and just try being better.”

Trouble in Labour Paradise… “Starmer allies issue warning to PM’s rivals as fears grow over a leadership challenge…No 10 ‘sources’ increasingly worried that Wes Streeting could be planning an imminent coup against the prime minister.”

Pleasure to join Stephen on @TimesRadio earlier to talk about BBC, objectivity, and Trump.

So is ex Tory spin doctor and Boris Johnson appointee Sir Robbie Gibb now an impartial BBC board member? If so, why did he like an anti SNP tweet? Well the (Tory) ex BBC Chair told me Gibb’s finger accidentally passed over the “telephone” & “the heart got pressed.” Comedy gold.

I wonder if outgoing BBC Director General Tim Davie still thinks Sir Robbie Gibb “understands and supports” him? I suspect not. I questioned Tim Davie about former Tory spin doctor Gibb - a Boris Johnson appointee. What was his role on the BBC Board?

I’ll be popping up on @lbc shortly to talk about the BBC crisis & Donald Trump. Tune in if you can.

Johnson & Trump in all our attack against the BBC for spreading ‘left wing fake news’. You gotta laugh. Are there two Western politicians less familiar with the truth than these two? Here’s #Trump today posting a lie that Obama gets “royalties” from Obamacare health provision.

The mouse that roared. Briefly. Back to lobby fodder business as usual. #Grangemouth

A tale of two countries. Reform surge continues in England. @theSNP hold clear lead in Scotland. Starmer leading Labour to historic defeat - fourth place in votes, fifth in seats. Polling: @FindoutnowUK Graphics: @LeftieStats

Ah this old canard - used by right wing UK governments to traduce their enemies on the left for decades. See Wilson, Foot, Kinnock, Miliburn & Corbyn. Now used by Starmer cronies against @theSNP - a “threat to UK security” apparently. Desperate. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

Risible. Looking forward to the embarrassed NY Post follow up story…..

I was invited on as a guest for the launch edition. I said I’d want to talk about #Putin & his human rights record especially attacks on #LGBT people & the press…I heard nothing further: “Salmond’s firm was paid £30k a week for Kremlin-backed TV show.” www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/...

Facebook reminds me: here’s one of our lockdown staff meetings five years ago today. I was so proud of my amazing - and diverse - team. Majority women. Woman office manager. #LGBTQ + disabled + under 25 staff.

I remember in 2015 Labour & LibDem activists posting nonsense about my new office set up. Lavish furniture claimed on expenses… (I’d bought second hand stuff at auction.) Employing my wife was another ludicrous bit of disinformation.

More Labour Government sycophancy towards the Royal Family reports The @the-independent.com

No, I’m not “jubilant”. I’m merely summarising the poll. Quietly optimistic perhaps: “SNP figures are, at least outwardly, jubilant. As former MP John Nicolson posted saying: “Huge SNP lead in latest poll. Labour has collapsed. Tories a distant fourth.” bellacaledonia.org.uk/2025/10/27/h...

New poll points to a Labour collapse in Scotland. The Greens fighting it out with Reform for second place. @theSNP poised to win outright majority. But #Yes supporters need to vote! Polling: @FindoutnowUK Graphics: @LeftieStats

Huge @theSNP lead in latest poll. Labour has collapsed. Tories a distant fourth. Alba still on a derisory 1% There’s a clear message from this: to stop #Farage, win independence & get back into the EU Scotland must vote SNP & deliver a majority for a referendum.

My beau and I had the privilege of visiting this extraordinary place recently..... Once upon a time the Archbishop of Canterbury's palace en route to Lambeth, stolen by England's King Henry VIII & now gently languishing waiting for rescue. spitalfieldslife.com

Nine years ago an unscrupulous Tory minister (now in the LibDems) filibustered my #TuringBill He pretended my bill - now passed in Scotland - would pardon paedophiles. It was an ancient homophobic trope, conflating gay men with pardophiles. Have a read. www.thepinknews.com/2016/10/25/j...

I’ve spent many happy hours rocking on this. But I’ve run out of room. Auctioning my original 1990 @TomDixonStudio ‘Bird Chaise’ next week @LyonandTurnbull

There’s a reason Westminster doesn’t want another vote. One million young Scots have now come of age who were too young to vote in 2014. #Yes

Oh no! “MSP Ash Regan has resigned from the Alba Party.” #CarryOnUpTheAlba www.bbc.com/news/article...

Trying to decipher this Daily Record headline about Stephen Flynn …. Where to begin? Well I suppose with the obvious point that he currently sits at Westminster. That’s where he will do promotes atm…..

The UK Labour Government says it’s a “matter for the Palace”. The SNP disagrees: “the SNP has lodged a motion” at Westminster to “remove Prince Andrew’s title as Duke of York.”

Looks familiar! Heading to the @skytv studios….

I’ll be on with @SophyRidgeSky on @skytv tonight at 7pm talking through the day’s news. I suspect Prince Andrew may feature…. Tune in if you can!

Every time you hear right wing politicians & the tabloids screaming about asylum seekers remember ….

“The last time a dukedom was taken away from a senior royal was in 1919, when Prince Charles Edward – one of Queen Victoria’s grandsons – lost the title of Duke of Albany for fighting on the German side during World War One.”

Beyond vacuous. More ludicrous attempts by the Labour Party to out-Farage Farage. This is just sad.

I’m a bit concerned about the targeted ads I’m getting…

Labour hits an all time record low in the polls. Electoral disaster looms. So how’s that Starmer tactic of trying to out-Farage Farage working out? Polling: @FindoutnowUK Graphics: @LeftieStats

Which makes it all the more bizarre that Keir Starmer says there can be no return to the EU in his lifetime…Brexit is a disaster but Labour says we must embrace Brexit. Nonsensical. “Rachel Reeves Blames Brexit While Planning Tax Increases.” www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/rachel...

How can it possibly take Ofcom more than six months to investigate a straightforward & egregious breach of its own code? More Ofcom timidity when dealing with ghastly GB News.

I’m getting ready to join Bernard Ponsonby and guests for his Sunday politics show. Have a wee listen if you can. www.radio-uk.co.uk/go-radio-gla...

“Harris’s lack of generosity toward others makes it hard to be generous toward her..The book makes it more difficult to see her as the kind of leader that the Democrats need now. We’re left with burst balloons and buckets of ice water. And Donald Trump.” www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

Sights, sounds and tastes of #Hydra Leaving with my beau today 😞

Stravaigin in the gloamin with my beau in #Hydra

The Tories putting the Grate back in Britian ! #GoKemi #torypartyconference

Remember when #KemiBadenoch claimed school kids were identifying as cats & called in ⁦‪Ofsted‬⁩? “less a party leader & more a provocative statement generator. She embodies the legacy of a flight from seriousness, taking refuge in attack and rupture.”

Sunday lunch on the beach with my beau. #Hydra

Farcical & chaotic Labour Government legislation. How can this be sustained?: “the youngest person arrested was 18, the oldest 89…The Police Federation said “Enough is enough. Our concentration should be on keeping people safe.”

Speeding towards lunch with my beau. #Hydra

Well worth a watch. Owen Jones at the Labour Party Conference. Interviewees don’t all sound entirely sober. Some bizarre performances. #GazaGenocide denial. And many robotically claiming all fine for Labour at home - just messaging which is the problem. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLAp...

Thought he’d decided to fight Farage? Instead yet more grotesque pandering to the racist right: “Labour Condemned As A 'Moral Void' As Starmer Vows To Remove Asylum 'Golden Ticket.” www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/a-mora...

Keir Starmer’s Party Conference bounce. Labour set to lose 351 seats. Graphics: @LeftieStats Polling: @FindoutnowUK

My lovely friend @Historic_Ally has been nominated for a Scottish @BAFTA award alongside his @BBCScotland Burns Night 2025 colleagues. Well deserved. He’s an outstanding tv presenter. And great to see presentation not just about but in Scots. #Scotsleid

Beach lunch with my beau. #Hydra

Depressing holiday read - #KamalaHarris Few insights. She’s not to blame for anything. Chaotic #Afghanistan withdrawal? Down to #Trump Blind support for #Israel ?#Biden. She shows little empathy for the people of #Gaza Very dismissive of Waltz. Probably planning another run….