IndyRef 2

UK supreme court rules Scotland cannot call a second independence referendum – the decision explained

— The Scottish government wanted to trigger a second independence vote without consulting Westminster but that has been deemed not legally permissible.

Scottish Independence

Scottish independence: How Nicola Sturgeon’s pledge to rejoin the EU could impact a referendum vote

— Recent polling indicates that the EU question is central in the minds of Scottish independence voters.

OPINION

Preparing to win the next UK General Election

— It is safe to say now that the Conservative party has made a catastrophic mistake by choosing Liz Truss as its leader and as Prime Minister.

Analysis

Survey shows Brexit vote has undermined support for the United Kingdom’s union

— Question marks hang over the future of the union. The Brexit policy the UK Government has implemented has instigated a diminution in public support for a union that it wishes to preserve.

OPINION

Is it safe yet?

— Britain has become an insane, cruel and callous place which makes the poor pay so that the energy companies can rake in billions, a sclerotic polity which is well on the way to full-blown authoritarianism.

OPINION

Liz Truss’s Conservative chip pan fire

— The Conservatives promised that their Brexit would deliver sunlit uplands, what they are delivering is unlit slum lands.

OPINION

Truss is a gift to the cause of Scottish independence

— Boris Johnson is a liar and a cheat but like all successful con artists, he is basically a showman. Even so, the people of Scotland proved immune to his charms. Liz Truss’s problem is that she has no charm at all.

OPINION

Human rights and Tory wrongs.

— Liz Truss is reportedly far ahead amongst Conservative party members who blame Rishi Sunak for defenestrating Boris Johnson – a view which Johnson himself is keen to foster... to prepare a triumphant return when Tory MPs decide to get rid of an inept Truss.

OPINION

The Tory chancers trashing the rule of law.

— The British Government has now pretty much abandoned any pretence that the rule of law counts for anything when it is supposed to apply to... the British Government.

UK Politics

Boris Johnson says his time as UK PM was ‘mission largely accomplished’. How does that actually stack up?

— Boris Johnson is about to leave 10 Downing Street to be replaced by one of two colleagues. His history in the top job is a chequered one.

Indyref2

Scottish independence: What has changed since the last referendum.

— If the UK continues down paths that further isolate it from the EU and the wider world stage, Scottish attitudes to the Union may harden. Especially because Boris Johnson is personally very unpopular in Scotland.

OPINION

Well, we are the people and we say yes.

— Boris Johnson and the UK Supreme Court can say no if they want to... Well, we say yes, and we are the people.

OPINION

The English dreaming of Peter Hitchens.

— For decades opponents of independence have insisted that Scotland is financially dependent upon England, people in England have absorbed this message too, and naturally wonder if they would not be better off if they ditched an ungrateful Scotland.

OPINION

Anglo-British nationalism: Greater projection than an iMax screen.

— It is fair to say that over the past 20 years Scotland has forged a more inclusive notion of nationalism, while Anglo-British nationalism is characterised by British exceptionalism.

OPINION

Johnson is a symptom of a chronically sick Westminster.

— We were all suffering isolation for the greater good, in order to protect ourselves and our vulnerable friends and relatives, whilst Boris Johnson was himself ignoring the rules that the rest of us had to follow.

OPINION

The perfect figurehead for a corrupt and unreformable Westminster.

— What the Tories are getting with Boris Johnson is precisely what they should have expected they were going to get. He’s incapable of change and as such is a perfect figurehead for a corrupt and shambolic Westminster which is incapable of reform.