First of all, it has been presented very well indeed. All this "Smarter Scotland", "Greener Scotland", "Healthier Scotland" and "Safer Scotland" stuff is brilliantly thought out. Who could argue with any of that as an aspiration for our country? I didn't get to see Alex Salmond's speech but I have the transcript and once again he is proving himself to be the Jed Bartlett of Scottish Poli...

Opinion once again being presented as fact? Loyalty itself has different meanings in different parts of Britain. Asians in Scotland, particularly those born in Scotland, describe themselves as Scots and tend to be more loyal to Scotland than Britain. The bulk of the Muslims in Scotland now support the SNP and back the demand for an independent Scotland. Asians in Wales also describe themselves as ...

We frequently hear what an outstanding economic success Scotland has become since devolution. Here in Northern Ireland, the little Ulster Nationalists in the DUP often quote Scotland as a template we can use, something to which we can aspire. SO...get this. "Scotland is on course to become the third most state-dependent country in the world. Only Cuba and Iraq spend more taxpayers' money on p...

The Telegraph reports that the Reform Scotland think tank recommends that Scotland should have its own Treasury and Chancellor and that the Barnett formula should be scrapped. This will result in Scotland raising its own taxes but it is unclear at this stage how much money raised in England will be allocated for spending north of

Scotland is changing. And you the people of Scotland have made it repeatedly clear to us, the Scottish Conservatives, that we need to change too.

When Halifax and NatWest were swallowed up by Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland there was not a word of dissent from English MPs. A couple were worried about job loses in their constituency but that was about it, no nationalist case was made. In Scotland there was much crowing

TOC East Central Scotland Glasgow Highlands & Islands Lothian Mid Scotland & Fife North East Scotland South Scotland West Central Scotland Well, the figures are done. We have an idea of how people may have voted had the Boundary Commission's revised proposals been in law by May 2007. In reverse order: Margo MacDonald would have been re-elected. The Greens would have two MSPs on my fig...

Here is a question for you: What makes you Scottish? How would you define who gets to call themselves a Scot? Do you have to be born in Scotland? Do you parents or grandparents have to have come from Scotland? Do you have to be ginger? What is a ‘Real Scot’? There are for me only two types of Scot – 1) Those lucky enough to be born in Scotland; or be descendants of people who wer...

Here is a question for you: What makes you Scottish? How would you define who gets to call themselves a Scot? Do you have to be born in Scotland? Do you parents or grandparents have to have come from Scotland? Do you have to be ginger? What is a ‘Real Scot’? There are for me only two types of Scot – 1) Those lucky enough to be born in Scotland; or be descendants of people who wer...

IT IS a long-standing concern. An independent Scotland would be a Presbyterian Scotland, in which Catholics would find themselves in a position not dissimilar to that of their