January has become the new Lent. First we were encouraged to give up alcohol. Then we were encouraged to give up meat and become vegans for a month. Finally there is apparently some virtue in failing to shave your legs. Next year, no doubt, we will all have to change …

The treatment of Northern Ireland in the context of the negotiations between the EU and the UK has shown the inconsistency of the EU’s position with regard to nationalism. The EU rightly condemned Crimea’s secession from Ukraine and reunification with Russia. This was not so much because the referendum that …

I don’t want Mrs Sturgeon to click her ruby slippers together while repeating endlessly that there’s no place like Scotland. Nor is it helpful to once more hear nationalists repeat clichés like “A hard Tory Brexit makes independence inevitable.” But it might be useful to revisit Scottish independence in the …

There were always two types of empire. There were those like the British and the French that spread overseas. British and French people would move to Delhi or Saigon and pretend they were living at home only it was rather hotter. These empires were always fragile. The other type of …

Dear Mr Clark, I write to complain about what feels like treachery by our Prime Minister for allowing such a poor deal on Brexit even to be considered as acceptable to the British population. I spent the first 5 years of my life in Jersey, daughter of a non-Jersey born …

A week ago we commemorated the 100th anniversary of the ending of the First World War. Theresa May laid wreaths on the graves of those who had defended the freedom and democracy of our country while knowing that she intended to surrender both of them. For this alone she must go. …

The writer of the Polish national epic, one of the last epic poems written in Europe, was born in present day Belarus and wrote in the first line of his poem Pan Tadeusz: Litwo, Ojczyzno moja! ty jesteś jak zdrowie; [Lithuania, my fatherland! You are like health] From this you …

September 2014 The Yes side win a vote for Scottish independence by 53.4% to 46.6% November 2014 Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon begin negotiations with the UK Government led by Michael Gove. December 2014 Michael Gove announces that the UK will only support a free trade agreement with Scotland under …

When Theresa May returned to Britain after being humiliated in Salzburg she made a defiant speech where she maintained that she would stand up for Britain and that on certain issues she would not bend. She rejected outright that the UK would remain in the European Economic Area (EEA) and …

Since ancient times there has been a debate between those who believe that “Man is the measure of all things, of things which are, that they are, and things which are not, that they are not” and those who believe that there is such a thing as objective truth outside …

There may be ways in which Britain still influences the United States, but they are as nothing compared to the influence the United States has on us. Few of us follow in much detail political debates in France, almost nobody could name the leader of Latvia or Slovenia. A shared language …

There is something peculiar about the EU and its member states. They want the UK to defend them if they are threatened militarily. They want us to come to their rescue if their banks fail or their single currency gets into trouble. Yet they think they can treat our democracy …

The reason why the UK works as a country and the EU doesn’t work is fundamentally linguistic. Lots of people from Scotland live and work happily in other parts of the UK. We have all likewise met people from England, Wales and Northern Ireland who have moved to Scotland without …

We are in something of a phony war situation at the moment. MPs have been on holiday for a while now, but soon they will have their conferences and then they will be back to work. Between now and next March something momentous is going to happen one way or …

It’s nearly four years ago since we had the Scottish independence referendum. Some of us are still fighting it, but most of us have moved on. Four years is rather a long time. The First World War only lasted a little longer than four years. A baby learns to speak …

Yesterday I was informed that in 2013 I physically assaulted two people at my work. When I asked what I was supposed to have done and to whom, I was told that this was confidential. When I asked whether there was any physical evidence that I had assaulted these people, …

We have the good fortune to live in a society that for the most part is moderate and tolerant. People might vote Labour, Conservative or Liberal, but they can still get on as friends and colleagues agreeing to differ about such matters. The far-left sold a few newspapers on the …

American politics was supposed to continue to be a dynastic struggle between the Clintons and the Bushes. It was supposed to be this way as that would mean nothing would change. Trump is a usurper. It is for this reason above all that he is so hated by the liberal …

Like everyone else I tend to avoid writing about Islam. The events of the past week show why. Many people still care deeply about religion even if Britain is for the most part secular. We live in a country with people from many backgrounds and with very different beliefs. We …

The two issues that dominate Scottish and UK politics both involve a choice of whether to Leave or Remain. There are four variants. Let’s embrace the current apocalyptic metaphors and call them horsemen.           EU              UK 1.       Leave         Leave    Independent Scotland out of the …