Followers of the beautiful game may discern that my primary reason for being in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is not to take the pulse of the American electorate. However, it is an interesting time to be anywhere in this country and to read the runes about what happens next.
It is important to know what Great British Energy is actually going to do. There is no shortage of options and the costs involved, in the grid alone, are astronomical.
On the one hand, Labour is the party of devolution; on the other, the SNP is the party of centralisation. First it is necessary to be clear on what devolution means. And it is certainly not a sterile argument over more powers for Edinburgh. We’ve had enough of that.
Around the land, candidates of all political hues are stepping forth this morning with hope in their hearts, whether of hanging on, securing a glorious victory or avoiding humiliation. Their fates are pretty much sealed and judgement awaits. Being a candidate on polling day can be a solitary business.
Alister Jack’s stumble onto centre stage in the great betting scandal is the stuff of comedy. By common consent, Mr Jack only finds himself in the spotlight because he told a BBC reporter, after the election was called, that he had made a tidy sum out of betting on it to take place in July.
John Keane, who has died aged 89, was a Mayo man of humble origins who built a successful business in Scotland and played a dramatic role when Celtic Football Club faced its darkest financial hour in 1994.
Scotland and the rest of the UK will need tradespeople as much as graduates and apprentices as much as experienced hands. The college network is uniquely placed to meet these challenges with the great advantage of localism.
Tuesday’s BBC debate gave cause for hope that the SNP’s style of politics has finally been rumbled.
“Cutting through” is one of these annoying clichés beloved of self-important young things as they bustle from one important meeting to the next with people who share the same political values. If it isn’t “cutting through”, it doesn’t matter. Never mind integrity or principle.
The appearance of the Cabinet Secretary for lots of things, Mairi McAllan before Holyrood’s Net Zero Committee, bordered on the comedic. Weaned on the politics of nationalism, Ms McAllan learned the basic script along with her nursery rhymes – it’s always someone else’s fault.
