HeraldScotland

Profile: Shona Craven

HeraldScotland: Photograph of the Author

Columnist & Community Editor

Shona edits the National Conversation section of the paper and also writes a weekly Prime Minister's Questions sketch and a Friday column, which usually takes a sideways look at the week's developments in Scottish, UK and international politics.

Latest articles from Shona Craven

Margaret Mitchell MSP was cut off by the committee convener several times

It is you, Margaret Mitchell, who is exposing Scotland to ridicule

AT last, what we’d all been waiting for – Nicola Sturgeon’s oral evidence to the committee investigating her government’s handling of harassment complaints. An eight-hour session digging into what went wrong and allowing her the chance, at long last, to provide a detailed rebuttal of Alex Salmond’s claim of a “malicious plot” against him.

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The Prime Minister suggested Keir Starmer should be asking about 'the issues of the hour', which in his mind don't include the bombardment on Yemen

PMQs sketch: Boris Johnson's mask slips as questions about Yemen dominate

IT must be annoying for Boris Johnson when he has all his boasts, quips and zingers rehearsed and ready to go, only for his opponents to ask about a gravely serious topic he wasn’t expecting.

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Matt Hancock wrongly announced that women could do their own smear tests at home

Smear test error shows Matt Hancock is in need of a biology lesson

WE’VE all been aware for some time that Matt Hancock doesn’t know his arse from his elbow, but it’s news that he doesn’t know a cervix from a vagina. The man whose idea of social distancing is sidling up to a colleague and patting him on the back has committed yet another gaffe by telling women they can do their own smear tests at home.

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The Labour leader attempted a gotcha worthy of Richard Leonard, but none of his colleagues seemed to have got the memo

Keir Starmer's zingers fall flat as Boris Johnson buys time before Budget

COMING soon ... The Budget! Starring Rishi Sunak as the man with the red briefcase. But will it be a drama, a thriller, or even a horror? The Prime Minister is giving few clues today, which makes for a damp squib of a PMQs session despite his dramatic announcement of a roadmap out of lockdown just two days ago.

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'The big unveiling of this shadowy group’s big billboard urging “vaccination not separation” couldn’t have come at a worse moment'

Shona Craven: Yes, Scotland matters, so put a billboard in London not Greenock

OH dear. Someone should have had a wee word with Scotland Matters and advised them that timing matters, too. The big unveiling of this shadowy group’s big billboard urging “vaccination not separation” couldn’t have come at a worse moment, given Scotland has given a first dose of the vaccine to more people per population than any other country in Europe.

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Scotland's artists have taken inspiration from some of the nation's best loved landmarks, characters and, yes, loaves

Pay tribute to some national icons with gifts and treats Made in Scotland

WHAT makes a national icon? The word is overused in these days of shallow celebrity, but we’re going to get plenty more wear of out it in this celebration of people, places, creatures and even foods that just scream “Scotland!”

Lord Kelvin coaster, £5, and mug, £12, www.illustrationetc.co.uk

Celebrating people and places inspires illustrator Rosemary Cunningham

Returning to pencil and paper felt like coming home. I love stories – both telling and reading them ...

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The polls look great for Yes at the moment, but the indyref2 campaign has not yet begun and pollsters have got it badly wrong before

Shona Craven: Yes is soaring in polls, but history shows us how polls can lie

IT’S easy to forget that the EU referendum should never have happened. By this I don’t mean it shouldn’t have happened because I – along with millions of others – thought Brexit was a terrible idea. It shouldn’t have happened because the Conservative party should not have won a majority of seats in 2015.

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Boris Johnson refused to provide clarity about the furlough scheme, business rates relief, the Universal Credit uplift or the evictions ban

PMQs sketch: Johnson rails against 'left-wing' SNP while dodging questions

MR Speaker has had enough! Maybe the final straw was accidentally being called "Mr Crisis" by an overenthusiastic Prime Minister in full flow. We all know Boris Johnson likes to ramble, but this week it seems he’s arrived at the House of Commons directly from a hedge. Judging by his inability to even comprehend a housing question from one of his own colleagues, I’d suggest someone needs to start checking his ears for twigs and leaves shortly before noon.

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Ending anonymity would not be enough to curb antisocial behaviour on social media

Twitter’s narcissists keep the outrage mill turning and ending anonymity won't help

‘BE careful what you tweet, because if you say something provocative you’re not going to get any sympathy if you then get abused.” Those are the words of Dr Chris Hand, a cyberpsychologist at Glasgow University who has been researching online victim-blaming.

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