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This is where you can find my take on what's happening in the world of Scottish politics
17:41 UK time, Thursday, 23 May 2013
In the face of grievous horror, normality. In the shadow of wilful brutality, seeming calm. Public and political life can sometimes appear ephemeral but, when confronted with the raw edges of existence, its very persistence can be soothing.
As is right, as is proper, political leaders at Holyrood opened today with words of sadness and sympathy in the light of the shocking events in Woolwich.
16:41 UK time, Thursday, 23 May 2013
Brian added analysis to:
The exchanges were pointed and precise. Mr Salmond eschewed rhetoric, disdained conflict.
Indeed, at one point, he said he was not going to "rise to the bait" dangled in his direction by Ms Lamont.
16:16 UK time, Tuesday, 21 May 2013
It opens a little like a tea towel. You know, the one that lists all those many inventions by Scots - from television to penicillin and points in between.
While it is always encouraging, indeed joyous, to hear again the many achievements of those north of the Tweed and Solway, there is of course a practical, political purpose to today's litany, included as it is within the document setting out an economic case for independence.
16:36 UK time, Thursday, 16 May 2013
On a ward round, doctors may find themselves discussing a patient's condition - even in very general terms - while the individual concerned listens intently. Or they may step aside for a quiet chat, despite the risk that this discreet manoeuvre may alarm the patient. Or they may simply assess the case later, in private.
Such a quandary seldom confronts politicians. Today was an exception as the First Minister faced an ambush from his Labour opponent. A very effective ambush.
17:53 UK time, Monday, 13 May 2013
Today's intervention by Gordon Brown was about distinct politics: establishing a distinct offering within the broad pro-Union camp. And offering a distinct take on what he argued were distinct values.
On that latter point, there is a shorthand version occasionally deployed by those, particularly from a left of centre perspective, who advocate the Union.
16:18 UK time, Thursday, 9 May 2013
In the long Scottish winter, which faltered briefly on Tuesday this week, there is a constant search for innocent merriment, for ways to pass the time and entertain the offspring. Cards? Conkers? Karaoke?
Today, at Holyrood, a new suggestion emerged. A perfectly simple game, one you can all play at home. You simply name an MSP - anyone, doesn't matter - and decide which character from "The Simpsons" they resemble.
15:37 UK time, Wednesday, 8 May 2013
Quoth Her Majesty from the throne: "My government will continue to make the case for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom."
Was this the Sovereign entering into the debate about Scottish independence? Older heads cast an eye back to a speech by the Queen in 1977 in which she appeared to question the plans, then extant, for devolved self-government.
15:02 UK time, Tuesday, 7 May 2013
More anent the referendum debate. Not, this time, the debate about substance - which is now motoring eagerly - but the debate about the arrangements for the plebiscite itself.
That has, understandably, been overshadowed, for two reasons. One, the citizenry and certainly the commentariat are anxious to get on with the arguments about independence.
14:38 UK time, Thursday, 2 May 2013
In decrying a political rival, one can try a range of tactics. Perhaps it will be best to strike directly, to target a particular policy. Or perhaps one might try subtlety, satire, drollery. Then again there is the strategy of guilt by association.
Examples of that latter tactic were on display at Holyrood today. In pursuing the issue of the currency today, Labour's Johann Lamont noted in passing that her rival, Alex Salmond, used to work for the Royal Bank of Scotland.
12:08 UK time, Wednesday, 1 May 2013
Turn things round. Ask not what Scotland does or does not get from the Union. Ask what benefits accrue to England.
Already, I discern Nationalists leaping to their feet and declaring: "All that volatile oil". But set aside for a moment the argument as to where the balance of economic interests lies.
18:15 UK time, Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Consensus at Holyrood this afternoon on the subject of how to deal with excesses by the Press - with all parties signed up to a scheme which would involve a tailored Scottish adjunct to a UK system.
The consensus itself is not accidental. It has emerged from detailed discussions involving the party leaders and also reflects, at least in part, the evidence given to a Parliamentary inquiry.
15:20 UK time, Thursday, 25 April 2013
Holyrood, if I may say so, rose to the occasion today.
Every political leader who intervened responded with dignity and decorum to the sad news that Brian Adam, the MSP for Aberdeen Donside, has died after a prolonged battle with cancer.
12:55 UK time, Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Brian added analysis to:
The contest over the currency of an independent Scotland is, at its core, a political battle.
George Osborne says that the SNP argues that an independent Scotland would retain the pound in order to lessen public anxiety over the project, in order to depict independence as a continuum from prevailing circumstances rather than a sharp departure.
12:52 UK time, Tuesday, 23 April 2013
It is a statistical squabble. It is an economic engagement. But, assisted by those two disciplines, the contest over the currency of an independent Scotland is, at its core, a political battle.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, says that the SNP argues that an independent Scotland would retain the pound in order to lessen public anxiety over the project, in order to depict independence as a continuum from prevailing circumstances rather than a sharp departure.
12:54 UK time, Monday, 22 April 2013
But have they reckoned with Malachi Malagrowther? By "they", I refer to the thinkers and tacticians at the Treasury who are suggesting that Scottish banknotes may face extinction in the event of independence.
And Malagrowther? That is the pseudonym adopted by Sir Walter Scott when, in March 1826, he launched a spirited and sustained attack against an earlier effort to interfere with Scotland's paper currency.
11:13 UK time, Monday, 22 April 2013
Brian added analysis to:
But have they reckoned with Malachi Malagrowther? By "they", I refer to the thinkers and tacticians at the Treasury who are suggesting that Scottish banknotes may face extinction in the event of independence.
Malachi Malagrowther and the Scottish banknote
17:43 UK time, Saturday, 20 April 2013
First things first. This was a good speech by Johann Lamont, ecstatically received in the conference hall. Delegates scrambled to stand at the close, applauding furiously, without the lead from the platform which is occasionally required with less favoured oratory.
It was personal and passionate with sound applause lines and occasional moments of dry humour. There was the occasional policy offer such as the proposals on community ownership.
16:55 UK time, Friday, 19 April 2013
Labour conference in Inverness - and there is much talk of the party's devolution commission. But it is almost all behind the scenes here at the Eden Court and it is notably tentative.
If you were listening to the wireless yesterday morning, you will have heard me blethering on about it. But for those few who, unaccountably, had something else to occupy their time, perhaps a brief recap might help. (The loyal listeners can use the interval to make tea or put the cat out.)
15:44 UK time, Thursday, 18 April 2013
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies. It was not quite a new planet swimming into my ken but it was certainly a novel experience. Keats would have approved.
The session of questions to the first minister ended with smiles and an outbreak of consensus, in place of the customary snarl and whimper.
11:58 UK time, Tuesday, 16 April 2013
And so MSPs have decided that they will debate the legacy of Margaret Thatcher - but not tomorrow. Not on the day of her funeral.
The Greens and the independent MSPs, together, have the numbers to form a collective group at Holyrood. That entitles them, from time to time, to name the topic for debate on particular days.
Brian has been a journalist for ever, well, since 1977.
He covers politics in all of its guises - UK, European but mostly Scottish.
Before joining the BBC he spent six years as a lobby correspondent at Westminster.
He has lectured on politics and identity across Europe and the USA and has written two books - and co-written a handful of others.
At St Andrews University, he studied literature.
He is a proud, patriotic Dundonian and fanatical supporter of Dundee United Football Club, losing no opportunity to trumpet their many glories.
He is married with two sons.
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