Theoretically, there should be an element of shock in Richard Leonard’s resignation as Scottish Labour leader, so close to a Holyrood election. But nobody seems even remotely surprised.
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“Trumpism will prove rather harder to exorcise from US society. And the Democrats showed little interest in doing so.”
David Jamieson: Impeachment politics won’t solve America’s problems
“If this rattles the confidence of the public in Scotland then I can hardly blame them, and I can’t see what the option is other than (finally) honesty, full disclosure and reform.”
Robin McAlpine: Nicola Sturgeon, this is a matter of the integrity of Scotland as a nation
Scotland’s news today is dominated by further lockdown restrictions. The measures may appear marginal: limitations on click and collect deliveries; firmer rules for takeaways; curbs around alcohol. But they are designed to stamp home the message that there is no imminent return to normality.
Source Direct: Lock Me Down
“If university authorities and other landlords are so complacent as to think that they can get away with it, we can only conclude it is because the Scottish Government has given them no reason to think otherwise.”
Sean Bell: The rent crisis facing students shows that society owes them more
“The classless euphoria of ‘Clap for Carers’ is rapidly giving way to class tension. Some of it is starting to rise to the level of real conflict.”
Analysis: What happens when front-line ‘heroes’ start demanding their rights?
Statistics today from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) further expose the scale of poverty in the UK. They show that, despite interventions such as the furlough scheme, lockdowns are helping push many families “to the brink”.
Source Direct: Hard Times
“Food – good food – is not a luxury, and there is nothing you can do, no one you can be, that justifies being deprived of it. The matter must be put beyond question.”
Sean Bell: Food is everything
One of Scotland’s top firms and best-known brand names, with a truly global reach, Celtic has suddenly become a byword for negligence, thanks, above all, to THAT Dubai trip, which may go down among the all-time sporting PR disasters.
Source Direct: Sure it’s a Grand Old Mess
There is a rumbling debate about the timing of a proposed Scottish independence referendum, highlighted by remarks from Labour’s Keir Starmer and the SNP’s John Swinney.
Source Direct: One More Time
“Based on past experience, it is unlikely that those who bear some measure of responsibility for the siege of Washington will be forced to answer for it. Who or what exactly has the power to compel them into accountability?”
Sean Bell: It can’t happen here…
Retail data shows that the public health crisis should not disguise an imminent economic emergency.
Source Direct: Lost from the Supermarket
“The disappearance of the gradualists is also their final triumph. Aided by a frenzied media and political opposition, they have come to symbolise independence without the need to manifest any concrete support for the cause, or demonstrate any viable strategy.”