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The revealing maths of home advantage in the Six Nations
Saturday’s 34–21 victory by France against Scotland in Paris came just over 100 years after the first-ever French victory in the tournament – coincidentally also against Scotland, 16–15 on 2 January,...
View ArticleIsraeli voices on a historic moment of opportunity
The uprisings in the Arab world, as The Caledonian Mercury has suggested, (in words that are now being echoed by the Foreign Secretary, William Hague) are a moment of opportunity that must be seized....
View ArticleFurther changes to NHS Pensions, a step too far
Nursing leaders have warned that further changes to NHS pensions, on top of a proposed pay freeze and job losses would be “a step too far”. Speaking as an Audit Scotland report revealed that public...
View ArticleThe Scottish influence on the US Declaration of Independence, from Arbroath...
Speaking at the launch of Tartan Day in April 2008, George W Bush, then President of the United States, spoke of the great debt of honour that Americans held for those of Scottish descent who have...
View ArticleEx-MP Devine guilty of £8,385 expenses fiddles
By James Browne And so Jim “my face is my fortune” Devine has been found guilty of ripping off the taxpayer two counts of fiddling his parliamentary expenses. The jury at Southwark crown court found...
View ArticlePutting Scotland’s larder on the world – and home – stage
By Elizabeth McQuillan Scotland produces the finest beef and lamb, is blessed with the tastiest crustaceans and molluscs, and we are finally beginning to realise our own larder is better stocked than...
View ArticleAnother big cat sighting in the Campsies
In May last year, The Caledonian Mercury reported on a big cat sighting in the Campsie Fells north of Glasgow. Numerous incidents of this sort have occurred across the whole of the UK in recent years –...
View ArticleWeir’s Week: reclaiming the other F word and America’s national sport
By Stewart Weir Saturday I’m always suspicious of anyone who lists Grumpy Old Men amongst their must-view TV programmes. A bunch of guys moaning how things are not as good as they were and complaining...
View ArticleOpinion: What the SNP needs to do to win
By Stuart Crawford I wrote recently in The Caledonian Mercury on whether the SNP was at a high water mark and faced a decline in support over the coming months and years. Judging from the volume of...
View ArticleMubarak has gone but did he matter anyway?
Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak may have gone but did he matter anymore? Cairo’s ambassador to Washington, Sameh Shoukry, believed the Egyptian intelligence chief and vice president, Omar Suleiman, had...
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No tries for fifteen months. No wonder Murrayfield is in crisis
IF anyone at the Scottish Rugby Union wonders why they can’t sell all the seats at Murrayfield these days they should consider one simple fact: tomorrow marks exactly fifteen months since the last...
View ArticleSouter donation makes the election much more interesting
It is difficult to over-estimate just how important today’s news of Brian Souter’s donation is to the SNP. The Stagecoach tycoon has promised £500,000 to the SNP’s election campaign – as long as the...
View ArticleSix Scottish Valentine traditions
Each time I head south of the Border to visit my English relatives I am struck anew by the negative perceptions they have of us. Andy Murray is “dour”, Duncan Bannatyne is “curmudgeonly” and Gordon...
View ArticleUseful Scots word: hen
By Betty Kirkpatrick The Scots are traditionally known for their dourness and certainly not for their demonstrativeness. Not surprisingly, then, the Scots language is sparse in terms of endearment. If...
View ArticleThe people who won’t take their eyes away from Danny Boyle’s latest...
The biggest theatrical event of 2011 - in Britain anyway - is based around an Academy-Award winning director retelling one of the most recycled tales of all time. Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein, based on...
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After the winter’s blast, Scotland’s slow recovery
After the panic of last month’s figures for the Scottish Economy (the UK economy as a whole for that matter), there are clear signs that things are returning to normal. The latest Bank of Scotland PMI...
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Women drivers to be hit by EU insurance ruling
The price of motoring seems to be inexorably rising. Petrol prices are heading towards £1:30 a litre – diesel to £1:35. However, a change likely to be imposed by the European Court of Justice in the...
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And the best person in music on Twitter is…
21st century music mags - even the ones on old-fashioned paper - these days run a modern equivalent of the Best Album Of All Time feature, after they realised The Beatles, Dylan and Radiohead, like...
View ArticleWhen art meets acceleration: Andy Scott sculpture smashed by boy racer
Various of the statues and public sculptures to be found in central Scotland have suffered mishaps in recent years. There was, for instance, the “Braveheart” statue of William Wallace, which until...
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Why party-politics is failing Scotland
As an long-term independista, I wish I could get all excited, and party like it was 2007 again. With a new poll from Ipsos MORI putting the SNP slightly ahead of Labour in both constituency and...
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