EDF Energy reprimanded for safety lapses at Torness nuclear plant
By Rob Edwards EDF Energy has been reprimanded by the government’s nuclear watchdog for a series of safety lapses at the Torness nuclear power station in East Lothian, The Caledonian Mercury can...
View ArticleSalmond outmanoeuvres the UK government over referendum
Anybody bet against St Andrew’s Day 2014 as the day when Scotland’s future will be decided? Alex Salmond said “the autumn of 2014”, but there is really only one date that stands out: 30 November. That...
View ArticleWeir’s Week: Scholes, Shingler, Steve Davis … and a little Patience
By Stewart Weir Saturday It’s cup day, north and south of the border, and oh the romance of it. But as I tweeted, on the evidence of the Birmingham City–Wolves game in the FA Cup, with empty stands,...
View ArticleScottish unemployment rises by 19,000 amid talk of ‘crisis’
The latest figures on the Scottish economy offer a confused picture. Unemployment rose in Scotland by 19,000 to 231,000 in the three months from September to November. That is likely to get worse if...
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Diary: Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Cameron
By Diane Maclean Aides of the First Minister were last night distancing themselves from a leaked document that appears to be notes for today’s First Minister’s Questions. The chicken korma-stained...
View ArticleStalinist plot returns John Hodge to National attention
John Hodge’s most celebrated piece of writing originated 50 miles across the M8 via someone else. The “Choose life…” speech uttered by Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting first came from the pen of Irvine...
View ArticleInsert lazy pun about Tom Harris and Downfall here
You know what I hate about our politics? It's so bloody humourless and anodyne. No wonder the voters are turned off. Tom Harris MP has been forced to stand down as Labour's "Scottish politician who...
View ArticleUseful Scots word: yatter
By Betty Kirkpatrick Yatter is one of those Scots words that does not immediately suggest its nationality. For quite a while I had not realised the word was Scots, although it is a word I use...
View ArticleFriday song: Jockbusters
The latest topical song from the Sensational Alex Salmond Band is entitled Jockbusters. The band's Best Of 2011 album is also now available, and The Caledonian Mercury is proud to be able to present a...
View ArticleYouTube if you want to: Ten things wrong with The Iron Lady
1 – Anyone is allowed to make a film about Margaret Thatcher – just don’t make it dull For all the silly howls of protest about giant Maggies on a bus, they were perfectly entitled to make a film about...
View ArticleOpinion: Stand aside please, younger workers coming through
By John Knox There has been a lot of hand-wringing about the dreadful fact that 88,000 young people in Scotland are unemployed, a third of total unemployment and a fifth of all young people between the...
View ArticleWeir’s Week: A Rangers oldie and some trouble with the hoops
By Stewart Weir Saturday Because of the way their season is structured, January in many ways belongs to the NFL. En route to deciding their biggest prize, currently we’re in the midst of the...
View ArticleArchive reveals Scotland overtook England in historic transport stakes
By Matthew Shelley A few lines written on a 16th-century pay slip could put paid to the notion that England, rather than Scotland, was the first to make a great leap forward in transportation. For...
View ArticleEdinburgh show they can become a force in European rugby
Some of the top English rugby clubs have been complaining that they don’t have the cash to succeed in Europe any longer, that they are being outspent by the French. As excuses come, it is a pretty...
View ArticleMoira Salmond – Scotland’s first First Lady
She has been described as the “rock” around which Alex Salmond’s life revolves, but no one outside a small circle of close friends and allies has ever met her. She is also the wife of the most...
View ArticleWas Burns a Socialist, Whig, Nationalist, Tory – or floating voter?
By John Knox One of the delights of the Burns Supper season is watching every political party claiming to be his true inheritors. Each can ransack Burns’ life and his works for samples of their...
View ArticleUseful Scots word: hurdies
By Betty Kirkpatrick If you have been living in Scotland for any length of time you will know that this is Burns Night. It is time, therefore, for a lot of people to get dressed up in tartan and...
View ArticleNew statistics show ‘marked drop in economic activity’ in late 2011
Economic activity in the UK fell by 0.2 per cent in the final three months of last year. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show a marked drop in economic activity from the third...
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Scots win world debating championship
Five young Scottish debaters have won the World Schools debating Championship in Cape Town, beating Wales to lift the trophy. The Scottish team are made up of Charlie Holmes, Alfie Hinchliffe, Josh...
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Diary: Fairer independence referendum question emerges
The SNP’s proposed question for the referendum on Scottish independence has been judged by many to be unfair, referring as it does to the loaded political concepts of “Scotland” and “independence” . I...
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