indyref2

Only a mug makes predictions in Scottish politics

Labour exults in Nicola Sturgeon’s departure, likewise the Tories. Labour has moved into second place according to the polls, but is still a distant second, Murray Ritchie writes. It was all very…

Rishi Sunak’s Tory nightmare   

The United Kingdom is doing its best to show itself coming apart at the seams. Are things really so bad? They could well be, writes Murray Ritchie. Consider: inflation, the frightening cost…


Political will is in short supply

Brexit is causing a curious stasis in UK politics in the four constituent nations. It is as though no-one really knows what to do next, writes Murray Ritchie. 2022 looks like being…


Will AUKUS help the SNP to a nuclear win?

Scotland’s independence-seeking government has reacted with muted curiosity to the unveiling of the AUKUS deal, writes Murray Ritchie. Ever since the 1960s when the US nuclear presence arrived on the Clyde the…


The greening of Scottish independence

The Green Party’s latest foray into government has just taken place in Scotland, boosting the drive for Scottish independence. No longer can the Greens be seen in Britain as just an eccentric…


Indyref2 and the independence naysayers

Nostalgia and unconvincing economic arguments will not be enough to stop Scotland gravitating back to Europe, writes Murray Ritchie. Could an independent Scotland fill the United Kingdom’s vacated place in the European…



Can Britain’s unionists future proof the Union?

Could England, Scotland, and Wales become independent states in some form of confederal United Kingdom? The odds are getting shorter, writes Murray Ritchie In the time of Covid with its attendant social…


UK breakup: Apocalypse soon?

The doomsters are having a field day in the troubled United Kingdom. They foresee a conjunction of seismic events, if not now, then shortly. Murray Ritchie poses the question: Are they right?…


Nationalists of a very different hue

Competing forms of nationalism are about to change the economic and political world order. And the decisive moment is coming soon when “good” nationalism and its “bad” counterpoint clash. No matter which…