In the great novel of classical Spanish literature, Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, widely considered the first modern novel in European literature, the eponymous hero Don Quixote (an older spelling of Quijote which has become established in English ever since the book was first translated into…

This week President Emmanuel Macron of France was on a state visit to the UK. With so much going on in the world right now, you might have thought that Macron and Britih Prime Minister Keir Starmer would have had plenty to discuss. There’s the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the chances…

It’s exactly a year since the Labour party under Keir Starmer swept to power in the Westminster general election and won a landslide majority of over 170 seats in the Commons, albeit on a mere 34% of votes cast, such is the distorting effect of the first past the post system….

Language is important, and the choices we make with words can have an important and even decisive influence on how we understand and perceive a topic. As a linguist and a lover of words and language I am acutely aware of how important it is to choose the correct words when…

In an increasingly dangerous and uncertain world in which the far right is on the rise, and war and death stalk increasingly large parts of the globe, it’s nice to be able to report a hopeful development for a change. God knows we need it. Democratic primaries in an American mayoral…

The Scottish Parliament has unanimously passed the Scottish Languages Bill. The bill will pass into law once it receives the formality of royal consent. The bill makes Gaelic and Scots official languages in Scotland and also introduces measures aimed at boosting the use and development of both languages. Making Gaelic and…

I thought I should give an update on my mum. It’s fair to say that this past week has been the hardest our family has faced. My mum wasn’t just mother to myself and my brother and sisters, she also stepped in to look after her brother and sisters after her…

My mum is not doing any better. She’s not really conscious any more. They are giving her strong painkillers and sedatives to keep her comfortable but are no longer giving her any other treatment. We are going to see her this afternoon. I fear it’s only a matter of time now…

I need to step away from the blog for a while. As regular readers may be aware, my mum is battling stage four cancer – ocular melanoma. My mum told me many months ago that she was happy for me to discuss her health on the blog. The latest news is…

I’ve been preoccupied with a family emergency involving my mother’s health, which has taken a sharp turn for the worse, so I’ve been too distracted to sit down and write a piece about recent political developments. However, on the basis that the best thing to do right now is find something…

We are facing a serious political crisis. The next Westminster general election is four years away, given the size of Starmer’s majority in the Commons it would require a rebellion of unprecedented magnitude to unseat him. Despite the rumblings of discontent from Labour’s left wing old guard, there is little likelihood…

We need to brace ourselves for the very real and alarming prospect that the frothing über-yoons of Reform UK come in second in next week’s Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Holyrood by-election. I dislike the pejorative term yoon as a rule, but in the case of Reform UK it’s fully warranted. It’s…

The Guardian newspaper has reported that Labour’s “flagship child poverty policy” has been delayed until at least the autumn, pushing tens of thousands more children into poverty in the meantime. It was because this policy was supposed to be unveiled in a few months that the Labour party justified voting against…

Readers of this blog will know that I am not in the business of defending Anas Sarwar, the Scottish branch manager of the Labour party. There is a multitude of reasons for legitimately criticising him, his frequent and many lies, his willingness to spin on a sixpence in order to justify…

It is now less than a year to the next Scottish Parliament elections and once more social media screen space is being consumed with arguments about tactical voting in the regional list vote. Every time there’s a Scottish election this argument comes up, even though tactical voting on the regional list…