If the SNP don't up their game, indy supporters may well stay at home
READ MORE: A new poll puts Reform second at Holyrood – what it means for Scotland
The SNP lost far too many MPs at the last election and I wouldn't be surprised to see further losses at the next Scottish election. No-one trusts the SNP to deliver independence any more, we can see that in the polls that show more support for indy than for the SNP. Swinney and his fellow devolutionists should be looking at those polls wondering why independence is more popular than the party that is meant to deliver it!
The root source of all Scotland's problems is the lack of control we have over our own resources. Instead of using these to boost employment, boost our health services and other public services and eradicate poverty, the scraps we get from Westminster are wasted trying to offset the vicious Westminster regime. We need independence – not another promise of a potential referendum.
There is a real danger the SNP will lose power in Holyrood simply because to the majority of indy supporters, the party has given up on independence. If the SNP don't seriously up their game then they will fall by the wayside as indy supporters stay at home.
Alex Beckett
Paisley
THE National's front-page headline on Tuesday was 'Indyref could happen if the SNP win big'. I quickly turned to the full story on page seven, excited by the prospect that John Swinney had finally found a way to guide us forward to a second referendum. Reading the article, I was very disappointed.
John, it seems, only 'suggested' that there 'could' be a route to a second independence referendum. This mythical, yet-to-be-confirmed, still-to-be-mapped-out route is apparently dependent on the SNP doing 'really well' at the 2026 Holyrood elections.
READ MORE: John Swinney pours cold water on SNP holding 'independence convention'
I read the full article twice in the hope that I had missed the details, or even a hint of the details as to how this second referendum could come about. There were no details, not even a rough idea on the back of the proverbial fag packet.
The old cynic in me then noted that the SNP had finalised its candidate selection for the May 2026 election. It announced that very same day a mixture of familiar old faces from Holyrood, some of the old faces rejected by the voters and ejected from their Westminster seats in July 2024, and a fair-sized batch of fresh young folk, some currently employed by SNP MSPs.
READ MORE: Independence 'on table' if Scotland elects Yes majority, Tories admit
I managed to read all of this while hanging on the telephone for a GP appointment. I also read of John Swinney's promise of 100,000 more GP appointments. I understand there are about 3500 full-time-equivalent GPs in Scotland. If each did one extra appointment per week, this would be 3500 x 52 = 182,000 extra appointments per year. So an extra 100,000 appointments is roughly one extra per fortnight per GP – not exactly a big deal!
There are now just over 360 days, and counting, until the Holyrood elections. 360 days for John Swinney and the SNP to tell us exactly 'indyref could happen if the SNP win big'.
Please forgive me if I don't hold my breath.
John Baird
Largs
IT would appear that once again the 'I' word will not be mentioned by the SNP in the run-up to the Scottish election. One can only assume it's for fear of frightening the undecideds!
I'm all for Mr Swinney promoting good governance as well as restating past successes, however surely the benefits of being independent should be loudly stated to convince undecideds to vote SNP.
READ MORE: How would a 2026 election win for the SNP translate into independence?
It's not as if it's a difficult sell – cheapest energy in Europe, rejoining the EU, a place at the table with 190-odd other normal countries!
We are caught in the devolution trap with no-one willing to open the exit door.
Colin T
Largs
OUTLINED in the Scottish Government's recent Programme for Government is the Children and Young People (Care) Bill.
This legislation aims to further support The Promise, produced by the Independent Care Review in 2020, and which is Scotland's pledge to care-experienced children and young people that they will grow up loved, safe, and respected.
As a coalition, along with others, we have been advocating for care-experienced individuals, who often face complex situations alone, to have the right to lifelong, independent advocacy. This will ensure that care-experienced individuals are aware of their rights and can make informed decisions about their lives.
READ MORE: Why are politicians making Holyrood elections all about Nigel Farage?
With the Promise Bill now part of the legislative landscape, it is time for this fundamental right, as committed to in The Promise itself five years ago, to be enshrined in law.
Too many individuals are currently missing out on the advice and support they desperately need, often when they need it most.
Scotland has an opportunity to lead the way, and the Bill provides the opportunity to deliver action on advocacy.
The Scottish Children's Services Coalition: Falkland House School; LOVE Learning; Spark of Genius; Young Foundations
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The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
'I went to Nicola Sturgeon's book event - it felt like an Oasis gig'
But there were no placards, no chants, no confrontation at all — only a steady stream of fans filing in with the same easy enthusiasm you might see at an Oasis gig. Oasis fans at Murrayfield, Edinburgh last week. (Image: Gordon Terris/ The Herald) Inside, the room hummed with anticipation. Three young women in front of me chatted about how impressive Ms Sturgeon had been as First Minister, their tone almost reverent. For them, it seemed, this was not just politics — it was admiration of a celebrity-like figure. It was a scene reminiscent of the concert-style events of her peak years as the SNP poster woman, when she could fill event spaces across Scotland like the Hydro with supporters eager for selfies and soft applause lines. In the past week, her return to the centre stage of the public eye has been far from smooth. Last week, her book was published earlier than planned, drawing swift criticism over her handling of the probe into Alex Salmond — particularly her claim that he leaked details of the investigation against him. She also said she would be happy to debate her gender reforms with JK Rowling, which raised the eyebrows of some of the legislation's most prominent critics given her unwillingness to engage in debate during the policy's development. READ MORE: Sturgeon takes swipe at Boris Johnson in book launch event Nicola Sturgeon: 'Summerhall wrong to cancel Kate Forbes' Sturgeon: Some gender reform critics are driven by prejudice But if there was an appetite for scrutiny, it didn't get fed at this event. Questions centred round her experience as a woman in politics and her ability to persevere in spite of any criticism. Resilience was the word of the night. Ms Sturgeon has spent much of the past week in the embrace of a friendly London media circuit — strolling along cliff tops with Julie Etchingham, taking part in searching-but-gentle interviews. The tone: reflective, personal, softly probing. And what was left for the Scottish press pack, journalists who have covered her policy record in forensic detail? They were allocated less than 14 minutes of her time. This is not just a snub; it is a deliberate media strategy. Ms Sturgeon is leaning into spaces where she can control the tempo, the topics, and, crucially, the reception. This asymmetry speaks volumes: she appears most at home when the questions are soft and the audience supportive. In many ways, these 'gently does it' interviews allow you to discover more about a Nicola Sturgeon who seems more at ease with herself and friendly. Huge round of applause as Nicola Sturgeon is welcomed onto the stage. Slightly later, someone shouts: 'You look great' NS responds: 'Thank you, mum.' — Hannah Brown (@HannahMargBrown) August 14, 2025 For example, she made a lot of funny quips during her time at the Union with host Sam Baker, a UK journalist whose current work focuses on "giving a voice to midlife women". 'Can I give you an exclusive here tonight?" Ms Sturgeon says with a smile, "Me and Dougie Ross were not boozer buddies.' For that, she was met with laughs and a round of applause. Ms Sturgeon was also comfortable throwing in the occasional swear word for comic effect to a receptive audience. 'There's lot about Salmond that p***es me off,' she says at one point and she made the joke on several occasions that her younger self would tell her to 'f off' if she ever gave her advice. Again, the crowd roared with laughter. As someone who has felt the wrath of a Nicola Sturgeon hard glare during doorstep interviews in Holyrood, I had clearly entered another world. It was as if I'd stumbled into a parallel universe where the former First Minister opened the door, made you a cup of tea, and settled in for a long, friendly chat. But the welcome here wasn't for me — nor for any other Scottish political journalist. It was her homecoming for fans. Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon at the launch of her memoir 'Frankly', at Edinburgh International Book Festival. (Image: PA) Her hostility towards the media is not unfounded. There have been headlines and stories written about Nicola Sturgeon I have shuddered at - sexist and sexual language permeating certain copy that should lead our industry to hang our heads in shame. The (UK) Daily Mail's infamous 2017 'Never mind Brexit, who won Legs-it?' front page reduced her meeting with Theresa May to a commentary on both women's legs. The Sun once ran a photoshopped image of her head on Miley Cyrus swinging naked on a wrecking ball. Since publishing her memoir, Nicola Sturgeon has been subject to commentary in the Scottish press which can portray her as nothing short of a Disney villain. Then there's the tirade of abuse on social media. Ms Sturgeon has already opened up about rape taunts and abuse she received for sharing her detailed and poignant account of her own miscarriage in her memoir. Anyone with a sliver of humanity should completely condemn abhorrent abuse like this. In that context, it is understandable that she prefers friendly rooms. But there is a danger in allowing self-protection to harden into permanent avoidance of scrutiny. 'I don't really enjoy reading political memoirs', Ms Sturgeon told the Glasgow audience. I agree with her. They are often one-sided and can erase a huge amount of history the author may not be proud of. But I'm not a sitting MSP and former first minister who has just published one. She has written Frankly — and is now touring it in settings where her version of history will go largely unchallenged. Ms Sturgeon told the Glasgow audience: 'I didn't want to write a memoir that was what most are, which is dry and quite detailed and also just recounting things that happened with the person writing it saying: 'wasn't I great and didn't I get everything right and everything else was wrong?'" But her version has its omissions. Decisions that drew serious criticism during her premiership — on education, drug deaths, ferries, the handling of internal party disputes— are reframed or smoothed over or just not referred to at all. It's not unusual for a memoir, but Nicola Sturgeon is a former First Minister whose political legacy is still contested and she is still a political representative of Glasgow Southside which she described as "the best place in the world". Of course there will be scrutiny of this memoir - as there should be. For a functioning democracy, it is vital. It is only too easy to diss the Scottish media who have followed your political decisions very closely all because you claim they are hostile towards you. Choosing to embrace only soft-ball interviews risks shielding her from legitimate challenges about her record. Another question now is whether this is the start of a sustained return to public life, or merely a victory lap before a new chapter elsewhere. In her self-published review, JK Rowling hints that Sturgeon's memoir could serve as a "CV distinguisher" which could earn her a "cushy sinecure with UN Women". Copies of 'Frankly' By Nicola Sturgeon Goes On Sale at Waterstones Piccadilly (Image:) We know Ms Sturgeon may move away from Scotland for a few years because she has suggested this at several of her book events now. Could this be a move to London? Only time will tell. She's also said she wants to explore writing fiction. Her biggest critics would argue she already has. What is clear though is that her memoir closes no doors, but Thursday's event in Glasgow suggests she's not ready to give up the stage just yet. For the people in the Union (the building we were in, that is), this was an evening of nostalgia, validation, and familiarity. For Nicola Sturgeon, it may have been a reminder that, for all the political storms of recent years, she can still very easily fill a room. The event ended, much like it did during her glory days, with her taking a selfie with the crowd.
The National
an hour ago
- The National
George Reid obituary: A lad o' pairts who revelled in being ‘of use'
As the party's Chief Executive I was taking him round the tea room after he had delivered the annual keynote Donaldson Lecture. It was a magisterial tour de force which reminded a party audience of the prodigious talents that had made him an important member of the SNP group at Westminster between 1974 and 1979. It also confirmed that he was back from his spell as Director of Public Affairs for the International Red Cross in Geneva, and keen to be involved again. Suddenly our tea room progress was blocked by a very angry looking Dr Robert MacIntyre, the SNP's first MP who won a wartime by-election in Motherwell. READ MORE: Former SNP MP and Holyrood presiding officer George Reid dies aged 86 Doc Mac, as he was known, was probably the most distinguished elder statemesmen of the SNP at that time, but he refused to shake George's hand and instead started to fulminate against the man who in the February 1974 General Election had unexpectedly won the Ochil seat. And that was the problem because Doc Mac, 21 years on, still blamed his own unexpected defeat in the neighbouring seat of Stirling on this young charismatic TV journalist who, although a late entry into the contest, had quickly drawn into his campaign most of the young, keen SNP election workers in Central Scotland – including those that Doc Mac needed to win Stirling. Soon the altercation began attracting attention but George quickly proved his mastery of such things. 'Good to see you Robert,' he said suavely. 'Michael, I am sure willl pass on to me any views you have' and moving on, he glad handed the next table whilst Doc Mac re-directed his glare to me. George was an expert in large and small scale conflict resolution and that requires not just empathy and quick thinking but also the ability to square circles. He had that in spades, being a convinced nationalist who never wavered in his support for independence but also, for example, being entirely comfortable as the representative of the monarch as Lord Lieutenant of Clackmannan between 2011 and 2014 as well as acting – with aplomb – in her stead as Lord High Commissioner of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2008 and 2009. Those skills, coupled with the witty but equally charming approach of his wife Dee, allowed him to undertake a huge range of other high profile tasks from cutting edge broadcasting to chairing the Scottish Parliament, sorting out the massive burach which was the Holyrood building project (and by so doing restoring at least in part the reputation of the nascent institution), solving a crisis in governance in the very patrician National Trust for Scotland, and – in his supposed retirement – regularly being sought out to give wise advice to Parliaments and civic organisations across Europe. Of course this ability to talk with, work with and make common cause with people who were most probably irredeemably and institutionally hostile to independence made enemies as well as friends. None the less he had a strong following wihthin and outwith the party, from those who recognised his considerable intellectual abilities, his affable though reserved charm and his natural courage which had been well proved by a stint between Westminster and Holyrood working in international disaster zones including in the Armenian earthquake of 1988 for which he received the Gold Medal of the Armenian Supreme Soviet. George once told me that shortly after his narrow defeat in the Westminster election of 1979 he realised that it would be a decade or more before the SNP recovered – electorally and organisationally - from the war of attrition that had been waged against it during the first devolution era. He, and his family, suffered severely as a result of that unremitting pressure but recover he did. So having returned home from Geneva in time to stand in the 1997 General Election for the Ochil seat, Clackmannan being where he had been born and bred, he was well placed to contest it in the first elections to the Scottish Parliament. He came second but was elected to the new chamber on the Mid Scotland and Fife list. He was the SNP's obvious choice for Presiding Officer but his good friend David Steel commanded majority support. George had to settle for being one of his deputies. That was a disappointment to him, but the difficulties that the SNP had in the 2003 election worked to his subsequent advantage. Two nights before polling day George and I had a long telephone conversation in which he expressed his own fears of losing again. We agreed that if we both lost we would go off and do some consultancy or writing work together, but in the end he won the Ochil seat by 296 votes, beating the incumbent Dr Richard Simpson. His re-election in a reduced SNP group put him pole position to become Presiding Officer, particularly as all the parties now realised they needed someone extraordinary to resolve the crisis of ever escalating costs and ever lengthening delivery dates which were bedevilling construction at Holyrood. George rose to the occasion and presided over the opening of the building by the Queen in October 2004. His crucial role in making that happen was widely acknowledged but although he would have liked to have served a second term as Presiding Officer, the difficulties presented by the Holyrood electoral system meant that in the end he recognised that retirement was his best choice. Of course, George was never going to be sidelined for long. He spent the years from 2007 until his diagnosis with bladder cancer in 2013 advising and guiding those involved in causes as varied as administering the Northern Ireland Assembly and taking forward diplomatic dialogue in the EU Caucasus/Caspian Commission. He was also an Electoral Commissioner and an adviser on the Scottish Ministerial code. In addition his contribution was recognised by being chosen as the Herald's Scottish Politician of the Year twice as well as receiving a special life time achievement award in 2013. Knighted in 2012 he also became a Knight of the Thistle in 2022. His surgery in 2013 was a complete success but he did reduce commitments thereafter though he always enjoyed seeing how projects he had instigated or assisted on were proceeding. READ MORE: Scottish Government minister joins march in support of Palestine For a while I chaired the Parliament's Scottish Future's Forum which he founded and which encourages strategic thinking outwith the usual party political boundaries. We also met regularly in his role as a member of the First Minister 's Council on Europe and Brexit between 2016 and 2020. Of course he maintained a keen interest in what was happening in the SNP and sometimes worried that it had forgotten lessons from its past. He deplored the tendency in politics to see everything as a black and white battle of heroes and villains, something that damages not just Scotland nor only the UK. Moderation and compromise were in his DNA. Lord MacKay of Clashfern – another politician with a huge hinterland and a remarkable record in public service – once observed that that the role of people like him was to be 'of use'. Sir George Newlands Reid was a shining example of a politician who was supremely useful to his country and indeed further afield. His successful ability to work across political boundaries while maintaining his integrity and beliefs achieved much and attracted many plaudits. That remains a lesson worth learning. Michael Russell is a former President of the SNP
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Nicola Sturgeon's memoir gives plenty of insight but isn't very frank
If her memoir does not always live up to that title, it does flesh out the details about what we already know of a woman facing some of the most demanding challenges of post-war Scotland. The early pages expand on an already well-documented childhood in Dreghorn in Ayrshire. We already know Sturgeon as a socially awkward child obsessed with reading. It's always been a paradox, also referenced here, that she can appear comfortable addressing crowds of thousands but struggle with dinner-table chit-chat. READ MORE: Inside the row between Scottish press and Nicola Sturgeon's team at book launch Here, she delves more deeply into the fear of failure, which pushed her to work tirelessly and which would later manifest in a severe case of impostor syndrome. The more she achieved, the more keenly she felt the likelihood of everything collapsing. It was politics which helped her face down a crippling lack of confidence, or to be more precise, the SNP. Frankly begins with its author about to knock on the door of her local SNP candidate, Kay Ullrich to offer her services as a volunteer. It was a life-changing moment, and the pages that follow tell in sometimes excruciating detail the minutiae of local SNP campaigning in a way that underlines the tensions inherent in the transition from a small, fringe party driven by a bunch of close (some might say exclusive) friends to a mass-membership, election-winning machine. Frankly's depiction of 2014's referendum is seen entirely through the SNP prism. None of the many grassroots organisations which sprang up throughout the campaign get a mention. Yes Scotland is dismissed in a couple of paragraphs. After the referendum result, the focus switches entirely to the SNP's election prospects. That may not be too surprising in a memoir written by the woman who led the SNP for almost 10 years. It's nevertheless depressing to realise how little thought was given to the Yes movement as the dull conformity of party politics reasserted its dominance. As the editor of the Sunday Herald, the only Scottish newspaper to support Yes in the referendum, my experience of the Yes campaign as a joyful explosion of democratic engagement chimes with Frankly's description, but there was activism which spread beyond party politics in a way largely ignored here. By the time Frankly reaches the referendum, it has given increasing prominence to Alex Salmond, with whom Sturgeon famously formed one of the most successful partnerships ever seen in Scottish politics. There's not much new insight into that relationship, which is understandable given its disintegration later. Sturgeon strains to rise above the bitterness to give her former mentor the necessary praise – 'The impact he had earlier in life was overwhelmingly positive' etc etc – but portrays a spikier-than-expected account of the challenges of working with him even in the good days. His failure to read all of the SNP's independence White Paper in 2013 is given as one example of his sometimes shaky grasp of detail and limited attention span, and his promise to do so on board a flight to China is described as unlikely to 'survive contact with the first glass of in-flight champagne'. The portrayal of the destruction of their relationship after Salmond came under investigations for alleged sexual offences (he was later acquitted) is necessarily one-sided but Sturgeon was surely right to insist that the behaviour he admitted to, while not breaking the law, should end his political career and to challenge his depiction of himself as a victim of a conspiracy. READ MORE: JK Rowling compares Nicola Sturgeon to Donald Trump and Bella Swan She is on less solid ground with her 'speculation' that Salmond himself was responsible for the leak of the allegations against him to the Daily Record. She admits there is no evidence for such a suggestion and it did not serve her case to include it here. There's an honesty to the way Sturgeon admits in Frankly to a number of mistakes as First Minister. There is sometimes, though, a tendency to downplay their consequences, which undermines their 'frankness'. There is, however, good insight into the thinking behind her most controversial decisions. As a supporter of her stance on trans rights, I think she may have gone a little far by regretting not 'hitting the pause button', but a proper deep-dive into that issue would require an article – and maybe even a book – by itself. The passages on her exhaustion during COVID-19, the heartbreak and guilt brought on by her miscarriage and the impact of her arrest during the police investigation into SNP finances are among the most powerfully written in the book. National readers will particularly focus on the progress – or lack of it – on achieving independence. I still see the wisdom of Sturgeon's caution on calling a second referendum which would lack international recognition and which might be lost. I'm less convinced about the explanation here for seeking the Supreme Court's ruling on whether the Scottish Government could call a referendum independent of Westminster. Frankly suggests its main purpose was to shut up independence supporters' calls for Holyrood to do so. That impression is backed up by the absence of any plan to respond to the Supreme Court's eventual decision that the power did indeed lie with Westminster. There can be little doubt that running out of new ideas on how to move the dial on independence played its part in Sturgeon's decision to quit. Quite how she went from having 'plenty in the tank' at the beginning of 2023 to resigning just weeks later is glossed over by simply saying 'I'm not sure when the impetus to leave finally eclipsed any desire to stay'. Frankly makes clear the huge impact on its author of the police investigation into SNP finances. She describes the day of her arrest as the worst of her life. The ongoing investigation legally limits what she can say, but there is obviously a justified resentment over how long this probe has been going on. I suspect she will have more to say on this later. For now, Nicola Sturgeon is seeking a quieter, less dramatic life out of the spotlight. Frankly ends on an upbeat note. She is, she says, a stronger, more resilient woman, with a clearer appreciation of what and who makes her happy. She says she may not be done with politics forever. It's not yet clear if politics is done with her.
