Latest news with #Etchingham
The Herald Scotland
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Sturgeon on TV: Golden gal takes on brass neck. Who won?
But how would the golden gal of British broadcasting fare against the big brass neck of Scottish politics? Viewers turned to Nicola Sturgeon: the Interview to find out. 'The' interview suggested something special, but filming took place in Ayrshire ten days ago. Since then Ms Sturgeon has been all over the Murdoch press and every other branch of the media, her book picked cleaner than a turkey on Boxing Day. This, however, was the first broadcast interview, which meant the first chance to see Ms Sturgeon becoming 'emotional' as television folk coyly call it when someone cries on camera. Etchingham had dressed in cool neutrals for the occasion, with Sturgeon opting for a scarlet jacket. Perhaps she was trying to channel her inner Butlin's Redcoat to jolly things past the difficult stuff. It didn't work. Certainly there was no May-like confession to stealing from the pick n mix in Woolworths. She was rude about Nigel Farage ('odious'), but who isn't? Read More: When she did get into difficulty it was all her own doing, as when Etchingham brought up the rapist Isla Bryson. You might have thought it impossible for Sturgeon to make even more of a pig's ear out of this subject, but boy did she ever. Etchingham was looking at the former First Minister as if she was trying to argue that the Earth was flat. Personally, I turned the same shade as Sturgeon's jacket. Someone had to shoulder the embarrassment and it was not going to be our Nicola. There was some moistening around the eye area when she spoke of Alex Salmond's passing. She still misses him 'in some way' - a quote up there with Charles's 'whatever love means' - for half-baked sincerity. Julie Etchingham and Nicola Sturgeon discussed topics from independence to gender recognition reform (Image: ITV News) As for her new love life, her lips were sealed. 'I'm enjoying being my own person for a while,' she burbled, sounding for all the world like some Real Housewife of Montecito. Etchingham had a go at holding Sturgeon to account on domestic policy but nothing landed. She might as well have been on The One Show on BBC1, sandwiched between a soap star and an item on dodgy plumbers. The half hour running time and the 7pm slot told their own story. If there had been anything juicy the programme would have been on at 9pm, not just before Emmerdale. Upstaged by sheep. It shouldn't happen to a vet, or a former FM, but it did. The toe-curling was not quite over - there was still the matter of Nic's first tattoo. 'Midlife crisis alert,' she joked. You said it, dear. It was an infinity symbol she designed herself, something about strength and resilience and moving forward. In short, your basic woo-woo b******. Come to think of it, that would have been a better title for her book. Is it too late to change?
The National
5 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Lessons must be learned from ‘loss of rationality'
She announced her resignation two weeks later, became a back-bench MSP the following month and has written a 480-page memoir, yet to this day she stumbles when asked if she believes the double rapist Isla Bryson is a man. 'What I would say now is that anyone who commits the most heinous male crime against women probably forfeits the right to be – you know – the gender of their choice,' she told ITV's Julie Etchingham in an interview broadcast last night. Etchingham seemed a little startled, haltingly repeating back what Sturgeon had just said. 'That actually goes to the heart of the difficulty around this...' she pointed out. 'Sorry … no no … I meant … yeah,' said Sturgeon. 'That probably was not the best phrase to use.' READ MORE: John Swinney interview: The FM on indyref2, Israel, energy and more It's staggering that the former first minister still hasn't figured out what the best phrase to use might be. Indeed, her position remains so fluid that it apparently now differs from what she has set out in her book. Asked why she had been unable to answer the question back in 2023, she began her answer with 'I think I was caught up in the...' before stopping herself, her lips still moving but no sound coming out. It's a shame that Etchingham quickly moved on, because this answer might provide the most useful learning for all of the MSPs who were involved in the debate about gender recognition reform, as well as those who seek election to Holyrood in the future. There are many, many voters – of all leanings – who sorely wish this issue would just go away now, and can't understand why anyone acting in good faith would keep bringing it up. After all, Sturgeon is yesterday's woman and the Gender Recognition Reform Bill was killed off by Alister Jack. They point to all of the other policy issues in need of attention and despair at the broadcast minutes and column inches devoted to what they see as a niche matter. I won't repeat here why the legal identity of the fabled 'tiny minority of people' has far-reaching implications – Sandie Peggie's employment tribunal has surely provided a clear enough case study of the ripple effects of self-ID policies – but leaving that specific debate aside, there are vital lessons here for the future. Everyone should want to know what Sturgeon believes she was 'caught up in', so that we can avoid our politicians being similarly caught up in the future, and losing sight of what they are supposed to be doing in parliament on our behalf. Was she caught up in a 'culture war', as so many are fond of saying, often with a dismissive wave of the hand? If so, we should be very wary of any future policy issues that could be characterised as such becoming battle grounds, with two entrenched sides, ad hominem attacks flying around and little space for evidence-based analysis, nuance or respect. Sturgeon now says that 'we'd lost all sense of rationality in this debate' and concedes 'I'm partly responsible for that', but it would be interesting to know how she would share out the blame. No doubt she would place some with those GRR Bill critics whom she asserted were 'transphobic, deeply misogynist, often homophobic, [and] possibly some of them racist as well'. Her absolute conviction that her stance was the 'progressive' one made her blind and deaf to all of the warnings about the bill, regardless of whether they came from right-wing MSPs, feminist academics, trade unionists, or the women within her own party. Sturgeon's claim, in her memoir, that Alex Salmond tried to 'distort and weaponise genuine expressions of shock, in some cases trauma' from the women who accused him of sexual assault will stand out to those women whose opposition to gender self-ID was shaped by their own experience of sexual assault at the hands of men. These women are routinely accused by trans rights activists of 'weaponising their trauma' to advance transphobic positions. Sturgeon brushed their concerns aside. 'I fervently believe that the rights of women and the interests of trans people are not irreconcilable at all,' she says now. 'I should have taken a step back and said, 'How do we achieve this?'' Presumably she still doesn't actually know the answer, despite that fervent belief. What she omits are the political reasons why she did not take a step back, despite knowing fine well that many of those raising concerns were not motivated by hatred at all. She simply must have known that if she conceded any ground whatsoever, the entire proposition of self-ID would unravel. If she stated that some people – any people – should have to 'forfeit' their right to the gender of their choice, then self-ID could not have become law, and the promises she had made to activists would be broken. (Image: NQ) In the end, she couldn't win. Mhairi Black now has the cheek to cite the SNP's 'capitulation' on trans rights as a reason for her leaving the party. Sturgeon might now admit partial responsibility for an unedifying chapter of Holyrood's history but frankly, that's not enough. She should say sorry to the critics whose rational warnings she ignored.
The Herald Scotland
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Sturgeon on TV: Golden gal takes on Little Miss Brass Neck. Who won?
Prime Ministers, presidents, princes, Hillary Clinton, Angelina Jolie - Julie has sat knee to knee with them all. But how would the golden gal of British broadcasting fare against the big brass neck of Scottish politics? Viewers turned to Nicola Sturgeon: the Interview to find out. 'The' interview suggested something special, but filming took place in Ayrshire ten days ago. Since then Ms Sturgeon has been all over the Murdoch press and every other branch of the media, her book picked cleaner than a turkey on Boxing Day. This, however, was the first broadcast interview, which meant the first chance to see Ms Sturgeon becoming 'emotional' as television folk coyly call it when someone cries on camera. Etchingham had dressed in cool neutrals for the occasion, with Sturgeon opting for a scarlet jacket. Perhaps she was trying to channel her inner Butlin's Redcoat to jolly things past the difficult stuff. It didn't work. Certainly there was no May-like confession to stealing from the pick n mix in Woolworths. She was rude about Nigel Farage ('odious'), but who isn't? When she did get into difficulty it was all her own doing, as when Etchingham brought up the rapist Isla Bryson. You might have thought it impossible for Sturgeon to make even more of a pig's ear out of this subject, but boy did she ever. Etchingham was looking at the former First Minister as if she was trying to argue that the Earth was flat. Personally, I turned the same shade as Sturgeon's jacket. Someone had to shoulder the embarrassment and it was not going to be our Nicola. There was some moistening around the eye area when she spoke of Alex Salmond's passing. She still misses him 'in some way' - a quote up there with Charles's 'whatever love means' - for half-baked sincerity. As for her new love life, her lips were sealed. 'I'm enjoying being my own person for a while,' she burbled, sounding for all the world like some Real Housewife of Montecito. Etchingham had a go at holding Sturgeon to account on domestic policy but nothing landed. She might as well have been on The One Show on BBC1, sandwiched between a soap star and an item on dodgy plumbers. The half hour running time and the 7pm slot told their own story. If there had been anything juicy the programme would have been on at 9pm, not just before Emmerdale. Upstaged by sheep. It shouldn't happen to a vet, or a former FM, but it did. The toe-curling was not quite over - there was still the matter of Nic's first tattoo. 'Midlife crisis alert,' she joked. You said it, dear. It was an infinity symbol she designed herself, something about strength and resilience and moving forward. In short, your basic woo-woo b******. Come to think of it, that would have been a better title for her book. Is it too late to change?
Times
12-05-2025
- Times
An eight-bedroom East Sussex hideaway is on sale for £5.5m
It'll be hard to find a house as private, yet as well connected, as Roughfield House in Etchingham. Built in the early 20th century, this gleaming white house, with 201 acres, is hidden from the outside world at the end of a winding drive. It is surrounded by ponds, gardens, paddocks and woodland and overlooks a lake, with views beyond the South Downs. Yet this eight-bedroom property is next to the A21 and direct trains to London are only a six-minute drive away. Set over three floors, there's a dining room, two offices, a wine store, cinema room and outbuildings with conversion potential. The gardens, including an orchard and kitchen garden planted by the owner, are the real cherry on the cake. A two-to-three-bedroom
