The shock decision by Nicola Sturgeon to stand down as Scotland’s first minister has overshadowed Sir Keir Starmer’s move to prevent Jeremy Corbyn from being a Labour MP. Sturgeon, Scotland’s longest serving first minister told a press conference in Edinburgh she has been “wrestling” with the idea of resignation for “some weeks” before concluding it […]
Continue Reading
The Northern Ireland protocol saga continues. Yesterday, the Foreign Secretary’s exclusion of the Sinn Fein leader Mary McDonald sparked a nationalist walkout thus throwing talks into farce before they began. The latest protocol row is one of a seemingly endless line of unresolvable disagreements which has kept the doors of Stormont shut. Today, the Irish PM […]
Continue Reading
A year of Tory turmoil, chaos and scandal turned Britain into an international laughing stock, Sir Lindsay Hoyle has opined. Speaker of the House of Commons Hoyle said the country is still “struggling to recover” from the tumultuous year that saw scandal and ineptitude bring down two governments. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s PM programme, […]
Continue Reading
Prime minister Rishi Sunak has put the UK government on a collision course with Scotland’s parliament by threatening to block the gender recognition bill passed by Holyrood from becoming law. Sunak said it is “completely reasonable” for the UK government to block the new legislation allowing Scots aged 16-and-over to self-declare and change their legal […]
Continue Reading
Ian Blackford has announced he will step down as leader of the Scottish National party at Westminster and will be replaced at next week’s parliamentary party AGM. Blackford’s surprising statement comes just a week after he told the Scotsman newspaper he had no intention of quitting and that he looked “forward to being the MP […]
Continue Reading
Nicola Sturgeon has vowed to make the next election a referendum on Scottish independence after the UK’s Supreme Court ruled against the SNP’s bid for a ballot in 2023. Scotland’s first minister Sturgeon said she respected the unanimous judgment but called it a “tough pill to swallow”. The Supreme Court ruled Sturgeon does not have […]
Continue Reading
The Scottish parliament has overwhelmingly voted through the first stage of a transgender recognition bill despite a revolt by Scottish National party (SNP) backbenchers and the resignation of a minister. Members of the Scottish parliament voted 88 to 33 in favour of reforms to give transpeople more “dignified” recognition and to make it easier for […]
Continue Reading
Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol have in effect kept the doors at Stormont shut. The election earlier this year saw Sinn Fein take pole position, but the DUP has refused to instate Michelle O’Neill as First Minister because of the NI protocol. With tonight’s deadline edging closer, the NI Assembly will today again attempt […]
Continue Reading
Ian Blackford has told Scottish voters their homes, pensions and incomes “are not safe under Westminster” days before the Supreme Court decides if an independence referendum can go ahead. The SNP’s leader at Westminster slammed “the disastrous duo” of prime minister Liz Truss and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng for making “the worst first impression in the […]
Continue Reading
On Saturday, politicians, business representatives, and the general public are gathering at the 3Arena in Dublin for the “Ireland’s Future – Together We Can” event. The Alliance Party would have been the only non-nationalist party to attend but has now decided to reject the invitation. Party representatives have said that the party does not wish […]
Continue Reading