SNP must be 'honest' about economic reality of Scottish independence in post-Covid world

SNP backbencher sparked an angry backlash for suggesting it's "healthy" to debate who should be allowed to have sex. John Mason said freedom of speech laws allow him to "debate" what consenting adults do in Scotland.

Get the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter.A former staffer who blamed SNP minister Fiona Hyslop for triggering two suicide attempts is to quit Scotland for Spain.The 25-year-old said she has handed in her notice after a probe cleared the Economy Secretary of all allegations made against her.However, a bullying complaint against a male colleague was partly upheld.As revealed by the Record, the ex-employee claimed to have put up with six months of

Scottish Opera’s new production of La Bohème stands as a beacon of light in the darkness. The company has successfully created a staging that adheres to stringent social distancing rules in front of a live audience and captures the spirit and colour of Puccini’s opera.Staged in the parking lot of Scottish Opera’s Glasgow workshops – a bold proposition given the vagaries of autumnal Scottish weather – Roxana Haines’s production weaves in and around the audience.

UK markets after Brexit could undermine Holyrood's powers.

independent "by accident" and Wales could follow, a veteran former Welsh first minister claimed. Carwyn Jones, who served in the post for a decade, said the UK Government has to move to a more equal partnership across all the nations of the UK or watch as the state breaks up.

Ian Blackford has accused Boris Johnson of being prepared to see unemployment at levels last seen under Margaret Thatcher by withdrawing the furlough scheme in October. Scots can see a "tale of two governments" in response to the economic fall-out from the coronavirus crisis, the SNP Westminster leader claimed.

Stockport has sold for a whopping £367,500 at auction.

Get the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our personalised newsletter.THE SNP must tackle the “ticking time bomb” of operation backlogs says Tory MSP Graham Simpson.The latest figures from ISD Scotland showed that 1944 fewer NHS Lanarkshire patients had operations in June than 12 months previously.Central Scotland MSP Mr Simpson said: “The continued backlog of operations is of huge concern to patients who have already been suffering in recent weeks and months.“While it

Job Retention Scheme.The wage support programme was opened in March as lockdown gripped the country.

Join thousands of others and get the latest Scottish politics news sent straight to your inbox every Friday.Pro-Union campaigners have claimed the UK is "more valuable than ever" to Scotland as the annual report on the nation's finances found its notional deficit has grown again.The 2020 Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) publication - which examines how much the country raises in taxes compared to how much it spends on public services - found a gap of £15.1 billion in 2019-20,

Alex Neil warns voters will reject independence if it means rejoining the EU and erecting "customs barriers" at the border. The ex Scottish Government minister was the only one in Nicola Sturgeon's cabinet to support Brexit.

Alex Neil has announced he will stand down as an MSP at next year's Holyrood election. The ex- health secretary is the latest former member of Alex Salmond's Cabinet to step away from the Scottish Parliament, with Stewart Stevenson and Roseanna Cunningham having previously revealed their intention to quit in 2021.

Scottish independence in the future, the Deputy First Minister has said. John Swinney hit back at a comment from Tory minister Michael Gove who had questioned whether the voting franchise should remain the same as the 2014 referendum.

referendum row after suggesting Scots-born voters in the rest of the UK might have a say in a second independence referendum. The senior Tory said giving people outside Scotland a say in the country’s future was an "interesting" idea.

independence with 55% for Yes, a new poll suggests.The survey by Panelbase reflects a reversal of the 2014 referendum which ended 55-45 in favour of staying in the UK.It was commissioned by pro-indy organisation Business for Scotland and is the latest in a run of polls showing a majority wants to end the Union.Crucially, the latest poll shows a slim pro-indy majority when undecided voters are included in the results.It was based on the same question from 2014 when voters were asked: “Should

exam results for English pupils. The shambles comes one week after the Scottish Government became the first of four UK administrations to bow to mounting pressure and scrap downgraded results.

independence referendum pledge will be in the SNP's manifesto for the what she called the "most important" election in Scottish history. The SNP leader committed to offering indyref2 despite a clear and constant refusal by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to allow another vote on the constitution.

Mae Hamilton A charming contemporary-inspired traditional-style home owned by “Grey’s Anatomy” star Kevin McKidd, a kind-of-Colonial-meets-Cape-Cod mashup, has come available for rent at $15,000 a month. The Scottish actor shelled out a little more than $2.9 million for the family-sized residence a little more than two years ago, but it’s not clear that he ever lived in the house himself.

school results scandal.The First Minister praised Professor Mark Priestley, who came out for the SNP at the general election, for his skills and experience and said he is the right person for the job.Education Secretary John Swinney this week made a u-turn after confirming that around 120,000 downgraded results would be reversed following a backlash by pupils and parents.Get all the top Scottish politics news sent straight to your Inbox by signing up to our Politics newsletter.We cover Holyrood,

SNP members have demanded they keep a place at the "decision-making table" as the fall-out from a row over how the party selects its candidates continues. Divisions among Nationalists have emerged after the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) ruled that any sitting MP would have to resign their seat  before they could stand for election to the Scottish Parliament.