THE resignation of Nicola Sturgeon means that the SNP will have its first leadership election for nearly 20 years. This could be a turning point for the independence movement but only if we can honestly appraise where things have gone wrong and radically reset our approach.  

Between 1949 and 1976, across the UK, thousands of children of unmarried women were adopted even though their mothers did not want to let them go. This forced adoption scandal did not happen just at the instigation of church and religious communities but with the full involvement of the state, the NHS and the social work departments of the day. For those affected it has meant a lifetime of suffering and heartache.  It's time there was some redress both practical and symbolic. 

WESTMINSTER’S Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) on Wednesday published our report on Dominic Raab’s Bill of Rights Bill and recommended it should be scrapped. Its impact in Scotland was rather lost amid all the sound and fury about the placing of a rapist in a woman’s prison. When I did the media round to talk about the report on Wednesday morning that was all anyone really wanted to talk about.

EVERYONE knows I am opposed to the Gender Recognition Reform Bill. However, I believe the problems it creates should be addressed in Scotland if not by our Parliament, then by our courts. That said, to describe the use of the Section 35 power to block the bill as an attack on devolution doesn’t really make sense. It is of the essence of devolution that the devolved Parliament is subservient to the UK Parliament that’s why we as nationalists want independence.