Report to the People

Robin Hood Healthcare

The scandal that is the wide - and widening - gap between the health of Scotland’s richest and poorest people is one which I have repeatedly recounted in this column.  Living in one of Scotland's most deprived communities increases your risk of heart disease as much as being diabetic  or 10 years older... (more)

Care-free?

Back in 2006, when I was on the Health Committee, we conducted a major inquiry into how the Executive’s flagship policy of free personal care was working in practice... (more)

Guilty as Charged?

If you are one of the thousands currently trying to claim back hefty charges levied against you by your bank, you may have taken more than a passing interest in recent proceedings at the High Court... (more)

Water Pressure

Voluntary and charitable organisations are sometimes called “Cinderella services” - and not because of their passion for ballroom dancing in dangerous footwear.  It’s because, despite delivering vital services and value for money, they can be taken for granted by their ugly government sisters... (more)

Promises Must be Delivered

Back in December, amid much fanfare, the government unveiled a package of measures to support the selfless grandparents, aunts and uncles who care for the grandchildren, nieces and nephews whose own parents, often through drug addiction or alcoholism, can’t look after them... (more)

The Apprentice

Looking back on it, those of us who took up an apprenticeship after leaving school probably learned more during those years than we have before or since - and not just in terms of skills... (more)

Open to Criticism

Proper opposition is all about being constructive.  As well as condemning Ministers in strong terms when they get it wrong, it is important to praise them if they get it right... (more)

Get out of Jail Free

Here’s a poser to get the grey cells going on a Monday afternoon: how does putting fewer criminals behind bars and letting those already in jail out earlier make our communities safer? ... (more)

GP Deal is the Wrong Prescription

Last week saw GPs angrily and reluctantly voting for the least worst option presented to them by the government in the long-running dispute over their working hours... (more)

Damian’s Law

The tragic case of Damian Muir, pointlessly and brutally murdered by a known criminal last July, has raised some hard questions for the justice system... (more)

Anti-cruelty Bid Snared

The number of letters, emails and postcards I receive every time a question of preventing cruelty to animals arises in parliament underlines that we are still proud to be a nation of animal lovers... (more)

Waste Not, Want Not

If your purse or wallet is still reeling from keeping the kids fed and entertained during last week’s half-term holidays, you might be looking for ways to tighten your belt... (more) 

Giving Inverclyde a Sporting Chance

The remarkable achievement of Greenock’s own Laurence Tynes in kicking the New York Giants to victory over the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl - and becoming the first ever Scot to lift the coveted trophy - has rightly been celebrated here and across the country... (more)

Turning up the Heat on Delays

What, exactly, is the point of weather forecasters coming on and telling you what the weather has been like?  We don’t need Peter Sloss or his Met Office super-computers to tell us that it’s been, to use the technical meteorological term, brass monkeys... (more)

January 2008

Invest in our Future

Setanta Sports or some new curtains?  A fancy holiday, or a new kitchen? For as long as money has existed, we’ve had decisions to make about how to spend it... (more)

Giving Old Money New Life

Despite all the talk of “credit crunches” and bad debts in the sub-prime mortgage market, the big banks still seem to being doing very nicely indeed... (more)

14th January

Voters’ Voices Come First

A charge often levelled at politicians is that we’re out of touch... (more)

7th January 

Happy 2008

Happy New Year!   The decorations are down; the New Year’s resolutions are in full, grim effect; and your mind naturally turns to what 2008 might hold... (more)