By Paul Dobson

IT might have seemed unthinkable pre-covid to pull down a shopping centre that’s just over 20 years old and for a city like Glasgow, known for its retail prowess, even a recipe for economic disaster.

The default reaction to any initiative by this Government is to dismiss it with contempt. Well, they’re Tories aren’t they? As everyone knows, Tories only look after themselves, cut public spending and stuff the pockets of the rich.

Is this a good time to bring up the subject of whether Conservative governments can be relied on, whether they stick to their word, whether they keep their promises?

MINISTERS have decided not to recoup any of the £50 million it is owed in loans and interest from the state-controlled Prestwick Airport to allow it to remain in existence – leading to concern it has sanctioned unlawful state aid, The Herald on Su...

RISING numbers of children are living in temporary accommodation for the homeless as the typical stay for families has nearly doubled over a year in some areas to 58 weeks.

THE SCOTTISH Government's plan to ban all advertising for vaping has been branded "nonsensical" and "dangerous" by a campaigner.

The National Union of Journalists has warned that the proposed privatisation of Channel 4 would “irreparably damage” Scotland’s news media.

THE big squeeze is on as workers face the severest hit to their take-home pay in 32 years.

A NEW direction for Scottish women's football now seems inevitable – and ironically it won't involve Scottish Women's Football.

IF you back pedal quickly enough, can you repair the damage done? It’s a question Raith Rovers will find the answer to in the coming weeks and months.

“False flag operations,” fabricated attacks,” and “crisis actors.” The disinformation claims and counter claims go on, dangerously fuelling tensions between Russia and the West. Foreign Editor David Pratt examines the evidence

Have we seen the end of Wordle?

Is Michael Gove an Asterix for our times?

They were grim days when children like Margaret King, just 12 years old, could be cast aside by their family to find their own way in the world.

Wrapped up against the icy blast of a Scottish winter and with her family by her side, little Kirsty Muir was on her first slippery slide towards the Winter Olympics.

On February 6, 1952, while the 25-year-old Princess Elizabeth was on a visit to Kenya, she learned of the death of her father. Promptly, she flew home where she was proclaimed Queen. An extraordinary 70 years on, that date will be marked as the Queen...

OVER recent months, the UK Government has wasted little time squandering an estimated £20 billion of our hard-earned tax money while expeditiously writing off £5 billion of fraudulently claimed Covid-related business loans and £5.5bn of dishonestl...

Forecasters have issued a weather warning for snow across the majority of Scotland.

Mr Blackford said the current proposals “won’t even scratch the surface and are nowhere near enough to help families cope”

Campaigners say they remain concerned about the future of a declining colony of wallabies, despite assurances from the new owner of the Scottish island they inhabit that they are not under threat.

JAKE Carroll won a League of Ireland championship medal in 2013 with St Patrick’s Athletic and then sojourned through England’s lower leagues.

SCOTLAND skipper Stuart Hogg hailed his team’s ability to play “heads-up rugby” which helped them pick up a third win in five years against England, as the national team got this year’s Six Nations off to a flying start at wind and rain-swept...

WHAT a pivotal game this weekend's clash between Rangers and Hearts is.

CELTIC will go into their game with Motherwell this weekend looking to extend their gap at the top of the table over Rangers.

DEFIANT Scotland edged out England 20-17 to retain the Calcutta Cup in a pulsating showdown at raucous BT Murrayfield.

CALLUM DAVIDSON slammed referee Colin Steven for costing his St Johnstone side a possible victory, and crucial three points in the battle to avoid relegation, when they clashed with Tayside rivals Dundee United.

YOU know you’re getting to the veteran stage when you think back to that wonderful day at Murrayfield when Scotland beat England 13-7 to win the Grand Slam and you realise that it was 32 years ago next month.

ONE well-known, and famously provocative, London-based journalist boldly predicted last weekend that Scotland would finish fifth in this year’s Six Nations, prompting a predictable backlash on social media from Bravehearts infuriated that their tea...

Shane Williams won the Grand Slam with Wales in 2005 and 2008. He is now a Premier Sports pundit.​

INTO every email inbox a little sunshine sometimes falls. But not this one, thought the recipient. This email, “purporting to be from the BBC”, must be a mistake.

IF The Teacher (Channel 5, Monday-Thursday) was a paper from a pupil instead of the latest headline-grabbing drama starring Sheridan Smith, it would have “See me” written in red in the top corner. (Was there ever a combination of words more terri...

Red missed THIS week’s splurge of data from the Electoral Commission revealed some fascinating nuggets about the Holyrood vote. Scottish Labour spent £13,000 on advice from Ruth Davidson’s former spindoctor, Eddie Barnes. Which must have been pa...

THE SNP’s claim that the state pension would be paid at the same rate under independence as within the Union has been directly challenged by one of Scotland’s leading thinktanks.

 

CALLS have been made for emergency financial support in parts of Scotland hit by the UK's highest hike in fuel bills that will see households facing bill rises nearly twice the nationwide average.

SCOTS families worried about the cost of living will have to wait until next week to hear what steps the Scottish Government is planning to help with their energy bills.

THE levelling up policy, or rather, slogan, finally arrived in slightly extended form as a White Paper this week, but offered little for Scottish economic growth coming our of the pandemic.

Turkey twizzlers, lumpy custard and soggy vegetables: staples of the school dinner hall but also the object of derision for many schoolkids.

By Scott Wright

GREGOR Townsend believes that Scotland are ready to back-up yesterday’s Calcutta Cup success by winning in Cardiff next weekend. His team failed to build on their opening weekend win over England at Twickenham during last year’s Six Nations when ...

A JUBILANT Gregor Townsend hailed his Scotland team’s resilience last night after they retained the Calcutta Cup with a 20-17 victory over England. It was the first time since 1984 that Scotland had won back-to-back games in international rugby’s...

EDDIE Jones does not always condescend to be gracious in defeat, but last night he readily accepted that Scotland fully deserved their victory over his England side. There was not much in his team’s 20-17 defeat, according to the head coach, but he...

Stuart Hogg Tough conditions contributed to one or two hairy moments but generally assured, with a couple of excellent, momentum-shifting kicks 7

Freddie Steward: Had a couple of errors - a big spill early in the second half and a poor clearance late in the first - but otherwise looked solid at the back. 6

DYNAMIC New Athletics, they billed it. One out of three ain’t bad. An indoor international involving six nations bereft of their brightest and best was never destined to earn five-star reviews at the Emirates Arena, especially when its bill topper,...

Former Scotland assistant coach Dean Ryan played six times for England, was director of rugby at Worcester, Gloucester and Bristol and worked in a player development role within the RFU. He is also part of the Melrose Falcons team set to cycle from M...

HOW ARE THEY LOOKING?After a deeply disappointing Six Nations in 2021, England enjoyed a pretty encouraging Autumn Nations Series. The 69-3 win over Tonga that kicked things off may have been merely the expected cakewalk, but the two narrower victori...

CURLER Bruce Mouat needs a trick from his magic hat to rubber-stamp a shot at an Olympic mixed doubles medal alongside Jennifer Dodds.

SCOT Kathryn Thomson was left rueing her luck after the first event of her Winter Olympic campaign lasted fewer than 15 seconds.