THOUSANDS of people have had their data leaked by Alex Salmond’s new party just hours after it launched – which could cost them as much as £17 million.

Alex Salmond has backed Nicola Sturgeon as the best person to be First Minister of Scotland after the forthcoming Holyrood elections.

Neale Hanvey, MP has defected from the SNP to join the newly formed Alba Party, becoming the second SNP MP to do so.

The writing, as ever, was on the wall.

The chef-owners of The Gannet, the award-winning restaurant on Argyle Street in Glasgow, are looking east for their next venture. Ivan Stein and Peter McKenna will sign contracts at the end of the month to open in Edinburgh this summer.

We’re living in the ‘Age of Hate’. Crime driven by prejudice is exploding, the online world is a bear-pit, and politics is one endless source of division and rage. Criminologists, philosophers, and evolutionary biologists are all trying to work...

NEWLY qualified dentists say they are being forced to take up second jobs because the current NHS payment arrangements have left some earning the equivalent of the minimum wage.

The worst neighbourhoods in Scotland for coronavirus cases this week have been revealed.

“So who WOULD you vote for?” I asked one of my oldest political friends, who’d worked for nearly two decades at a senior level in the SNP. “Nobody, certainly not this lot”. He meant the present leadership of the Scottish National Party a...

GEORGE Galloway is eyeing up a return to Westminster politics and is considering running as an MP.

AT the start of this month Transport Scotland was given the go-ahead to demolish part of the Kincardine Bridge. The southern viaduct is to be pulled down and replaced over the next two years. A temporary bridge will be built alongside the existing...

IT is a ruin that lies at the very heart of Borders myth and history and now the ancient Cavers Castle is to be saved in a major rescue and restoration effort.

Boris Johnson is facing calls to immediately begin donating vaccines to poorer nations or risk hoarding supplies while frontline workers are exposed to coronavirus.

Tough talking, boycotts and sanctions, have put Beijing on a collision course with much of the western world. Foreign Editor David Pratt examines whether this really marks the start of another Cold War or if all parties have too much to lose for that...

I’m always very wary about saying to anyone that I’m feeling good – it’s tempting fate. You know that thing when a body radiates brightly just before it stops radiating at all.

A petition in support of a suspended teacher who showed students a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed has passed more than 50,000 signatures.

Scottish craft beer giant BrewDog has flagged plans for a beer hotel.

IF you were the Scotland team and staff waking up yesterday morning, you’d have been feeling pretty good about yourselves. It was a good performance against Austria, I liked a lot of things about it.

Scotland’s public institutions have sold off more than half a billion pounds worth of land and property between 2015 and 2019.

Anas Sarwar has responded to Douglas Ross after the Scottish Conservative leader wrote to other leaders in a bid to create a "pro-UK anti referendum coalition"

The SNP has said the departure of Kenny MacAskill is “somewhat of a relief” after he quit to join the newly-formed Alba Party.

ALBA proposes to stand as a list party in order to boost pro-independence MSP numbers at Holyrood.

East Lothian MP, Kenny MacAskill, has announced he's joining the Alba Party.

Sir John Major has said delaying a second vote on Scottish independence may be “unwise”.

TO govern is to choose. To elect is, literally, to choose. And now Scotland’s voters are to have one more choice placed before them with Alex Salmond’s decision to launch a new party, seeking support on the list.

I AM sorry to be stepping in last minute for Fidelma Cook, who is too ill to write this weekend. I've all the respect in the world for Fidelma, and to all the loyal readers who have been following her ups and downs, her observations and deliberati...

Nicola Sturgeon has said that there are "significant questions about the appropriateness" of Alex Salmond's return to Scottish politics.

As imagined by Brian Beacom

THERE may still be a dark cloud of uncertainty over foreign trips this year but there are strong signs it isn’t dissuading sun-worshipping Brits from booking overseas trips.

MY friend uses the acronym KPMG, short for Keys, Phone, Money, Glasses, to help him remember everything he needs when he goes out. Last year he added another M for Mask. And if those who would surrender liberty for what they perceive to be safety ...

IT’S the time of year to which we all look forward: publication of the annual United Nations World Happiness Report. Hooray. Let joy be confined. Britain, an agglomeration of different countries, came 17th out of 149 this year, which isn’t bad...

Keith Bruce

The former children's laureate reflects on how he cheated death from Covid after spending 47 days in intensive care and how it has changed his life.

There have been 563 new cases of Covid-19 reported in Scotland in the past 24 hours.

ALEX Salmond’s launch of the Alba Party was dominated by questions about his previous inappropriate behaviour towards women.

WHEN UK Conservatives revert to Union Jack idolatry you know they’re trying to conceal something large. An anonymous Chinese savant, quoted in 1937 by the great writer and philosopher Lin Yutang in The Importance of Living, reflected thus: “A ...

THE SCOTTISH Greens will draw up plans to create more than 100,000 jobs in a bid to power a sustainable recovery from the pandemic and face up to the climate emergency.

WHAT was a simple one-step process of exporting meat to France in December is now a resource-draining 23-step marathon.

AN investigation has been launched following the theft of a plaque at The Herald garden of remembrance taken just hours after it had been unveiled.

TODAY'S letters (March 26) from Maureen McGarry-O'Hanlon, Robert IG Scott and Alexander McKay will no doubt be the tip of an abundance of correspondence between now and the days before May 6 all setting out the problems with the current SNP Govern...

Boris Johnson celebrated the role of the “free market economy” for being at the “heart” of the vaccine rollout as he launched the Conservatives’ campaign for the May elections.

TOPICS discussed in this slot in recent weeks have included the use of potentially sensitive words or phrases, profanity, and the development and evolution of the language. This week’s subject cuts across all three themes.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has described protesters who clashed with police in Bristol on Friday as “a mob intent on violence”.

A firm fixture on the pages of The Herald, Kevin McKenna is no stranger to sharing his opinions with thousands of Scottish readers.

Action for Independence has agreed to stand down its candidates for the Scottish Parliament election after the launch of the Alba Party by Alex Salmond on Friday.

IT is the first sign of spring when the fields are full of fluffy, white lambs skipping and exploring the world around them.

STAGECOACH has signalled its expectation that government support for local bus services will be “in place for longer than previously anticipated” because of extended Covid restrictions.

by Ian Urbina

Dozens of people have reportedly been killed across Myanmar as soldiers and the police suppressed protests against last month's military coup.