Alex Bell: As two sides engage in the constitutional tango, the question is, which one is blind?
Al Pacino has been nominated for an Oscar for his turn as Jimmy Hoffa in the film The Irishman.
Alex Bell
Alex Bell: We have built a sense of nationhood around the idea of not being England
It is 2020, 700 years since the Declaration of Arbroath was signed, asserting Scottish identity as a nation and a people.
Alex Bell: From big web to small detail, so much is missing from all of the party manifestos
Manifestos of the 1980s didn’t have environment sections, and no one mentioned mental health in the elections of the 1990s.
Alex Bell: We need clarity about life after a Yes vote for independence – and the process itself
The SNP is best understood as the IRP – the Independence Referendum Party. It exists to create the ideal circumstances for a vote on Indy.
Alex Bell: We’ve lost the last of the great scholars at a time when flabby thinking is the norm
As the wedding party slipped into the second day, folk were losing their grip on sanity.Twenty-four hours of drinking and dancing and talk had left people’s minds at a midnight setting.
We need to explain to people migration is unavoidable and address the issue directly
We move, as a species.
Disaster looming – but meanwhile, let’s return to cosy consensus of conference
There is something very wrong when a political party can get hours of TV coverage to say nothing, but scientists warning us of catastrophic climate change get a minute on the news bulletin.
As Labour prevaricates, Sturgeon has an opportunity to prove her mettle on Brexit
There are three people in this marriage” said the Lady Diana, showing an ability to gain headlines, tell the truth and count. For a long time the British electorate have yearned for the luxury of three options on Brexit - they’ve had to make do with one.
With such a loving society, why do so many of our girls have mental health problems?
The unhappiness of young girls is a tragedy and a crisis. We have created a social structure which is unduly tough on adolescents, for no obvious purpose. The young were once under pressure to find work, marry or help the family – as these old economic forces die away, so Scotland should reinvent childhood.
Alex Bell: To make building the V&A worthwhile, a little bit of Dundee’s soul had to be sold
What did illuminated manuscripts ever do for Dundee? This question arises on looking at a colourful medieval book which will be on show at the city’s new V&A, Scotland’s first design museum.
It’s all pie in the sky, Nicola – now we need less good intention and more real action
American politics has given us many things. The first opinion polls, the observation that “all politics is local” and the remark “politics is showbusiness for ugly people”. It also gave a name to politics which was so pleasing it was hard to object to: motherhood and apple pie.
A helicopter, a U-turn and Chairman Mao…
The day began with a TV helicopter circling the sky over Westminster.