The wife of Scotland’s deputy first minister John Swinney has told of being “terrified” by the prospect of rejoining the outside world after nearly four months of shielding because of her health. Elizabeth Quigley, a broadcast journalist, has secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and told yesterday how the treatment put her into the highest risk category for becoming seriously ill with coronavirus. Writing on the BBC website, she told how she was among about 180,000 people in Scotland at...

Ruth Davidson, the former Scottish Conservative leader, has warned that unionists made “a huge strategic error” by not taking a more aggressive approach to the nationalists after their defeat in the 2014 independence referendum. The Edinburgh MSP, who is understood to have been consulted by Downing Street for advice on saving the Union, said she is optimistic that Scots will remain in the UK, despite polls showing majority support for independence. However, she indicated that the...

After being cooped up for more than three months, there’s a dreamlike quality to the powdery touch of Northumberland’s golden sands underfoot, and the colours and perfumes of the scented roses in the Alnwick Garden. Gingerly, like Dorothy and Toto, we emerged from a world of black and white into a kaleidoscope of colour with a beautiful realisation: we’re not in full lockdown any more. Following a difficult hibernation, one of Britain’s most gorgeous and often overlooked spots — just over the...

The SNP is facing accusations of hypocrisy and poor taste for selling face masks in support of the party and independence in the week Nicola Sturgeon accused Boris Johnson of politicising the pandemic. Last week the first minster castigated Johnson when he said the UK government’s response to the Covid crisis underlined the economic benefits of Scotland remaining in the Union. Sturgeon said: “I don’t think any of us should be trying to use Covid and the pandemic and the crisis situation we...

The BBC in Scotland has been accused of giving Nicola Sturgeon an unacceptable platform to score political points by continuing to broadcast her Covid-19 briefings on the corporation’s main Scottish channel. While Boris Johnson’s daily briefings ended a month ago, the first minister’s addresses continue to be shown live on BBC One Scotland. Political opponents say that, with Covid deaths now at the lowest level since the start of the pandemic, there is little public health justification for...