The Jaggy Thistle Podcast

THE JAGGY THISTLE PODCAST: ​Today, with the Holyrood election just days away, I am talking about tactical voting. Up to a third of Scots intend to vote tactically on polling day on Thursday, either to kick out the SNP or block the rise of Reform. But this is easier said than done, for reasons I explain. Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you think. Leave a comment on this platform. Or, if you’d rat...

​THE JAGGY THISTLE PODCAST: Today I'm looking at the SNP campaign in the Holyrood election and asking why it is focused so heavily on Scottish independence. I explain that there are only three possible election campaign messages in politics, and two of them cannot be used by the SNP in this election, or at least not with any credibility. This leaves only one. Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you...

THE JAGGY THISTLE PODCAST: Today I'm talking about a grave moral peril in this Holyrood election. Is Anas Sarwar, leader of Scottish Labour, willing to use Reform MSPs to become first minister of Scotland? The answer seems to be yes. I argue that Sarwar should refuse to take power of the back of votes from Nigel Farage's party. And I urge a new chapter of co-operation between Labour and the SNP to...

​THE JAGGY THISTLE PODCAST : Today I am talking about the racist tropes used by Reform UK’s Malcolm Offord in the Holyrood election campaign. I locate these tropes in the centuries-long fight for civil rights in the United States. And I argue that their incendiary use in the Scottish Parliament election campaign must be called out at all times. I’ve been writing about this in my weekly column in T...

​Today I’m talking about the issue of independence in the Holyrood election campaign. And I’m arguing that an SNP parliamentary majority on May 7 will not be a legitimate mandate for a new referendum on independence. Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you think. Leave a comment on this platform. Or, if you’d rather, email me direct at thejaggythistle@substack.com. I wrote about independence in my c...

Today I’m writing about the demise of Alex Salmond’s Alba party. The party’s current leader, Kenny MacAskill, says Alba is unlikely to be able to stand candidates in the forthcoming Holyrood elections. Why did Alba fail? I argue the party was never a legitimate political project. Rather, it was just a vehicle for Salmond’s animus towards his successor as SNP leader and first minister, Nicola Sturg...

​THE JAGGY THISTLE PODCAST: Today I’m talking about Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, and his call for the prime minister to resign. I argue this is an inflection point in Scottish politics and the Holyrood parliament campaign. I wrote about the same subject in The Times last week. If you’d like to read that column here’s the link: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/far-from-futil...

THE JAGGY THISTLE PODCAST: Today I’m looking at a fundamental problem in Scottish democracy - a flaw in the electoral system that could very well give us a Scottish parliament that does not reflect the political views of the Scottish people. My column in The Times this week is on the same subject. If you’d like to read it you can find it here: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/holyrood-...

THE JAGGY THISTLE PODCAST: Today I’m setting the scene for the Holyrood election in May and asking if Scottish Labour has its strategy right for confronting Reform UK. I’ve been writing on the same subject in The Times this week, and if you’d like to read that column you can find it here: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/scottish-labour-needs-to-make-up-its-mind-about-reform-wkmhlkvhz...

THE JAGGY THISTLE PODCAST: Today I’m talking about Nigel Farage’s incendiary comments about Glasgow children. He said one in three of the city’s children live in homes where English is a second language, and he called this the “cultural smashing” of Glasgow. I challenge this and call for an end to the complacency in some quarters of Scotland - and on some Scottish political podcasts - about the tr...

THE JAGGY THISTLE PODCAST: Today I’m asking if the demise of Keir Starmer could be brought about by Scottish Labour MPs. Recent stories in The Times suggest that Scottish Labour backbenchers are the most fervent proponents of an early challenge to Starmer’s leadership of the Labour party. Why? Because these Scottish Labour MPs are desperate to avoid a disaster at the Holyrood elections next May. T...

THE JAGGY THISTLE PODCAST: Today I’m talking about lessons for Scotland from Wales. After the Caerphilly by-election last week it now seems clear that Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru will try to work together to deprive Nigel Farage’s Reform UK of power after the Senedd election next May. I argue that something similar may be necessary in Scotland. Please let me know what you think in the comments. I...

THE JAGGY THISTLE PODCAST: Today I look at the failure of John Swinney to reshuffle the Scottish cabinet in anticipation of the Holyrood elections, even though four of his most senior ministers are not seeking re-election in that contest. I argue that Swinney is in danger of taking Scottish voters for granted. After all, these ministers will be arguing for policies they will not be implementing, a...

THE JAGGY THISTLE PODCAST: Today I take stock of the Scottish National Party’s annual conference and I argue that the nationalists are well placed to win next year’s Holyrood election, re-electing John Swinney as first minister. I outline three strands of SNP thinking for the coming campaign, and I argue that taken together these offer a more coherent and compelling strategy than any served up by...

THE JAGGY THISTLE PODCAST: Today I argue that the sacking of Lord Mandelson as UK ambassador to the United States is an opportunity to walk back some of his malign influence on today’s Labour party. I also tell a story about how I had breakfast with Mandelson in a posh Edinburgh hotel, and ended up embarrassing myself. I also wrote about Mandelson in today’s issue of The Times . Here’s the link if...

THE JAGGY THISTLE PODCAST: Today I’m asking how much success Jeremy Corbyn’s new political party can expect in the Scottish Parliament elections in May next year. I also wrote about this subject in my column in The Times , if you’d prefer to read rather than listen. Here’s a link: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/jeremy-corbyn-party-holyrood-election-scotland-reform-z8zftmhwp If you’d...

THE JAGGY THISTLE PODCAST: Today I’m picking up on a telling moment in Nicola Sturgeon’s memoir where she admits a flaw in her famed emotional intelligence. I argue that this reveals a more general flaw in Scottish nationalist thinking, one that acts as a brake on SNP advancement. And I show how it is responsible for the most stupid idea in Scottish nationalism. What is that stupid idea? Listen an...

THE JAGGY THISTLE PODCAST: Nicola Sturgeon’s memoir, entitled Frankly, is the talk of the steamie. In today’s podcast I argue that the book requires a reassessment of what we thought we knew about SNP strategy on Scottish independence over the past decade. Let me know what you think. I’d be interested in your views. I wrote about this subject in The Times today. You can read my column here: https:...

I hope you enjoy this audio/video review from the Edinburgh International Festival. You can read my Times column on the same subject here . Please let me know what you think in the comments - The Jaggy Thistle is a conversation and a community. For more like this, as well as long-form journalism and documentary photography, why not become a free or paid subscriber, if you aren’t already? For detai...

We have a tricky issue to discuss today, and I hope I have dealt with it sensitively. The issue is immigration, and the effect it has on the movement for Scottish independence. If you want to explore this subject more deeply, I wrote about it this week in my column in The Times: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/independence-or-more-immigration-why-scotland-cant-have-both-53mjkl9xv And...

Yes, this sixty-something boomer has done another video. Whatever next? A TikTok dance? Maybe not. Today I talk about my latest column in The Times , which asks if we in Scotland are ready for the rise of Nigel Farage and Reform UK. I suggest not. I explain why we need to get ourselves into a new headspace, especially when it comes to the tone we take in our day-to-day politics. If you’d like to r...

Bit of an experiment today. I’ve been wondering how I could use more video on The Jaggy Thistle. And I’ve come up with the idea of doing a piece to camera describing what I’ve been writing about in The Times this week. Regular readers may be aware I write a weekly column on Scottish politics for The Times , and have done so since 2015. You can find my column in the Scottish edition of the paper mo...