Jailing Winton’s ghost
Sunday National, 11th July 2021. You might know Lau’s song “Ghosts”: “We say we’re not like themA generation agoWe came on the same ships we were hidden below.” The lyric came to mind this week, as our pitiless Home Secretary lodged her new Nationality and Borders Bill in the House of Commons. The Bill introduces … Continue reading Jailing Winton’s ghost
“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law”
Sunday National, 4th July 2021. “Mr Tickle, governments do not go into court against each other, do they?” That was Tavish Scott, back in September 2015, scrutinising me unsympathetically across the committee room table in Holyrood. I’d suggested that ambiguities in the Scotland Bill – which was then slowly progressing through Westminster – had the … Continue reading “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law”
Assisted dying: if not now, then when?
Sunday National, 27th June 2021. On the morning of the 28th of April 2016, in Troon, Ian Gordon killed his wife Patricia. The couple had been married for 43 years. Ian was self-employed painter and decorator. He stopped working to look after Patricia in 2015. She suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Her health was … Continue reading Assisted dying: if not now, then when?
