Should bicycles have registration plates? Should cyclists carry compulsory insurance? These ludicrous and unworkable suggestions by Transport Minister Grant Shapps are a collective sign of the times. A non-policy and a massive non-starter - how big a...

In my grandparents’ day, life expectancy was a lot shorter than nowadays. For most workers, especially those toiling in heavy industry, retirement was largely a pipedream. Most accepted they worked until they dropped.

SOME context is required when analysing the strange case of the shrinking SNP membership. The Herald reported last week that the party had lost 25,000 members between the end of 2019 and the end of 2021, a 25% reduction from the 125,534 figure on Dec...

As someone who’s actually been called “Tory scum” once or twice in my life and happens to think both of those words are pretty inaccurate in my case, I would like, if I may, to have a go at talking about the anti-Tory protests in Perth even tho...

A year ago the Taliban entered Kabul to take back the reins of power in Afghanistan. After nearly twenty years out of power, the Taliban was back to write a new chapter and perhaps tear out recent progressive ones. The events stirred fear in the hear...

An alliance of more than a hundred organisations is supporting a new 'save our seas' campaign to force the government to halt the dramatic decline of cod described as a "national disgrace".

Skills shortages were a headache for Scottish technology companies long before current labour market predicaments created a scarcity of workers across virtually all sectors, and as the pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital business models, the...

Nicola Sturgeon has said the looming energy price cap rise must not “be allowed to go ahead” amid dire warnings lives may be lost as some face the prospect of freezing or starving this winter.

Education leaders have been accused of deliberately restricting post-lockdown access to schools after a national poll of parents found four in ten had not been to their child’s place of learning since before the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

By Ian McConnell

Scottish business services group AAB is expanding its HR consultancy services with the acquisition of Ireland's Think People Consulting.

BANCON Group has bolstered its senior team as it eyes growth in the “much improved” housing market and construction sector.

A GLASGOW shiatsu practitioner is bringing the ancient Chinese technique to children through a book which brings the stretching exercises to life through the adventures of a "grumpy" dragon.

As a reader of these pages, you of course saw it coming. So did the economists. So did every small business owner who’s been presented with a ridiculously inflated energy bill in the last few months.

WATCHING the recent Conservative hustings I sometimes wonder who advises Liz Truss before she opens her mouth. Her latest wheeze is to announce that she will hold the SNP to account over its alleged failures in health, education and transport. Once a...

The next prime minister must prioritise fixing Britain’s broken corporate registry after a boom in fake and cloned companies, the SNP’s shadow chancellor Alison Thewliss has said.

THE Diary has no time for fanciful digressions or imaginary nonsense. We are a professional and unsentimental news operation, painstakingly reporting evidence-based facts. Which is why we have, of late, been discussing that magnificent Scottish creat...

COMIC Matt Forde sparked discourse last week when he said it is "always a problem" when parents bring infants to gigs and now a new debate is in spate over whether or not children should be asked to weddings.

What is today's Framed? Some hints to help you guess the movie. Plus the answer for when you've given up!

If you have tried and loved Wordle, Quordle should be your next go-to brain teaser.

Move over Wordle, you can now shake things up with its music spin-off Heardle.

Daily puzzler Weaver is an age-old word link game brought into the 21st century - if you are struggling with today's brainteaser here are some hints to get you to the end. And the solution if you give up!

Hints and answer for today's Wordle.

THE Scottish Youth Parliament is to investigate how it gave a clean bill of health to a senior SNP member who was later embroiled in a sexual misconduct scandal.

A SCOTTISH commercial interior fit-out and refurbishment contractor has cited Brexit issues among the reasons it ceased trading.

A FORMER Scottish Government adviser has claimed Nicola Sturgeon’s Supreme Court fight over a second referendum is a costly sham, as she has known for years that it’s doomed.

THE owners of Scotland's ageing lifeline ferry fleet have said they will no longer allow Scottish ministers to stop them from securing mandatory financial safeguards in procuring new vessels - after criticising the handling of the award of a ferry fi...

A SCOTTISH housing group have begun legal action to attempt to block the energy regulator Ofgem from imposing "unlawful" and massive fuel bill hikes across the UK from next Friday which it is feared will cost lives.

GOVERNMENT has failed to take their own scientific experts' advice for nearly 20 years to prevent the obliteration of cod stocks off Scotland in what has been described as a "national scandal".

Why are politicians all talking nonsense right now?We’ve reached the Talking Heads moment in the energy crisis: the moment when everyone decides to Stop Making Sense. It’s all just too difficult. The political classes are in denial, left and righ...

A year ago, Janey Godley was the toast of Scotland and one of the nation’s best-loved comedians at the top of her game. But scandal hit when historic tweets were found and she was branded racist. She contemplated suicide and then, within weeks, was...

By Jamie Mann

Nicola Sturgeon has warned that the next expected increase in household energy will cause "destitution and devastation" and said it  cannot be allowed to go ahead.

The mail keeps coming. Fat envelopes.

The move away from “doctor knows best” may be leading to GPs putting too much pressure on patients to make snap decisions about treatments, it is claimed.

Fears over the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on young people alongside a major drop in volunteers have sparked major concerns for a children’s helpline service.

Many believe that its spirited defence was pivotal in helping stop Russian forces taking Kyiv during February’s invasion. Foreign editor David Pratt visits the village of Moschun and meets some of those who are still living with the aftermath of th...

By Mike Ritchie

IT'S a great pity and an embarrassment for Scotland that the accounts of the abuse heaped upon BBC reporter James Cook and others outside the Tory leadership hustings in Perth should have reached the world stage. James Cook is a good, objective journ...

By Andrew Fraser

The relics of the patron saint of a French town visited by millions of Catholics every year are to travel to the UK for the first time.

The world has turned and left us behind – so who can put some cool into politics?

Pouring a glass of wine pre-lunchtime has its benefits, says Sam Wylie-Harris.

Abi Jackson joins the former Special Forces Operatives for a taster session of their new home workout program.

Before the prequel comes to Sky Atlantic and Now, Rachael Davis catches up with Matt Smith, Paddy Considine, Emma D'Arcy and the rest of the cast

Carbohydrates aren't all created equal, as Katie Wright discovers.

A FORMER deputy leader of the SNP has said he is “in despair” about the state of the independence movement because it is so unprepared and unwilling to confront difficult truths.

When lockdown struck and her business was forced to close, expert brow technician Heather Mcdowall decided to put the time to good use.

Festival Music

Edinburgh International Festival Theatre