Monday’s cartoon features David Cameron and the ‘swivel-eyed loons’

Last week at the Scottish Parliament, the presence of bowel cancer patient Maureen Fleming at First Minister’s Questions presented every single MSP in the chamber with a challenge: why are patients in Scotland three times less likely than patients in England to get access to cancer medicines, prescribed by their doctor but not routinely funded through the NHS?

PURPLE is the colour of Epilepsy Week and that is the colour which will be most visible this week as fundraisers for epilepsy charities call on the public for much needed support.

If Scotland is ‘better’ than the rest of the UK, then Salmond should be condemning Ukip’s treatment here, writes Brian Monteith

Has the time come to halt the demonisation of bankers? Outgoing Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King thinks so. His point is not simply that it has gone on long enough and that it is time to move on.

The General Assembly has the chance to show that it too can take hard decisions without flinching, writes Lesley Riddoch

When my aunt’s pedigree dog entered into a clandestine relationship with a farm collie, my aunt was left with nice offspring she didn’t want and couldn’t sell for the type of fee they might have otherwise attracted had the sire been properly selected.

Events, birthdays and anniversaries for 20 May

THE windfall in Scotland’s grasp from offshore renewable energy has been unveiled for the first time in a major new report that reveals it could power the country seven times over within four decades.

Ben was about the poorest sheepdog around, and I can say that from pretty close observation as he was the shepherd’s dog on my father’s farm.

It’s bottom-drawer rummage time again. Remember those bank shares that made you wince every time you checked them? The ones with 90 per cent falls that dragged down your investment performance, that paid no dividends and were useful only to mitigate capital gains tax liability?

There’s a broad appeal to the Law Society of Scotland’s Bruce Beveridge, finds John Forsyth

I AM nearing retirement age and with my grandchildren going to university, my wife and I are finding that we are having to dip into our savings to help out our extended family members.

Today’s cartoon: Has Nigel Farage lost the plot?

The debate over the viability and future of wind power in Scotland is omnipresent. But another form of renewable energy could soon become part of the national energy revolution – wave and tidal energy.

For the first time, I watched an episode of The Jeremy Kyle Show last week. I’m not proud. Suffice to say I was hungover and alone in a hotel room, with a few leisurely hours to kill before I met a friend for lunch.

In A speech he made in March last year, Alex Salmond cited Scotland’s first first minister Donald Dewar who said devolution was about more than our politics and our laws.

The Italian ‘dream place’ and its famous hotel popularised by John Steinbeck 60 years ago still casts its spell over celebrity and 
non-celebrity guests alike, writes Stephen McGinty

Some may claim No 5 ‘perfumed the 20th century’. Lori Anderson looks at the facts and finds this is far from fragrant nonsense

What do flaming foreigners do for us? When it comes to food and drink, “a lot” is the answer. Apart from supporting exports worth £5.31 billion, foreign workers here play a big role.