Joan McAlpine
Joan McAlpine
Joan McAlpine: A sea change required to end this revenue drain
A swelling tide of opinion insists that Scotland has the right to ownership of any income generated offshore
Joan McAlpine: Why this poacher aims to become a gamekeeper
Politicians and journalists may live on different planets, but their worlds have a lot in common
More top stories
Joan McAlpine: Up close and personal in all-out race for Holyrood
The forthcoming election will see the leadership of the SNP and Labour coming under scrutiny as never before in what is a two-horse race
Joan McAlpine: Reasons to believe rape is becoming mainstream
Many younger people will not have heard of the notorious "Glasgow rape case". The title at first seems disturbing, as though this was the only woman violated in the city. For months, indeed years, in the 1980s, it made the front pages of newspapers and even resulted in the resignation of Nicholas Fairbairn as solicitor general.
Joan McAlpine: Renewed vigour over alternatives energy
A major shift in attitude to nuclear energy may leave Labour stranded at the ballot box
Joan McAlpine: There is more than one Neil Lennon
Sectarian abuse heaped on Celtic's manager belies a widespread problem in Scottish society
Joan McAlpine: Even the party's fundamentalists have no need to fear unionist Sir David Murray's endorsement
To listen to the talk from some outside the SNP, you'd think the backing of one of Scotland's most successful businessman was a cause for mourning. "There must be serious concern within the party," said one on hearing that the unionist Sir David Murray had given his personal endorsement to First Minister Alex Salmond in the forthcoming Scottish election.
Joan McAlpine: Posh problems for the political elite
Combining politics and parenting is not so challenging considering the struggles some mothers face
Joan McAlpine: A female revolution not built on sand
Asmaa Mahfouz's catalysing role in the Egyptian revolution comes with a heritage of resistance
Joan McAlpine: Now is the time to come clean on public spending
DESPITE the depth of animosity sometimes on display, there really is quite a lot of political consensus about what Scotland's economic priorities should be. The need for jobs and growth unites all the political parties, except the Greens. And all the parties agree that investment in infrastructure is the most effective way to haul the country back on to sunlit uplands of recovery
Joan McAlpine: Women are key to election victory
All parties will have to focus on 'female' issues if they want to take control at Holyrood
Joan McAlpine: Time politicians warmed to a debate over energy
Let's forget this concern with the forensic scrutiny of fiscal taxation, the Scotland Bill is more about power to the people
Joan McAlpine: Pandas work their magic for us all
As well as bringing economic benefits, China's gesture gives Scotland a global platform
Joan McAlpine: Lessons to be learned in EIS U-turn
Councils' authority was once inviolable, but as union questions level of bureaucracy, so should we all
Joan McAlpine: Time to take tartan out of the closet
Vivienne Westwood adores it and Scottish weddings feel odd without a fair swathe of the stuff. But tartan still presents a problem for sophisticated Scots. The woven plaid is a vibrant, in-your-face declaration of identity. Yet our feelings towards it are chequered.
Joan McAlpine: Thankful for Lord Forsyth's straight bat
The last time I saw Lord Forsyth was in the author's yurt at the Edinburgh Book Festival a couple of years ago. He was speaking at a political debate organised by the paper I was employed by at the time. As one of the few executives not working on a Saturday, it was my task to welcome the distinguished guests, who included Lord Foulkes, Fiona Hyslop and Ming Campbell as well as the last Tory Secretary of State for Scotland.
Joan McAlpine: Swinney's big retail tax is just super
Malls are my guilty pleasure. They may be soulless, predictable and unsatisfying as a microwaved lasagne. They are a concrete fungus creeping over the greenbelt. But boy are they convenient. I differ from most women of my acquaintance in failing to recognise the therapeutic qualities of retail therapy.
Joan McAlpine: BBC Scotland must do its homework
THE BBC's editorial values document is stirring stuff for journalists - I felt a renewed sense of virtue course through my veins with every paragraph. But though I read till the uplifting end, nowhere did I find the phrase "not for viewers in Scotland", meaning that the coverage last week of the snow chaos story did not meet the standards laid down in the BBC's charter.
Joan McAlpine: Another ice age is not a pretty picture
THE last Little Ice Age is remembered warmly, thanks to Dutch Masters like Pieter Bruegel the Elder. His paintings featured rosy cheeked children roasting chestnuts on frozen canals, couples skating beneath china-blue skies and hunters returning home from a successful day.
Joan McAlpine: Scotland must be allowed to control its finances
Ever since William Pitt the Younger introduced it to pay for the Napoleonic Wars, income tax has been a hard sell. Pitt's Tory successor abolished it, but not for long. Then as now, the unpopular tax was really about plugging holes, as opposed to creatively managing the economy to encourage business growth.
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Weather for Edinburgh
Wednesday 19 June 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 12 C to 20 C
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Wind direction: North east
