Peter MacMahon
Peter MacMahon
Peter MacMahon: In the capital, there's plenty of unemptied bins for investigative journalists to rake through
Journalism, what's it like? All Woodward and Bernstein, clandestine meetings with shadowy contacts, travelling to high-level summits in exotic locations and mixing with the powerful politicians and business people? If only…
Peter MacMahon: A robust and even passionate debate about policy is possible without intolerance
ONE of the problems of the devolution era in Scotland has been a stifling, almost suffocating, lack of debate on important aspects of public policy. Take education, for example. In these pages today, Joan McAlpine reflects on how long it has taken for the EIS union to get to the position of calling for a cut in the number of education authorities. Progress of a kind, but at a snail's pace.
More top stories
Peter MacMahon: A common approach to criminal justice by the Tories and SNP is not beyond our Kens
Christmas quiz time. Who said this? "We need to get on with rehabilitating prisoners. It will stop the remorseless rise in the number of people in prison. Some of my critics just say we should put more and more people in prison for longer and longer. I don't think that's the best way of protecting society."
Peter MacMahon: Relinquishing tartan tax powers may forestall an act of political suicide by nationalists
ONE of the few benefits of having been around a while as a jobbing hack of this parish is you remember stuff. Not all the stuff, of course. Dead brain cells and the march of time have seen to that. However, there is enough there to bring back memories of political stories of yore, and to put them into context in terms of today's debate.
Outdoors: Fabulous produce and stunning wildlife and scenery in Royal Deeside
The eagle in the alcove was wearing pearls and a look which combined insouciance with contempt. Stuffed the great bird may have been but presumably at some point it had witnessed a great party – hence the pearls – and was now affecting disdain for all it surveyed.
Peter MacMahon: Ed Miliband would do well to take advice from one who doesn't want to see Labour sink itself
A LONG, long, time ago, just after the 1992 election when it seemed Labour might never return to power, I took a young party researcher out to lunch, paid for by my then employers, a Fleet Street Sunday newspaper.
Peter MacMahon: A little cross-dressing could be just what the Nationalists need to improve their image
Liberated by sexuality being a matter of record, Lord Peter Mandelson would, twinkle in his eye, take great delight in accusing opponents like George Osborne of political "cross-dressing" when they were shamelessly plagiarising policy.
Peter MacMahon: Far from using their intellect to shape the future, universities are shackled by fear
What ever happened to academic freedom? It is a tenet of higher eduction which university staff maintain is fundamental to their intellectual integrity. They must be able to think the unthinkable, to frame thesis and antithesis unshackled by vested interest, to probe and challenge conventional wisdom.
Peter MacMahon: Hysteria over looming public-spending cuts risks drowning out more deserving voices
Compassion fatigue. It's a well-charted phenomenon in the charity world. People can only take so much when it comes to seeing pictures of starving children, fleeing refugees or villages surrounded by flood waters before they become inured. It may not be right, but it is human nature.
Peter MacMahon: When dream of home rule became real
IT IS hard to imagine now but 13 years ago was a time of optimism,. of hope, of enthusiasm. A time before cynicism. The time for home rule for Scotland.
Peter McMahon: Purpose of SNP shackles choice
HANDS up all those who will, like me, scream and reach for the radio or television off button the next time they hear a minister talking, in the obligatory sonorous tone, about having to make "tough choices". Yes, thought so. Thousands of you. Always good to know one is not alone.
Peter MacMahon: The truth is that education of real quality comes at a price
IT TAKES a brave man, or woman, to step outside the cosy Caledonian consensus and confront reality.
Peter MacMahon: Scottish education could do better
DENIAL, anger, acceptance. In shorthand it is known as the grief cycle.
Peter MacMahon: Cold hard numbers say it is too soon for green shoots
IT WILL not come as much consolation to you if you work at a soon-to-close Diageo plant or for a threatened shipbuilding company, but there were further signs yesterday that things are looking up.
Peter MacMahon: Capital will bear the brunt of finance sector job cuts
IT IS, of course, a good thing that Tesco Personal Finance is to create an extra 200 jobs at its new Scottish headquarters in Edinburgh.
Peter MacMahon: Bank on Daniels to put up robust defence over HBOS
PREVIEWING companies' annual meetings is almost as dangerous for a journalist as writing stories in advance of the Budget.
Peter MacMahon: Battered and bruised businesses pick up the pieces as banks rely on the taxpayer
TO SAY that businesses are angry at the behaviour of the banks would be like saying the public are a tad miffed over MPs' expenses.
Peter MacMahon: Mystery of UK's most powerful man
FROM a business perspective, who is the most powerful individual in the United Kingdom?
Peter MacMahon: Mandelson begins sowing the seeds of optimism
IT WAS a very Mandelson moment. The Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, to give him his full title, had been asked if the economy was over the worst.
Peter MacMahon's Business Blog: Gordon Brown's incredible shrinking economy
I DON'T know if Rick Moranis does political comedy. Perhaps he should consider it.
- Family mourn death of Glasgow ‘fight’ schoolboy
- Rangers takeover: Duff & Phelps threaten legal action against BBC
- Today’s youth not fit to be employed, says car firm Arnold Clark
- Rangers administration: Fans fear Duff & Phelps claims could scare off Green
- Rangers takeover: triple penalty punishment enough, says Johnston
- Alistair Darling leads ‘No to independence’ fight over tea and biscuits
- Scottish independence: SNP flip-flops over Nato
- Scottish Independence: SNP ‘won’t be Yes campaign’s only voice’
- Scottish independence: Alex Salmond’s pledge to sign up 1m voters
- Today’s youth not fit to be employed, says car firm Arnold Clark
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Edinburgh
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
