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Policies advocated by uber-green protesters would imperil recent improvements in global living conditions, writes Brian Monteith.

The Brexit Party has launched, and all the evidence suggests it shall complete a successful mission to change our political constellation – but will it land with any Scottish MEPs?

The Scottish Government’s policy of minimum alcohol pricing has failed, with Scots actually buying more booze, writes Brian Monteith.

Has Brexit been the threat to Scotland’s place in the Union that was claimed by so many of those arguing against leaving the EU? And does Brexit now pose a threat as we approach yet another deadline for exit or see the deadline extended into the far distance?

Earlier this week I was visiting a clinic and in the course of the normal everyday banter with the nurse she said how she can’t wait for Brexit to be over. Later that evening a cab driver said the same to me. My mum says the same, indeed everybody I meet says the same – people are pig-sick of this Brexit business and we want it finished, writes Brian Monteith.

Tories now face an existential threat – the UK must leave the EU on 12 April or the party is finished.

Are we there yet? It is a question we have all heard, parents or not. Have we left the European Union – as promised? Has the Prime Minister fallen or been pushed on her sword by her cabinet colleagues? All the while the clock keeps ticking – but whose clock? Ours in Greenwich or the one in Brussels?

There is a scene of intended subtle irony at the high point of tension in the blockbuster movie Skyscraper when Dwayne Johnson pleads with his wife to reset her tablet so the building’s sprinkler systems will switch on again and save it from collapsing in flames.

Nicola Sturgeon should test her party’s claim that Scots back another poll by putting it to the people, says Brian Monteith

New research has showed the opportunity cost of the establishment of the Euro currency has cost the UK as much as £82bn in lost exports over the last 20 years, writes Brian Monteith.

The SNP is to consider adopting a new Scottish currency – I’ll leave the fun names to readers’ imaginations – a few years after independence is achieved.

The choreographed creation of the Independent Group in the House of Commons last week is not a realignment of British politics. There is a long way to go for it to be anything like it.

The UK is already trading more successfully with the rest of the world and this can grow further, writes Brian Monteith

Donald Tusk is simply trying to sow division with his insulting attitude to Brexiteers, says Brian Monteith

Even those who supported the Community Charge would have to admit that what started out as a well-intended reform of domestic rates became a public relations disaster for Margaret Thatcher and her government.

Yvette Cooper’s amendment will not make an agreement on the backstop any more likely, writes Brian Monteith

“The referendum on Thursday, 23rd June is your chance to decide if we should remain in or leave the European Union. The government believes it is in the best interests of the UK to remain in the EU. This is the way to protect jobs, provide security, and strengthen the UK’s economy for every family in the country – a clear path into the future, in contrast to the uncertainty of leaving. This is your decision. The government will implement what you decide.”

As is the way with our ever-quickening news cycle, by the time you read this column the result of the “meaningful vote” on the Prime Minister’s proposed Withdrawal Agreement will be known. She may have sneaked a close and unexpected win; she may have endured an embarrassing defeat – or she may have suffered a hugely significant and humiliating record trouncing.

Let us be under no illusions, no denial of reality. The next two weeks could be the most important for the future of our country in the 21st Century. Yes, that is a big claim, and it is only the beginning of 2019, but the vote on Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement and the response she gives a week today, as she must, is likely to determine the continued existence of the UK, the laws it operates under and how we behave as a society.