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Nicola Sturgeon has sought to deflect attention away from her own failings by raising the spectre of Donald Trump facilitating profiteering out of the NHS, writes Brian Monteith

As I put my fingers to the keyboard on a Eurostar bound for Brussels, ultimately en route to Strasbourg to vote for or against approving the latest regeneration of the European Commission, I spied a Tweet reminding me that on Saturday in 1963 the First Doctor Who was broadcast.

History tells us a Government cannot expect an election to be contested only on the issues it wants, writes Brian Monteith

We have been here before in general elections. Campaigns to herd the electorate towards voting for certain candidates or parties they might not usually consider – so as to achieve a desired outcome – are becoming ubiquitous. In this election tactical voting is being encouraged to a record degree to try and deliver a certain result on the issues of Brexit or preserving the UK, but the effectiveness of such initiatives is difficult to prove and may even prove counterproductive.

You can’t predict anything in this election campaign, as the Brexit Party leader has shown already, writes Brian Monteith

Former leader Ruth Davidson’s PR job being seen as ‘perfectly acceptable’ is just another moral failure, says Brian Monteith.

The Prime Minister’s draft treaty is not what it seems and the facts must be laid bare, argues Brian Monteith.

The Irish economy is not the miracle that is often portrayed. Yes, its GDP per capita is a highly impressive $78,800, compared to the EU average of $41,000 or the UK’s $43,000 – but it is a phantom economy achieved by rerouting the sales of multinationals across the whole EU into Ireland and crediting it as Irish GDP.

If we are to achieve any sense of national unity, the results of referendums must be respected, writes Brian Monteith.

As expectations of a general election before Christmas grow, informal alliances are taking shape, writes Brian Monteith

I’ve lost count of the number of times I have heard the term “fake news” bandied about. Popularised by Donald Trump during his presidential election campaign to dismiss many of the attacks made on him, the phrase itself is no guarantor of what is fake or real. Yet as a commentator I had until now only read or viewed fake news reports, never before had I been in the eye of a fake news storm. Until last Thursday that is.

The PM’s latest scheme has all the hallmarks of a Baldrick wheeze – and the odds are against it, writes Brian Monteith

The Labour leader has sided with practically every enemy of the country, writes Brian Monteith – and calls many of them his friends

The parliamentary party will pay dearly for pursuit of power for its own sake, writes Brian Monteith.

Politicians should nurture ties among people that have more in common than drives them apart, writes Brian Monteith

Remain supporting MPs coming together to take charge would only create further division, writes Brian Monteith.

It is time we saw the Conservative Unionist that Davidson claims to be, not the Liberal Unionist she resembles, writes Brian Monteith.

Keep calm and carry on. That is my message to those waiting to see if the UK does finally leave the European Union on Hallow’s Eve, this year of our Lord, 2019.

Only delivering a clean Brexit will give Prime Minister Boris Johnson the extra impetus he needs, writes Brian Monteith