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Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart

Herald Scotland

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Catriona Stewart: William Wragg's gullibility is galling - so why do I pity him?

You - no sniggering at the back. We're talking about an honourable member's member today so straight faces and no nonsense, please. It's a serious...

09.04.2024 10

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: On council house row, Angela Rayner may learn from Michael Matheson

As far as retorts go, it's sailing close to the wind. "You show me yours," Angela Rayner scoffed at the Tory MPs who would have her publish her tax...

02.04.2024 3

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: How many cyclists' deaths must we endure before change comes?

The day of the Emma Burke Newman verdict I posted this on social media: "I feel invincible and powerful and joyful on my bike, and this is stupid...

26.03.2024 6

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Public money being used for porn? We should blame #BeKind

You never know what's next in this job, which is one of the many things I love about it. Certainly I never imagined myself being introduced at the...

19.03.2024 7

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Why does my father's death from alcohol cause me so much shame?

I have more fingers on one hand than I have facts about my father. Let me rhyme them off: his name was John, although, because his family were...

12.03.2024 20

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Why the Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience is the story we deserve

As the internet has already pointed out, it could have been worse. Children who tour Willy Wonka's chocolate factory fare miserably; they end up...

05.03.2024 7

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Climate of fear is of politicians' own making - they must end it

How far back do we go to identify the root of the rot? Too far to fit into this column, so let us travel back just four years to one of Boris...

26.02.2024 2

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Did Keir Starmer's conference speech reveal more than we think?

After hearing the word "change" 61 times it began to have less clarity, not more. Labour is the self-styled party of change and, good God, don't...

19.02.2024 6

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Politicians like Matheson talk of service but what does it mean?

I might have proposed a drinking game, if that wasn't so bad for the nation's already poor health and so expensive, given the hike to minimum unit...

13.02.2024 5

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Politicians like Matheson talk of service but what does it mean?

I might have proposed a drinking game, if that wasn't so bad for the nation's already poor health and so expensive, given the hike to minimum unit...

13.02.2024 3

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Of course The Promise is delayed - it made pledges it can't keep

The crux of The Promise is perfection. And why not? Scotland prides herself on being a socially progressive and forward-thinking country, and there...

06.02.2024 6

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: More politicians should share Humza Yousaf's imposter syndrome

You could call it many things. but if you wanted to be kind you might call it imposter syndrome. There have been a great number of jaw-dropping and...

30.01.2024 3

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: So Sturgeon swears - her WhatsApps matter less than covid decisions

What is the purpose of the UK Covid inquiry? One might wonder. The inquiry is designed to examine decision-making during the Covid-19 crisis to...

26.01.2024 9

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Vaccines are beautiful but stopped by resources, not conspiracies

Some good news for once. Public Health Scotland says no cervical cancer cases have been detected in women who received the human papillomavirus (HPV)...

22.01.2024 3

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Prepare for nasty election battles - things are going to get worse

I was trying to find that famous line from Bill Bryson when he writes about his home town, Des Moines, Iowa. This was it: "I come from Des Moines,"...

19.01.2024 5

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: There must be an edifying way for politicians to conduct themselves

That vibration you might have felt was the collective shudder of a dozen Scottish Government communication officers as they read the social media feed...

16.01.2024 6

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Humza Yousaf cannot dodge Scotland's part in Post Office scandal

You'll have heard of the Post Office scandal now, right? A TV drama has done what the media and ferocious campaigners could not do and engaged the...

12.01.2024 2

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: To my shame, my sympathies lie with the pavement parkers

There's something that can change in a person as soon as they sit behind the wheel of a car. Otherwise mild-mannered folk become aggressive with...

09.01.2024 4

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Can Scottish Government be trusted to legislate on assisted dying?

One night, when my grandmother was dying, she said, “I don’t know what I’m still here for.” She didn't say it to me, particularly, but more...

05.01.2024 6

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Can Scottish Government be trusted to legislate on assisted dying?

The number of new teachers fleeing the profession has spiked this year as opposition politicians blame poor pay and violence in classrooms for the...

04.01.2024 3

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Was I wrong all along on the scourge of gender neutral toilets?

It's party season. There are dance floors to dazzle. I've always found it difficult to part ways with a dance floor once we have made each...

29.12.2023 30

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Keir Starmer can't define it - so what has class got to do with it?

Keir Starmer is the son of a toolmaker. You will likely already know this because he’s told us. He’s told us time and again. It is in Sir Keir's...

22.12.2023 20

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Banning under-22s from buses for bad behaviour? Do we hate kids?

Folk will go on the internet and set out all sorts of personal scenarios in which they believe themselves to star as the hero. More often than not,...

19.12.2023 10

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Excitement at Glasgow's new subway trains shows lack of ambition

The Glasgow Subway. It's adorable. Round and round she goes, underground she goes. One of my favourite visual gags is when a novice comic overlays...

15.12.2023 10

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Let's stop this creeping curiosity with Princess Charlotte's looks

Perhaps, like me, you were surprised to awaken in Victorian Britain last week. Over here, paupers sleeping on the streets and over there, milk-fed...

13.12.2023 4

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Public won't forgive Boris Johnson nor forget his attack on truth

The truth, the whole truth and everything except the truth. Boris Johnson's testimony, as slippery as a wet fish, was infuriating, offensive,...

08.12.2023 5

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Ant and Dec are almost right - no more politicians after Farage

It’s a worry when you’re relying on Ant and Dec to give good counsel. On a livestream interview, the hosts of I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of...

05.12.2023 3

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: We must not scapegoat asylum seekers for the housing emergency

Strong words, but what action? That's the question to be asked as Glasgow City Council declares a housing emergency. This week the city joins Argyll...

01.12.2023 5

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: On capping migrant figures the UK looks a xenophobic little country

I switched on the radio on Saturday to hear a panellist on a politics show repeatedly mentioning foreigners in quite negative tones. What were these...

28.11.2023 5

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: What's that unexpected item in the bagging area? A human being

"We’re not great fans of self-checkouts," said Nigel Murray, managing director of Booths. "We pride ourselves on great customer service and you...

24.11.2023 9

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Grow your own? Allotmenteering is no quick fix for health

Hands up, I barely lift a finger. But I do help out on an allotment that I have the brass neck of referring to as "my allotment". I weed and I plant...

21.11.2023 10

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Pity Esther McVey - Anti-Woke Minister is toughest job in politics

Well, thank goodness and sound the common sense klaxon. Here comes Esther McVey to make sure all is right with the world. Our new minister without...

17.11.2023 7

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: With rising hostility to migrants will James Cleverly change tone?

Suella Braverman is gone but her hard right, cruel, divisive politicking cannot and will not be forgotten. Her shadow will loom large over both the...

14.11.2023 7

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Here, some lifestyle choices Suella Braverman might like to opt for

In Seattle earlier this year I took the light rail from Tacoma airport into downtown. There were three men sleeping in the carriage. Given the state...

09.11.2023 3

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: It's time for Scotland to catch up on women gambling problem

This article appears as part of the Unspun: Scottish Politics newsletter. A flutter, a spin, a punt – such light words for a pastime that can have...

03.11.2023 2

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: E-bike couriers scare me. So why am I on their side?

I had a 1950s-style upbringing in the 1980s in what was a very low-tech household and I point to that as my excuse when I'm routinely flabbergasted by...

03.11.2023 4

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: No wonder the 'war on motorists' grips when we obsess so over cars

Stella has gone to live on a farm. Stella has gone to reinvent herself as a star of stage and screen. Stella has gone to make another young driver...

31.10.2023 6

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Sex education reform is doomed when no one agrees the facts of life

Let's talk about sex. Well, let's talk about how we talk about sex to young people. Uncomfortable yet? If you're not, then lucky you because the...

27.10.2023 2

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Humza Yousaf needs to find a moral position for SNP on council tax

Yellow warnings, rising to amber warnings, rising again to red - Humza Yousaf must surely look at the increasing severity of the storms pummelling...

20.10.2023 3

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Take a stand? Social media's best when people say nothing at all

The worst thing, and I appreciate that's a bold claim given the great many things one could name, about social media is the misapprehension it has...

17.10.2023 6

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: On the labour of Labour - can a party conference ever be fun?

Buoyant or boring? That seemed to be the two options to describe the overall vibe of the Labour party conference - and either one deemed a flattering...

13.10.2023 8

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: The Tory's far-right populism is an insult to mainstream Britain

For months now I've felt a sense of disgruntlement at every new Tory talking point. Who is too lazy to recycle – even into seven bins – when the...

06.10.2023 4

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: The North Lanarkshire closures are shutters closing on my childhood

The list of names is a roll call of my childhood. Kilsyth Pool. I used to swim there with my two cousins. My aunt would take us swimming in Kilsyth...

03.10.2023 6

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: No wonder we moan about public transport with these mugs in charge

It's easy to be negative. It's the human condition to luxuriate in a right good moan. It's certainly the human condition to direct that moan at...

29.09.2023 20

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Ban phones and mandate uniforms - conformity is no bad thing

For geriatric Millennial curmudgeons like myself, the notion of a ban on phones in the classroom is only interesting from the perspective of great...

26.09.2023 4

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: What's changed from the bad old Noughties? Less than you'd like

Boobs. Boobs everywhere, is how I remember the culture of the late 90s and early Naughties. Looking back, it was a noxious era to be moving from...

22.09.2023 5

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: Disobedience is the finest quality to value in children

This is the story of how I came to play the clarinet. Bear with me, I appreciate that's a less than scintillating start. At primary school I was...

19.09.2023 7

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: It’s no wonder girls are so unhappy – what are we doing about it?

What are girls made of? Unhappiness, it seems, and can anyone claim surprise? The annual state of the nation survey for Girlguiding UK details...

15.09.2023 5

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

Catriona Stewart: On Gillian Keegan, is it better to sit on your arse or be one?

Gillian Keegan is a woman who doesn't like to stand still. Nor does she seem to like others to stand still, which is perhaps why she's so fixated on...

07.09.2023 30

Herald Scotland

Catriona Stewart

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