In preparation for returning home this Christmas for the first time in five years, I picked up a copy of Madsen Pirie’s How To Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic. It promises to help me “strengthen my own thinking” and “identify the weaknesses in other people’s arguments” by using and abusing logical fallacies. So, if anyone decides to bring up vaccinations or Jacob Elordi’s new beard while I’m gnawing on a turkey leg, consider yourself warned.

Thinking about logic reminds me of a philosophy course I took at a liberal arts college in Vancouver over a decade ago. Our portly professor burst into the first class waving his arms and promising that he would teach us how to win every single argument we ever found ourselves in.

“The trick is, it’s not about being right,” he said. “It’s about learning something. If you walk away from a debate with knowledge, then you’ve won.”

The thing is, seeking the truth and the need to be right are fundamentally at odds with each other. Choosing your own ego instead of holding space for the truth is a bad look, especially for a politician when trust in politicians continues to find new lows. But here we are.

While campaigning in Glasgow’s West End ahead of the Partick East/Kelvindale by-election, Anas Sarwar spoke to a gaggle of journalists about the latest by-election blunder to hit Scotland. This time at the foot of his own party.

(Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)Around a week after the scandalous Colinton/Fairmilehead by-election that saw Lib Dem candidate Louise Spence put her house on the market to move abroad the day after claiming victory, Glasgow had its own gaffe to contend with. Labour’s Mary McNabb, an employee of Glasgow City Council, was disqualified from office after winning the North East seat for neglecting........

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