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Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson

Herald Scotland

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Alan Simpson: Handing CalMac a permanent ferry contract is clearly the best option

THERE is much to admire about a CalMac ferry, not least the onboard full Scottish breakfast which must rank amongst the best in the country. The mac...

20.04.2024 10

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: Let's party like its 1984 before even it gets banned too

ACCORDING to the sartorially challenged but slick Yorkshire crooner Robert Palmer in 1985, we all had to face being addicted to love. The hit song...

13.04.2024 10

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: Another glib soundbite from Yousaf that won't help the Highlands

You can feel there’s an election on as politicians seem to be popping up in the most unlikeliest places which can only mean they are looking for...

06.04.2024 20

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: Lorna Slater should go back to the future over bins

ONE of the bizarre unintended consequences of moving towards a greener way of living is that the weather seems to have been replaced as the main topic...

23.03.2024 4

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: Hate crime bill will just waste police time and real victims will lose

WHEN you are a young child and you really want to emphasise displeasure with something, your parents or green vegetables, then the word most commonly...

16.03.2024 10

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: CalMac ferries board actually deserve praise and not the sack

IT is fair to assume that it must be a frustrating time living on Scotland’s islands at the moment. The well-documented ferry problems have ruined...

09.03.2024 2

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: Banning porridge and meal deals is not the healthy option

PORRIDGE has sustained generations of Scots for several millennia, but the way to eat it has caused arguments for almost as long. To some, it should...

02.03.2024 3

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: Turning a blind eye to anti-semitism has frightening parallels

THERE are some occupations that are so self explanatory there doesn’t need to be any supplementary questions. Pilots, for example, fly planes,...

24.02.2024 4

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: You're going to need a bigger port: Calmac ferry farce is complete

After what seems to have been several millennia and at a cost of the entire GDP if the US, a momentous thing happened this week when the MV Glen...

16.02.2024 10

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: Now the dogs fall victim to a Holyrood obsession with bans

IF you were to ask the average Scot what has no place in a modern Scotland, then the answers would probably vary wildly. For patients, waiting...

10.02.2024 4

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: Welcome to Tyninghame, the village that likes to keep you in the dark

TYNINGHAME is a picture postcard conservation village in East Lothian situated just west of Dunbar and a decent commute into Edinburgh. With its...

03.02.2024 3

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: To be, or not to be an able-bodied actor - that is quite the question

IT is fair to say that William Shakespeare is not to everyone’s taste, probably as a result of having to study his plays for far too long while at...

26.01.2024 9

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: Protect the NHS and walk like a penguin on the ice - no really

MORE than 50 years ago, John Cleese brought the now-famed Ministry of Silly Walks to TV screens for the first time in Monty Python’s Flying Circus. ...

19.01.2024 2

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: National Park plan leaves islanders in a quandary

MUCH of Scotland could easily be designated as a national park given it’s stunning beauty and worldwide popularity. But of course there are only...

13.01.2024 2

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: It's time our politicians stopped treating islanders with contempt

SCOTLAND has nearly 900 islands although just 94 are inhabited, with 89 of those offshore. Over the centuries, some have been depopulated out of...

29.12.2023 10

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: Even Forrest Gump would know the A9 needs dualled - and all of it too

ACCORDING to that well-known sage Forrest Gump, life is like a box of chocolates, as you never know what you’re going to get. For many businesses...

22.12.2023 10

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: Freedom of speech law for universities is long overdue

STROLLING around the tree-lined courtyards of Harvard university with my chum was an inspiring experience. So much so, in fact, that we decided to...

15.12.2023 10

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: The hot air surrounding pensioners and climate change

IT’s that time of the year when the great, the good and Greta all troop off once again to the annual COP extravaganza in a vain bid to save the...

01.12.2023 4

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: No such thing as just transition... just ask steelworkers and miners

IT is a phrase that is bandied around on an almost daily basis by politicians and environmentalists to trying to and soften the blow of thousands of...

24.11.2023 7

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Edinburgh doggie DNA database idea is not as barking as it may seem

Some readers regularly comment that this column is usually filled with absolute s***e. So, as if to emphasise the point, today’s offering features...

17.11.2023 8

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: Tweet this - Wilson's warbler has fallen victim to cancel culture

SEVERAL years ago – actually, make that many years ago – a curious thing happened as I partook in a football match on a pitch situated next to a...

10.11.2023 6

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

No ordinary row, this is a dangerous anti-Semitic M&S row

Every primary school pupil fancies themselves as a vexillologist after a few lessons of identifying the world’s flags. Vexillology is a skill that...

03.11.2023 2

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: I'm with Stella and Tiger in depressing nimbyism row

ON the face of it, golfer Tiger Woods and fashion designer Stella McCartney seem to have very little in common. Both, of course, are extremely...

20.10.2023 2

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: Rishi Sunak has more in common with garden waste than you may think

IT’s that horrible time of year when the colour drains out of the days, the nights get increasingly longer and the lawnmowers are put back in the...

22.09.2023 2

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: Sheer hypocrisy around BBC satirical cartoons is breath-taking

RANK hypocrisy can take many shapes and forms with some seemingly unwitting but the end result is always the same. When a billionaire, for example,...

15.09.2023 4

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: Taggart would not approve of new Police Scotland no crime pilot scheme

IT is 40 years since Taggart first hit the screens and showed the dark underbelly of Glasgow to a worldwide audience. The elaborate, some might say...

08.09.2023 1

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

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