• Contact
  • About
  • Authors
DONATE
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
  • Login
Bylines Scotland
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Bylines Scotland Breaking News
    • Europe
    • King Charles III
    • Queen Elizabeth II
    • Scotland
    • War in Ukraine
    • World
    A woman walking in a field with a jerrycan of water on her back, spraying water on the vegetation

    The Ethiopia Medical Project (EMP)

    A thistle flowerr

    Is it time tae think again about Flower of Scotland?

    Eu flag on the left, UK flag on the right. Both are windblown. A large lightening bolt inbetween them.

    Glasgow Loves EU campaigners brave wind and rain to keep a light on for Scotland

    blue background, A younf woman holding a large black sign that says VOTE ! in white letters

    Scottish elections: young people more likely to vote if they started at 16 – new study

    Healthcare word seen in a scrabble

    “Leave no one behind” – the Health Foundation’s report into health inequalities in Scotland 2023.

    Sign saying NHS Greater Galsgow & Clyde in front of a hospital building

    Concern over patients waiting in corridors for free beds at Glasgow Superhospital

    A row of tall houses on the left, with parked cars in front on the side of the street

    Saving Scotland’s tenements

    Ben Nevis. Forground has green shrubbery, then background a mountain with two tops. Blue sky with a few streaky clouds

    Exploring the Highest Mountain in the British Isles: A Guide to Ben Nevis

    Image via Steller Systems, a potential candidate.

    Cancelling future frigates could be final nail in the coffin for the UK

    Trending Tags

    • Democracy
    • Devolution
    • Brexit
    • Ukraine
  • Politics
    • All
    • Council Areas
    • Europe
    • Holyrood
    • Liz Truss
    • Rest of UK
    • Tories
    • United Kingdom
    • Westminster
    • World
    blue background, A younf woman holding a large black sign that says VOTE ! in white letters

    Scottish elections: young people more likely to vote if they started at 16 – new study

    A scene of people demonstrating, holding Scotland flags. One man wears a tartan cap and holds a blue flag with both the Scottish cross and the EU stars on it.

    Is Alister Jack sane?

    Image Malcom Laverty

    The Brown plan

    The climate change impacts of Russia’s war with Ukraine

    Britain wastes £1bn on drones to monitor English Channel

    The Autumn Statement – time to take a closer look

    Photo Mtaylor848, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

    Christmas cheer for Tesco if grim reading for the political classes

    Scottish independence isn’t going away

    Russia as a low-tech nation

    Trending Tags

    • Crime
    • Equality
    • Johnson
    • Scottish National Party
  • Business
    • All
    • Agriculture
    • Aviation
    • Corporations
    • Energy
    • Fishing
    • Natural Resources
    • Shipbuilding
    • Trade
    • Transport
    • Workers
    A row of tall houses on the left, with parked cars in front on the side of the street

    Saving Scotland’s tenements

    A large red researcgh vessel in the sea with ice sheets all around it on the water.

    Rosyth shipyard attracts UK Government contract to maintain fleet of scientific research vessels

    large posts saying 'Glasgow Airport Business Park' on the left and right of a road leading away from the main road in the front. . On that road leading away building with walls almost entirely existing of windows.

    Why doing business in Scotland may be better for your corporate wellbeing

    A mountain of spools forming a tree on the left, a sandy area to the right and a row of houses at the back. mountains in the distance on the right

    The Ullapool Giving Tree

    Electric off-roader heralds return of vehicle mass-production in Scotland after 40 years

    Photo Mtaylor848, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

    Christmas cheer for Tesco if grim reading for the political classes

    Ferguson Marine will weather the storm

    Order placed for remaining five Type 26 Frigates on the Clyde

    Police Scotland not investigating Scottish government over ferry contract criminality

    Trending Tags

    • Health
      • All
      • Assisted dying
      • Covid
      • Influenza
      • Polio virus
      • Respiratory
      • Scientific Research
      A woman walking in a field with a jerrycan of water on her back, spraying water on the vegetation

      The Ethiopia Medical Project (EMP)

      Healthcare word seen in a scrabble

      “Leave no one behind” – the Health Foundation’s report into health inequalities in Scotland 2023.

      Sign saying NHS Greater Galsgow & Clyde in front of a hospital building

      Concern over patients waiting in corridors for free beds at Glasgow Superhospital

      A hospital corridor with trolleys on the sides.

      Glasgow hospitals halt non-urgent operations due to pressure

      Two more unions reject Scottish Government NHS pay offer

      GMB union reject Scottish Government pay offer to NHS staff

      Lymphocites gathering

      How careful should we be when choosing a scientific term?

      Code Black – A mayday from the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital

      The challenges facing mental health care in Scotland

      Trending Tags

      • Environment
        • All
        • Air Pollution
        • Biology
        • Climate Change
        • Wildfires
        Ardnish wildfire by Leslie Barrie, CC BY-SA 2.0 Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic — CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons'

        Fire threats in the Scottish countryside

        Wood stove at the foot of the bed in the Danish Blue room at Pig Hill Inn, Cold Spring, New York. Printed with permission and confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

        When smoke gets in your eyes

        Opening of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27 in Egypt. Photo courtesy of the UNFCCC

        COP27 and the inconvenient truth

        Viscum album in trees

        Night of the strangling figs: a biological horror story

        Out & about with Charlie Mac: Cycling to the heart of Scotland – the National Cycle Network 7

        Scotland's mountain footpaths

        How do we care for Scotland’s mountain footpath network?

        climate science

        PM to be chosen by people with little grasp of climate science

        Trending Tags

        • Opinion
        No Result
        View All Result
        • Home
        • News
          • All
          • Bylines Scotland Breaking News
          • Europe
          • King Charles III
          • Queen Elizabeth II
          • Scotland
          • War in Ukraine
          • World
          A woman walking in a field with a jerrycan of water on her back, spraying water on the vegetation

          The Ethiopia Medical Project (EMP)

          A thistle flowerr

          Is it time tae think again about Flower of Scotland?

          Eu flag on the left, UK flag on the right. Both are windblown. A large lightening bolt inbetween them.

          Glasgow Loves EU campaigners brave wind and rain to keep a light on for Scotland

          blue background, A younf woman holding a large black sign that says VOTE ! in white letters

          Scottish elections: young people more likely to vote if they started at 16 – new study

          Healthcare word seen in a scrabble

          “Leave no one behind” – the Health Foundation’s report into health inequalities in Scotland 2023.

          Sign saying NHS Greater Galsgow & Clyde in front of a hospital building

          Concern over patients waiting in corridors for free beds at Glasgow Superhospital

          A row of tall houses on the left, with parked cars in front on the side of the street

          Saving Scotland’s tenements

          Ben Nevis. Forground has green shrubbery, then background a mountain with two tops. Blue sky with a few streaky clouds

          Exploring the Highest Mountain in the British Isles: A Guide to Ben Nevis

          Image via Steller Systems, a potential candidate.

          Cancelling future frigates could be final nail in the coffin for the UK

          Trending Tags

          • Democracy
          • Devolution
          • Brexit
          • Ukraine
        • Politics
          • All
          • Council Areas
          • Europe
          • Holyrood
          • Liz Truss
          • Rest of UK
          • Tories
          • United Kingdom
          • Westminster
          • World
          blue background, A younf woman holding a large black sign that says VOTE ! in white letters

          Scottish elections: young people more likely to vote if they started at 16 – new study

          A scene of people demonstrating, holding Scotland flags. One man wears a tartan cap and holds a blue flag with both the Scottish cross and the EU stars on it.

          Is Alister Jack sane?

          Image Malcom Laverty

          The Brown plan

          The climate change impacts of Russia’s war with Ukraine

          Britain wastes £1bn on drones to monitor English Channel

          The Autumn Statement – time to take a closer look

          Photo Mtaylor848, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

          Christmas cheer for Tesco if grim reading for the political classes

          Scottish independence isn’t going away

          Russia as a low-tech nation

          Trending Tags

          • Crime
          • Equality
          • Johnson
          • Scottish National Party
        • Business
          • All
          • Agriculture
          • Aviation
          • Corporations
          • Energy
          • Fishing
          • Natural Resources
          • Shipbuilding
          • Trade
          • Transport
          • Workers
          A row of tall houses on the left, with parked cars in front on the side of the street

          Saving Scotland’s tenements

          A large red researcgh vessel in the sea with ice sheets all around it on the water.

          Rosyth shipyard attracts UK Government contract to maintain fleet of scientific research vessels

          large posts saying 'Glasgow Airport Business Park' on the left and right of a road leading away from the main road in the front. . On that road leading away building with walls almost entirely existing of windows.

          Why doing business in Scotland may be better for your corporate wellbeing

          A mountain of spools forming a tree on the left, a sandy area to the right and a row of houses at the back. mountains in the distance on the right

          The Ullapool Giving Tree

          Electric off-roader heralds return of vehicle mass-production in Scotland after 40 years

          Photo Mtaylor848, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

          Christmas cheer for Tesco if grim reading for the political classes

          Ferguson Marine will weather the storm

          Order placed for remaining five Type 26 Frigates on the Clyde

          Police Scotland not investigating Scottish government over ferry contract criminality

          Trending Tags

          • Health
            • All
            • Assisted dying
            • Covid
            • Influenza
            • Polio virus
            • Respiratory
            • Scientific Research
            A woman walking in a field with a jerrycan of water on her back, spraying water on the vegetation

            The Ethiopia Medical Project (EMP)

            Healthcare word seen in a scrabble

            “Leave no one behind” – the Health Foundation’s report into health inequalities in Scotland 2023.

            Sign saying NHS Greater Galsgow & Clyde in front of a hospital building

            Concern over patients waiting in corridors for free beds at Glasgow Superhospital

            A hospital corridor with trolleys on the sides.

            Glasgow hospitals halt non-urgent operations due to pressure

            Two more unions reject Scottish Government NHS pay offer

            GMB union reject Scottish Government pay offer to NHS staff

            Lymphocites gathering

            How careful should we be when choosing a scientific term?

            Code Black – A mayday from the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital

            The challenges facing mental health care in Scotland

            Trending Tags

            • Environment
              • All
              • Air Pollution
              • Biology
              • Climate Change
              • Wildfires
              Ardnish wildfire by Leslie Barrie, CC BY-SA 2.0 Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic — CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons'

              Fire threats in the Scottish countryside

              Wood stove at the foot of the bed in the Danish Blue room at Pig Hill Inn, Cold Spring, New York. Printed with permission and confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

              When smoke gets in your eyes

              Opening of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27 in Egypt. Photo courtesy of the UNFCCC

              COP27 and the inconvenient truth

              Viscum album in trees

              Night of the strangling figs: a biological horror story

              Out & about with Charlie Mac: Cycling to the heart of Scotland – the National Cycle Network 7

              Scotland's mountain footpaths

              How do we care for Scotland’s mountain footpath network?

              climate science

              PM to be chosen by people with little grasp of climate science

              Trending Tags

              • Opinion
              No Result
              View All Result
              Bylines Scotland
              No Result
              View All Result
              Home Politics

              Boris Johnson; Britain’s worst ever prime minister?

              Is Boris Johnson Britain’s worst ever UK prime minister (so far)? Let's compare him to other previous office holders.

              Dr Richard MilnebyDr Richard Milne
              06-09-2022 08:00
              in Politics, United Kingdom, Westminster
              Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaking at 2022 special meeting of the North Atlantic Council and G7 leaders meeting at NATO Headquarters in Brussels during the Ukraine situation. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street. Licensed under the United Kingdom Open Government Licence v3.0

              Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaking at 2022 special meeting of the North Atlantic Council and G7 leaders meeting at NATO Headquarters in Brussels during the Ukraine situation. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street. Licensed under the United Kingdom Open Government Licence v3.0

              Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

              How will history judge Boris Johnson? Badly. That is surely beyond doubt. Even if you took the worst traits from half a dozen former PMs, you would struggle to get one as bad as Johnson. There is the industrial scale lying, and the normalisation of it – trotting out a series of lies at PMQs like a tired parrot that watches too much GB news.

              There was the appointment of many of the very worst ministers in UK history, from the sadistic cruelty of Priti Patel’s Rwanda policy to the haplessness of Gavin Williamson (e.g. opening schools for a single day during the January 2021 Covid wave then closing them again), the carbon-spewing airheadedness of Liz Truss flying a private jet to Australia, and of course Nadine “Big Fucking Idiot” Dorries (Russell T Davies’ words, not mine). Not forgetting Johnson’s flagrant and repeated breaking of rules he himself had set, having earlier failed to sack his handler Dominic Cummings for doing the same.

              His apologists try to trivialise these matters, but the simple truth is they destroyed something incredibly precious, which was a rare sense that everyone from rich to poor, left to right and remain to leave, was for once united in a common cause, beating Covid-19. One day a worse pandemic will strike, and it is hard to see how lockdown would ever enjoy the same consensus support again. That is on Johnson, and will cost lives.

              Johnson’s government squandered countless billions of pounds, giving them to cronies like Matt Hancock’s local pub landlord, instead of competent people, during the pandemic. They sat back and did nothing as the terrible cost of living crisis loomed ever larger on the horizon, with even the rabid right getting frustrated at the inaction, although that at least is not the fault of Johnson alone. This brings us to the central question of this article – was Boris Johnson the worst prime minister that the UK has ever had? Can we possibly have had anyone who was worse? Let us consider the other candidates.

              Candidates from history

              Lord North, Neville Chamberlain and Anthony Eden are often cited among the UK’s worst PMs, but all three were faced with crises overseas that they did not create. North is blamed for the loss of the colonies that became the USA. However, he ran Britain very successfully for ten years before the American War of Independence began, and moreover tried to resign when the war started, knowing himself unsuited to being a war leader. The King (George III) wouldn’t let him, and thus shares any blame for what happened. Also, US independence was surely a historical inevitability, and things might not have been any better had we won that war.

              Chamberlain gets attacked for making peace with Hitler, but this ignores the fact that the UK was woefully unprepared for war at that time, making Chamberlain’s decision defensible, at least. There was no good option available. Eden is berated for the Suez crisis, which began when Egypt’s Nassar seized the canal. Without doubt Eden’s responses made the crisis worse, ultimately reducing the UK’s influence in the world. Of these three, strong defences can hence be made for the first two, and even Eden is guilty of no more than a series of misjudgements under pressure.

              Then there are those who proved themselves incompetent and utterly unsuited to being PM, likes the Earls of Wilmington and Roseberry, and Viscount Goderich, mainly remembered for crying on the job and whom the King referred to as “a damned, snivelling, blubbering blockhead.” This hapless trio unsurprisingly didn’t last very long, and left very little mark on their country. The same is true of more competent PMs whose tenure was cut short by death (notably George Canning, who lasted just 118 days), serious illness (e.g. Andrew Bonar Law, 1922-23) or an imminent election (e.g., Alec Douglas-Home in 1963-64). Some commentators place these characters right at the bottom of best-to-worst prime minister lists (e.g. Iain Dale), but the fact is these men left little impact on the country, for good or ill, precisely because they weren’t in charge for very long.

              The Hacker Test – a way to judge all prime ministers

              Ultimately, prime ministers should be judged on whether they made the country better or worse. Their private lives, peccadillos, scandals and even corruption are far less important to the ordinary Brit than the ultimate outcome of their tenure. Lloyd George became terribly corrupt in his later years in charge, but he led us to victory in WW1, and is justly remembered as a great PM. Likewise, it doesn’t really matter to his record in charge how many illegitimate children Johnson had fathered, which is just as well because it is likely that no-one on Earth knows the true number, including the man himself (Johnson admits to seven children, but some suggest he has 11 or even 12, while still more might exist that only the mother knows he is the father of).

              The questions that matter are, did they make our lives better, or worse? Did they solve more problems than they created? Did they leave the country in a better state than they found it? This last question must be tempered by acknowledgement that many PMs had to deal with crises not of their own making, including North, Chamberlain and Eden, and indeed Johnson with the pandemic. Hence, the question we really need to ask is, would we have done better, or worse, with someone else in charge?

              Therefore, I introduce the Hacker Test. For any given PM, we imagine whether things would have turned out better or worse with an extremely bland individual running the country instead, for the whole of their tenure. Someone neither left nor right wing, and with no policy objectives beyond being liked and trying to make things more efficient. Someone with neither exceptional skills nor great character flaws. A person who would tread a timid path between expert opinion and Civil Service caution, should a major crisis arrive. Luckily fiction has provided us with exactly such a person: Jim Hacker from Yes, Prime Minister.

              Applying the Hacker Test

              Weak and short-lived PMs get middling scores here, because like Hacker they didn’t change much, though of course they trail behind PMs who actually achieved things. For example, despite his ineptness at fighting elections, Gordon Brown does well, because of his skilful work containing the financial crisis. It is hard to see Hacker doing better than Chamberlain, and he’d probably have tried to resign at the same time as North. But his far more timid approach would likely have ended the Suez crisis with a messy compromise, meaning he would have done better than Eden. That makes Eden the worst of this trio, by this measure, but it’s still possible to defend him by saying that it was not immediately clear what a better response to the crisis would have been. That defence does not apply to any of my worst three PMs of all time, selected below.

              Controversial figures like Thatcher are harder to judge; she arguably resolved the problems of the seventies but created a whole new set which have endured until today. Blair, apart from the dark stain of Iraq (though we should remember it was Bush who actually started that war), scores very well for all the improvements he made at home. The only three prime ministers who score really terribly on the Hacker Test are the most recent three: Cameron, May and Johnson.

              Hundreds of pro-independence supporters protest Tory leadership hustings in Perth.
              Politics

              Thousands turn out to barrack Tory hopefuls at Perth hustings

              byMartin Roche
              17 August 2022

              The terrible trio: PMs since 2010

              David Cameron called a totally unnecessary referendum with disastrous consequences. Theresa May then interpreted that vote in the most extreme way possible, condemning the UK to economic misery and in my view, entrenching societal divisions over the vote when a better leader would have sought to smooth them over. Johnson lied, hired at least one known sex pest, cheated, squandered countless billions on contracts for his mates, ignored bullying by Priti Patel, demonstrated astonishing callousness, and broke his own rules, which may well hamper compliance with lockdowns should a worse pandemic arise in the future, putting all our lives at risk. We will never know how many pandemic deaths could have been avoided had he acted differently at the start, but we do know that more conscientious leaders like Nicola Sturgeon also made some fatal errors (she, at least, apologised for them).

              Likewise, many commentators (including respectable medical sources) blame Cameron’s austerity for large numbers of avoidable deaths. Yet even if we exclude both sets of excess deaths on the grounds that they are debatable, all three of Johnson, Cameron and May fail the Hacker test spectacularly. The oncoming cost of living crisis alone would do it, but all three have many other things to answer for. Can anyone really doubt that our country would be in vastly better shape, had we simply trod water under Jim Hacker for the past twelve years?

              Of this trio, May is probably the least worst. She inherited the Brexit problem from Cameron and though she was awful in how she handled it, and indeed everything else, she did not create a massive problem out of thin air, nor disgrace her office in multiple ways like Johnson. Even so, her terrible misjudgement in utterly ignoring the Remain 48% and pushing for the hardest possible Brexit is inexcusable, and unlike Eden’s follies this would have been (and indeed was) abundantly clear to any armchair observer from the outset.

              The case for David Cameron

              I once met David Cameron briefly, before he became PM. I found him cold and aloof. But he is surely a better human being than Johnson (a very low bar, admittedly) on the simple grounds that he has managed to stay faithful to one woman since he married (Google “David Cameron affair and the top hits are about things like Greensill), and he didn’t regularly insert racist and homophobic terms into newspaper columns before becoming an MP. Yet Cameron’s legacy as PM is utterly appalling. If anyone can name a problem as big as Brexit that another UK PM has conjured out of thin air, I’d love to hear about it (and would wonder why I hadn’t before). The problems associated with it are legion, and well known to anyone with their head not buried in the sand, so there is no need (nor space) to list them all here. As to the benefits, there are precisely none, unless you are a New Zealand farmer, or include the spectacle of Michael Gove waiting 30 hours for his flight home.

              Must Cameron bear the blame alone? Of course, the likes of Farage, Johnson and the tabloids were agitating for it, but there have always been bad actors and malicious voices shouting from the sidelines, and indeed from within Parliament, throughout UK history. Decent leaders ignored them – look at John Major, whose position was far more precarious than Cameron’s, but who stood firm against malcontents within his party (“bastards” to use Major’s own word) throughout his tenure.

              By contrast, Cameron waved the white flag at them without even a struggle, taking a reckless gamble whose terrible effects may last for a generation or more. Even worse, he made two awful blunders in how the referendum was run: first, it was technically advisory but understood by all to be binding, which allowed the Leave side leeway to cheat and lie, but made it impossible to hold them to account for it.

              And second, Cameron failed to define Brexit in any way beyond leaving the EU, specifically failing to state whether freedom of movement the Single Market and the Customs Union would go, too. This allowed the Leavers to claim we’d stay in the Single Market before the vote, but demand our exit the second ballots were all in. Had Cameron deliberately set out to damage our country beyond repair, it is hard to see how he could have done a more thorough job.

              The verdict

              Does the sum total of the damage inflicted by Boris Johnson exceed the harm caused by Brexit, and the form Cameron allowed it to take? The billions Johnson squandered are matched by our economic losses due to Brexit. He populated his cabinet with utterly awful and often incompetent people (see above), but this wasn’t an entirely new idea – Theresa May had appointed Britain’s worst ever Foreign Secretary three years earlier (a man named Boris Johnson who in that role is mainly remembered for an inexcusable gaffe that led to a doubling of Nazanin Zaghari-Radcliffe’s prison sentence).

              As for his industrial scale lying, Cameron’s Brexit created the conditions whereby constant lying was not only acceptable from his successors, it seems to have become part of the job description, judging by the whoppers told by both Truss and Sunak during the campaign this summer. Theresa May was forced from office because she could not lie about Brexit effectively enough. Had Johnson not existed, the Tories would have chosen as PM the next best liar from their ranks. The contest to replace Johnson proves it – lying through your teeth is now very much part of the job description. So Johnson’s dishonesty has been enabled and encouraged by Cameron’s Brexit. The Tories, wedded to a massive lie, had no choice but to encourage and enable it.

              As for Johnson’s shirking, laziness and basic incompetence – there’s an argument to be made that these made his tenure less damaging overall. Waiting in the wings is Liz Truss, who sheds policy convictions like autumn trees shed leaves, and who Cummings described as “close to properly crackers”. Her plans to bring back fracking and to frantically increase drilling for oil and gas, while still paying lip service to net zero, suggests a Johnsonian disregard for factual reality. She is far harder working than Johnson, and given the plans she seems to have, we will probably soon wish that she wasn’t. If she lasts long enough, she may yet surpass all of Johnson, May and Cameron for awfulness.

              Still, Johnson’s legacy might in time sour even further than has Cameron’s, for example if, as noted above, if a second pandemic hits and is made worse by the lockdown non-compliance Johnson’s behaviour has encouraged, he could end up killing huge numbers of us. The existence of fanatical Johnson followers for who he can do no wrong (witness the frothing at the mouth online response to HIGNFY’s Johnson-themed episode) is worryingly reminiscent of Trump’s dangerous followers in the USA. However, such detachment from reality arguably began with Brexit and hence some blame lies with Cameron too.

              Johnson was the most dishonest, corrupt and incompetent PM the UK has ever had, has trashed our international reputation, and is regarded by many as the worst ever. Yet the same voices also ask how he ever rose to occupy that hallowed position. The answer is Brexit. The answer is Cameron. Therefore, Boris Johnson is only the UK’s second worst PM in history. The crown for the very worst goes to David Cameron, for that single, colossal and wholly avoidable error of judgement for which every single one of us is paying a heavy, ongoing price.


              We need your help! The press in our country is dominated by billionaire-owned media, many offshore and avoiding paying tax. We are a citizen journalism publication but still have significant costs. If you believe in what we do, please consider subscribing to the Bylines Gazette 🙏

              Tags: JohnsonLegacypolitics
              Previous Post

              BAE Systems building new shipbuilding academy at Clyde shipyard

              Next Post

              Stop using Scots and Gaelic as political footballs

              Dr Richard Milne

              Dr Richard Milne

              Dr Richard Milne is a lecturer in plant evolutionary biology, and has won several awards for his offbeat teaching style. He has co-authored over 80 scientific papers, and one factual book about rhododendrons. A keen plant-hunter, he is currently on a mission to photograph the entire UK flora to create an identification tool for beginners. Away from science and plants, he is the author of the Bojo’s Woe Show Cartoon series and the novel Misjudgement Day. He lives in Edinburgh with his wife and son.

              Related Posts

              blue background, A younf woman holding a large black sign that says VOTE ! in white letters
              Democracy

              Scottish elections: young people more likely to vote if they started at 16 – new study

              byChristine Huebnerand1 others
              31 January 2023
              A scene of people demonstrating, holding Scotland flags. One man wears a tartan cap and holds a blue flag with both the Scottish cross and the EU stars on it.
              Brexit

              Is Alister Jack sane?

              byMartin Roche
              15 January 2023
              Image Malcom Laverty
              Politics

              The Brown plan

              byMartin Roche
              10 December 2022
              Defence and Security

              The climate change impacts of Russia’s war with Ukraine

              byProfessor John R Bryson
              8 December 2022
              Europe

              Britain wastes £1bn on drones to monitor English Channel

              byGeorge Allison
              6 December 2022
              Next Post
              The Saltire and the three spirals on the Triskelion symbol believed to represent the three worlds: The present physical realm. The spirit world of ancestors. The celestial world of the sun, moon, stars and planets. Image by Martje Ross printed with permission

              Stop using Scots and Gaelic as political footballs

              Subscribe to our newsletters
              CHOOSE YOUR NEWS
              Follow us on social media
              CHOOSE YOUR PLATFORMS
              Download our app
              ALL OF BYLINES IN ONE PLACE
              Subscribe to our gazette
              CONTRIBUTE TO OUR SUSTAINABILITY
              Make a monthly or one-off donation
              DONATE NOW
              Help us with our hosting costs
              SIGN UP TO SITEGROUND
              We are always looking for citizen journalists
              WRITE FOR US
              Volunteer as an editor, in a technical role, or on social media
              VOLUNTEER FOR US
              Something else?
              GET IN TOUCH
              Previous
              Next

              LATEST

              A woman walking in a field with a jerrycan of water on her back, spraying water on the vegetation

              The Ethiopia Medical Project (EMP)

              8 February 2023
              Brexit and Pro-EU airport channels in opposite directions.

              Pro-EU voices must ensure Europe stays top of the general election agenda

              7 February 2023
              St Andrews from West sands at sunrise

              I like your gift

              6 February 2023
              Performers at Celtic Connection 2023 in Glasgow

              Le Vent du Nord blows Glasgow away!

              5 February 2023

              MOST READ

              A woman walking in a field with a jerrycan of water on her back, spraying water on the vegetation

              The Ethiopia Medical Project (EMP)

              8 February 2023
              Brexit and Pro-EU airport channels in opposite directions.

              Pro-EU voices must ensure Europe stays top of the general election agenda

              7 February 2023

              The methods of Russian interference in Scottish politics

              27 December 2022
              A scene of people demonstrating, holding Scotland flags. One man wears a tartan cap and holds a blue flag with both the Scottish cross and the EU stars on it.

              Is Alister Jack sane?

              15 January 2023

              BROWSE BY TAGS

              Alister Jack Brexit Christmas Climate change Covid Culture Defence Democracy Devolution Gender Recognition Reform Glasgow Halloween health History Holyrood independence IndyRef2 Johnson Journalism Liz Truss Long Covid Monarchy nationalism NATO NHS Nicola Sturgeon politics Poverty Putin Russia Sars-CoV-2 Scotland Security Security and Defence shipbuilding SNP St Andrews Sunak Supreme Court Tories Tourism Twitter Ukraine UK Supreme Court War in Ukraine
              Bylines Scotland

              We are a not-for-profit citizen journalism publication. Our aim is to publish well-written, fact-based articles and opinion pieces on subjects that are of interest to people in Scotland and beyond.

              Bylines Scotland is a trading brand of Bylines Network Limited, which is a sister organisation to Byline Times.

              Learn more about us

              No Result
              View All Result
              • Bylines network
              • About
              • Authors
              • Contact
              • Donate
              • Privacy

              © 2022 Bylines Scotland. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

              No Result
              View All Result
              • Home
              • News
                • Scotland
                • World
              • Politics
                • Council Areas
                • Europe
                • Holyrood
                • Rest of UK
                • Westminster
              • Business
                • Fishing
                • Trade
                • Transport
              • Health
              • Environment
                • Climate Change
              • Opinion
              • Donate

              © 2022 Bylines Scotland. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

              Welcome Back!

              Login to your account below

              Forgotten Password?

              Retrieve your password

              Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

              Log In