I suspect Sarwar knows this. Successive opposition leaders in Holyrood, from Ruth Davidson to Douglas Ross and now Sarwar – have always come up against this glass ceiling. ...
"Are we on the radar ?" Labour's Branch Office in Scotland. https://theorkneynews.scot/2026/02/11/are-we-on-the-radar-labours-branch-office-in-scotland/ #AlecRoss, #AnasSarwar, #Epstein, #KeirStarmer, #Labour, #LordMandelson
“Are we on the radar ?” Labour’s Branch Office in Scotland.

I have a great friend – we go back nearly four decades – who is in the unusual position of being a Scotsman who has lived in England for the last 30 years; making a living writing almost entirely a…

The Orkney News
The speaker was famous for his rich and sonorous Midwestern drawl, but the accent tonight was unmistakably Ayrshire. It’s not clear whether the assembled dignitaries had wanted Burns with their Brandy. Then again, when the performer is Abraham Lincoln, who the hell is going to object?
Abraham Lincoln & Robert Burns https://theorkneynews.scot/2026/01/24/abraham-lincoln-robert-burns-4/ #AbrahamLincoln, #AlecRoss, #Culture, #News, #Opinion, #OrkneyNews, #Poems, #Poetry, #RobertBurns
Abraham Lincoln & Robert Burns

Where does it come from, this love of Burns? How did I get to a point where Burns seems deeply ingrained in my psyche, in my heart, in my head, central to my very DNA? How did it happen that the wo…

The Orkney News
It’s been many years since I watched the once unmissable Sports Personality of the Year programme on the BBC, largely because it has long been a deeply unserious piece of broadcasting.
“Nobody ever celebrated devolution day” (Alex Salmond) https://theorkneynews.scot/2025/12/24/nobody-ever-celebrated-devolution-day-alex-salmond/ #AlecRoss, #Football, #Independence, #Scotland, #WorldCup
“Nobody ever celebrated devolution day” (Alex Salmond)

“Haven’t felt that good since Archie Gemmill scored against Holland in 1978” (Ewan MacGregor, as Mark Renton in Trainspotting) It’s been many years since I watched the once unmissable Sports Person…

The Orkney News
Since the Ryder Cup, a number of friends who are not golfers or golf fans like me have asked me why the ugly scenes at Bethpage happened. No doubt they’re surprised because they are more used to the genteel atmosphere of Augusta or St Andrews...
When did we stop being nice? https://theorkneynews.scot/2025/10/04/when-did-we-stop-being-nice/ #AlecRoss, #Golf, #Politics, #RyderCup, #Sport
When did we stop being nice?

Many years before the recent Ryder Cup match in New York last week, I was watching the golf tournament on the television. As always in those days, the commentator was the late, great Peter Alliss. …

The Orkney News
At the Kirkcudbright Fringe Festival last week, I chaired a discussion on Scotland’s constitutional status and possible direction, twenty-six years since devolution, with the writer and broadcaster Lesley Riddoch and the former First Minister Henry McLeish (Home Truths for Home Rule).
"Scotland needs to show the world what it is, because we won't get a second chance." https://theorkneynews.scot/2025/09/17/scotland-needs-to-show-the-world-what-it-is-because-we-wont-get-a-second-chance/ #AlecRoss, #Devolution, #HenryMcLeish, #LesleyRiddoch
“Scotland needs to show the world what it is, because we won’t get a second chance.”

At the Kirkcudbright Fringe Festival last week, I chaired a discussion on Scotland’s constitutional status and possible direction, twenty-six years since devolution, with the writer and broadcaster…

The Orkney News
"I suggested to him that while the former First Minister’s personal thoughts and fears came across as entirely human and genuine – and they are – perhaps it was far too early for her to try to defend a legacy that will take years to determine. "
The End of the Affair https://theorkneynews.scot/2025/08/14/the-end-of-the-affair/ #AlecRoss, #Books, #NicolaSturgeon
The End of the Affair

Yesterday, I had lunch and a blether with a journalist who is about to complete a review of the Nicola Sturgeon memoir, “Frankly”. I have to say it was refreshing to hear the kind of honest and emp…

The Orkney News