Who should I vote for? Compare party policies

BBC Political parties in Scotland are campaigning ahead of the election on 6 May. To help you decide who you might vote for, use this policy guide to compare where the parties stand on the key issues. This guide is a concise summary of the main policies being put forward by each party. The policy […]
Harry Leslie Smith: War veteran has died

Harry Leslie Smith: “I am the world’s oldest rebel” A World War Two veteran who grew up in poverty and described himself as the “world’s oldest rebel” has died. The 95-year-old Barnsley-born campaigner and left-wing activist suffered suspected pneumonia while with his son John in Ontario. John said: “At 3.39 this morning, my dad Harry […]
The human cost of political inaction on Covid

Jessica Lussenhop BBC News, Nebraska BBC In Nebraska, which has some of the worst racial disparities when it comes to Covid-19 cases in the country, the state’s sole Latino lawmaker tried to strengthen protections for meatpacking workers, all while confronting his own personal tragedy. It was a battle against time that revealed much about race, […]
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death sparks political firestorm

Hundreds of people visit the US Supreme Court to pay their respects to the late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death marks the passing of a liberal icon on the US Supreme Court, the loss of a jurist heralded by the left in the US for her passionate advocacy of women’s rights, civil liberties and the […]
Donald Trump picks Kash Patel for FBI and Chad Chronister to DEA

Getty Images US President-elect Donald Trump has picked a former aide, Kash Patel, to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an agency Patel has often criticised. A former US defence department chief of staff in the first Trump administration, Patel has been a steadfast supporter of the incoming Republican president. For Patel to take the […]
Who has joined Trump’s team and cabinet so far?

Getty Images Elise Stefanik, Tom Homan and Susie Wiles Donald Trump has made the first hires of his incoming administration, naming a chief of staff, a border tsar, a national security advisor, a US ambassador to the United Nations and an environmental protection agency head. The president-elect may also be on the verge of appointing […]
The MPs and ex-MPs who died in 2017

BBC Former SNP leader Gordon Wilson was a lifelong advocate of Scottish independence In 2017, we said goodbye to Alex Salmond’s predecessor as SNP leader, a Tory MP who holds the record for the number of completed London marathons, two Labour MPs who caused big upsets when winning in 1997 and a Liberal MP who […]
Terror trial told of ‘incels’ cyber-culture backing attacks on women

Getty Images The trial of Gabrielle Friel is taking place at the High Court in Edinburgh A terrorism trial in Edinburgh has told about an online subculture which endorses violence towards attractive women. Dr Stephane Baele, of Exeter University, gave evidence in the trial of Gabrielle Friel, who is accused of researching mass killings linked […]
NBA: Black Lives Matter and basketball’s role in discussion on racism

There are those – fans, commentators and players themselves – who will see the limits of sports activism, or reject it altogether. “Shut up and dribble” was the response from Laura Ingraham, a right-wing news anchor, when in 2018 LeBron James gave an ESPN interview criticising President Trump’s attitudes on race. That Ingraham did not […]
‘Feudal’ complaints system unjust, ombudsman says

Nick Bennett: “People with literacy issues have rights too” People with literacy problems should be given more help to complain about public services for the sake of “social justice”, the ombudsman has said. Nick Bennett said it was “feudal” that oral complaints could currently only be handled at his discretion. People unable to write complaints […]