Page 52 - Winnie Ewing News Today

Born: Glasgow Education: Graduated with a degree in politics from Western Australia University in 1975; graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1982 at the Edinburgh University; followed in 1983 by a Diploma in Legal Practice from the Aberdeen University Career: SNP researcher (1977-1979); solicitor at Dumbarton District Council (1983-1986); solicitor at Glasgow District Council (1983-1986); solicitor at a private practice (1989-1990) and was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates (1990-prese...

Updated: January 30, 2021, 10:06 am © PA Sign up for our daily Politics briefing for political exclusives, analysis and debate. Thank you for signing up to our Politics newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up The Brexit process has somewhat dominated Michael Russell’s final years in the Scottish Parliament. The Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs is one of the most high-profile politicians to have announced his departure from ...

Thank you for signing up to our Politics newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up Former Health Secretary Alex Neil says MSPs need to be more independent-minded as “too many people are just running with the party line even when they know the party line is wrong”. The veteran politician is widely regarded as one of the most outspoken of the SNP government’s backbenchers in Holyrood and is one of the party’s “big hitters” to announce their departure fr...

THE ascent of the stairs in a series of closes in Ruchill may be an unlikely starting point for self-determination. The next step, though, is independence. It seems so near, particularly to those of us who once celebrated when a candidate’s deposit was not lost in the days when progress for the SNP could ­never be measured in the number of seats won. Today there will be a virtual national assembly on The Route to Independence held by the Scottish ­National Party. It will seek to inves...

KATHLEEN Nutt reported in Monday’s National on another call, by filmmaker Roderick MacKenzie, for a new inquiry into the shady death of Willie McRae (New call for probe into McRae’s death, January 11). Let’s hope it probes deeper than other failed attempts at an inquiry. The late Dave Leadbetter was at an advanced stage of completing his well-researched book on the subject and has left two boxes of his research with a friend in Edinburgh, in a safe place. Dave was a full-time worker f...

AUGUST 1970. That year’s general election has come and gone, but the SNP, and the Welsh national party, Plaid Cymru, are far from happy. Now they…

A Party ambivalent about the merits of a Union that it fought desperately to save can hardly complain if voters turn their backs

Letters UK Government fisheries minister Victoria Prentis was too busy organising a Nativity trail to read about fishing in the Brexit Bill I DON’T know if I am alone in feeling deeply anxious in the current maelstrom of Unionist attacks on the Scottish economy and political sovereignty. In the Westminster Parliament we saw Ian Blackford derided when he asked the Prime Minister about Brexit arrangements for Scottish fish, reported to have lost one exporter £45,000. Meanwhile Alister Jack...

Exclusive Willie McRae was found critically injured in his crashed car off the remote A87 near Invergarry in the Highlands in April 1985 and died a day later A NEW documentary on the mysterious death of SNP activist and senior lawyer Willie McRae has prompted fresh calls for a public inquiry into the case. The film-maker Roderick Mackenzie hopes to use the 26-minute work as the basis of a three-part mini-series and has backed demands for a further probe into the event. Mackenzie was inspi...

Kay Ullrich, Scottish Nationalist MSP and mentor to Nicola Sturgeon – obituary She joined the SNP out of anger at nuclear submarines on the Clyde and served as chief whip in the Scottish Parliament Kay Ullrich Credit: UPPA/Photoshot/Avalon Kay Ullrich, who has died aged 77, was a prominent figure in the Scottish National Party either side of devolution in 1999, and a mentor of Scotland’s current First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon. Rated by Ms Sturgeon as “one of the most influential figures ...