SNP members may feel de-stabilised by loss of Scotland’s “power couple”, but worse than both leaving was one staying. Next leader must turn back clock, democratise set-piece conference & party structures so SNP stays intact after “wheesht for indy”years.

IS the SNP a broad enough church to house Humza Yousaf, Ash Regan, Kate Forbes and their followers? Or, as Herald columnist Andy...

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Free tickets for two gigs at the ImagineBelfast festival this week over the Sheuch. One is a special edition of the podcast with
Pat Joyce recorded before a live audience - 1pm on Thursday. The other is both of us discussing prospects for Scottish independence, Thurs 8pm. If you're in Belfast, do come along - get free tix here.

Award-winning broadcaster and journalist, Lesley Riddoch chews over...

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Good to see Peter Murrell has gone. Winning elections is one thing. Turning the SNP into a closed shop with a corporate, stage-managed conference is another. Membership row is just the last straw. Scotland & Indy need a more open SNP, w/o a police investigation hanging over it.


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Will the next FM raise Scottish tax rates? If not, how to alleviate/eradicate poverty? Televised leadership debates are over but big economic strategy questions remain. Will public or even SNP conference have any input if Peter Murrell stays at the helm?

SO the televised leadership debates are over. What ever will we do with our early evenings?

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SNP leadership contest seems to prove why parties shouldn't wash their dirty linen in public. But when there’s nowhere else to do it, hustings & TV debates are the only location in town. So maybe this long postponed outpouring of difference is no bad thing

The combative contest means issues are being discussed, the independence debate has been normalised and possible leaders are being tested,...

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Free tickets for two gigs at the ImagineBelfast festival. One is a special podcast with Pat Joyce recorded before a live Belfast audience - 1pm next Thursday. The other is both of us discussing prospects for Scottish independence, on Thursday at 8pm. If you're in Belfast, do come along.

Award-winning broadcaster and journalist, Lesley Riddoch chews over the week’s news with former media...

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These are the headlines.Listen to the podcast @ lesleyriddoch.com/podcast
SNP leadership candidates. Is knocking lumps out of each other really the way to go?
Has this week finally shattered the myth of BBC "impartiality?
Was Britain ever a safe haven for refugees?


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As voting for the new leader of the SNP leader opens we look at the most recent candidates' debates and hustings and how they've been conducted.In particular we compare and contrast the style and content of the Sky debate and the STUG/National hustings.The BBC has hardly covered itself in glory this week with the Gary Lineker affair, Fiona Bruce's ill judged, to say the least, "One off" ...

Freeports aren’t the central economic issue for Scotland, but along with a National Energy Company, the candidates' positions illustrate how the next FM will likely tackle the whole economy. So please, BBC Debate Night, let’s find out in Tuesday's final televised hustings. Even if it takes half the prog.
Also big individual questions. Is Kate Forbes an economic conservative; is Humza Yousaf...

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These are the headlines listen to the podcast @ lesleyriddoch.com/podcast
Scotland imports 70% of veg. What can be done to change this?
SNP leadership hustings. What have we learned so far?
New Tory asylum legislation is inhumane, unworkable & expensive. What's behind it?


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Shortages of fresh salad vegetables across the country are leading to empty shelves and rationing in supermarkets. We tackle why this is happening and what Scotland can do to achieve food security with Pete Ritchie, Executive Director of Nourish Scotland.Not to disappoint we also return to the continuing contest for leadership of the SNP and First Minister paying special attention to the...

Scotland imports 70% fresh fruit & veg. Why not adopt Dutch/Iceland model & use glasshouses powered by renewable energy? Importing tomatoes (95% water) depletes precious water supplies in Spain/Morocco & reduces food security here. Crazy. @nourishscotland

RED and green lanes. They will be vital for peace in Northern Ireland but importing goods via digital data not paperwork has a potentially...

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Members view the SNP as a hard-done-to party which attracts hostility fm almost every paper. The media sees a robust, well-funded, ruling party that expects kid-glove treatment. True the press is rarely neutral, but it's not a monolith and as SNP leadership have now discovered, it's not avoidable.

HUSTINGS. Hot damn. Who’d have thought such a pedestrian part of the political process would make...

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These are the headlines.Listen to the podcast @ lesleyriddoch.com/podcast
N Ireland.Has Sunak sealed a deal or will it be sunk by the DUP?
The SNP leadership race.Too much heat not enough light?
DRS.Is yet another Section 35 order hijack on its way?


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The SNP leadership contest candidates' opening salvoes,personal beliefs,and campaigns are the major focus in this week's podcast.We look at these and ask when will policy rather than rhetoric take centre stage?Rishi Sunak looks to have reached a deal with the EU on amendments to the N Ireland Protocol with the Windsor Framework.Has he called the ERG's bluff and will the DUP get on...

Project delivery by Nicola Sturgeon had problems. But that doesn’t mean her vision was wrong. Indeed, problems arose from not being bold/radical enough. Scotland has become the thought leader in these islands. So which candidate enhances that legacy?https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/viewpoint/23347810.qualities-will-make-great-first-minister-scotland/


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No-one has a trump card in the vital process of debate & faith sd neither exclude not exempt candidates from scrutiny. So Kate Forbes sd stay in the SNP leadership race but debate must widen - so much about indy support depends on the way we do democracy.

I HOPE Kate Forbes stays in the SNP leadership contest.

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These are the headlines. Listen to the podcast @ lesleyriddoch.com/podcast
The SNP leadership contest. What issues will it be fought on?
Nicola's resignation an opportunity for Scottish Labour?
Is Sunak's N Ireland Protocol deal dead in the water?


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The contest for leader of the SNP and Scotland's new First Minister takes up the majority of this week's podcast.We try and make sense of the early exchanges and suss out what the key issues will be in the campaign. At this stage much of the focus has been on the candidates' positions on social issues such as equal marriage and the GRR. We wonder at what point this might shift to the...

Nicola Sturgeon represents a social democracy commonplace across N Europe & in her David-vs-Goliath struggle for Scotland’s democratic will to be acknowledged in #indyref2, she has earned grudging respect across Britain & status across the world. The only virtue of Sturgeon going is a fresh start. So SNP CEO Peter Murrell should make sure her big personal gesture of standing down to allow...

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