Alyn Smith

IT was good on Monday and yesterday to take part in the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly, the joint Assembly set up between the Westminster and European Parliaments to oversee the operation of the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) which is the main document governing UK-EU relations.

WE’RE in the Dark Months, a time to gather indoors and celebrate friendship and help get us through to the warmer, lighter times. With Saint Andrew’s Day tomorrow, then Christmas and Hogmanay, then Burns Night on January 25 and Valentine’s Day on February 14, this is a time of year when we need dates to look forward to.

GETTING back into the European Union is mission-critical – both for Scotland’s independence​ and for delivering a better future for the people of Scotland.

A HUMANITARIAN ceasefire in Gaza is needed, now. I don’t think that is a controversial statement, yet it seems to be an impossible thing to say for some people I know to otherwise be thoughtful and compassionate. It is also time for the international community to redouble its efforts towards a viable two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, much as that seems an even more forlorn hope than usual. We are all, as human beings, appalled at the images that have come out of Israel and Palestine these last few weeks. I grew up in the Middle East and have frequently been back and forth over the course of my life. I am a friend to Israel and I am a friend to Palestine. I’m a gay man and I would far rather live in Tel Aviv than Ramallah in the West Bank, and Hamas throw people like me off high buildingswhere

THERE is something about fancy outfits and flummery that puts my teeth on edge, so the odds of me enjoying yesterday’s King’s Speech (note capitals) weren’t good from

IT IS often said that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Such is often the case with Westminster.

I FORGET how many times I have written in this column and elsewhere about how I think the SNP need to talk about the “why” of independence, not the “how”.

CONFERENCES are a special affair in political life. An opportunity to catch up and recharge with friends and colleagues, learn more about campaigns and causes from across Scotland, and sharpen up our party policy and direction ahead of the coming year.

THE thing about wake-up calls is to make sure you don’t sleep through them. By-elections are always strange beasts, things of their time, and Rutherglen and Hamilton West was no exception.

WHEN was the last time you agreed with a policy advocated by a party you openly disagreed with? I bet that it’s been a while. And to an extent, it’s necessary for political parties to accentuate their differences so that they stand out to voters.