Colin West

@joannaccherry Just like those Lalique salt and pepper mills.

“The wheels of justice turn slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine" Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell admits embezzling party funds heraldscotland.com/news/26135843.…

@MsPollyClark I can sympathise, I can. Look at these beautes.

Poor Nicola having to shop at Asda while Murrell's at home fondling his grinders.

@elladorn_ @KateClanchy1 You appear to be confusing casting a wry eye at an imperfect school system with an attitude of contemptuous dismissal. I'm not sure the fault lies with the book.

@KateClanchy1 Hahahaha not sure why you assume I was on their side. I read it expecting to side with you and ended up appalled. It wasn't the language as much as the pervading contemptuous tone, something I don't think your critics at the time were able to articulate properly

When I agreed to do 'Anatomy of a Cancellation' I wrote a memo to myself: 'The very most you can expect is a half-hearted acknowledgement from a woke person that they might have gone too far. Be happy that day'. So it's today, and I'm happy.

I do enjoy reading a bit of Russian literature but sheesh! the names! Why do the characters all have such mad names, which we poor readers are supposed to keep on top of somehow. Latest one in my current book: Ruffina Onissimovna Voit-Voitkovsky. Seriously??

Just been to see Raphael Wallfisch play the Bach cello suites in Temple Church. And got his autograph on my copy (on vinyl) of his recording of the Finzi cello concerto.

@NadiaWhittomeMP When you say "weaponized the courts for their own ends", do you mean "brought legal challenges which succeeded because they were well-founded in law"?

While it appears that the government has successfully pushed back on some particularly harmful elements in the previous draft, the new Code of Practice will still lead to the exclusion of trans people from services and facilities that they have used without issue for a very long time. This will do nothing to improve women’s lives and the many struggles we face, but it will put trans people (and anyone perceived as trans) at increased risk of discrimination, harassment and violence. The Code unfortunately still represents the culmination of years of anti-trans campaigning from a small, well-funded minority who have had outsized influence in the media and in politics, and have weaponised the courts for their own ends. The legal situation for trans people is now deeply incoherent and means that it is untenable for them to be able live their lives with dignity. This is completely out of line with the values of equality that a Labour government is meant to champion. Instead of making this Code statutory, the government should be legislating to clarify and protect trans people’s rights, privacy and inclusion.

@AllianceLGB @akuareindorf So you’re certifophobes, to boot?

We welcome the updated EHRC Code of Practice. But the Guidance does not change the law. The law has been absolutely clear since last year - when we hailed the Supreme Court Judgment of 16 April 2025 as a ‘landmark for lesbian rights in the UK’. There is no excuse for delaying its implementation. We had intervened in the case because it was crucial to the rights of gays and lesbians. We even had to fight for the definition of homosexuality as based on sex not “gender” which the court reaffirmed. We have been battling for these rights since 2019. When we campaigned against self-ID in Scotland, the entire LGBTQ+ conglomerate mocked and opposed us. It still does. But we knew we were right and we pressed on. For a decade, the misinterpretation of the law by Stonewall and others has led to the erasure of lesbian spaces and has harmed the rights of LGB people to freedom of association. The Equality Act protects us all. Lesbians remain, as ever, not attracted to certificates. #NoMoreExcuses

Dealbh no dhà bhon chuirm-ciùil Mhànran aig a' Hootananny a-raoir. Few pics from last night's Mànran gig at the Hootananny

Congratulations to my extremely talented wife, whose book has been shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. (Tweeps - go and buy a copy and read it. Don't just take my word for it - that's the considered view of the Orwell Prize judges!)

@KonstantinKisin Congratulations, KK! And about time!

I've been quieter than normal in recent weeks. For a very good reason: konstantinkisin.com/p/why-you-have…

I see - the intricacies of this may well merit a Substack of their own. If it assists, as someone on the other side of the debate, personal abuse from Nats (whether cyber or otherwise) is water off a duck's back. (I find they tend to pipe down about patriotism when you start talking to them in Gaelic.)

A response to Joanna Cherry's memoir: a movement squandered, a history censored, and why Nicola Sturgeon was the perfect leader of a 'cancel culture' era. My thoughts in The Scotsman: ⬇️✍️ scotsman.com/news/opinion/w…

@msjlindsay I'm not sure there is anything wrong with having 'sides', or even movements which are antipathetic to people on the other 'side'. But it does seem reasonable to expect people on the same 'side' to be pulling on the same oar.

I'll possibly follow this up with a Substack at some point, but, having been part of the Yes side, I recognise now that what was exciting me from 2012 - 2014 wasn't necessarily the conversations about independence. It was that I genuinely enjoyed the good-natured debate about what makes a good society, a good nation, etc. I was just a bit too blinkered to recognise the lack of No voters in those rooms... I've never been a nationalist, so differ from Joanna there, but the hardest lesson we all face - those of us with deep passions - is realising our 'own side' often isn't really ours after all.

@KemiBadenoch I love this picture. The leader of my Party, the leader of my Union, and the doughty old warhorse himself. The opposition doesn't stand a chance!

Graham Linehan should never have been dragged through the courts in the first place. The real scandal is a system that wastes time on litigious nonsense driven by professional activists while serious crime goes unpunished. We need to kill cancel culture. Free speech cannot survive if the process becomes the punishment. This is why I asked Toby Young to review the laws that are stifling free speech so the next Conservative government can put an end to this wasting of our resources.

@joannaccherry @NaeFear @bellacaledonia @iconbooks Congratulations on the book, which I have just finished reading. Given you're an old London hand, was wondering whether you will be making an appearance at the London festival of Scottish books in November? If so, hope to get a signature on my copy then. scotsinlondon.org/st-andrew-s-bo…

Thanks to @NaeFear for his excellent review of my book for @bellacaledonia. Keeping the Dream Alive: An Insider's Account of a Tumultuous Decade in Scottish Politics published by @iconbooks is available from all good booksellers bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/04/30/sco…

(More of a Linked In thing maybe, but here goes...) My debut as a legal podcaster can be found here, discussing the FX judgment and opt-in/opt-out collective actions with Josh Pemberton. Do tune in for some insights, such as they are, and award yourself a (self-certified) CPD point for doing so. Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/73WW24… (Also available on Apple etc.; no doubt you can find it there or elsewhere if so minded.)

@roisinmurphy As they say in that venue - hear, hear!

“It’s not the first time in history artists have faced oppression and it won’t be the last. We should support each other, come together and defend our shared space, our territory, the place where imagination can roam free. Because if they come for one of us they will eventually come for all. “ On Monday 26/4/26 I gave a speech at the House of Lords, Palace of Westminster to help launch toolkit.freedominthearts.com Please follow/donate to @Freedom_in_Arts they are doing VITAL work for all of us.”

Some recent pics. Theme: people-less.