Once again, the Golden State Warriors find themselves with a .500 record at 18-18 overall following a 114-98 loss to the Miami Heat in San Francisco on Tuesday night. Frustration continues to set in for the Warriors, as their 12-3 start to the season is nothing more than a long-distance memory at this point. With […]
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Following the recent vinyl release of Taylor Swift’s Lover (Live from Paris), the album sold out almost instantaneously like her Eras Tour book. On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, Swift’s online store made a wider release of Lover (Live from Paris) available. However, despite it being available Friday, January 10, 2025, it sold out in less […]
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Ahead of Thursday’s College Football Playoff semifinal against Notre Dame, Penn State head coach James Franklin has provided an important, albeit murky, update on the status of star defensive end Abdul Carter. In dealing with an upper-body injury sustained during the Fiesta Bowl quarterfinal win over Boise State, Carter is expected to be a game-time […]
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Kyrstin Johnson made a powerful statement in her first season at Temple University, opening her floor routine to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” The combination of her artistry and athleticism set the stage for a standout performance that resonated with fans and athletes alike. Her transfer to Temple follows the closure of Talladega College’s gymnastics […]
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Jon Scheyer and Duke basketball earned an impressive 76-43 win over Pittsburgh on Tuesday. The icing on the cake was an emphatic dunk by star freshman Cooper Flagg. Up 11 early in the second half, Flagg stole the ball and took off. While he was met in the paint, it was no issue for Flagg, […]
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FIRST Minister John Swinney has voiced fears that failing to pass the SNP’s Budget would be playing into tycoon Elon Musk’s hands.
Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has accused the X billionaire of spreading poison and enabling extremists.
But should the UK and Scots leaders really be spending so much time worrying about a US businessman?
According to Chris Deerin, director of think-tank Reform Scotland, they absolutely should.
Writing for The Scottish Sun, he says a move towards the right is happening across the globe.
And he insists Scotland isn’t immune, with voters fed up with the status quo and looking for something new.
IN recent years, the SNP and Labour have only really had to worry about each other. Which of them had crept a few points ahead in the polls? Who was on course to win Bute House in the 2026 Holyrood election?
No longer. Today, they have to add a new force into their calculations and decision-making: Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
Farage’s insurgents received the third-highest vote share in last year’s General Election, with over four million votes, winning five seats.
They did much better than expected in Scotland too, despite having barely campaigned north of the border, securing seven per cent of the vote share.
Reform UK are now looking hungrily towards the next Holyrood vote, when polls suggest they could win as many as 14 seats.
Both John Swinney and Anas Sarwar are deeply worried about this, and about the chaotic impact it would have on the subsequent parliament.
The rise of Reform isn’t something that’s happening in a vacuum. It is part of a swing towards the right across the West — Italy, France, Germany and, of course, the US are all seeing voters moving towards populist and disruptive politicians who are rejecting the usual way of doing business.
America is where this is most visible and where it matters most. Donald Trump’s imminent return as President has all sorts of implications for the wider world, including on trade, economics and foreign policy.
The Trump team are behaving with a cowboy swagger, and no one more so than Elon Musk — super- ambitious owner of SpaceX, Tesla and X/Twitter and the world’s richest man.
Musk was Trump’s biggest donor and has been appointed to lead his Department of Government Efficiency, but his high profile is already leading many to describe him as the real President.
Musk has recently turned his attention to the UK, using his X platform to launch a series of attacks on Keir Starmer, claiming the Prime Minister was “complicit” in failure to tackle abuse by child grooming gangs while director of public prosecutions down south.
Musk also said Starmer should be in prison, and suggested the US should “liberate” Britain from “tyrannical government”.
The billionaire is an ally of Reform UK, but he is a temperamental one.
He has expressed support for the jailed far-right activist Tommy Robinson, and has called for Farage to be replaced as leader.
The problem facing mainstream politicians, including those in Scotland, is that while Musk’s outbursts are a turn-off for many, there are those who agree with his views, or are at least not put off by them.
Donald Trump won the US election despite vast media coverage of his controversial personal life and allegations of corruption during his first term as President. Voters seem willing to accept a standard of behaviour from the new insurgents that they would never tolerate from traditional candidates for office.
This is in part because they are scunnered by politics-as-usual. Living standards in the West have been suppressed ever since the financial crash of 2008.
The rich have got richer, while ordinary punters have been stuck where they are.
In Britain, the economy is struggling and the NHS is in a mess — there is a sense that nothing works any more.
Voters in Scotland, facing a health service in crisis and schools in decline, are not immune to this trend.
Reform UK have been doing well in local government by-elections, not just in the north-east, where support for Brexit was strongest and where the oil and gas industry is based, but in Glasgow too.
The detail behind Reform’s offer isn’t yet clear — they are still largely a protest vote.
But the party are against the expensive move towards net zero, are tougher than any other party on immigration and asylum seekers and are robust on the gender wars.
They claim a common sense approach to politics, something that clearly has an appeal.
In a speech on Monday, John Swinney warned if the SNP’s Budget isn’t passed by opposition politicians at Holyrood next month, which could lead his government to fall, it will play “right into the hands of Elon Musk and other populists”.
It suits Swinney to say so, but he isn’t entirely wrong either — and Labour leader Sarwar has now said his party is likely to abstain in the vote, which would allow the Budget to pass.
Love or hate Musk, he is having a major impact not just on American politics, but on UK and Scottish politics too.
And Donald Trump isn’t even President yet.
A bit like standing under the exhaust of one of Musk’s rocket ships, brace yourself for years of extreme heat and turbulence.
