Alyn Smith

1 month ago | thenational.scot | Alyn Smith

Polish president Donald Tusk said Europeans 'must rely on ourselves, fully aware of our own potential' WHO represents you really matters day to day, but even more obviously during a crisis. As we saw in the pandemic, whoever was in the top job really counted, some rose to the occasion like Nicola Sturgeon, some were a grubby shambles like Boris Johnson.

Jan 11, 2025 | thenational.scot | Alyn Smith

An aircraft allegedly carrying US businessman Donald Trump Jr. arrives in Nuuk, Greenland on January 7, 2025 I SPENT the holidays in California where the incoming US presidency is taking up most of the airwaves, peppered by the occasional forest fire.

Dec 7, 2024 | thenational.scot | Alyn Smith

A track passes by a'Welcome to Northern Ireland' side of the border between Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (United Kingdom) .On Tuesday, 17 January 2017, in Jonesborough, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom..Photo by Artur I’VE written before that I don’t want to write about brexit/" target="_self">Brexit anymore – people don’t need to be told it is bad news or not working, they want to hear solutions and get a bit of hope that serious people are working on answers, not...

Dec 4, 2024 | theedinburghreporter.co.uk | Alyn Smith

Channeling my best Jean Brodie, whether in my prime or not, I think Muriel Spark put it best. Where Glasgow might have been the Second City of the Empire, Edinburgh has always been a European city of learning and enlightenment. In the 2016 EU referendum, Edinburgh voted 74.4% to remain within the EU. Like much of Scotland, there was little debate, more a general consensus that EU membership suited us, felt comfortable and didn’t need changed.

Nov 30, 2024 | thenational.scot | Alyn Smith

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier addresses a speech at the 5th Impact PME (Image: ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images) ‘BUT to my mind, the result is a fix, and only stores up problems for later” was my view, on September 8 in this newspaper, of the French government’s chances. Sadly, much as I didn’t know what the specific problems would be, the French government is in deep trouble because of the budget.