Rebecca McQuillan

Edinburgh

Senior Features Writer at The Herald (Scotland)

Journalist, mainly doing politics (The Herald, Holyrood, BBC Scotland). Herald columns: https://t.co/qQAT233Ewc

Articles

It is the last resort but teachers need the option of expelling worst pupils

1 week ago | heraldscotland.com | Rebecca McQuillan

Female teachers report more physical assaults than men (Image: free) Millions of people were transfixed by the TV drama Adolescence recently and not just because of the dark theme of misogynist radicalisation. It was also the eyepopping depiction of daily life inside a secondary school.
'Arrogant' Sir Keir has killed off independence - so what can SNP do about it?

3 weeks ago | heraldscotland.com | Rebecca McQuillan

Sir Keir Starmer has said independence is not 'a priority' (Image: free) You know something fundamental has changed when a British Prime Minister says they can’t imagine a Scottish independence referendum taking place within the next four years and the SNP response is to describe it as “maybe a little bit arrogant” (Stephen Gethins MP).
60 of voters back it - so why is Labour set to scrap the two-child benefits cap?

1 month ago | heraldscotland.com | Rebecca McQuillan

The Resolution Foundation estimates that lifting the two-child benefits cap would take 470,000 children out of hardship (Image: free) If Labour scraps the two-child limit, it won’t be because Nigel Farage showed them the path of righteousness. Bridget Phillipson, the UK education secretary, has given the strongest indication yet that it could go, saying “the “cost of inaction” would be “incredibly high”.
Is Scotland's future on fire - and how can we stop it?

1 month ago | heraldscotland.com | Rebecca McQuillan

Is there any realistic chance of stopping them or is this what Scotland’s future holds? This week Culbin forest near Forres has been alight; a month ago it was Glen Rosa on Arran; a week prior to that it was Galloway. By the end of April, more of the UK had been burnt by wildfires than the total for any year in more than a decade, according to the Global Wildfire Information System. The impacts on wildlife and cost to landowners can be pretty devastating.
Case shows why the death penalty should not be brought back

1 month ago | heraldscotland.com | Rebecca McQuillan

Peter Sullivan (Image: PA) How does someone begin to process the news that they are free after decades of wrongful imprisonment? Through the extraordinary skill of a court artist, we got a sense of that this week when 68-year-old Peter Sullivan from Merseyside learned he had finally been exonerated after 38 years behind bars for a murder he didn’t commit.
There are two big challenges for SNP as it kicks off campaign to win next election

1 month ago | heraldscotland.com | Rebecca McQuillan

Many voters are dissatisfied with the main political parties (Image: Derek McArthur) John Swinney says he is fixing the NHS, but is anyone listening? This is an age of endless challenge. Governments must try and tackle climate change, poverty, stagnant living standards, gaping inequality, corporate impunity, trade conflict and expensive new security threats. Voters are caught in a repeat cycle of frustration and disappointment with their incumbent governments.
You could raise Scottish Child Payment if you wanted to, Mr Swinney

1 month ago | heraldscotland.com | Rebecca McQuillan

The Scottish Child Payment has been hailed as a game-changer, so why won't John Swinney raise it further? (Image: Colin Mearns) What was really underlying John Swinney’s comments to The Herald that the Scottish Child Payment shouldn’t be raised further? The First Minister’s argument was that hiking it again would disincentivise people to work. Hmmn. The trouble is, this jars with pretty much everything he and his ministers have said about it before.
This posturing politician has done trans people no favours | The Hera…

2 months ago | archive.is | Rebecca McQuillan

Feelings about the judgment understandably run high, but there is a chasm of difference between expressing regret about it and stating without a shred of evidence that the judges themselves are motivated by hatred. This from an MSP and deputy convener of the equalities, human rights and civil justice committee who has an explicit duty to uphold the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.
This posturing politician has done trans people no favours

2 months ago | heraldscotland.com | Rebecca McQuillan

How can intolerant, abusive rhetoric help trans people? (Image: PA) Oh enough already. We’re all used to posturing politicians sowing discord, but they’re not usually on the left. Enter Maggie Chapman, who preaches tolerance while proving herself over and over to be one of the most divisive voices in the Holyrood chamber.
How dour Scots could learn a lesson from Finland

2 months ago | heraldscotland.com | Rebecca McQuillan

Finland was named the happiest country in the world (Image: Sergei Grits/AP) Apologies to the good people of Finland, but as a young adult, I knew only one thing about them – that they drank, a lot.