Politics

Martin Bell

Seeking truth and an end to sleaze

14 Aug 2008

Eleven years after New Labour’s landslide victory, Martin Bell has been considering Tony Blair’s legacy. More specifically, the white suit-wearing BBC war correspondent turned independent MP, and now UNICEF ambassador, wants to work out where it all…

Picture this - World Press Photo

Festival of Politics

22 Jul 2008

From soldiers to skiers, featuring death and dresses, the World Press Photo exhibition captures life at its extremes. David Pollock views the cream of this year’s selection and discusses life through a lens.

The Body Politic - The British Ambassador’s Belly Dancer

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

A story of prostitution, oppression and torture might not sound like fun, but throw in a bit of belly dancing and you have a Fringe hit. Steve Cramer talks to Craig Murray, formerly our man in Uzbekistan, about baring souls on stage.

Peter Oborne

22 Jul 2008

Is the strife in Iraq a conflict that can ever end? At the start of 2006, Peter Oborne was unequivocal. ‘The invasion of Iraq is the greatest foreign policy disaster since Munich,’ he said at the start of his damning Dispatches documentary Iraq: the…

Big Tent Festival 2008

17 Jul 2008

While the pretend hippies drive their SUVs to Glastonbury and this year’s T in the Park fades into lager-sodden memory, all yer actual planet-savers are off to Falkland Palace. The Big Tent Festival, which grew out of a response to the 2005 G8 summit…

Fears eased over Festival performer visa crisis

8 May 2008

Fears that thousands of performers at the Edinburgh Festival would be prevented from entering the UK due to new immigration legislation have been eased with the introduction of a new type of visa. The Home Office has announced that visiting…

Hard-Fi for Scotland's Rock Against Racism

13 Feb 2008

The first name for 2008's Rock Against Racism has been announced with Staines dole rock types Hard-Fi being confirmed for a gig at Edinburgh's Liquid Room, Monday 25 February. The indie rockers, behind the massive hits 'Hard to Beat and 'Living for…

Cherie Blair signs £1m autobiography deal

20 Sep 2007

Cherie Blair is expected to lift the lid on her time in Downing Street, after signing an autobiography deal worth £1million. The wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who had a famously tempestuous relationship with her husband’s successor Gordon…

Fatboy

David Laing

23 Aug 2007

With our current culture of consumerism and our seemingly endless desire to rid the planet of its natural resources, there is unlikely to be a more fitting or biting satire at this year’s Fringe than John Clancy’s Fatboy. An updated version of Alfred…

Get Your War On

23 Aug 2007

“I’m not very analytical. You know I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about why I do things”, honest words from President Bush, as he spells out his failings to the electorate and yet they still voted him in for a second term. Join the Rude…

John Pilger

23 Aug 2007

In this day and age, journalist is a job title which is afforded a disdain from the general public on a par with estate agent, parking attendant and serial killer. Trust is a commodity that is lacking when it comes to relations between newspaper people…

The Man Across the Way

23 Aug 2007

Police are being given more money to conduct surveillance on suspected terrorists and the public are being asked to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity. It is understandable in the context of the war on terror but you have to wonder…

Billy Brag

16 Aug 2007

Billy Bragg was described by The Times as ‘a national treasure’. That particular phrase would surely bring a wry smile to his face, not least because the topic currently vexing the lifelong political campaigner and singer-songwriter is the fundamental…

Andrew Marr

16 Aug 2007

Andrew Marr has always used his vast intellect with such wit and verve that he has always come across as a political pundit real people could enjoy. It’s hard to imagine David Frost interviewing Gordon Brown on a Sunday morning, as Marr did last month…

Jihad: The Musical

16 Aug 2007

The magic of the musical genre is that you can get away with so much. If you can’t say it, sing it. This show is a perfect example. Catchy songs like ‘The Jihad Jive’ whisk us through Sayed’s story. In it we follow a young naïve Afghan flower seller who…

Matthew Collin

16 Aug 2007

At the turn of the 21st century, uprisings against undemocratic governments in Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine benefited from a prominent youth resistance, with groups using humour and satire to undermine the authorities. ‘After Otpor in Serbia, similar…

Nick Cohen

Observing hatred in all its forms

9 Aug 2007

Nick Cohen is a rare beast. A pro-invasion of Iraq commentator with impeccable left-wing credentials, he was moved to write What’s Left? How Liberals Lost Their Way by a perception that liberals were forming an unholy alliance with fascism in failing to…

Will Hutton

9 Aug 2007

It’s not many people that can make dense economic theory and political machinations accessible to the casual reader, but Will Hutton is one such man. Formerly the editor-in-chief of the Observer and What the Papers Say political journalist of the year…

Charles Kennedy

Festival of Politics

19 Jul 2007

Festival of Politics The knowledge Hounded by the press and bullied by his own party, it’s no surprise to discover that Charles Kennedy is enjoying his political sabbatical. Ruth Hedges catches up with him and finds a man at ease with the world again

Kate Adie

19 Jul 2007

Kate Adie talks to Allan Radcliffe about her career in the frontline of news journalism and her refusal to let sentiment undermine the pursuit of facts

Rebecca Drysdale

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

19 Jul 2007

Edinburgh Festival Fringe Bits & pieces An award-winning show with nudity, lesbianism and racial politics sounds like pretty standard Fringe fare these days. But Brian Donaldson reckons Rebecca Drysdale has quite a few cheeky tricks up her sleeve

Tommy Sheridan

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

19 Jul 2007

Edinburgh Festival Fringe Boxing clever Solidarity leader Tommy Sheridan is full of fighting spirit as he prepares to enter the Fringe fray, finds Mark Fisher

World Press Photo exhibition

Festival of Politics

19 Jul 2007

Festival of Politics Life through a lense Ruth Hedges introduces this year’s World Press Photo exhibition, which runs throughout August at the Scottish Parliament and powerfully documents people and places from across the globe

Asylum Monologues

18 Jun 2007

REHEARSED READING Did you know that fish and chips were first introduced into the UK by Jewish immigrants in the 19th century? Or that the UK receives less than 0.5% of the world’s refugee population? Probably not, thinks Christine Bacon…

Detainee A

18 Jun 2007

POLITICAL DRAMA Cora Bissett has, for over a decade, been one of Scotland’s most respected performers, but when it was announced that she was directing a show, Amada, at the Arches, there might have been a slight twinge of fear among her many…