It is my good fortune to have been in constant employment for the last 35 years. I am capable of paying my own way in society and therefore I must. It is my moral duty.
I trust that First Minister John Swinney dined well in the company of the King and US President Donald Trump at the state banquet in Windsor Castle this week.
The self-regarding sanctimony dates back a fullĀ generation. The righteous demurrals, the fists clenched in protest as they are held aloft, the fingers of the other hand defiantly crossed.
Do you ever wonder what goes on behind the shuttered doors and boarded up windows of the commercial businesses which once thrived in our towns and cities?
A kind of magic typically descends on Scotland when it hosts world sporting events.I am a veteran of several Open championships at St Andrews and, at each one, I've fallen under the spell.