Opinion

It was quite refreshing last week to find something to write about that was not one of the two dominant issues of the last five years. Occasionally something happens that allows me to write about education or health or transport and such like – but invariably there is a dimension to the story that involves Scottish independence or Brexit, or both!

As a parent, I am acutely conscious of the problems that can arise if bullying, particularly at school, is allowed to go unchecked but it appears that many parents or guardians are still not fully aware of the tell-tale signs that their child may be being subjected to such behaviour – and so it continues, with devastating and sometimes tragic consequences.

Unless you are lucky enough to be a member of the New Club or the recently closed Overseas League, the chances are that of the many places in Edinburgh you have regularly enjoyed a drink, Princes Street will not have been one of them.

If you could live anywhere at all in the world where would it be?

Budget cuts to the council are not just impractical, they’re unsafe. A saving of £1.3 million each year in council spending has been imposed and our public services are being attacked. The gritters are the latest victim.

PATHETIC cowardice, a desperate step, a crushing humiliation – Theresa May’s decision to postpone the much-anticipated Commons vote on her Brexit deal prompted widespread condemnation and contempt, not least because it was such a volte face.

I found last month’s commemoration of the end of the First World War both moving and intensely thought-provoking. Like many in Scotland, it was a catastrophe that marked my family; both my grandfathers fought and survived, but a great uncle did not and he lies with his Canadian Scots pals in Flanders in one of the strikingly beautiful Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries.

After speaking to her doctor, Hayley Matthews has decided to stop taking an antidepressant and try cannabidiol (CBD) oil instead.

AMID the chaos of Brexit, you could be forgiven for not realising that ­tomorrow is budget day in Scotland. This is the time of year when Finance Secretary Derek Mackay stands up and ­announces his draft spending plans, complains about not having enough powers, then fails to use the powers he does have.

Amber Rudd and her colleagues are deluding themselves with their Brexit plan B, writes Lesley Riddoch

A renewed call to look at reviving the Edinburgh Suburban & Southside Railway (ESSR) that used to circle the city, but hasn’t been in use since 1962, proved very popular on my social media this week.

It was really sad to see that my old neighbours in the Grassmarket, Red Dog Music, closed down a couple of weeks ago, writes Kevin Buckle.

Cost concerns cannot override history in central Edinburgh when it comes to the debate over stone or concrete for the planned concert hall, writes John McLellan.

We took a festive stroll around the market in Stockbridge at the weekend. The Yorkshire husband has a fondness for pies from the game and fish supplier who pitches up there and hangs dead things off the railings.

A farm called the ‘Tent of Nations’ is an inspiration to those working for peace in the Middle East, writes Russell Barr, the former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

I was interested to see that Frankie & Benny’s are to trial the offer of free meals for children as long as their parents hand over their mobile phones during their visit.

Last Sunday I was making my way to Tynecastle Park to see the Hearts/Rangers game, full of optimism. I rounded the corner from Gorgie Road into McLeod Street when I spotted a familiar figure with a Hearts scarf around his neck and a bundle of leaflets in his hand.

The UK Government’s Brexit deal must be rejected, and the UK should stay in the EU, writes Tommy Sheppard.

With the cost of Christmas, the Universal Credit roll-out and Brexit, plans for a new school in West Edinburgh won’t be top of everyone’s list of concerns, but right now it has smashed a hole in the council’s plans to deal with the city’s housing crisis.