The Stooshie: the politics podcast from DC Thomson

Week 10, 2020: Coronavirus, and Burrowing Boris

It’s the week in which coronavirus dominated the news once again, as the rate of infection accelerates, even if the actual numbers are still low; Nicola Sturgeon’s statesmanlike demeanour is a sharp contrast to Boris Johnson’s at briefings; and elsewhere in politics, the bridge to Northern Ireland – widely mocked as a fantastical distraction technique when first proposed – seems to be moving into the realms of the merely wildly improbable. 
Join journalists from across the DC Thomson Media folio of newspapers, and from all across the country, to help you understand the implications of what’s happening in Holyrood, Westminster and beyond. 
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Special edition: coronavirus has reached Scotland

With the first case of coronavirus confirmed in Scotland – right in the heart of the communities served by some of our newspapers – we wanted to record a special episode of The Stooshie following an emergency Cobra meeting and statements by the Prime Minister and First Minister. Join journalists from across the DC Thomson Media folio of newspapers for the latest advice, and for calm, objective reporting to give you the information and context you need. 
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Week 9, 2020: A victory for the Greens

It’s the week when the Greens scored a rare victory, securing assurances from the SNP to look at providing free bus travel for the under 19s – and there was more environmental wrangling as the third runway at Heathrow got a grilling at First Minister’s Questions. Plus, we ask again how truly family-friendly Holyrood is, and whether some people were right for branding a drag queen with risqué social media posts reading to primary school kids anything but family friendly. 
Join journalists from across the DC Thomson Media folio of newspapers, and from all across the country, to help you understand the implications of what’s happening in Holyrood, Westminster and beyond. 
Subscribe to The Stooshie today, recommend us to friends and family, rate and review if you have a moment, and let us know what you think of what we cover and how we cover it, on Twitter and Facebook. 
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Week 8, 2020: Would you get into the UK if the points system was implemented?

It’s the week that the SNP’s visa proposals suddenly look like a bit of smart politics, as the UK’s points-based immigration controls pitch has gone down like a cup of cold sick in Scotland. Would you get in if the UK government’s proposals were implemented? Take our test to find out: https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/politics/uk-politics/1154632/points-based-immigration-would-you-be-allowed-into-the-uk-under-the-new-rules-take-the-test-now/ 
Plus, thoughts are turning to a post-Sturgeon SNP, as an apparent power struggle emerges between Angus Robertson and Joanna Cherry. Join journalists from across the DC Thomson Media folio of newspapers, and from all across the country, to help you understand the implications of what’s happening in Holyrood, Westminster and beyond. 
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Week 7, 2020: Reshuffle special

It’s reshuffle day, and it’s one of the bloodiest we can remember. With the shock resignation of Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid and the appointment of a little-known political figure to arguably the second-highest job in the country, and lots more to chew over, join journalists from across the DC Thomson Media folio of newspapers, and from all across the country, to help you understand what Johnson’s – Cummings’? – reshuffle means for you. 
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Special edition, with special guest Ruth Davidson

In this special edition of the Stooshie, The Courier political editor Paul Malik interviews former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson, about rumours of her peerage, the bridges to Northern Ireland, Brexit, making time for her family, the upcoming leadership election, the state of politics in Scotland, the UK and beyond – and much more. 
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Week 6, 2020: The budget – overshadowed by scandal

It was supposed to be the week in which we discussed the SNP’s budget, and so we moved our usual recording slot from after First Minister’s Questions on a Thursday to today, to give us time to pore over the figures. As it happened, there was much more to discuss than the Scottish government’s spending plans, as it emerged just before Finance Minister Derek Mackay was due to deliver his budget that he had been sending inappropriate messages to a 16 year-old schoolboy. Join journalists from across the DC Thomson Media folio of newspapers, and from all across the country, to help you understand all this, plus the ferries scandal, rumours Ruth Davidson is on the honours list, and more. 
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Week 5, 2020: ‘Yes’ leads in poll on the week the UK leaves the EU

It’s the week in which a YouGov poll puts ‘Yes’ in the lead for the first time since 2015, and in which the UK is leaving the EU. Plus, an interview with a senior Labour figure who has identified the issues the party faces in Scotland (even if he isn’t quite bold enough to propose solutions), concerns around the Tay Cities Deal, and an ugly fishing analogy that stinks so much even EU fishermen don’t want it. 
Join journalists from across the DC Thomson Media folio of newspapers, and from all across the country, to help you understand the implications of what’s happening in Holyrood, Westminster and beyond. 
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Week 4, 2020: A crumbling police station, and the mood in Brussels with a week to go till Brexit

It’s the week in which The Courier exclusively reported that the ceiling at Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf’s local police station fell in just three hours after he dismissed as hyperbole claims that Scottish police stations are falling apart; the issue of police funding was therefore raised in First Minister’s Questions, and we can share some of that exchange with you. Elsewhere, political editor Paul Malik has been in Brussels; he reports on the mood in the EU capital as we count down the final few days of our EU membership, and has been asking what the process would be for a newly-independent Scotland to fast-track its entry back into the EU. 
Join journalists from across the DC Thomson Media folio of newspapers, and from all across the country, to help you understand the implications of what’s happening in Holyrood, Westminster and beyond. 
Subscribe to The Stooshie today, recommend us to friends and family, rate and review if you have a moment, and let us know what you think of what we cover and how we cover it, on Twitter and Facebook. 
Be better briefed, with The Stooshie from DC Thomson Media. 
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(Contains information licensed under the Open Scottish Parliament Licence V.2)

Week 3, 2020: Boris Johnson says no to indyref2

It’s the week that was dominated in Scottish politics by one thing: Boris Johnson said no to a second independence referendum. Unsurprisingly, the SNP don’t accept that, but can Nicola Sturgeon really claim education is her top priority when it seems like all her fight is for indyref2? Plus, the latest on races to be leader of the Scottish Labour and Conservative parties – including an astonishing assertion from Labour’s Lisa Nandy that Scotland could look to Catalonia for lessons in how to handle a push for independence. Join journalists from across the DC Thomson Media folio of newspapers, and from all across the country, to help you understand the implications of what’s happening in Holyrood, Westminster and beyond. 
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Be better briefed, with The Stooshie from DC Thomson Media.