Baggsying the front seats upstairs on a double decker bus was as close as me and my pals ever really got to doing politics growing up. As bairns in schemes in the North East of Scotland we had little respect for the rules of civilised society generally, and often even…

One of my lasting memories from childhood is being around 8 or 9 years old, running out of the house with shampoo in my hair and a towel around my waste, fumbling desperately with the triangular metal key to open the electric meter box (conveniently located on the front wall…

I grew up in assorted rough and wonderful housing schemes in Forfar, just outside of Dundee. My Mum, a nurse who trained during my early years, raised my brother and I effectively as a single parent. I’ve never met my father. My Granda worked his days in the factory that…