Posts Categorized: HNM Column

North Coast 500 – genius. And Mum’s a spy!

It’s really is the most fabulous idea, the creation of The North Coast 500, a 500 mile driving route clockwise around the top of Scotland, starting and ending in Inverness. In fact it’s such a brilliant idea that I can’t imagine why we didn’t think of it before. The route, already dubbed ‘Scotland’s answer to… Read more »

Lessons in coaching, great beer and warm milk.

Let’s get something out in the open. Up until about two years ago I had been mightily suspicious of people who called themselves ‘lifestyle coaches’. Arrogance was the word that came to mind. Whatever gave them the big idea that they had all the answers? Were their own lives so perfect that they could tell… Read more »

MPs’ salaries and second jobs. An absolute minefield.

The MPs expenses scandal was just that – scandalous. Almost five years after details of fabricated and exaggerated expenses claims started being published by The Telegraph, the ripples are still being felt. In spite of a raft of cross-party resignations, disciplinary actions and criminal charges, the reputation of Westminster still needs time to recover. Which… Read more »

Superstitious about the A9 on Friday 13th? Not me!

I’m not superstitious at all, so when I learned that one of the questions to be put to the panel last Friday night was to expose potential misgivings about attending an event on Friday 13th, I was absolutely certain about my answer. I would categorically state that superstitions play no part in my life. As… Read more »

A Klass act? And NHS Highland in Crisis

After more than a decade in the public eye and half a million followers, you’d have thought singer and presenter Myleene Klass might have learned to be a bit more savvy about the impact of what she puts on Twitter. Last week she raised a serious point when she posted an email exchange with parents… Read more »

Bring Back Borstal? Not a bad idea!

As part of my law degree at Edinburgh University I studied Criminology. It was probably my favourite course of the four years. Instead of being concerned with the dry rules and regulations of law, it dealt with the sociology of crime; why people turn to crime, whether certain sections of society are predisposed to it,… Read more »