David Leask

Gareth is, or course, right.

In other words, we treat foreign language skills are some kind of rare gift of God for ourselves but a requirement for the people who bring us our coffees on holiday or want to buy our export goods.

It’s quite depressing really. I’m always struck by how we talk about what should be very basic skills. I recently heard somebody referred to as being a “gifted linguist” when they had the pedestrian but vital skills of a Copenhagen supermarket worker, Spanish waiter or Egyptian street hawker.

I am relatively optimistic that we are rising off rock bottom on this. We are seeing some pick-up in “mod langs” at school. One explanation lang teachers give: hearing more lingos in school and friendship groups inspired bairns to learn::: including to chat up classmates (seriously).

‘We would be better off there’ — the disillusioned Poles heading back home Average household income in Poland is on target to be higher than Britain by 2031. No wonder so many who moved here are going back

With Poland-in-the-EU poised to take over the Brexit Britain on living standards, one of the actual difficult conversations about migration we are gonna to have is how to keep working-age Poles, especially in places with preposterously high housing costs.

www.thetimes.com/article/0bc6...

To be fair, the entire public and private sectors in Scotland now has a huge deficit in language and cross-cultural skills, so MSPs are not particularly handicapped. Ironically, diaspora communities help plug our skills gaps in this area.

I don’t know anything about that particular gent. Years ago I did an audit of language skills at Holyrood as part of a deep dive in to MSP backgrounds. Only a handful of those who agreed to help us had the kind of cross-cultural nous to make a meaningful contribution to any country-specific CPG.

Putin ordered Sergei Skripal poisoning ‘to show Russian power’ A public inquiry into the death of Dawn Sturgess, who was exposed to novichok, concluded that the Salisbury assassination attempt must have had ‘senior approval’

Putin ordered Sergei Skripal poisoning ‘to show Russian power’

www.thetimes.com/article/b82a...

I’m starting to notice when Americans refer to their country as a democracy.

Britain - the entire archipelago- isn’t some monoglot backwater. It’s always been linguistically diverse. Hell, even English comes in wonderful flavours and varieties (and has been enriched by contact with the languages of these islands and other parts of the world). Basic rant over.

Language diversity isn’t new. And it isn’t just a product of international migration. It’s kind of default for a place like Glasgow. And you know what, on a global scale, it’s routine to have multi-language societies.

One of the weirdly English things about Reform is that they keep forgetting Britain’s other indigenous languages. It’s true Glasgow is a big international city with lots of “foreign” languages. It’s also true that it’s a city where thousands speak Scots and Gaelic as well as English.

Misha Glenny to present BBC Radio 4 ‘institution’ In Our Time Journalist, broadcaster and author, 67, will take over from Melvyn Bragg when series resumes next month

Misha Glenny to present Radio 4’s In Our Time, replacing Melvyn Bragg after 27 years. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/d...

David Leask: We need to dial down the rhetoric on juries for rape cases HIS tone was sombre, his voice soft. This week in Holyrood the Tories’ justice spokesman, Jamie Greene, reeled off criticism of a proposal to…

I’m not remotely qualified to have a view on jury reforms. However, there is a long history of hyperbolic claptrap on this issue, including ridiculous slurs against EU jurisdictions. www.heraldscotland.com/politics/vie...

The most obviously problematic authoritarian regime in Europe is expanding the use of juries. Many of our continent’s democracies, including Scotland, either don’t have juries or only use them for serious cases.

UK ‘flying blind’ on soaring extremism Radicalisation is rising at the fastest rate in decades. MPs are calling for a coherent plan to tackle it

UK ‘flying blind’ on soaring extremism

www.thetimes.com/article/c912...

Refugees and asylum seekers reverse exodus from Inverclyde Rare climb in population in one of the most deprived areas of Scotland after authorities offered homes to overseas people seeking refuge

Refugees and asylum seekers reverse exodus from Inverclyde

www.thetimes.com/article/2b1e...

Ukraine ‘arrests British military instructor hired as assassin by Russia’ Ross David Cutmore was sent to train Kyiv’s army but is suspected of distributing weapons used to kill two activists and a politician

Ukraine ‘arrests British military instructor hired as assassin by Russia’

www.thetimes.com/article/ab25...

Counterpoint: X is still useful for tracking far right narratives and foreign state disinformation and identifying the kind of
foolish people who are vulnerable to both. Otherwise, Neil Mackay is 💯 here.

Exodus of UK citizens driven by eastern Europeans returning home Exodus of UK citizens driven by eastern Europeans returning home

Exodus of UK citizens driven by eastern Europeans returning home

Poland and Romania recorded the highest increase in the number of British people moving from the UK in the past four years

St Andrew’s Day is very boring. If you want a big Scottish holiday in the autumn, can’t we just for full Halloween. Sell it as our own (ok, maybe shared with Ireland) and big it up as an unmissable festival for tourists?

Why Slovenia is making bosses give every worker €640 for Christmas Not everyone is feeling merry about a law to stuff voters’ stockings

Why Slovenia is making bosses give every worker €640 for Christmas

www.thetimes.com/article/60c7...

UK net migration falls 69% in a year to 204,000, ONS finds The Office for National Statistics credited Conservative reforms for figures showing fewer non-EU nationals arrived for work and study in the year to June

UK net migration falls 69% in a year to 204,000, ONS finds

www.thetimes.com/article/bee5...

bsky.app/profile/bloo...

Steve Witkoff’s been played by Putin. He has to go Trump’s placeman at the negotiating table is out of his depth when it comes to peace in Ukraine

Trump’s negotiator with Russia is too thick for his job. Polite version here >>>>> Steve Witkoff’s been played by Putin. He has to go

www.thetimes.com/article/81aa...

Former pupil says Farage’s racist abuse was ‘persistent’, not ‘banter’ Witnesses describe targeted, persistent abuse of Peter Ettedgui at Dulwich College, rejected by Nigel Farage as exaggerated or misunderstood

Former pupil says Farage’s racist abuse was ‘persistent’, not ‘banter’

www.thetimes.com/article/94cb...

Italian man ‘dressed as dead mother to steal pension’ Police found the woman’s ‘mummified’ body after her son aroused the suspicion of staff at the Borgo Virgilio town hall

Italian man ‘dressed as dead mother to steal pension’

www.thetimes.com/article/8fc0...

Footballing nun turns traffic warden in viral video

www.thetimes.com/article/a87a...

Far-right misinformation - tolerated, encouraged or even monetised by some social media outlets - has now arrived at Scottish school gates.
www.thetimes.com/article/bf7c...

Transparency tool reveals how Iran used social media to back SNP A new tool on X shows where accounts are based — exposing how ‘bad actors’ are hijacking political campaigns to sow division in Scottish politics

Transparency tool reveals how Iran used social media to back SNP

www.thetimes.com/article/54b0...