Ian Johnston's Avatar

Ian Johnston

@ianjohnston0.bsky.social

Comment editor and leader writer @thescotsmanpaper.bsky.social. My interests include politics, science, the environment, history and chess. Ex-NBC and Independent.

494 Followers  |  248 Following  |  36 Posts  |  Joined: 14.11.2024  |  1.9091

Latest posts by ianjohnston0.bsky.social on Bluesky

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9 reasons why Donald Trump won't win the Nobel Peace Prize (unless committee abandons its values) Donald Trump thinks he should win the Nobel Peace Prize, but he also knows that he won’t

Many previous Nobel Prizes have been given for reasons that are entirely at odds with Trump’s ‘values’, statements and actions www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

08.10.2025 08:33 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
Post image

Good Day!
The Cornfield with Stooks by John Nash c. 1918
Oil on Canvas
(Private Collection)

13.08.2025 14:09 — 👍 152    🔁 16    💬 0    📌 1

I do worry about what increased wildfires are doing to carbon sinks

08.08.2025 14:06 — 👍 38    🔁 11    💬 1    📌 0
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Why Jeremy Clarkson's discovery of 'genuinely alarming' effects of climate change is so important TV star and farmer Jeremy Clarkson warns this year’s harvest is expected to be ‘catastrophic’ because of bad weather, adding ‘that should be a worry for anyone who eats food’

Why Jeremy Clarkson's discovery of 'genuinely alarming' effects of climate change is so important www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

13.08.2025 08:35 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Demise of Norway's hybrid cars shows how UK is falling behind in technological race While Norway is buying a tiny number of new hybrid cars, in the UK they make up about a quarter of the market

Demise of hybrid cars in Norway shows how UK is falling behind in technological race www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

06.08.2025 08:45 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Why a bland BBC report about migrants should make us fear for our future On the question of immigration, the UK’s ‘Overton Window’ of acceptable views has been shifting in an alarming direction

Why a bland BBC report about migrants should make us fear for our future www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

31.07.2025 08:20 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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A message from Scotland to Donald Trump: It's time to call Netanyahu and end Gaza's nightmare If Donald Trump can stop the carnage in Gaza, he would surely have a good chance of winning the Nobel Peace Prize that he covets

A message from Scotland to Donald Trump: It's time to call Benjamin Netanyahu and end Gaza's nightmare www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

23.07.2025 17:08 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Why Palestinians in Gaza are protesting with photos of Israeli children killed by Hamas Gaza Youth Committee founder Rami Aman says many people in Gaza do not support Hamas, only want peace and mourn for the Israeli children who have been killed, as well as their own

I found this very moving. Please share:
Why Palestinians in Gaza are protesting with photos of Israeli children killed by Hamas www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

14.07.2025 10:21 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Why Nigel Farage is the High Druid of our burgeoning Age of Unreason In its stances on climate change, vaccines and immigration, Reform UK demonstrates it should be taken about as seriously as the modern-day druids chanting prayers of protection against Covid

In its stances on climate change, vaccines and immigration, Reform UK demonstrates it should be taken about as seriously as the modern-day druids chanting prayers of protection against Covid www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

24.06.2025 17:05 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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The Scotsman's editorial from VE Day 1945: 'We have earned the right to celebrate' On May 8, 1945, The Scotsman wrote that, while the Second World War had been ‘decisively won’, this did not necessarily mean that ‘an era of universal peace will automatically be ushered in’

The Scotsman's fascinating editorial comment published on VE Day 1945 www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

08.05.2025 08:14 — 👍 1    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
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Gaza's malnourished children cannot wait. They need food now | Editorial ***

Israeli Haaretz newspaper's editorial is a must-read: "For seven weeks now, the government has employed a policy of starvation by banning the entry into the Strip of all food or other humanitarian aid." www.haaretz.com/opinion/edit...

24.04.2025 13:13 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Why jolly face of Putin's killing machine in UK has even more to laugh about With Vladimir Putin’s lies about Ukraine being repeated by US President Donald Trump, the UK needs to stand up for the truth or risk becoming as morally compromised as the jocular Russian ambassador

www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

16.04.2025 13:38 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Subscribe | The Scotsman Scottish perspective on news, sport, business, lifestyle, food and drink and more, from Scotland's national newspaper, The Scotsman.

Special offer: subscribe to The Scotsman for just £1 a month for three months
www.scotsman.com/subscription...

16.04.2025 13:38 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Here's how I'm bringing Donald Trump's 'proven economic formula' into my life From today, I will be imposing my own tariffs on everyone I trade with, just like my newfound hero Donald J Trump

I'm imposing my own tariffs on Tesco, M&S and all the rest, taking inspiration from my new-found economic guru Donald Trump
www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

09.04.2025 17:02 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Scottish Opera’s award-winning animated short film Josefine Dailymotion video by The Scotsman

www.dailymotion.com/video/x9fbdq6

28.02.2025 11:25 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Matt cartoons – February 2025

This is brilliant by Telegraph's Matt (riffing on story about George Washington's famous honesty) www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/matt-...

20.02.2025 11:56 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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As Donald Trump's 'dictator' slur signals whose side he's on in Ukraine War, UK must urgently rearm Donald Trump’s outrageous attack on Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky must be condemned by all UK politicians, especially those who have aligned themselves with the US President

UK should heed Danish PM's words about the need to rearm as Russia threat grows. She has told her defence minister to “buy, buy, buy!", adding: “If we can't get the best equipment, buy the next best. There's only one thing that counts now, and that's speed.”
www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

20.02.2025 08:52 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Why Kemi Badenoch's decision to align Tories with Trump will destroy them Echoing Donald Trump may seem like a good idea now, but does anyone really think his presidency will end well?

www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

18.02.2025 18:14 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Why Scotland's quango culture is undemocratic and has got to go Scotland’s plethora of quangos is expensive, at a time when public services need all the money they can get, and poses a threat to democracy

Democratic government needs to be as efficient as possible, so it can deliver good frontline services and stave off Trumpish populism
www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

14.02.2025 10:22 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Seven ways to launch a liberal fightback as Donald Trump reveals perils of populism Liberals on the political right and left need to find a new way of doing politics to defeat populism

One of the comments on this article is: "'liberal fightback', (oxymoron) not gonna happen, you lost, we won, you are done." She might be right...
www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

06.02.2025 11:35 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Why Trump's Age of Unreason, Anti-science and Denial is coming soon to Scotland Donald Trump appears to believe bizarre conspiracy theorists rather than scientists about climate change and vaccines

www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

21.01.2025 18:06 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Why the temptation to abandon social media is growing by the day As clubs and friends turn their back on Facebook, the appeal of ‘unplugging’ is clear

www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

15.01.2025 18:08 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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How 1930s-style decline of liberalism puts world on course for war As former Conservative Cabinet minister Rory Stewart has rightly said, history shows that when politicians abandon liberalism, the collapse of democracy and wars are likely to follow

www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

15.01.2025 16:44 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Why return of Donald Trump to White House means UK must rejoin European Union As Donald Trump rattles his sabre about trade, tariffs and territorial expansion, it’s clear the UK urgently needs to improve access to Europe’s single market

www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

15.01.2025 16:43 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Liz Truss legal threat to Starmer over claim she crashed economy No 10 insists millions of people share Sir Keir's view of the Truss government's economic record.

Last year, Liz Truss said: "We can’t be truly free without free speech.” Now her lawyers claim it's illegal to say she "crashed the economy". Lol.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

09.01.2025 17:59 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Trump, Speaking at Mar-a-Lago, Hints at Territorial Expansion: Live Updates

President-elect Trump refused to rule out using military force to retake the Panama Canal and Greenland, said he was willing to use “economic force” to acquire Canada and refused to say whether he would pardon Jan. 6 rioters, criticizing the FBI instead during his news conference on Tuesday.

07.01.2025 18:07 — 👍 128    🔁 50    💬 146    📌 75
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Norway's stunning progress on electric cars puts UK to shame While the UK has dramatically reduced the amount of carbon produced by electricity generation, we are still largely wedded to petrol-powered cars

www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

07.01.2025 18:39 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Obsessing about mental health is making Scotland's crisis worse. Here's what to do instead Telling people to 'buck up' won't work, but neither will treating ourselves as delicate flowers. Sport holds the answer

www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

07.01.2025 18:38 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Elon Musk is a genius. But his influence makes me fear for democracy Elon Musk has demonstrated the kind of pioneering spirit that has served humanity well, but his support for populists like Donald Trump and Reform UK is deeply concerning

Explaining part of the reason why I set up a Bluesky account (and may close my X/Twitter one) www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

26.12.2024 08:50 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Scotland faces an existential crisis that politicians are doing almost nothing about Like many Western countries, Scotland’s falling birth rate is its most under-rated crisis

A Conservative makes the case for the SNP's baby box -- and abolishing the two-child benefit cap www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

26.12.2024 08:49 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

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