Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

EWAN GURR: You must use your vote – democracy depends on it

EWAN GURR: You must use your vote – democracy depends on it

There was a time when general elections took place in or around every five years but, alas, this Thursday we will go to the polls for the third time in four years.

I look forward to the day when our political dialogue returns to solving domestic anomalies like the levels of poverty, the tragic loss of lives to drugs and the numbers of rough-sleepers dying every week on our streets.

I do miss hearing about radical approaches to social security, fair employment, public health and housing policy.

I am not saying the constitutional debates that have dominated the previous three elections are unimportant.

It is no secret I have strongly held views on these issues but I believe that systemic and social transformation is being hamstrung to the extent that a number of domestic areas in Scottish and UK politics are sliding out of the limelight.


Read more from Ewan Gurr here


A recent survey revealed that 57% of people said Brexit was the most important political issue.

No other issue accrued more than 3% support.

With Brexit front and centre, I have consistently said since the General Election was announced that I believe the Conservatives will secure a majority.

It is undeniable that the EU referendum in 2016 played a big part in the Conservatives’ resurgence in Scotland, soaring from one to 13 seats in 2017, especially when you look at the location of the areas taken.

And it is undeniable that the independence referendum in 2014 played a part in SNP’s resurgence in Scotland, as they leapt from six to 56 seats in 2015.

One fascinating survey of more than 20,000 individuals was the national polling carried out by UnHerd Britain and Focaldata, which sought to identify the issues evading prominence in the election campaign.

Questions were asked about the monarchy, gender, immigration, religion, freedom and taxation.

The clearest revelation in the constituencies of Dundee East and West was the declining support for the monarchy and both were among the 30 least royalist constituencies, out of 632, in Britain.

On other matters, a majority disagreed that immigrants should be free to move and work here, and a majority agreed there should be no limits on free speech and that higher earners should pay more tax.

The one area of divergence was on gender, perhaps revealing something of the national uncertainty.

In Dundee West, a majority disagreed that it is acceptable for children to make a decision about their gender identity but a majority in Dundee East agreed.

The most troubling trend I have personally observed is the number of disaffected potential voters, none of whom are exclusively remain or leave, who believe their democratic voice and political choice have been undermined.

I would not dictate how anyone should vote but even if to spoil your ballot I believe turning up at the polling station on Thursday, more than any other time in history, is vital to democracy.

This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.