Plus Review of the Year Part One
● In the first part of our review of the year’s events, Martin Mclaughlin recalls early instalments of the Brexit saga and a thrilling battle with the Auld Enemy
JANUARY
Former first minister Alex Salmond appears in court charged with attempted rape and sexual assault. He faces a total of 14 charges at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, also including breach of the peace and indecent assault. The 64-year-old makes no plea during the hearing and is released on bail. Outside court, he says he is “innocent of any criminality”.
The first Commons vote on the Brexit deal ends devastatingly for prime minister Theresa May, as MPS vote 432 to 202 against it – the biggest government defeat in British parliamentary history. She narrowly survives a vote of no confidence the following day.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon issues a rallying call to Scottish independence supporters to “get out there and make the case” as she tells MSPS the Brexit turmoil now means Scots are ready to leave the UK.
A root and branch review is ordered into the £842m Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow after it emerges an infection linked to pigeon droppings contributed to the death of a child patient.
NHS statistics detail some of the longest waiting lists in Scotland, with one patient in Tayside kept waiting for 896 days for treatment.
A new gas discovery in the North Sea is billed as the region’s biggest in more than a decade.
The Duke of Edinburgh, 97, is involved in a road traffic accident while driving a Land Rover on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.
Parents and children’s groups across Scotland warn that Primary One pupils are being used to score “political points” amid an ongoing row over national testing.
Labour MP Fiona Onasanya becomes the first sitting member of parliament in nearly three decades to be jailed after she lied to police over a speeding ticket.
Dutch firm Abellio is warned by Transport Secretary Michael Matheson that it must come up with a successful improvement plan for Scotrail’s performance woes, or risk being stripped of the franchise.
Organisers of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe say the value of the event has smashed through the £200m barrier.
Richard Madden says he constantly doubts his acting abilities as he picks up a Golden Globe for his role in the hit series, Bodyguard.
The broadcaster Fiona Bruce replaces David Dimbleby in the hot seat ofbbc programme Question Time.
Tesco plans to slash thousands of jobs as the UK’S largest supermarket group embarks on a shake-up to cut costs in the face of intense competition.
Café chain Patisserie Valerie collapses into administration after the failure of rescue talks with banks.
Nearly 300 people die in a mudslide after a dam collapses near the south-eastern Brazilian town of Brumadinho.
The award-winning Scottish chef Andrew Fairlie dies aged 55 following a long illness.
Hugh Mcilvanney, widely regarded as one of Scotland’s greatest ever sportswriters, dies at the age of 84.
A tearful Sir Andy Murray says he plans to retire after Wimbledon in 2019, but expresses fears that the Australian Open could be the final tournament of his glittering tennis career.
FEBRUARY
Aaron Campbell, 16, is found guilty at the High Court in Glasgow of the abduction, rape and murder of six-yearold Alesha Macphail on the Isle of Bute in 2018. Judge Lord Matthews tells the killer he has committed “some of the most wicked and evil crimes this court has ever heard of in decades of dealing with depravity”.
In a further blow to the prime minister, a motion by Theresa May’s government reaffirming its approach of seeking changes to the Brexit withdrawal agreement is rejected by 303 votes to 258 in the Commons.
Edinburgh moves to become the first city in the UK to charge visitors a tourist tax after councillors give the green light to impose a £2-a-night levy.
Plans to introduce a new tax on workplace parking spaces in Scotland, proposed in the Scottish Government’s budget, attract widespread criticism.
Shamima Begum, who joined the Islamic State group in Syria aged 15, is to lose her UK citizenship, it emerges.
Leave.eu and the insurance company owned by the campaign’s key financial backer, Arron Banks, are fined a total of £120,000 for data protection violations during the EU referendum campaign.
In the biggest party schism since the 1980s, seven MPS quit Labour in protest at Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and his failure to tackle a culture of harassment and bullying.
Three Conservative MPS go on to resign from their party, joining a new independent group which ultimately becomes known as Change UK.
Convicted killer Andrew Wallace is jailed for at least 28 years for murdering Julie Reilly in her Glasgow flat and dismembering her body.
Ephraim Borowski, director of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, describes the Labour party as being institutionally racist.
Justice secretary Humza Yousaf confirms sentences of less than 12 months are set
to be scrapped in an effort to slash Scotland’s prison population.
Olivia Colman is named best actress at the Oscars for her acclaimed performance in The Favourite.
Days of military skirmishes between India and Pakistan escalate, with two Indian military jets shot down amid rising tensions over Kashmir.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers quits the club to join Leicester City. He is replaced by Neil Lennon.
Comedian Jeremy Hardy, a regular on BBC Radio 4 panel shows, dies of cancer aged 57.
MARCH
Theresa May suffers a second humiliating defeat on her Brexit deal, as MPS vote it down by a majority of 149. It is later rejected for a third time on 29 March.
Nicola Sturgeon distances herself from her party deputy Keith Brown and refused to back his suggestion that the SNP would hold an independence referendum even if the UK government refused to give permission for a second vote.
Former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale accuses her successor, Richard Leonard,
of censorship and insulting the party’s two long-standing Euro MPS.
Aaron Campbell is jailed for 27 years for the brutal rape and murder of six-year-old Alesha Macphail.
The Liberal Democrats suspend former leader Lord Steel as the party stages an inquiry into remarks made by the former Scottish Parliament presiding officer to a child abuse inquiry.
Inspectors at Healthcare Improvement Scotland criticise NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in a report into the beleaguered Queen Elizabeth
University Hospital.
The birth rate in Scotland slumps to the lowest level on record since civil registration began in 1855.
It emerges that a former British soldier faces murder charges over the killing of two people on Bloody Sunday in Londonderry in 1972.
Construction work to extend Edinburgh’s tram line to Newhaven is approved. The additional 2.8-mile track is due to open in the first quarter of 2023.
Some of Scotland’s most beloved insults – bawbag, bampot and tube – are recognised officially as words in the Oxford English dictionary.
The final episode of the longrunning BBC Scotland comedy series Still Game is broadcast.
Fifty-one people are killed in a series of attacks on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described it as a terrorist attack and one of the country’s “darkest days”.
Musician Keith Flint, who shot to international stardom with The Prodigy, is found dead at his Essex home. He was 49.
Scotland and England fight to the last minute during an astonishing 38-38 draw in the Six Nations. The encounter is hailed as the most remarkable match in their 148-year rugby rivalry.
Laura Muir sprints into the history books by becoming the first athlete to achieve the double-double at a European Indoor Championship following her victories in the 1,500 metres and 3,000 metres before a home crowd in Glasgow. Don’t miss Part 2 in tomorrow’s Scotsman