Do you know what a soldier is, young man? He's the chap who makes it possible for civilised folk to despise war.

His political views on devolution changed during the Thatcher years and he came to regret his support for the 1979 devolution referendum. He has previously been a columnist for the Daily Telegraph the Glasgow Herald and was the Sunday Standard's television critic during that paper's brief existence. Early life
Born in 1938 in Singapore where his father was a rubber planter for Sime Darby Massie spent his childhood in Aberdeenshire.