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IAN BELL, who has died aged 59, was regarded by many as Scotland's preeminent newspaper columnist, his admirers ranging from staunch Unionists to the Scottish First Minister and SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon.
Bell was the journalistic standard-bearer of the nationalist Left north of the border but his formidable talent was recognised further afield, notably in 1997 when he won the Orwell Prize for political writing.
There is little doubt that Bell would have been much better known had he become a stalwart of television and radio discussion programmes. His encyclopaedic knowledge, as well as a caustic wit, would have undoubtedly made him a regular. But a stammer, which could be pronounced at times, kept him off the airwaves.
His sudden death came shortly after that of his great friend and soul-mate, the author Willie McIlvanney, who was the subject of one of Bell's last columns for The Herald. His final column was a scathing denunciation of Hilary Benn's widely admired Commons speech in support...