New Year Honours list: Congratulations to Sir Alexander McCall Smith and all those receiving new honours – Scotsman comment

Author Alexander McCall Smith has been knighted in the New Year Honours list (Picture: Matt Alexander/PA)

People included in the New Year Honours list should feel proud of themselves

Anyone who features in the New Year Honours list, which this year includes 109 people from Scotland, has a right to feel proud of themselves and their achievements. It is a recognition of just how much their life and work have had a positive impact on others.

Former Scotland football manager Alex McLeish, former Scotland rugby captain Rob Wainwright, a stalwart of the late Doddie Weir’s charity My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, and Alex Reedijk, general director of Scottish Opera, all received an OBE. Two MSPs, Liz Smith and Pam Gosal, were also honoured, receiving the CBE and the MBE respectively.

We extend our wholehearted congratulations to them and all the others who made the list this year. However, we would like to give a special mention to the newly knighted author Sir Alexander McCall Smith, known for The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series and, of course, his 44 Scotland Street stories, which appear in The Scotsman. He has helped keep Scotland on the literary map and provided marvellous entertainment for millions of people around the world. Long may he continue to do so.