Category Archives: Scotland

Scotland could extend winter fuel allowance, Scottish Labour argues

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Further devolution next year will bring allowance under Scottish control just months before Holyrood elections

Scottish Labour believes access to the winter fuel allowance could be widened in Scotland as it tries to fight off its opponents’ attacks before the next Holyrood election.

Scotland will be able to decide which pensioners get the allowance from October next year under further devolution of benefits to Holyrood, eight months before a Scottish parliamentary election that Labour sees as critical to its revival.

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Labour has ‘big hill to climb’ to win next Scottish election, says Ian Murray

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Scotland secretary says Labour must show it deserves power in Holyrood by delivering on promises to electorate

Labour faces big challenges to win the next Scottish election because of the “dire” economic situation and the country’s volatile electorate, the Scotland secretary has said.

Ian Murray said the Labour government and the wider party had to accept they had “a big hill to climb” to regain power in Holyrood in elections scheduled for May 2026.

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UK urged to promote speaking of Irish and Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland

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Council of Europe also calls for more support for Cornish, Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and Manx Gaelic

The UK is being urged by Europe’s leading human rights organisation to push ahead with strategies to promote the use of Irish and Ulster Scots languages in Northern Ireland despite continued tensions over the issue.

The Council of Europe experts also want to see the strengthening of teaching of all minority languages in the UK including Cornish, Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and Manx Gaelic in the Isle of Man.

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British activist denied bail after years in Indian jail without trial

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Jagtar Singh Johal is being arbitrarily detained and targeted for his human rights activism, say campaigners

Delhi’s high court has denied bail to the British activist Jagtar Singh Johal, who has been imprisoned in India for nearly seven years, in seven cases brought against him by the country’s National Investigations Agency.

The ruling has shocked family and supporters who claim it should jolt the British government into recognising that Johal is not receiving justice at the hands of the Indian legal system.

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Loch Lomond Flamingo Land plan rejected after fierce opposition

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Proposal for mega-resort on Lomond Banks turned down over concerns including loss of ancient woodland

Proposals by the theme park operator Flamingo Land to build a mega-resort on one of Scotland’s best-loved shorelines, on Loch Lomond, have been rejected, prompting celebrations among local people at the conclusion of a “David and Goliath” planning battle.

The Lomond Banks development, which would have included two hotels, more than 100 lodges, a waterpark and a monorail, had encountered fierce opposition, first from the village of Balloch, on the south-west shore of the loch, and then across Scotland, since it was first proposed in 2018.

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Labour and Starmer suffer sharp fall in popularity since election, poll suggests – UK politics live

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Labour still more popular with voters than Conservative party but those saying they view party and leaders unfavourably has risen

The government’s defence review should consider the importance of Britain being able to “wage peace” as well as war, Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, told peers.

In a debate in the House of Lords on Sudan this morning, Welby said the strategic defence review (SDR) announced by Labour should include a “peace-building option”, to stop conflict before it happens.

A peace-building option, well developed and acting in areas of fragility, would extend our influence, protect our interests and guard against fresh waves of migration …

In other words, the SDR should be full spectrum, preparing this nation not only to wage war but to wage peace as well. I fear that may not be the case …

No, absolutely not

And let’s just try to quash this now. The budget is on October 30. So, between now and then, you are all going to ask me questions, as you did before the election, ‘will you rule out X, Y, Z?

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Priti Patel knocked out of Tory leadership race with Robert Jenrick securing most votes in first round – UK politics live

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Former home secretary finishes behind Mel Stride after only securing 14 votes

PMQs is starting soon. Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.

Kemi Badenoch is the clear favourite of Conservative members for next leader, and will be very hard to beat if she makes it into the final ballot of two, according to a survey by ConservativeHome.

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Scottish government announces spending cuts worth £500m – as it happened

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Shona Robison, Scottish finance secretary, says current financial situation facing Scottish government is ‘not sustainable’

Tom Tugendhat, the former security minister, is launching his campaign for the Tory leadership. There is a live feed here.

Tugendhat started by saying that he did not actually want the job, because he does not want to be leader of the opposition. He wants to be prime minister, he said.

Politics is not a game, and we all know the cost when government isn’t sober and serious. We saw it in the lives lost in Afghanistan and then in that wasted chaos of that withdrawal. We saw it during Covid, not just in the lost years of education that cost so many or the opportunities missed, or even in the grief for lost loved ones or those left to cope alone, but through the disrespect.

That’s why I’m standing before you today, because this country can change. We must change, and Britain deserves better, and we need a different government.

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UK’s methane hotspots include landfills and last coalmine

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Greenpeace urges Labour to ‘fulfil international obligations’ as critics question accuracy of official data

The UK’s worst methane hotspots include the last coalmine, livestock farm clusters, landfills, power plants and North Sea oil and gas wells, according to an analysis.

The process has also thrown up serious doubts over the UK’s ability to calculate its methane emissions.

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‘Broken’ prison system sets inmates up to fail, top Scottish inspector says

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Lack of funding, resources and rehabilitation leads to ‘bored and angry’ prisoners, Wendy Sinclair-Gieben says

The prison system is “broken”, with inmates returning to the community “bored and angry” and “set up to fail”, according to Scotland’s outgoing chief inspector.

Wendy Sinclair-Gieben highlighted a succession of failings in a service she described as “the underdog of the criminal justice system”, as she stands down as HM chief inspector of prisons for Scotland at the end of August.

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‘Amazing’ Viking-age treasure travelled half the world to Scotland, analysis finds

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Lidded vessel is star object in rich Galloway Hoard and came from silver mine in what is now Iran

It is a star object of the Galloway Hoard, the richest collection of Viking-age objects ever found in Britain or Ireland, buried in AD900 and unearthed in a field in Scotland. Now a lidded silver vessel has been identified as being of west Asian origin, transported halfway around the world more than 1,000 years ago.

When it emerged from the ground a decade ago, the vessel was still wrapped in its ancient textiles, whose survival is extremely rare. Its surface could be seen only through X-ray scans. Since then, the textiles have been partially removed and preserved and the vessel has had laser cleaning to remove green corrosion over much of its silver surface. It has also undergone scientific analysis.

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Victorian taxpayers would pay for Scotland’s $220m Commonwealth Games under new proposal

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Commonwealth Games Scotland says it could host sporting event for a fraction of the Victorian government’s $6bn estimation

Victorian taxpayers could foot the bill for Scotland to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games using compensation money from dumping the event.

In July last year, the state government announced it would no longer host the 2026 Games, which were set to be held in regional cities, after former premier Daniel Andrews claimed forecast expenses had nearly doubled to at least $6bn.

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LNER train driver strikes called off after successful union talks

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Planned 22 days of disrupted weekend services suspended with Aslef stating it has resolved a longstanding dispute

A series of weekend strikes by train drivers on LNER from Saturday has been called off, their trade union Aslef has announced.

Passengers travelling between London and Edinburgh had faced the prospect of months of disruption after LNER drivers earlier this month announced 22 days of industrial action from the start of September until early November.

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Peacocks of Pittencrieff Park given freedom of Dunfermline city

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The birds are the first creatures to be granted the honour since conurbation gained city status in 2022

Hamish, a handsome Indian blue peacock, is pecking at a cauliflower head with determination in the late afternoon sunshine in Pittencrieff Park, Dunfermline. Angel, a delicate white peahen, sits at the top of the outdoor aviary, calling to her chicks.

The birds appear only mildly perturbed at the bagpipers and local dignitaries assembling for a short ceremony on Wednesday afternoon to award them the freedom of the city. They are the first creatures of any species to be granted this honour since Dunfermline, in Fife, was conferred city status in May 2022.

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Calls to close ‘vile’ website ranking countries by tourist deaths on balconies

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Intervention over Spanish website from MSP Christina McKelvie comes days after death of Scottish law student

A Scottish politician has called for the closure of an “utterly vile” Spanish website that ranks countries by the number of their tourists who have died or been injured after falls from balconies.

The intervention by Christina McKelvie, the MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, comes days after the death of a Scottish law student who was born in a constituency represented by McKelvie.

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Glasgow building site where boy died ‘should have had more CCTV’

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Extra security measures only introduced after Shea Ryan, 10, fell down a maintenance hole shaft in 2020, inquiry told

A building site in Glasgow where a 10-year-old boy died after falling down a maintenance hole shaft should have had more CCTV, an inquiry has heard.

Shea Ryan died in July 2020 when he climbed through an unsecured fence on a building site in Drumchapel and fell about 6.3 metres (20ft) down the shaft.

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Protests held on stage at Edinburgh festival over Scottish arts funding cuts

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Anger grows over proposed cuts of up to £10m for Creative Scotland affecting freelance artists and performers

Actors and directors have protested on stage during the Edinburgh festival after anger about proposed cuts to Scottish arts funding escalated into open revolt.

Protest messages were read out after performances, including at the Traverse, Lyceum, George Square, Summerhall and Church Hill theatres, to loud applause from audiences, as thousands of artists and performers signed an open letter calling for the cuts to be reversed.

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Average annual energy bill to rise by 9.5% to £1,717 in Great Britain from October

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Campaigners fear increase by £149 in energy price cap by Ofgem will put more pressure on households

Households will begin the run-up to winter with a sharp increase in their energy bills after the industry regulator increased its cap on energy prices by 9.5% from October.

Under the new price cap, the average annual energy bill will rise to £1,717 a year for gas and electricity, up £149 from its current level of £1,568, which has been in place since July.

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Fire chiefs call for legal duty to respond to extreme weather in England

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NFCC says statutory safety standards would raise emergency response to flooding and wildfires in line with rest of UK

Fire chiefs are calling for more support to respond to extreme weather events such as flooding and wildfires in England amid warnings of a postcode lottery on safety standards during emergencies.

The National Fire Chiefs Council urged ministers to impose a statutory duty in England to respond to severe weather-related incidents in order to ensure there is the right equipment, training and budget to deal with them.

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Arms company drops plan to test bombs at Scottish world heritage site

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Firm says it had no idea proposed test site on Lib Dem peer’s land included part of Strathmore peatlands in Flow Country

A British arms company has abandoned plans to detonate fragmentation bombs in the middle of the Flow Country world heritage site, the Guardian can reveal.

The company, Overwatch, asked the Civil Aviation Authority this month for permission to carry out “live fire testing” of anti-personnel bombs dropped by drones on to land owned by the Liberal Democrat peer John Thurso.

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