Clues unearthed more than 100 years ago inspired archeologists to locate the 5,000-year-old site
The ruins of a 5,000-year-old tomb in a construction that reflects the pinnacle of neolithic engineering in northern Britain has been unearthed in Orkney.
Fourteen articulated skeletons of men, women and children – two positioned as if they were embracing – have been found inside one of six cells or side rooms.
Continue reading...Met Office issues rare second red warning for eastern Scotland for severe flooding and disruption
Eastern Scotland is braced for further heavy flooding and storm damage after the Met Office issued a second “danger to life” red weather warning, as the death toll from Storm Babet rose to three.
The emergency services rescued about 60 people from Brechin in Angus, but were unable to reach others stranded in their homes after the South Esk River surged to record heights, overwhelming flood defences erected seven years ago.
Continue reading...Man dies after getting caught in flood water in Shropshire; Brampton area of Chesterfield evacuated
Here are some of the latest images from Brechin, where flood water reached window-sill height this morning and emergency services are rescuing people stuck in their homes.
Aberdeenshire council has confirmed that supplies of sandbags have been “depleted” and will not be replenished.
Continue reading...Red ‘danger to life’ warning covers Angus and southern Aberdeenshire, as person confirmed killed by falling tree
The Met Office has issued a second “danger to life” red warning for rain covering the region in eastern Scotland already suffering unprecedented flooding.
The weather agency said the very rare red warning of severe flooding and disruption covered Angus and southern Aberdeenshire and was in place for the whole of Saturday. It came as a second person was confirmed to have been killed after a falling tree hit a van near Forfar on Thursday evening.
Continue reading...Police Scotland say 57-year-old’s body recovered from River Esk after reports of someone being swept away
The body of a 57-year-old woman has been recovered from a river in Angus, Police Scotland have said, as hundreds of people were ordered to evacuate their homes in a town in the east of the country because of fears that the River Esk will burst its banks during Storm Babet.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 1.45pm on Thursday October 19, officers attended a report of a person having been swept into the Water of Lee, Glen Esk.
Continue reading...Letter from Labour leader stresses his concern for international law and sympathy with the plight of the Palestinian people
Rishi Sunak will be taking PMQs shortly. It will be his first exchange with Keir Starmer since the party conferences.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
We were the victims of an inside job by someone, we believe, who over a long period of time was stealing from the museum and the museum put trust in.
There are lots of lessons to be learnt as a result of that, the member of staff has been dismissed by us. The objects have started to be recovered … We have changed our whistleblowing code, changed our policy on thefts … tightened up security on thefts.
If someone is entrusted by an organisation to look after something and they are the person removing those objects, that is hard for any organisation, and it was hard for the museum, where there is a trusting culture.
If that trust is completely abused and as I think will become clear in the coming months quite a lot of steps were taken to conceal that, it wasn’t just that things were taken, records were altered and the like, it’s hard to spot.
We are intending to put on display the objects we have recovered, there is a lot of public interest in these objects.
350 have now been recovered and titles have been transferred to us so we have the makings of a good exhibition that was not previously planned.
Continue reading...Former butcher Andrew Miller claimed he acted in a ‘motherly way’ but later admitted sexual assault
A former butcher who sexually abused a primary school pupil over 27 hours in a “nauseating” attack has been jailed for 20 years.
Andrew Miller, who also uses the name Amy George, was dressed as a woman when he offered the girl – whom he had never met before – a lift in February.
Continue reading...Commons will vote on suspension recommended by independent expert panel after investigation
Peter Bone has issued a statement saying that the bullying and sexual misconduct claims about him made by a former employed, that have led to the IEP recommending a six-week suspension, are false and without foundation. He says the complainant did not raise them at the time and only submitted a complaint years after they had left.
As I have maintained throughout these proceedings, none of the misconduct allegations against me ever took place. They are false and untrue claims. They are without foundation.
The allegations by an ex-employee refer to events of more than 10 years ago that spanned no more than a few months. The complainant first made the allegations years after they left my employment. They did not raise them at any time during their employment, either in writing or verbally with me, nor with their line managers …
I am also firmly of the opinion that on this occasion the independent complaints and grievance scheme investigation was flawed, procedurally unfair and didn’t comply with its own rules and regulations. It is my belief that they have operated outside of the powers given to them by parliament and I am currently discussing with lawyers what action could and should be taken.
The commissioner found the following allegations proved:
Allegation 1: Mr Bone “verbally belittled, ridiculed, abused and humiliated” the complainant, and this was bullying.
Continue reading...Party leader adopts amendment that a majority of Westminster seats are needed to have mandate to negotiate
Humza Yousaf has quelled a rebellion by Scottish National party MPs by agreeing to a compromise with his critics over his independence strategy.
The party’s annual conference in Aberdeen decided that if the SNP wins a majority of Scotland’s Westminster seats at the general election, it will have the mandate to negotiate independence with the UK government.
Continue reading...Local council receives more than 50 objections to scheme, many on environmental grounds
Plans for an “unashamedly contemporary” house for the fashion designer Stella McCartney in a remote Scottish coastal area have received dozens of objections on environmental grounds.
In a planning application, McCartney’s architects insist the glass-fronted home near Roshven on the west coast would enhance the landscape and “retain the wild nature of the site”.
Continue reading...Ethical concerns over sustainability and welfare have seen venues offering new choices to ubiquitous ‘chicken of the sea’
Salmon has undergone a rapid transformation in recent decades. Once a special treat, it is now ubiquitous. From drinks reception canapés to wedding functions, Christmas smoked salmon or simply wrapped in foil and baked on a week night, salmon is everywhere.
Scotland is world renowned for salmon production, and the fish makes up 40% of its total food exports; it is also Britain’s most valuable food export. Healthy, low in saturated fats and high in omega-3, salmon is a success story.
Continue reading...Yousaf renews calls for UK government to urge ceasefire as he describes his family’s fears for trapped relatives
His mother-in-law in besieged Gaza is running out of drinking water. His brother-in-law, a doctor, is dealing with the horror of trying to identify body parts in a hospital nearby. And his four-year-old daughter, at home in Scotland, can only understand that “granny is afraid of the thunder”.
Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister, has described in brutal detail the impact on trapped family members of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in response to the shock attacks by Hamas at the weekend.
Continue reading...Humza Yousaf says Lisa Cameron’s move was ‘the least surprising news I’ve had as leader of the SNP’
NHS waiting lists have hit a new record high, with more people facing long waits, PA Media reports. PA says:
Figures for the NHS in England show 7.75 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of August, up from 7.68 million in July.
This is the highest number since records began in August 2007 and comes despite Rishi Sunak saying cutting waiting lists is one of his priorities.
Continue reading...More than £3,000 raised to keep the Student – founded in 1886 by Robert Louis Stevenson at Edinburgh University – going
The oldest student newspaper in Europe has been saved from closure after its volunteer staff raised more than £3,000 in emergency crowdfunding.
A free newspaper, the Student was founded at the University of Edinburgh in 1887 by the novelist Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of Treasure Island and Kidnapped, who served as its first arts editor.
Continue reading...Scottish first minister says he has made contact with his wife’s parents who are trapped in besieged enclave after Hamas attack
Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, has called on the UK foreign secretary to push for the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from Gaza.
Yousaf revealed on Monday that his wife Nadia’s parents, who live in Dundee, are trapped in Gaza and struggling to find safe passage.
Continue reading...Shadow health secretary questioned by Guardian editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner
Q: You oppose the Rwanda policy because you don’t think it will work. If the supreme court rules it is legal, and deportations start and it is seen to be working, would you still reverse it.
Yes, says Starmer. He says it is the wrong policy. It is very expensive, and it only affect only a small number of people. And the policy does not deal with the problem at source.
Continue reading...Warnings issued for across the country, with a month’s worth of rain in 36 hours expected in some areas
Flooding in Scotland could present a danger to life, the Met Office has said, as heavy rain led to train services being suspended.
A number of rail lines and roads, including the M9 motorway, were hit by flooding on Saturday morning, and rain is expected to continue into Sunday.
Continue reading...A decade of SNP dominance will be swept away in Scotland if Labour can repeat its Rutherglen success at a general election
Thursday was a big day for Scottish Labour. Within minutes of the declaration that Labour had retaken Rutherglen and Hamilton West from the SNP, phones and social media lit up with triumphant messages from the winning party. And with good reason. This was the best result for Labour in a Scottish byelection since the second world war, and the worst for the SNP since the independence referendum upended Scottish politics.
Some caveats apply. This was one of the SNP’s most marginal seats, where Labour prevailed as recently as 2017. A cloud of scandal hung over a contest triggered after the sitting MP Margaret Ferrier was sanctioned for repeatedly breaking Covid rules. As Boris Johnson has learned, voters judge such behaviour harshly.
Continue reading...Land access groups worry it will lead to charges at other sites, while pagans are alarmed about restrictions on worship
For generations walkers, pagans and artists have freely roamed around the standing stones at Calanais on Lewis, drawn by the site’s monumental scale, its coastal views and the spiritual impact of the rising sun and moon there.
But there are growing fears that proposals by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to introduce an admissions charge and control access to the neolithic site for the first time, could have a significant impact on those freedoms.
Continue reading...Party’s victory may point to a change in Scottish political alignments that spells danger for Humza Yousaf
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, had used the word “earthquake” last week to foreshadow Labour’s remarkable victory in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, where its winning margin of 30 percentage points exceeded even its predictions.
He did it cheekily, stealing one of the favourite lines often used by the former Scottish National party leader Alex Salmond when the nationalists were crushing Labour at repeated elections in the past. That theft of Salmond’s phrase has additional resonance. It points to a change in Scottish political alignments that spells danger for the SNP and its current leader, Humza Yousaf.
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