Fishery board reports shrinkage in size of River Ness as water scarcity alert issued for parts of Scotland
Concern has been raised about the water levels of Loch Ness and the River Ness amid the protracted dry spell affecting Scotland and the rest of the UK.
Brian Shaw, the director of Ness District Salmon Fishery Board, said there had been a dramatic shrinkage in the size of the River Ness. He told the BBC: “These conditions are not normally good for angling.
Continue reading...Sir Iain Livingstone says move was not politically motivated and defends use of forensic tent outside house
Scotland’s chief constable, Sir Iain Livingstone, has said the decision to raid Nicola Sturgeon’s home in April and erect a large tent across the entrance was “proportionate and necessary.”
In an interview with the Sunday Times to mark his retirement, Livingstone denied that the move was politically motivated and said the search warrant was independently approved by a judge.
Continue reading...Youssef Mikhaiel is at risk of forced removal to Egypt before he marries Sarah Bradley
A couple planning to marry soon could be forcibly separated by the Home Office because they are not cohabiting before their wedding.
Sarah Bradley, 29, a British digital marketing teacher, and Youssef Mikhaiel, 28, an Egyptian man who graduated from the University of Glasgow with a degree in aeronautical engineering, met in February 2022 through a Christian dating app.
Continue reading...The blaze, which began near Inverness in Scotland, is still not out after four days and its cause is unknown
Firefighters have spent four days battling a wildfire in the Scottish Highlands that officials believe is on its way to becoming the largest by area on record in the UK and which has been photographed from space.
The fire broke out at Cannich near Inverness on Sunday and has grown to an area measuring roughly 8km by 8km (24 square miles). Two firefighters were injured on Tuesday after being in an accident in their all-terrain vehicle while tackling the blaze. They have since been discharged from the hospital, the community safety minister, Siobhian Brown, said in the Scottish parliament on Wednesday.
Continue reading...PM has asked for further information before decided whether ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus will be asked to investigate Braverman. This blog is now closed
Starmer says Labour would zone in on the biggest killers.
He says it would get heart attacks and strokes down by a quarter within a decade.
Continue reading...Commission says corporations and forestry companies competing for estates are driving up prices in already squeezed market
Land ownership in Scotland is at risk of becoming more elitist and unequal because wealthy corporations and forestry companies are dramatically driving up land prices, a new study has warned.
The report from the Scottish Land Commission found that a significant number of Highland estates and hill farms were sought by corporations last year as an investment or as sites for planting new conifer plantations.
Continue reading...Local musician Gregor Hunter Coleman was playing in Glasgow pub when star made ‘life-changing’ offer
The US rapper Post Malone helped a Scottish musician fund the downpayment for his first home, according to reports.
The Sunflower crooner’s viral, widely reported act of kindness unfolded at a pub in Glasgow, Scotland, named Wunderbar last week. Post Malone walked into the bar while Gregor Hunter Coleman, an area musician, was playing, BBC Scotland reported.
Continue reading...Executives holds talks with both sides after screening of gender critical documentary was cancelled
Edinburgh University hopes to defuse a crisis involving gender critical and pro-trans academics after clashes over the screening of the film Adult Human Female.
University executives are holding talks with both sides after pro-trans activists prevented the gender critical documentary from being screened on campus for the second time late last month, by blockading a theatre where it was due to be shown.
Continue reading...Pathologist says struggle ‘has to be considered as being important’ in 2015 death in custody in Fife
Sheku Bayoh’s struggle while being restrained by at least six police officers should be considered a major part of what caused his death, according to the pathologist who examined his body.
The inquiry into Bayoh’s death in custody heard from Dr Kerryanne Shearer that the 31-year-old had taken ecstasy and another stimulant drug before being restrained by officers in Kirkcaldy, Fife, on 3 May 2015.
Continue reading...Justin Welby says bill is ‘morally unacceptable’ and rules on protection of refugees are not ‘inconvenient obstructions’. This live blog is closed
In the House of Lords peers are just starting to debate the second reading of the illegal migration bill.
Simon Murray, aka Lord Murray of Blidworth, is opening the debate. He is a lawyer who was made a Home Office minister, and a peer, when Liz Truss was PM.
We now face a perfect storm of factors driving more people into homelessness while giving us fewer good options to help them when they do. These factors include soaring private rents (above the benefit cap), private landlords leaving the sector, a national shortage of affordable housing, and a backlog of court cases after Covid-relating housing support was removed. At the same time, we have a cost-of-living crisis which is reducing real-term incomes and putting further strain on relationships.
Continue reading...Company challenged over advice that one expert says will enable families to avoid paying tax on private school fees
A boutique tax advisory firm run by the Scottish National party’s new auditors has been accused of potentially running a tax avoidance scheme to help parents who are paying private school fees.
Signature Tax, an offshoot of AMS Accountants Group, offers clients “tailored tax solutions” on its website, including advice on paying fees in a “tax efficient manner”.
Continue reading...Conservatives continue to suffer heavy defeats as Labour, Lib Dems and Greens make gains
Prof Rob Ford, an elections specialist, has written an article for the Guardian trying to assess what would be a good result and a bad result for the political parties in the local election. You can read it here:
Results from more than 60 councils are expected overnight with the remainder expected to trickle in throughout the day on Friday.
Continue reading...With polls closing at 10pm, more than 8,000 council seats in England are up for grabs
Here is a comment from a reader.
Just been to the polling station: tellers outside were turning people without ID away instead of sending them in to be recorded for the so called evaluation. Numbers will be meaningless if this is widespread.
Continue reading...Party, which has been without accountants since October, risks losing £1.2m funding if it misses deadline
The SNP has signed a contract with a new auditor more than six months after the previous company quit, the party has said.
The party has been without auditors for its accounts since October, with the Westminster group left with only weeks to file with the Electoral Commission or risk losing £1.2m in funding from UK parliament authorities to support its work.
Continue reading...Former US president lands in Aberdeen on trip in which he will open course at controversial resort
The former US president Donald Trump has arrived in Scotland to visit his golf courses.
He arrived at Aberdeen airport at about 11.30am and was met by two pipers, a red carpet and 10-vehicle motorcade.
Continue reading...Scotland’s Police Investigations and Review Commissioner has been asked to look into the killing of Glasgow teacher
Scotland’s police watchdog has been ordered to launch an investigation into the murder of a pregnant teacher in Glasgow after finding the body of her fiance in a reservoir days later.
The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) said it had been instructed to carry out the probe after the death of Marelle Sturrock, who was found at her home on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Police search for partner David Yates after body of 35-year-old, who was pregnant, found
A murder investigation has been launched into the death of a pregnant teacher as officers search for her partner, Police Scotland has said, confirming that her unborn baby had also died.
The body of Marelle Sturrock, 35, who was due to give birth in the summer, was discovered on Tuesday morning at a property in the Craigton area of Glasgow.
Continue reading...Adult Human Female, which asserts that women are defined solely by biological sex, stopped after activists block entrances
The screening of a controversial film asserting that women are defined solely by their biological sex has been cancelled by Edinburgh University after trans rights activists occupied entrances to the venue.
The screening of the documentary Adult Human Female was organised with the university’s support after a previous event in December was prevented from taking place when protesters confronted audience members and occupied a screening room minutes before it was due to be shown.
Continue reading...Dominic Raab denies wrongdoing after report on his behaviour delivered to Rishi Sunak this morning
Today’s announcement by the Association of School and College Leaders that it is to hold a formal ballot for national strike action for the first time in its history (see 9.49am) marks a significant development in the ongoing dispute between teachers and the government.
Up until now only members of the National Education Union (NEU) have taken strike action in England, with five more days of strikes planned for later this term. In addition a fresh ballot is to be held to provide the NEU with a mandate for further strike action up until Christmas.
Continue reading...This live blog has now closed, you can read more on this story here
PMQs is starting in five minutes.
The Cabinet Office has just published the revised list of ministers’ interests. This is the document that is supposed get updated every six months, but which has not been updated for around a year – partly because it’s the job of the No 10 independent adviser on ministes’ interests (aka, the ethics adviser), and for months the post was empty because two of Boris Johnson’s resigned, and then he gave up trying to find a replacement.
The prime minister’s wife is a venture capital investor. She owns a venture capital investment company, Catamaran Ventures UK Limited, and a number of direct shareholdings.
As the prime minister set out in his letter to the chair of the liaison committee on 4 April 2023, this includes the minority shareholding that his wife has in relation to the company, Koru Kids. The guide to the categories of interest (section 7, pages 4-6) sets out the independent adviser’s approach to the inclusion of interests declared in relation to spouses, partners and close family members within the list. The prime minister’s letter of 4 April is available at https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/38992/documents/191876/default/
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