Category Archives: Scotland

SNP members call for creation of state-run energy company

Posted on by

Motion will be seen as rebuke to party leader Nicola Sturgeon, who pledged to establish national firm in 2017

Scottish National party members backed a call for a state-run energy company to be set up on the second day of their autumn conference, four years after leader Nicola Sturgeon first pledged one. The move will be seen as a direct rebuke to the leadership’s failure to make good on the promise.

On Saturday activists overwhelmingly supported a motion demanding the creation of a Scottish national energy company, which first minister Nicola Sturgeon first promised in October 2017 at a previous conference.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus live: Scotland to require vaccine passports from 1 October; fears over German vaccine campaign

Posted on by

People in Scotland will need vaccine passport to enter nightclubs and large events; German vaccine plan ‘not sufficient to stop fourth wave’

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has slammed a far-right website in the final days of the country’s federal election, accusing it of spreading misinformation about coronavirus vaccines and contributing to the growing number of protests across the country.

After Wednesday night’s French language debate between federal leaders, Trudeau was asked by a member of Rebel News – a website whose contributors have included Katie Hopkins and Tommy Robinson – if he would continue to exclude the group from covering the election.

The reality is, organisations – organisations like yours – that continue to spread misinformation and disinformation on the science around vaccines … is part of why we’re seeing such unfortunate anger and lack of understanding of basic science,.

Frankly your – I won’t call it a media organisation – your group of individuals need to take accountability for some of the polarisation that we’re seeing in this country.

Related: Trudeau accuses far-right website of spreading vaccine misinformation

Continue reading...

Scotland proposes Covid vaccine certificates for nightclub entry

Posted on by

Nicola Sturgeon says certificates in limited scenarios could protect public health and boost vaccine take-up

The Scottish government is proposing vaccine certificates for entry to nightclubs and large-scale indoor and outdoor events in an attempt to curb escalating Covid infections before the autumn.

Announcing the plans, which MSPs will be asked to vote on next week, the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said that – although expected with schools returning last month – “the scale of the increase [in infections] in recent weeks has been very concerning”.

Continue reading...

People can self-identify as male or female in Scottish census, says guidance

Posted on by

Answer to sex question can differ from birth certificate, without need for gender recognition certificate, says NRS

People can answer the male or female question in Scotland’s 2022 census based on how they identify themselves rather than according to legal status, according to new guidance from the body responsible for the survey.

Issued by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) on Tuesday, the guidelines tell people to answer the sex question according to how they self-identify, regardless of the details on their birth certificate or whether they have a gender recognition certificate.

Continue reading...

Scottish independence vote depends on sustained support, says UK minister

Posted on by

Alister Jack says government could allow vote if support for referendum stays above 60% for long period

The UK government could approve a second Scottish independence referendum if support for staging one stays above 60% for a sustained period, Alister Jack, the Scotland secretary, has said.

Jack said consistent support for a fresh vote would confirm to the government that one was justified, as he signalled a further softening of the Conservatives’ previously rigid rejection of Scottish National party demands for a second referendum.

Continue reading...

Scottish court drops extradition case of Catalan independence campaigner

Posted on by

Extradition request from Spain for Clara Ponsatí was halted after she move to Belgium

An extradition case against a Catalan academic and independence campaigner, Clara Ponsatí, has been dropped by a Scottish court after she moved to Belgium.

A sheriff in Edinburgh halted an extradition request from the Spanish government against Ponsatí, who had been elected to the European parliament in January 2020, after agreeing the court no longer had any jurisdiction in her case.

Continue reading...

Scotland to hold its own coronavirus public inquiry by end of year

Posted on by

Move follows pressure from grieving families to begin investigation before end of year

The Scottish government will hold its own public inquiry into the handling of the coronavirus pandemic by the end of the year, after pressure from relatives who lost loved ones to the virus.

The announcement came after the deputy first minister and cabinet secretary for Covid recovery, John Swinney, met representatives of the Scottish branch of the campaign group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice.

Continue reading...

Protesters claim to ‘seize’ Edinburgh Castle citing Magna Carta

Posted on by

Police at scene and public evacuated as about 20 demonstrators enter landmark in bid to ‘take power back’

A group of about 20 protesters entered Edinburgh Castle on Tuesday evening, claiming to have “seized” the landmark under article 61 of Magna Carta.

Members of the public were evacuated as the demonstrators entered the grounds of the castle without a ticket. Police Scotland said that officers were dealing with the protest.

Continue reading...

True Stories: Spaces review – impressive short docs from folk horror to a Lebanese marvel

Posted on by

This short film collection from the True Story platform ranges across continents to look at how we interact with our environments

Deeply psychogeographical, this collection of documentary shorts from the streaming platform True Story roams among spaces old and new, and across continents. Personal and public memories are intertwined, creating portraits of how human beings interact with their environments, and vice versa.

Paul Heintz’s nocturnal Shānzhài Screens is a meditative study of liminal urban spaces, shot in a Chinese district that specialises in fine-art reproductions. Rectangular frames populate the screen, from flickering apartment windows, hurried video calls, to endless replicas of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. Authenticity is elusive, and loneliness reigns.

Continue reading...

Menopause at centre of increasing number of UK employment tribunals

Posted on by

Rise in women taking employers to court citing event as proof of unfair dismissal and discrimination

Growing numbers of women are taking their employers to court citing the menopause as proof of unfair dismissal and direct sex discrimination, researchers have said.

According to the latest UK data, there were five employment tribunals referencing the claimant’s menopause in 2018, six in 2019 and 16 in 2020. There have been 10 in the first six months of 2021 alone.

Continue reading...

Edinburgh Fringe returns with mix of in-person and online shows

Posted on by

Festival is part of world’s largest annual arts season which has been forced to curtail events due to Covid

The Edinburgh festival Fringe returns this weekend with a hybrid programme of nearly 800 in-person and online shows after its cancellation last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Fringe makes up part of the world’s largest annual arts season, alongside the Edinburgh international festival and the book and film festivals, which open later this month, and all have been forced to significantly curtail this August’s events for the second year running. One of the most famous, the military tattoo staged at Edinburgh castle, has again been cancelled.

Continue reading...

Experience: I accidentally bought a derelict house

Posted on by

We wanted to bid on a property. But auctioneers speak quickly, and this one had a strong Glaswegian accent

My girlfriend Claire and I had both been to Scotland just once before: me as a kid; Claire for a medical school interview. I’m English, she’s Canadian, and we met in the French Alps in 2016, quickly grew close, travelled around Europe, then got it into our heads that we should move to Glasgow. Wanting a project, we looked at auction listings and found an apartment in Pollokshields, Southside. It needed some love, but the starting price was £10k. Before deciding to bid, I’d spent a few nights sleeping in my van across the street from it. I liked it.

With Claire away, I ventured to the sale alone. It was my first time at a property auction. I took my seat and waited patiently. The problem was auctioneers speak fast, and this one had a strong Glaswegian accent: I was really struggling to follow. Thankfully, a brochure on my seat contained the details for every lot, while a screen behind the stage displayed its corresponding number. I ticked off each sale in my copy as we went, counting down.

Continue reading...

Drug poisoning deaths in England and Wales reach record high

Posted on by

Charities warn of a public health emergency after data shows 4,561 deaths in 2020 – up 3.8% on previous year

Deaths due to drug poisoning in England and Wales have reached a record high, with a growing number of people dying after using cocaine and opiates, data shows.

Charities warned the figures showed there was a public health emergency, with the pandemic negatively affecting those with addiction problems. In 2020, 4,561 died from drug poisoning– the equivalent of 79.5 deaths per million people. This is 3.8% higher than figures for 2019 and the highest number since records began in 1993.

Continue reading...

Queen secretly lobbied Scottish ministers for climate law exemption

Posted on by

Monarch used secretive procedure to become only person in country not bound by a green energy rule

The Queen’s lawyers secretly lobbied Scottish ministers to change a draft law to exempt her private land from a major initiative to cut carbon emissions, documents reveal.

The exemption means the Queen, one of the largest landowners in Scotland, is the only person in the country not required to facilitate the construction of pipelines to heat buildings using renewable energy.

Continue reading...

Stonehenge may be next UK site to lose world heritage status

Posted on by

Britain is eroding global reputation for conserving its historic assets, culture bodies are warning

The UK is eroding its global reputation for conserving its “unparalleled” historic assets, culture bodies have warned, with Stonehenge expected to be next in line to lose its coveted World Heritage status after Liverpool.

Related: Unesco strips Liverpool of its world heritage status

Continue reading...

‘It’s incredibly poor’: Scottish islanders angry at failing ferry service

Posted on by

Ageing fleet hit by breakdowns and cancellations, with capacity low on services that do run due to Covid

The perfume and toiletries shop overlooking Brodick Bay on Arran is normally packed in the summer, as day-trippers and holidaymakers stream off the mainland ferries at the busy terminal just across the bay.

But this summer has been grim, said Andrew Russell, the sales director for Arran Sense of Scotland, formerly known as Arran Aromatics. For thousands of people and businesses up and down the west coast of Scotland, this summer has been marred by repeated crises affecting ferry services run by the state-funded CalMac.

Continue reading...

Tony Blair urged Nelson Mandela not to discuss Lockerbie trial, papers show

Posted on by

Blair wrote to then South African leader in 1997 after aides said raising issue at summit in Scotland would be ‘pretty disastrous’

Tony Blair failed in urgent attempts to prevent Nelson Mandela raising the issue of the Lockerbie trial at a Commonwealth summit in Edinburgh, which aides warned would be “pretty disastrous”, previously classified documents reveal.

The Foreign Office, on discovering Mandela was visiting Libya en-route to the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) in Edinburgh in October 1997, warned of a “sensitive situation” if the South African leader spoke out against UK government’s plans to hold the trial of two suspects in Scotland.

Continue reading...

‘Gender is a performance’: Scotland’s first ‘drag school’ sells out

Posted on by

Dumfries course teaches 11- to 18-year-olds how to create a persona, apply makeup and the history of drag

“You can use drag to explore anything you want to,” says Natalie Doidge, the organiser of what is thought to be Scotland’s first “drag school” for teenagers, which opens its doors later this month after facing down controversy.

“Drag isn’t limited to men dressed as women … and this course opens it out to anyone who wants to try it. It’s an exploration of [oneself] – especially for young people at the upper end of high school, when your life is just beginning and you’re thinking about who want to be. Gender is a performance, after all.”

Continue reading...

Google Maps suggests ‘potentially fatal’ routes up Ben Nevis, say mountain charities

Posted on by

Organisations in Scotland say they have tried to contact Google about the dangers but received no reply

Scottish mountaineering charities have criticised Google for suggesting routes up Ben Nevis and other mountains they say are “potentially fatal” and direct people over a cliff.

The John Muir Trust, which looks after the upper reaches of the UK’s highest mountain, said attempts to contact the company over the issue had been met with silence.

Continue reading...

Sturgeon admits link between Euro fans travelling and rise in Covid cases – video

Posted on by

The Scottish first minister has said she thinks there is a link between Scotland fans travelling for Euro 2020 games and the rise in Covid cases in Scotland. 

Asked if the Scottish government should have done more to stop fans travelling to matches, Sturgeon denied taking a soft approach. She added the government could not stop fans without tickets travelling to Wembley. Public Health Scotland will be doing more analysis of this, she said

Continue reading...