Category Archives: Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon says it would be ‘outrageous’ to block second indy ref

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Hostilities intensify between Holyrood and Westminster as SNP secures historic fourth term

• Elections 2021 live - latest news and reaction

Nicola Sturgeon has told Boris Johnson that a second independence referendum is “a matter of when, not if”, after the Scottish National party secured a historic forth term at Holyrood on Saturday with a pro-independence majority of MSPs returned despite tactical voting by pro-union supporters.

Scotland’s first minister made the assertion in a telephone call with the prime minister on Sunday evening, despite senior Conservative figures questioning her mandate.

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SNP election win: Johnson sets up summit as Sturgeon pledges second referendum

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First minister says there is ‘no democratic justification’ for No 10 denying second vote

Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to press ahead with plans for a second independence referendum after the Scottish National party won its fourth consecutive Holyrood election, triggering a constitutional battle with Boris Johnson.

In a letter issued before the final results were declared, Johnson attempted to blunt Sturgeon’s attack by urging the first minister and her opposite numbers in Wales and Northern Ireland to join a UK-wide Covid recovery summit involving all four governments.

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Elections 2021: Labour wins mayoral races in Greater Manchester and West of England, holds Welsh Senedd – live

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All the latest news and results as counts continue in England and Scotland after Thursday’s elections

Scotland’s first list results are out, with Central Scotland declaring the following:

First list declaration out - for Central Scotland, it's Leonard (Lab) Kerr (Con), Lennon (Lab), Simpson (Con), Griffin (Lab), Gallacher (Con), Mackay (Green). So three Labour, three Tory, and one Green.

Asked whether it was realistic to have a referendum in the first half of parliament, Nicola Sturgeon said that while getting through the pandemic has to come first, it looks as though it is “beyond any doubt that there will be a pro-independence majority in Scottish parliament”.

She told BBC News: “By any normal standard of democracy that majority should have the commitments it made to the people honoured.

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Trident could be forced overseas or halted if Scotland gains independence

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Continuing UK’s nuclear deterrent would probably require help of an allied country, defence expert says

Trident could be forced to the US or possibly France if Scotland became independent because there is no alternative port immediately available elsewhere in the UK, according to a retired admiral responsible for Britain’s nuclear policy.

Unless Scotland were to agree to lease back the Faslane submarine base to the rest of the UK, continuing Trident would probably require the help of an allied country or the nuclear deterrent would have to be halted completely, the expert said.

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UK scientists find evidence of human-to-cat Covid transmission

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Researchers in Glasgow find two cases where cats were infected by owners with coronavirus symptoms

Two cases of human-to-cat transmission of Covid-19 have been identified by researchers. Scientists from the University of Glasgow found the cases of Sars-CoV-2 transmission as part of a screening programme of the feline population in the UK.

The cats, of different breeds, were living in separate households and displayed mild to severe respiratory signs. Researchers believe both pets were infected by their owners, who had Covid-19 symptoms before the cats became unwell.

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Covid variant first detected in India is found in the UK

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Seventy-seven cases of B.1.617, which has potentially worrying mutations, reported in England and Scotland

A coronavirus variant with potentially worrying mutations that was first detected in India has been found in the UK.

In total, 77 cases of the variant, known as B.1.617, have been recorded in the UK up to 14 April, according to the latest update from Public Health England (PHE), released on Thursday. Of these, 73 were recorded in England and four in Scotland.

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Scotland to lift Covid restrictions ahead of schedule

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Nicola Sturgeon says ‘Covid is in retreat in Scotland’ as travel and outdoor rules eased

Nicola Sturgeon has accelerated the relaxation of restrictions on travel and outdoor meetings as she said Covid was “in retreat” in Scotland.

Announcing the changes, which will allow Scots to meet up with family and friends across the country outside in larger groups, the first minister said that from this Friday:

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Sturgeon blasts decision to refer Holyrood bills to UK supreme court

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Scottish first minister calls UK government decision ‘morally repugnant’ as bills were passed unanimously

Nicola Sturgeon has condemned the UK government’s decision to refer two bills passed by Holyrood unanimously to the supreme court as “morally repugnant” amid an outcry from MSPs.

The Scottish parliament passed the United Nations convention on the rights of the child bill and the European charter of local self-government bill in the weeks before it went into recess.

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Spring cold snap hits as England relaxes Covid lockdown restrictions

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Snowfall in some areas dampens hopes of businesses reopening their doors for first time in months

The lifting of lockdown restrictions to allow people in England to use pub beer gardens and dine in the outdoor areas of restaurants is being met by snowfall, as a spring cold snap hits.

The inclement weather will come as a blow to thousands of businesses that were hoping to welcome back customers on Monday after months of restrictions.

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Union in peril as PM ‘speaks for England alone’, former civil servant warns

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Philip Rycroft says PM’s ‘muscular brand of unionism’ has deepened divisions between four nations

The pandemic has seeded the idea of a prime minister “who speaks for England alone” as relations between the four nations of the UK deteriorate amid “deep-rooted complacency”, a senior former civil servant has warned.

There is widespread ignorance towards the union, meaning ministers can be kept in the dark about major reforms with little consideration for the four nations, Philip Rycroft, the permanent secretary to the Brexit department until 2019, says in a report.

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PM will allow second referendum if SNP wins, says Sturgeon

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Scottish first minister tells Guardian fresh poll impossible to resist should her party land majority next month

Boris Johnson will not oppose a second independence referendum if the Scottish National party wins a majority in the election next month, Nicola Sturgeon has said, with some UK government ministers reportedly conceding it is an inevitability.

In an interview with the Guardian, Scotland’s first minister said: “If people in Scotland vote for a party saying, ‘when the time is right, there should be an independence referendum’, you cannot stand in the way of that – and I don’t think that is what will happen.”

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Brazilian Covid variant: what do we know about P1?

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What threat does variant that is causing devastation in Brazil pose, and how is it different?

The P1 variant is causing devastation in Brazil, where an uncontrolled Covid pandemic is raging. P1, behind the terrible scenes of hospital overload in Manaus with patients’ relatives pleading for oxygen cylinders, is now the dominant form of coronavirus in many of Brazil’s cities and partly responsible for the high death toll. Other Latin American countries have closed their borders and restricted travel to and from Brazil but P1 is now in at least 15 countries in the Americas, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

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Brexit: Scottish dog food firm relocates to France due to export red tape

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Owner says he decided ‘enough was enough’ after encountering more and more trade barriers

The founder of a Scottish dog food business has told how Brexit forced him to move to France after his exports to the EU were halted because of the new trade barriers in place since 1 January.

After 10 weeks of daily calls and emails to government representatives, who he said were “absolutely terrible”, Antoon Murphy said he was left with no other option than to relocate or face losing the business.

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What is allowed under Covid lockdown rules around the UK?

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How restrictions are being eased varies in the UK’s four constituent parts

The lockdown is being gradually eased in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but the details of how and when this is happening vary in the four constituent parts of the UK.

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UK weather: Wednesday could be hottest March day on record

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Spell of early spring warm weather continues after record 24.5C on Tuesday

Forecasters say there is a small possibility the UK could see the hottest day on record on Wednesday, as the spell of early spring warm weather continues.

It has been particularly welcomed in England, where temperatures have been the highest and people have just emerged blinking into the light as the nation begins to shake off a long national lockdown.

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Regional museums break ranks with UK government on return of Benin bronzes

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Aberdeen says it will repatriate a bust while Cambridge museum has ‘expectation’ its collection could be returned

Regional UK museums could lead a wave of repatriations of disputed Benin bronzes – most of them looted by British forces in 1897 – in defiance of the British government’s stance that institutions should “retain and explain” contested artefacts.

On Thursday, the University of Aberdeen confirmed it would repatriate a bust of an Oba, or king of Benin, which it has had since the 1950s, “within weeks”, a landmark move for a British institution.

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Revealed: police barred from searching Queen’s estates for looted artefacts

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Exclusive: palace and government refuse to say why exemption from 2017 law was deemed necessary

Police have been barred from searching the Queen’s private estates for stolen or looted artefacts after ministers granted her a personal exemption from a law that protects the world’s cultural property, the Guardian can reveal.

Buckingham Palace and the government are refusing to say why it was deemed necessary in 2017 to give the Queen an exemption that prevents police from searching Balmoral and Sandringham.

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Nicola Sturgeon accused of misleading parliament over Alex Salmond

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Holyrood committee highly critical of Scottish first minister’s accounts of meeting with former mentor

Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of misleading the Scottish parliament over her dealings with Alex Salmond, but not knowingly, in a highly critical report by MSPs.

A specially convened Holyrood committee voted by a 5-4 margin to find the first minister had misled parliament over her accounts of a meeting with Salmond, her former mentor, in April 2018.

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