Category Archives: Scotland

Sturgeon questions whether Johnson’s trip to Scotland ‘essential’

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First minister also says UK government’s hotel quarantine plans ‘do not go far enough’

Nicola Sturgeon has questioned whether Boris Johnson’s planned trip from London to Scotland on Thursday is “genuinely essential”, suggesting his visit makes it harder to convince the public to stick to travel restrictions.

At her daily briefing, when she also warned that the UK government’s hotel quarantine plan for travellers “does not go far enough”, Scotland’s first minister said that while she was sure the prime minister and his advisers would take care to make sure no laws were broken, “we all have to make judgments on what we genuinely think is essential”.

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Life in hotel quarantine: ‘I’m on day two. It’s around day 11 things get difficult’

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Ian Samson, originally from Edinburgh, describes his experience of Hong Kong’s strict isolation rules for travellers

I have a pile of 20 bananas in my hotel room here in Hong Kong, a spin bike I’ve had delivered and some rapidly dying flowers that the hotel gave me on the first day as a morbid reminder of how little sunlight I would be getting for the next 21 days.

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Burns Night goes virtual: ‘It might be even bigger this year’

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Thousands join events in Scotland and far afield, and post-a-haggis service is in high demand

It’s the night when Scots emerge from mid-winter hibernation, says the Burns scholar Pauline Mackay. On the poet’s birthday, 25 January, or thereabouts, thousands of societies, clubs and groups of friends across Scotland and around the world gather to celebrate the life and work of the national bard Robert Burns.

The ritual elements of a Burns supper – addressing those gathered with his poem To a Haggis, completing several rounds of toasts and reading from the funny, sexy, radical diversity of his work – have remained constant since the first event was held by nine friends in 1801, five years after his death.

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Sturgeon: SNP will hold Scottish independence vote if it wins in May

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First minister says she will hold advisory referendum, whether Westminster consents or not

Nicola Sturgeon says she will hold an advisory referendum on independence if the Scottish National party wins a majority in May’s Holyrood elections, regardless of whether Westminster consents to the move.

Her party is setting out an 11-point roadmap for taking forward another vote, which will be presented to members of the SNP’s national assembly on Sunday.

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UK weather: country due sub-zero temperatures as Arctic air sweeps in

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Freezing conditions could reach -10c and hamper clean-up effort after Storm Christoph

Britain is braced for sub-zero temperatures as a cold blast of Arctic air sweeps the country in the aftermath of Storm Christoph.

The Met Office said snow and ice would cause travel disruption in large parts of the country as temperatures drop as low as -10c in Scotland and -7c in parts of northern England.

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Storm Christoph: sandbags issued in South Yorkshire as lashing rains loom

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People urged to brace for floods, gales and snow, with parts of England expecting 200mm downpours

A major incident has been declared in South Yorkshire as Storm Christoph is set to bring widespread flooding, gales and snow to parts of the UK.

People have been urged to prepare after an amber weather warning for rain was issued by the Met Office for Tuesday to Thursday for central northern England, affecting an area around Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield and stretching down to Peterborough.

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EU halts imports of seafood from smaller Scottish companies

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Export firms point to post-Brexit delays around health certificates, IT systems and missing customs papers

Deliveries of Scottish seafood to the EU from smaller companies have been halted until Monday, 18 January, after post-Brexit problems with health checks, IT systems and customs documents caused a huge backlog.

Scottish fishing has been plunged into crisis, as lorry-loads of live seafood and some fish destined for shops and restaurants in France, Spain and other countries have been rejected because they are taking too long to arrive.

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Starmer accepts end of EU free movement in Brexit reversal

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Labour leader rules out extensive renegotiation if party wins next election

Keir Starmer has abandoned the commitment to free movement of people in the European Union he made to Labour members during the party’s leadership contest.

The Labour leader said his party had to be honest with the public, and that if it won the next general election a major renegotiation of the Brexit treaty would not be possible.

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Slave trade links of Scotland’s Glenfinnan memorial revealed

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Historians find site famous for its connection to Bonnie Prince Charlie built using wealth from slave plantations

The history of Glenfinnan, one of the most famous sites linked to Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite revolt, is being rewritten after significant links to the Atlantic slave trade were uncovered.

Historians have found evidence the Glenfinnan memorial, erected close to where Charles Edward Stuart raised his standard at Loch Shiel in 1745, was built using wealth from slave plantations in Jamaica by a descendant of clansmen who took part in the Jacobite rebellion.

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Scottish MP Margaret Ferrier arrested over alleged Covid rule breach

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Alleged incident relates to breaking of regulations between 26 September and 29 September

The suspended Scottish National party MP Margaret Ferrier has been arrested by police and charged with breaching coronavirus restrictions.

Police Scotland said Ferrier, 60, had been charged “in connection with alleged culpable and reckless conduct” for allegedly failing to observe the regulations limiting travel and social contact.

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Nicola Sturgeon confirms Scotland to go into new lockdown – video

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Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, announced to the Scottish parliament that her cabinet had decided to introduce from midnight on Monday a legal requirement to stay at home, except for essential purposes. 

The new 'stay at home' Covid rules, mirroring the very strict controls imposed last March, would also be legally enforced and greatly restrict who was able to travel, the Scottish government’s cabinet agreed earlier on Monday

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Trump’s Scottish golf courses post another year of losses

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Businesses lose total of £3.4m in 2019 despite first signs of profitability at his flagship Turnberry resort

Donald Trump’s Scottish golf courses have again reported significant losses, totalling £3.4m, despite the first signs of profitability at his flagship Turnberry resort.

The annual accounts for Trump Turnberry’s parent company, Golf Recreation Scotland, show the luxury hotel and golf resort in Ayrshire lost £2.3m in 2019 after ploughing more money into upgrading its facilities.

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Western Isles council rejects official sex ed in favour of Catholic teaching

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Vote came after ministers on Lewis said parents and teachers unhappy about government-backed materials

The Western Isles has been hit by a fresh row over the influence of churches on public policy after councillors voted to endorse a Catholic manual on teaching sex education and relationships in schools.

A large majority of councillors on Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (CnES) backed a motion “commending” Roman Catholic teaching materials, which uphold an orthodox Catholic stance against sexual intercourse outside heterosexual marriage.

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Stella Tennant obituary

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Model who rose to fame in the 1990s, capturing the attention of Karl Lagerfeld and gracing the pages of Vogue

No one in fashion could guess what would succeed the smiling, buoyant healthfulness of the international supermodels who commanded catwalks and covers in the late 1980s and early 90s. The unexpected next big things turned out to be very particularly British: bad-waif Kate Moss, and cool aristo Stella Tennant, who arrived on the pages of British Vogue in 1993. She has died suddenly, shortly after her 50th birthday.

Tennant’s appeal had been prefigured in the release that year of Sally Potter’s film of the Virginia Woolf fantasy novel Orlando, its hero/heroine (nothing so simple as androgynous) played by Tilda Swinton; pipe-cleaner thin, tall, pale, unpainted, with a body language both male and female, and an ever-unready smile. Totally Tennant.

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Nicola Sturgeon apologises for Covid rule breach at funeral

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Scotland’s first minister was photographed breaking rules by taking her face mask off at a wake

Nicola Sturgeon has apologised for breaching Covid rules after she was photographed without a face covering at a wake.

The Scottish Sun published a picture of Scotland’s first minister standing talking to three people at a social distance, but with her face uncovered, while she was attending a wake after the funeral of a Scottish government civil servant who died with Covid.

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Scotland may enter full Covid lockdown, says Sturgeon

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First minister tells MSPs tough restrictions were ‘essential’ to suppress new strain of virus

Nicola Sturgeon has warned MSPs she may have to introduce full lockdown measures across Scotland in the coming days to contain the faster-spreading Covid variant, which has already led to Wales bringing forward a countrywide lockdown from last Sunday and Northern Ireland announcing a six-week lockdown from Boxing Day.

Sturgeon used her weekly coronavirus statement to the Scottish parliament to tighten level 4 measures – the strictest of Scotland’s five-tier system of Covid controls and which all of mainland Scotland will enter from 26 December.

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Strict Christmas travel ban for Scotland as Wales enters early lockdown

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Scotland and Wales also reduce five-day festive window for indoor mixing to one day

There will be a strict travel ban between Scotland and the rest of the UK throughout the festive period, and the five-day Christmas window for indoor mixing will be reduced to just Christmas Day, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

In Wales, first minister Mark Drakeford likewise scrapped festive relaxation plans for all but Christmas Day and brought forward the country’s lockdown which will now start from midnight on Saturday.

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UK Covid live: tier 3 rules extended across southern England as secondary schools face staggered January return

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Latest updates: ‘vast majority’ of areas currently in tier 3 will remain there; secondary school pupils’ return to class in England will be staggered

The Department of Health has released a written ministerial statement giving the reasons for the decisions taken today about why areas in England are staying in, or moving from, particular tiers. It’s here - although the version up at the moment only covers the north-west, the north-east and London.

The government is to provide interim cover for EU holiday healthcare costs for people who require routine hospital treatment such as dialysis and chemotherapy in the event there is no Brexit deal to replace the current European Health Care Insurance Scheme (EHIC).

In a written ministerial statement Edward Argar, a health minister, said:

This government will introduce the scheme with the intention that it is used by individuals who are certain to require treatment while abroad, such as regular dialysis, oxygen therapy or certain types of chemotherapy. The government recognises that these ongoing, routine treatment costs can be expensive, and makes travelling abroad extremely challenging for many people.

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