Category Archives: Scotland

Coronavirus live: ‘We had clear focus on being quick but no blank cheque,’ says UK ex-vaccine chief of rollout success

Posted on by

Kate Bingham says ‘the UK had a very strategic approach … to secure vaccines quickly. The European approach … was more about making sure you got the best value for money’

Venetians have celebrated a very different carnival this year, without the usual crowds of tourists, Reuters reported.

“It’s totally surreal,” said 47-year-old carnival-goer Chiara Ragazzon, an office worker. “What hits me most is the silence. You’ve always been able to hear music during the carnival, people having fun. But Venice in the fog - it’s still a magical place.”

Ragazzon and her husband had ventured into Venice from their home around 50 kilometres (30 miles) away.

More than 12 million people in the UK have now received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to government data up to and including 6 February.

Continue reading...

Kilmarnock: hospital under lockdown after ‘serious incident’ say Police Scotland

Posted on by

Lockdown lifted after Crosshouse hospital stabbing, another incident in town centre and a serious road crash

A lockdown at an Ayrshire hospital has been lifted after police were called to a “serious incident” following reports of a stabbing at the site and another two “potentially linked” incidents in the area.

Crosshouse hospital in Kilmarnock was placed under lockdown for about three hours and ambulances were diverted to University Hospital Ayr while officers dealt with the first incident. It is not currently known who has been injured.

Continue reading...

UK Covid live: Boris Johnson to hold news briefing as Britain exceeds 10m vaccinations

Posted on by

Latest updates: PM press conference comes after milestone is passed; 1,322 further deaths reported in the UK today

Boris Johnson is about to hold a press conference at No 10. He will be with Prof Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser.

Today’s coronavirus figures for Scotland are here. There have been 88 further deaths (down from 92 a week ago today) and 978 further cases (down from 1,330 a week ago today).

Of all the new tests carried out, only 5.1% were positive. This is the lowest positivity rate since late December, and very close to the 5% target often mentioned by Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, as the benchmark set by the WHO for countries that have got Covid under control.

Continue reading...

US tariffs on Scotch whisky ‘have cost £500m in lost exports’

Posted on by

Single malt sales to US have fallen more than third since retaliatory regime was imposed, says industry body

Losses to Scotch whisky exports after tariffs were imposed by the US have reached £500m, according to an industry body.

New figures suggest exports of single malt Scotch whisky have fallen by more than a third – amounting to more than £500m – since a 25% tariff was imposed in October 2019.

Continue reading...

Sophie: 10 of the greatest tracks by a genius of pop’s expressive power

Posted on by

From productions for Charli XCX and Gaika to Sophie’s emotionally shattering solo works, we celebrate a truly singular artist who has died aged 34

This was the track that brought Sophie, the Scottish producer who has died aged 34 following an accidental fall, to wider attention, and how could it not. The opening sounds like an alert announcing a malfunction on a clown car assembly line, all sproings and sirens; these polished, corporate sonics would become a hallmark of the producer’s early work, revelling in the kitsch of the smartphone age. But unlike producers with similar satiric intentions like James Ferraro and Oneohtrix Point Never, you could dance to Sophie – and Bipp is so deliriously danceable.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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”.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

EU halts imports of seafood from smaller Scottish companies

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Starmer accepts end of EU free movement in Brexit reversal

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Slave trade links of Scotland’s Glenfinnan memorial revealed

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Scottish MP Margaret Ferrier arrested over alleged Covid rule breach

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Nicola Sturgeon confirms Scotland to go into new lockdown – video

Posted on by

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

Continue reading...

Trump’s Scottish golf courses post another year of losses

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Stella Tennant obituary

Posted on by
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.

Continue reading...