Category Archives: Scotland

Rishi Sunak says he is ‘incredibly angry’ about betting allegations in BBC Question Time election special – as it happened

Posted on by

Prime minister says suspects must face ‘full force of law’ if found guilty; Labour, SNP and Lib Dem leaders speak during programme

The next question comes from Linda, who says Davey’s antics during the election campaigns (fun photo opportunities, often involving him getting wet) haven’t looked prime-ministerial.

Davey says he has been trying to grab attention.

It was very difficult governing with the Conservatives. We couldn’t get everything we wanted …

You either had to stay in and fight inside the government or leave. I think the easy choice for me would be to leave, vote against it, and tour the media studios and complain. The hard choice was to stay in, roll up my sleeves and really fight.

Continue reading...

Tory government ‘worst in postwar era’, claims expert study – as it happened

Posted on by

Sir Anthony Seldon leads analysis that concludes that equality, growth and the UK’s standing in the world have all declined since 2010

• Sign up to our Election Edition daily newsletter

And here are some of the best pictures from yesterday’s campaigning. As more voting people than ever appear poised to turn away from the Tories, Sunak appeared in several photographs with sheep and lobsters as he visited North Devon, held by the Tories since 2015. The Guardian’s Archie bland named the sheep the “Dubious photo opportunity of the day”, after the sheep ran away:

Starmer, meanwhile, appeared on LBC where he clarified that Premier League Football Clubs would not be subject to a 10% transfer tax to fund clubs lower down the pyramid. “Let me just kill it dead, we’re not looking at that,” Starmer said. He also visited a tennis club and a pub in Reading West and mid Berkshire.

Continue reading...

Killer of former Fettes College teacher sentenced to life in prison

Posted on by

Paul McNaughton must serve 22 years in jail after admitting to murdering Peter Coshan in Leith flat in 2022

A 29-year-old man who admitted murdering a retired Fettes College teacher in a catfishing plot has been sentenced to life in prison with a recommendation that he serve at least 22 years.

Paul McNaughton killed 75-year-old Peter Coshan in a flat in Leith on either 11 or 12 August 2022, after using a fake profile on a gay dating site to lure him to the address.

Continue reading...

UK politics: Anas Sarwar says election is about ‘getting rid of Tories’, not Scottish independence – as it happened

Posted on by

Leaders of Scotland’s five main political parties clash during live TV debate

Momentum, the leftwing Labour group set up when Jeremy Corbyn was leader, is not happy about Keir Starmer’s jibe about Corbyn’s manifesto.

Labour’s 2019 manifesto was fully costed.

Keir should know, he stood on it as a member of the shadow cabinet.

How about stopping attacking your own side during an election @Keir_Starmer?

Continue reading...

Harder to own your first home under the Tories, Rishi Sunak admits – UK politics as it happened

Posted on by

PM acknowledges in BBC Panorama interview to air tonight that it is a challenge for people to buy their first home

Davey sums up the Lib Dems’ plans on health and social care

And he says he wants to mention one other policy he is particularly proud of – the proposal to give proper bereavement support to parents whose partners have died.

Continue reading...

‘Disappointing for June’ temperatures to continue across UK

Posted on by

Met Office reports tentative signs of building high pressure but forecasts sunny spells and showers for this week

There are tentative signs of high pressure building from the west but cool, wet weather is likely to continue across the UK, forecasters say.

After a cool and windy weekend, Monday and Tuesday will remain cool for the time of year, the Met Office said, although will feel warmer in sheltered sunshine.

Continue reading...

Douglas Ross to resign as Scottish Tory leader after election

Posted on by

Surprise announcement comes amid internal party pressure and fresh allegations over expenses claims

Douglas Ross has announced he will stand down as leader of the Scottish Conservatives on 4 July amid growing internal pressure over his multiple roles in the party and fresh allegations about improper expenses claims.

In the surprise statement on Monday morning, Ross also said he would quit as an MSP at Holyrood should he win the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constituency at the Westminster election.

Continue reading...

‘At heart it’s the same technology’: the heat pump that uses water instead of air

Posted on by

Equipment being trialled in Scotland extracts warmth from nearby water sources to provide homes with heating

Scientists in Edinburgh have developed a home heating system that draws its energy from the world’s most abundant resource: water.

The equipment can use sea water, rivers, ponds and even mine water to heat radiators and water for baths and showers, using the same technology as in air source heat pumps.

Continue reading...

SNP says Scottish Labour is rewriting party’s spending plans in TV debate

Posted on by

John Swinney claims Anas Sarwar not keeping to Rachel Reeves’s constraints on NHS, schools and renewables funding as leaders clash

The SNP has accused Scottish Labour of “completely rewriting” Rachel Reeves’s spending plans, as the party leaders took part in the first televised debate of the election campaign.

The clash between the the SNP, Scottish Labour, Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Liberal Democrats was screened by STV, without a studio audience, and involved intensive cross-examination of each leader by his political rivals.

Continue reading...

John Swinney says SNP facing its biggest challenge for years

Posted on by

Leader launches party’s election campaign as polling suggests it will pay high price for recent woes

John Swinney has described July’s general election as “the biggest challenge the SNP has had for years” as he used his party’s official campaign launch to repeatedly attack Labour, which is threatening the nationalists in dozens of seats across Scotland.

Swinney, who told the rally of more than 200 activists and former MPs in Glasgow that it was a “surprise” to be leading the SNP into an election campaign, added that “voters are right to remind us never to take anything for granted”.

Continue reading...

Father and son in Scottish Highlands probably died from fall, police say

Posted on by

Bodies of Tom and Richie Parry identified as Gemma Parry pays tribute to ‘caring and loving father’ and ‘energetic, loving boy’

A father and his 12-year-old son who were found dead after going missing in the Scottish Highlands probably died as the result of a fall, police have said. Tributes have been paid to Tom Parry, 49, and his son Richie, from Cheshire, who did not return home on Wednesday after visiting Glen Nevis and Glen Coe to go hillwalking.

Their car was found in the Three Sisters car park in the area on Tuesday, and at about 7.25pm on Wednesday rescuers recovered two bodies from Stob Coire nan Lochan, Glen Coe.

Continue reading...

Lemur pups Nova and Evie born at Scottish safari park

Posted on by

Female pair are third litter born at Blair Drummond under endangered species breeding programme

A Scottish safari park has announced the birth of two female lemur pups native to Madagascar.

Nova and Evie, who are living at Blair Drummond safari and adventure park, near Stirling, were born on 14 April, and the park has now publicly announced their birth.

Continue reading...

Potentially habitable planet size of Earth discovered 40 light years away

Posted on by

Queensland- and Scotland-based PhD students co-lead team celebrating ‘Eureka moment’ spotting Gliese 12b

An Australian university student has co-led the discovery of an Earth-sized, potentially habitable planet just 40 light years away.

Shishir Dholakia, a PhD candidate in astrophysics at the University of Southern Queensland, is part of an international team that published the discovery in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Continue reading...

Labour says early general election leaves many government commitments ‘in the bin’ – as it happened

Posted on by

Bills, including smoking ban for people born after 2009, unlikely to become law before 4 July vote

Rishi Sunak is now speaking at an event in Ilkeston in Derbyshire. It is in the Erewash constituency, where the Tory MP Maggie Throup had a majority of 10,606 at the last election.

He repeats the claim that a Labour government would cost every family £2,000.

Labour’s spending promises cost £16 billion per year in 2028-29, or £58.9 billion over the next four years.

But their revenue raisers would only collect £6.2 billion per year in 2028-29, or £20.4 billion over the next four years.

I don’t really think the arrangements in Scotland for the school holidays have really been anywhere near the calculations made by the prime minister …

I think it would be respectful if that was the case but it’s pretty typical of the lack of respect shown to Scotland that we’re an afterthought from the Westminster establishment and particularly the Conservative establishment.

Continue reading...

Baby Reindeer: MP asks Netflix to prove ‘convicted stalker’ allegation

Posted on by

Firm asked to back up claims about Fiona Harvey after executive’s appearance before select committee

An MP has asked Netflix to provide evidence that the woman who inspired the character Martha Scott in Baby Reindeer is a “convicted stalker”, claiming that a record of her conviction has not yet been found.

Netflix’s director of public policy, Benjamin King, told the culture media and sport committee on 8 May that the show was “the true story of the horrific abuse that the writer and protagonist, Richard Gadd, suffered at the hands of a convicted stalker”.

Continue reading...

Union urges Labour not to ban new North Sea licences without plan for jobs

Posted on by

Unite launches bid to persuade Keir Starmer to invest more in north-east Scotland

The UK’s oil and gas workers risk becoming “the coal miners of our generation,” Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, has warned, urging Labour not to ban new North Sea licences without a clear plan to safeguard jobs.

Unite is launching a billboard campaign in six Scottish constituencies aimed at persuading Keir Starmer to commit more investment to north-east Scotland, the centre of the offshore oil and gas industry.

Continue reading...

UK politics: I never called for rainbow lanyard ban, claims Esther McVey – as it happened

Posted on by

‘Common sense minister’ denies plan to Channel 4 News despite saying earlier this week that lanyards should be a ‘standard design’

Labour says the Ministry of Justice’s decision to delay court hearings because of prison overcrowing (see 10.39am) shows that people are “less safe” under the Tories. That’s a very convenient retort to Rishi Sunak, because only two days ago he gave a major speech arguing that security was a key reason why his party deserved to win the election.

In a statement, Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary, said:

The Tories continue to make major and unprecedented changes to the justice system without so much as a word to the public. It’s completely unacceptable and the public will be alarmed at this latest panic measures.

The government is stalling justice and leaving victims in limbo because of the mess they have created. This comes days after they hid from the public that they’re now letting criminals out of jail earlier than ever before.

The government is completely failing [on knife crime]. We’ve had an 80% increase since 2015 and rises all around the country. That’s the first point.

On stop and search, that is intelligence lead and evidence-based and is a really important tool. We’ve had, for example, the Inspectorate of Constabulary, an independent organisation, looking at this saying that what’s essential is that it is done in that targeted way.

Continue reading...

Weather warnings for heavy rain in parts of UK to put end to sunny spell

Posted on by

South-west England, south Wales and eastern parts of Northern Ireland expected to get heavy rain as thunderstorms also roll in

Weather warnings for rain have been issued across the UK on what is expected to be the hottest day of the year so far.

Temperatures could reach as high as 27C on Sunday but the recent warm and sunny spell could disappear by the end of the day.

Continue reading...

Labour defends welcoming rightwing Tory MP Natalie Elphicke into party – UK politics live

Posted on by

Natalie Elphicke said she was defecting to Labour due to ‘broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic government’

PMQs starts in just over 20 minutes, and today there will be particular interest in the mood on the Conservative benches. Rishi Sunak has actively embraced the theory that the local election results show Labour is not on course to win an overall majority, but this is based on a projection that has been widely dismissed as unrealistic.

Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.

It’s an issue of humanity and I think you’ve got to show equivalence. I condemn unequivocally the actions of Hamas on Oct 7; those 134 hostages must be released. At the same time I condemn unequivocally the actions of the IDF and Netanyahu; 34,000 people have perished including 14,000 children.

It’s utterly wrong and an insult to those victims to equate the brutality of Hamas to the legitimate military measures that Israel is taking in defence of its people and nation.

Continue reading...