Category Archives: Scottish politics

Sunak and Truss rule out freezing energy prices at leadership hustings

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Rival candidates questioned in Perth after frontrunner Truss makes belligerent remarks about Sturgeon

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have ruled out freezing energy prices by claiming it would be an expensive, short-term fix that would fail to solve the underlying problem with soaring energy costs.

The Conservative leadership contenders were questioned on whether they would back Labour’s new strategy to fix the domestic energy cap during a leadership hustings at Perth Concert Hall on Tuesday night.

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Independence vote may be ‘unlawful’, says Scotland’s lord advocate

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Dorothy Bain QC releases her letter to the UK supreme court seeking its ruling on Nicola Sturgeon’s plans for a second referendum

Scotland’s lord advocate has confirmed she fears Nicola Sturgeon’s plans for a fresh independence referendum may be unlawful.

Dorothy Bain QC has now released the letter she wrote to the UK supreme court last week seeking its ruling on whether Sturgeon has the legal powers to stage a referendum without the UK government’s authority.

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Boris Johnson says UK defence spending set to rise to 2.5% of GDP by end of decade – live

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Latest updates: prime minister tells Nato conference UK will spend 2.5% of GDP on defence by 2030

And in another interview Liz Truss refused to endorse Boris Johnson’s claim that “toxic masculinity” helped to explain Vladimir Putin’s conduct and that he would not have invaded Ukraine if he were a woman. Asked if she agreed, she told Times Radio:

[Putin is] clearly is capable of very, very evil acts ... I don’t pretend that I can conduct a psychological analysis on him, nor do I think it’s helpful ...

I think that both women and men are capable of terrible and appalling acts.

All of Ukraine that has been invaded by Russia is illegally occupied. And, ultimately, the Russians need to be pushed out of all of that territory, and certainly what we shouldn’t be doing as friends and allies [of Ukraine] ... is implying that there are any trade-offs or any bits of Ukrainian territory that could be traded away or compromised on.

It is realistic, and that is why we are supplying the extra lethal aid we’re supplying.

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Liz Truss dismisses Macron suggestion UK might be keen on joining new European political community – UK politics live

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Foreign secretary tells Commons foreign affairs committee UK sees Nato as key defensive alliance for Europe and G7 as key economic alliance

Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, has just started giving evidence to the Commons foreign affairs committee. There is a live feed at the top of this blog.

On Sunday Emmanuel Macron, the French president, came away from a meeting with Boris Johnson under the impression that the UK was enthusiastic about his plan for a “European political community” - a proposed new grouping, taking in European countries in the EU and outside it.

That this house notes that UK economic growth is forecast to grind to a halt next year, with only Russia worse in the OECD; further notes that GDP has fallen in recent months while inflation has risen to 9.1% and that food prices, petrol costs and bills in general are soaring for millions across the country; believes that the government is leaving Britain with backlogs such as long waits for passports, driving licences, GP and hospital appointments, court dates, and at airports; and calls on the government to set out a new approach to the economy that will end 12 years of slow growth and high taxation under successive Conservative governments.

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MP Patrick Grady quits SNP after being accused of sexual assault

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Met police say they are investigating allegations former chief whip assaulted party worker at London pub

A senior Scottish National party MP accused of sexual assault has quit the party and will sit as an independent after the Metropolitan police said they were investigating the allegations.

The Met said it had received a complaint from a third party about Patrick Grady’s alleged sexual assault of a 19-year-old party worker at the Water Poet pub on Folgate Street, London, in October 2016.

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New SNP sexual harassment complaints policy ‘in weeks’, say insiders

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Exclusive: activists forcing action over ‘systemic’ failings such as handling of complaint against former chief whip Patrick Grady

A new system for dealing with sexual harassment complaints within the Scottish National party could become party policy within weeks, the Guardian has learned, after escalating criticism from activists about lack of openness and accountability.

Revelations in the past week about the scale of failings in the handling of a sexual harassment complaint against former Westminster chief whip Patrick Grady have prompted widespread frustration among SNP activists, who have been pushing for a culture change since the #MeToo movement kicked off in 2017.

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SNP orders sexual harassment complaints review after ‘falling short’

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Party’s Westminster leader faced calls to resign after leak of comments supporting suspended former chief whip Patrick Grady

The SNP has launched an external review into the support available to staff after an MP accused her party of “clearly falling short” of supporting sexual harassment complainants.

It follows the party’s former Westminster chief whip Patrick Grady being suspended from the SNP’s Westminster group for a week, as well as being suspended from parliament for two days, over a sexual advance towards a teenage staff member in 2016.

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Pound falls to lowest level since pandemic crash

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Unemployment rise and prospect of new Scottish independence referendum fuel recession fears

The pound has fallen to its lowest level against the dollar since the onset of the Covid pandemic amid growing concern over the strength of the British economy.

Sterling dropped by more than a cent against the dollar to trade below $1.20 on foreign exchange markets for the first time since March 2020, as City traders reacted to mixed figures from the jobs market and the prospect of a fresh referendum on Scottish independence.

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First UK deportation flight to Rwanda cancelled after European court intervention – UK politics live

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Final remaining asylum seekers understood to have been taken off the flight following legal intervention

You can watch the Sturgeon press conference here.

Sturgeon is now taking questions.

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Boris Johnson’s no-confidence vote: PM tells cabinet to ‘draw a line’ under Partygate after narrowly surviving bruising ballot – live

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Latest updates: Boris Johnson says ministers should focus on ‘cutting costs of government’ after William Hague says his position is ‘untenable’

In a speech to the Royal College of Nursing annual congress in Glasgow, Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, said it was “almost unbelievable” that nurses were having to use food banks. They deserved better pay, he said.

Two years ago the NHS was deservedly awarded the George Cross for its work during the pandemic, but the reward for individual nurses has been pay settlements well below inflation, leaving nurses much worse off.

Now, as part of the Platinum Jubilee, members of the armed forces and emergency services are rightly receiving Jubilee medals.

Douglas has been consistent in terms of the principle – he made it clear from the outset that he had huge doubts about the conduct of the prime minister ...

It was only when circumstances changed with the Russian invasion of Ukraine that he said there are some things right now we need to set aside.

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Minimum alcohol price ‘causes poorest to cut back on food’ in Scotland

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Some problem drinkers also reducing heating to afford rising alcohol costs, according to Public Health Scotland

Scotland’s minimum alcohol pricing policy has not encouraged problem drinkers to consume less but has prompted some to cut back on food or heating in order to afford rising costs, according to the first evaluation of its impact on those who drink alcohol at harmful levels.

The Scottish National party’s flagship policy, championed by Nicola Sturgeon when she was health minister and introduced after successive court challenges by the Scotch Whisky Association, came into force in May 2018. It introduced a legally enforced minimum price for all alcoholic drinks of 50p a unit and aimed to tackle chronic alcohol abuse by targeting low-cost, high-strength drinks.

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Over £1m owed by families in Scotland who cannot pay for school meals

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Exclusive: Report for Aberlour children’s charity reveals scale of school meal debt for first time

More than £1m is owed by families across Scotland who are unable to pay for their children’s school meals, new research has found.

The report for the Aberlour children’s charity, seen exclusively by the Guardian, reveals the scale of school meal debt for the first time, and details an “alarming” rise in hidden hunger among Scotland’s school pupils.

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Scottish Labour seizes Edinburgh council with Lib Dem and Tory help

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Labour installed as minority administration in capital with Lib Dem and Tory help, to the outrage of SNP

The Scottish National party has failed to take all Scotland’s largest cities after Labour won control of Edinburgh with Liberal Democrat and Tory help.

The SNP had hoped to retain power in the Scottish capital after winning the most seats and brokering a coalition deal with the Scottish Greens which left them three seats short of overall control.

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Sinn Féin becomes largest party in Northern Ireland assembly – as it happened

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With Sinn Féin set to become the biggest party at Stormont for the first time, O’Neill says the results mark a ‘new era’ for ‘our politics and for our people’

The elections to the Northern Ireland assembly are quite different to most UK elections. Members of the assembly are elected to 18 multi-member constituencies by single transferable vote.

Each constituency has five representatives, totalling 90 overall. Voters assign preferences to candidates on a ballot slip. If a candidate gets enough first-preference votes, they win a seat, and if not, second and then third preferences – and so on – are counted until all seats are filled.

Because of this, multiple counts are needed in each constituency, which means results can take a while to compile. It is possible for the first count not to result in the award of a seat. Another consequence is that it is not clear whether a party has increased or decreased its total seats in a constituency or overall, until all seats have been awarded.

By the terms of the Good Friday agreement the government of Northern Ireland is shared between the two main communities: nationalists, who favour closer ties with the Republic of Ireland, and unionists, for whom Northern Ireland’s position in the UK is more important. The largest party in the assembly appoints the first minister, and the largest party from the other community appoints the deputy first minister.

Some parties with cross-community support or whose supporters do not identify strongly with either community think this arrangement perpetuates divisions, but in practice since 1998 the largest party has always been from the unionist community and the second-largest from the nationalist.

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Labour takes second place in Scottish elections as Tory vote plummets

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Party becomes closest challenger to SNP after gains including West Dunbartonshire and near-upset in Glasgow

Scottish Labour has become the closest challenger to Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP after the Scottish Conservatives plunged to their worst electoral result in a decade.

Labour enjoyed an unexpected win in West Dunbartonshire, taking overall control of the council, and won a swathe of seats elsewhere as it took the second largest share of the vote overall.

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Local elections 2022: Tories lose hundreds of seats to Labour and Lib Dems; Sinn Féin set to become largest party in NI elections – live

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PM insists ‘mixed’ results also included some ‘remarkable gains’ for Conservatives; Labour, Lib Dems and Greens celebrate key wins

One of the trickiest contests for Labour is in Sunderland, where it risks losing control of the council for the first time since it was founded in 1974, says the Guardian’s North Of England correspondent Josh Halliday.

Labour has a majority of only six councillors on the 75-seat authority, meaning it could easily fall into no overall control when ballots are counted.

There are enough clues on the doorstep and judging by the scale of the postal vote, that’s gone extremely well and we’re getting a big turnout. That said, neither party can be overly confident about which way many seats will go.

Partygate doesn’t come up as much as you’d think and for those who have brought it up they’ve said things like ‘You’re all as bad as each other’ or ‘that’s politics’.

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Conservatives brace for losses as votes counted in local elections

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Labour and Lib Dem sources say turnout appears to be low in possible sign of Tory voters staying away

The Conservatives are braced for a nerve-shredding 24 hours after voting closed in local elections across the UK, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats expecting to make gains.

Taking place against the backdrop of the cost of living crisis, the first nationwide polls since Partygate will be widely read as a test of whether Boris Johnson has become an electoral liability.

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Firebombs and death threats: councillors need more protection, say UK bodies

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Dozens of seats going uncontested as candidates step down due to ‘truly toxic’ environment

More must be done to protect councillors from abuse, according to local government bodies, as those on the frontline of local democracy describe a “truly toxic” political environment where online aggression spills over into real-life behaviour.

Candidates for council elections on Thursday across the UK have shared their experiences of escalating hostility as the chair of the Local Government Association (LGA), councillorJames Jamieson, warned that “an increasing number … are being subjected to abuse, threats and intimidation both online and in-person, undermining the principles of free speech, democratic engagement and debate”.

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Police warn Nicola Sturgeon for breaking face mask rules

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Scottish first minister was recorded without a mask in a barber shop, breaching her own Covid regulations

Nicola Sturgeon has been warned by police officers about the law surrounding face coverings in Scotland after she failed to wear a mask in a barber shop on Saturday, in breach of her own regulations.

The first minister was reported to Police Scotland after footage emerged of her in the crowded shop without a face covering, joking with staff and pretending to shave a customer while out campaigning in East Kilbride.

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Future Partygate revelations may be even worse for Boris Johnson, says Tory MP – UK politics live

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Latest updates: a Conservative MP calling for the PM to resign says he fears there are more fines to come for Johnson

More than 35 homebuilders have agreed to put £2bn towards fixing unsafe cladding on high-rise buildings in England identified in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower disaster, Michael Gove, the housing secretary, has said. My colleague Rowena Mason has the story here.

The Conservative MP Nigel Mills has told PA Media more about why he thinks Boris Johnson should go now (see 9.10am) and why he does not accept that this would be a mistake because of the war in Ukraine. He said:

I have two comments on that. The first one is, when will Ukraine be any better than it is now? If you told me this crisis would be over in three months’ time, then you might say, ‘well OK, let’s get this done [then] the prime minister can meet his fate’.

But the Ukraine crisis could last for a very, very long time. Are we saying there’s no chance of a change of prime minister for years?

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