Call for 'concerted action' as social housing mould complaints soar 3 Feb 2023 at 6:45am
CAMPAIGNERS have demanded ?serious, concerted action? from politicians after new statistics revealed at least 11,772 complaints of damp or mould were reported by social housing tenants in the last year, with reports soaring by almost 20 per cent since before the pandemic.
Friday Night with Nadine, TalkTV 3 Feb 2023 at 1:55pm
BORIS Johnson says he has been enjoying life away from frontline politics by spending more time with the family and doing DIY.
John Swinney urged to 'ditch' National Care Service and fund councils 2 Feb 2023 at 8:09am
JOHN Swinney has been urged to halt the Scottish Government?s ?discredited? proposals to centralise adult social care as the Deputy First Minister pointed to his ?meaningful and progressive? tax and spending plans ahead of the first debate on the budget.
Keir Starmer must be more radical if he's to heal broken Britain ? Joyce McMi... 3 Feb 2023 at 4:55am
The first day of February; and as a wave of strikes sweeps across Britain, the Conservative Party is out and about on Twitter, trying to troll the Labour leader Keir Starmer about the small but significant number of Labour MPs showing up on picket lines.
All The Nice Greens Love A Rapist 3 Feb 2023 at 7:59am
Wings readers are by now familiar with the face of Jack/Beth Douglas, the transgender Scottish Greens activist with a long history of abuse and advocating violence against women who is nonetheless feted and worshipped by most of the Scottish Parliament. Yet even after our extensive revelations about his past last week, not a single MSP …
The Third Sex 2 Feb 2023 at 10:09pm
Get ready to curl your toes, readers, as the excellent journalist and author Ella Whelan puts economy-grade script-reading robot Jenny Gilruth of the SNP on the spot during tonight’s Question Time. ? Despite having watched Nicola Sturgeon be tied in embarrassing knots by Douglas Ross on the same question hours earlier, Gilruth was powerless to …
Nicola Sturgeon is a transphobe 2 Feb 2023 at 5:08pm
This afternoon’s FMQs was a new low in the career of the First Minister, in which she haplessly let herself be comprehensively humiliated by Douglas Ross, of all people. Worse than that, though, is that she must surely now be expelled from the SNP. Hey, we don’t make the rules. Because Sturgeon’s comments could not …
The Fury Of The Furries 1 Feb 2023 at 12:30pm
On January 22nd the violent, abusive transgender activist Jack Douglas, who now uses the name Beth and the Twitter username “pickle_bee” (slang for “somebody who likes dick”), threatened that feminist campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen?s imminent “Standing For Women” event in Glasgow was going to be disrupted by the “furry” community, who happen to be hosting a …
Bear Toilet Update 31 Jan 2023 at 12:41pm
In a SHOCKING REVELATION that NOBODY COULD HAVE PREDICTED, it turns out that the people of Britain think that putting criminals with penises into women’s prisons maybe isn’t the absolutely best idea. Just 24% of respondents supported the idea of intact males who’d committed even non-violent and non-sexual crimes being housed alongside women, while a …
Round the mulberry bush 30 Jan 2023 at 3:51pm
We’re very busy today, but there’s always time for a chuckle. ? She’s going to need to buy a ticket to get back into the stadium after that.
A betrayer of women and a disgrace 29 Jan 2023 at 8:00pm
We’re not experts in the field, but we think this is what an actual feminist looks like. ? Julie Bindel wasn’t the only authority who didn’t miss Sturgeon and hit the wall today. But when the UN Special Rapporteur For Torture – that’s Torture, folks – is giving your country a public kicking, just weeks …
Don?t you think she looks tired? 29 Jan 2023 at 12:44pm
It’s been a rough old week for the First Minister. And next week’s not looking much better. Because Nicola Sturgeon’s incredible arrogant hubris over the Gender Recognition Reform bill has finally achieved what feminists have been trying to do for years – push the toxic issue of gender right to the front of the media …
Doublethink, Expert Level 27 Jan 2023 at 10:53am
This is incredible. We couldn’t put it better than Alba MP Neale Hanvey, who said: “A cunning plan? let?s fight to preserve a law we?ve just done a major U-turn on, completely undermining our claims it was ?safe?. Remember when Scottish Labour played opposite sides of the argument? Well, even they didn?t argue both sides …
It is nearly 20 years since I blew the whistle on British Government complicity in torture and the extraordinary rendition programme, under which thousands of people were deliberately tortured as a systematic act of government policy. Many of them were killed. I had, and I leaked, substantial documentary evidence to back my claims, of which …
I spoke at this meeting on Saturday and gave a broader overview than usual of the Assange case and its importance. I think it comes over fairly cogently, even though I was actually feeling pretty dizzy and faint. Jonathan Cook is, as ever, particularly worth listening to closely, and it was great to catch up …
A No to Nato rally at Conway Hall on 25 February, at which I was due to speak, has been cancelled after the venue received threats and abuse online that made them concerned both for staff safety and for funding. This is just another symptom of the serious threat to free speech in modern society. …
Scotland has no shortage of dreadful right wing judges, but as the very epitome of reactionary conservatism, one gobsmacking judgment from Perth Sheriff Michael Fletcher stands out. In a major rowing back of Scotland’s right to roam legislation contained in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, Sheriff Fletcher ruled that plebs must not be allowed …
Logic often appears in short supply in politics. This is because great decisions of state are not taken on the merits of the ostensible subject matter, but according to what best advances the career interest of the politicians with the power to decide. Scotland has left the European Union against the will of a large …
UPDATE It is astonishing how many people are incapable of comprehending the following phrase from the article below: The account still exists and is visible online Yes, I know the account is still there. The problem is I am locked out from my account and bizarrely, when I try to recover it the process ends …
Then What? 3 Feb 2023 at 12:07pm
I can't recall which Holyrood election it was - I think by a process of elimination it must have been either 2003 or 2007 - but there was once a Labour Party Election Broadcast that tried to terrif...
Dennis Noel Kavanagh : "stay angry" 1 Feb 2023 at 8:08pm
If you're going to say things like "well said by the PM", I remain extremely puzzled as to why you always run in terror from the question of whether you're a Tory sympathiser.? James Kelly (@JamesK...
The GRR War is Over - if you want it 30 Jan 2023 at 6:11pm
I'm going to return briefly to a point I made in my previous post, namely that however outrageous and indefensible Alister Jack's use of the Section 35 veto was, it nevertheless carries with it a p...
Why has Westminster?s failure to govern not given Yes a big boost? 3 Feb 2023 at 7:30pm
A POLL reported by GB News on January 25 found Labour currently sitting on 50% of the national vote, up 5%, while the Conservative Party are at 21%. This represents a five-point increase in support for Labour and increases the gap between Labour and the Conservatives to 29 points.
BBC's Fiona Bruce makes unfounded claim about Scottish trans prisoner 3 Feb 2023 at 6:30pm
THE BBC is facing questions after Fiona Bruce wrongly claimed that ?a trans woman with a history of extreme violence? had been placed in a female jail by the Scottish Prison Service ? despite the First Minister having made clear it was not true just hours earlier.
Scottish Government says 'no new offer' on the table for teachers 3 Feb 2023 at 6:24pm
Scottish Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said ?no new offer? for teachers would come from the Scottish government following talks with education unions on Friday.
We must not let the reality of post-Brexit UK just be accepted 3 Feb 2023 at 3:00pm
THE summing up and detailing of past events, failures and knockbacks regarding Scotland?s democratic and legitimate attempts to achieve independence from the UK resulting in a prolonged activity of negatives, as described in the Long Letter by Iain K of Dunoon (Jan 28), must surely chime with most of your readers, who are now showing increased frustration since the Supreme Court setback.
Poachers Turned Gamekeeper 3 Feb 2023 at 12:22pm
The news that Torcuil Crichton, the Daily Record’s long-serving Westminster Editor is set to become Labour candidate in Na h-Eileanan an Iar at the next General Election created a mixed reaction. Those of a generous disposition might say ‘well at least he’s putting himself forward to the public vote’, while those of a more cynical …
Whatever Happened to the 500 Questions? 2 Feb 2023 at 11:41am
Almost ten years ago, 500 days out from the September 2014 independence referendum, the pro-Union organisation Better Together published a document called 500 Questions, since disappeared (there is one here). 500 Questions presented a barrage of unanswered ?risks? aimed to arouse the suspicions of those tempted into independence; it was UK-government-backed and foreworded by Alistair …
The Question of Community and ?Rewilding? 31 Jan 2023 at 10:30am
An invited response to Jeremy Leggett by Alastair McIntosh on re-wilding in Scotland. Last week the solar energy entrepreneur, Jeremy Leggett, published a blog titled Highlands Rewilding: governance and land colonialism on his Highlands Rewilding website. An accompanying tweet explained that it was an attempt ?to address the thought that Highlands Rewilding might be just …
Remembering Working Class Scottish Voices and Histories 30 Jan 2023 at 5:50pm
Mobbings, Struggles and Strikes: Episodes in the history of the organised working class of Dumfries, 1771-1914, by Ian Gasse, Scottish Labour History Society, £22.00. Review by Katharine McCrossan. As the number of those participating in or impacted by strikes continues to increase amidst the ongoing cost of living crisis, it is unlikely that the issue …
A Hurl on a Neugle 30 Jan 2023 at 12:29pm
A HURL ON A NEUGLE: From The Province Of The Cat. George Gunn on sleazeports, democracy and industrial strategy. There are many fine things the SNP have done since coming into power in 2007. Keeping the light shining for independence, however flickering the flame has been from time to time, has been one of them. …
Talking Poetry and Politics in Downing Street 29 Jan 2023 at 11:02am
Hugh McMillan was asked to Downing Street to read poetry to Rishi Sunak. My recent visit to Downing Street has resulted in some (mostly good natured) stick and I thought it might be interesting to give my reflections on my invitation to the centre of the failing British state. I accepted the invite – to …
Ireland at the Oscars 29 Jan 2023 at 10:45am
Irish talent has stormed the Oscars. Colm Bairéad?s An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) has become the first film in Irish Gaelic to be nominated for best international picture at the Academy Awards and Martin McDonagh?s The Banshees of Inisherin performed beyond expectations with nine nominations. Five Irish actors find themselves competing for awards (four of those are …
Tom Nairn: A Guide for a Journey around the Ruins of Britain 27 Jan 2023 at 10:55am
Britain is not in a good place. The everyday challenges that people face are the worst in peacetime. A belief in a positive future is hard for many to believe in. Statistics show a country plagued by endemic low growth, falling living standards, crumbling public services, and increasing poverty and inequality. The last time the …
A guide on how to become an independent nation-state 27 Jan 2023 at 10:13am
Matt Qvortrup (2022) I want to break free: A practical guide to making a new country, Manchester University Press, Paperback: £12.99. Reviewed by Hannah Graham. Dressed like James Bond at a cocktail party, communicating with humour and clarity, Professor Matt Qvortrup is immediately more engaging than his academic profession might otherwise imply on paper. He …
Who is the Worst Secretary of State for Scotland Ever? 26 Jan 2023 at 3:12pm
The question isn’t as abstract as you might think. Since Bruce Millan (Labour, 1976-1979), the Secretaries of State for Scotland have been: George Younger (Conservative, 1979-1986); Malcolm Rifkind (Conservative 1986-1990); Ian Lang (Conservative, 1990-1995); Michael Forsyth (Conservative, 1995-1997); Donald Dewar (Labour, 1997-1999); John Reid (Labour, 1999-2001); Helen Liddell (Labour, 2001-2...
Sunak tells Piers Morgan ?biological sex matters? ? as it happened 2 Feb 2023 at 8:59pm
Prime minister speaks in interview on TalkTV to mark his 100th day in officeOn the subject of Rishi Sunak reaching his 100th day in office, my colleague Jessica Elgot has a great assessment of how it?s going. Here is an extract.After Liz Truss left office, polls suggested that voters wanted to ke...
Trans woman found guilty of rape moved to men?s prison 26 Jan 2023 at 7:46pm
Move follows Nicola Sturgeon telling MSPs Isla Bryson would not be detained at all-female Cornton ValeIsla Bryson, a transgender woman found guilty of raping two women before transitioning, has been moved from Scotland?s all-female Cornton Vale prison to a male facility after an intervention by N...
Why Scotland?s gender reform bill is sparking concern over trans prisoner pol... 26 Jan 2023 at 5:37pm
Analysts warn of legal challenges if bill makes inmates? access to gender recognition certificates easier ? though jail allocation is decided case by caseThe outcry over the placement of the convicted double rapist and transgender woman Isla Bryson in a women?s prison is set against anxieties abo...
Scotland may have to rethink free university places pledge, analysis shows 26 Jan 2023 at 12:24pm
IFS says if Holyrood?s health and climate policies remain in place other public spending will also sufferThe Scottish government could be forced to reconsider spending pledges to provide free university places and free personal care for older people in light of a squeeze on payments from the UK T...
Animal activists hail Holyrood move to firm up anti-hunting laws 25 Jan 2023 at 5:29pm
Campaigners welcome vote by MSPs to close loopholes they say were smokescreen for illegal foxhunting Animal welfare campaigners have hailed the decision by the Holyrood parliament to toughen anti-hunting laws as a wake-up call to Westminster.Màiri McAllan, the Scottish government?s environment m...
No 10 declines to say Sunak confident Zahawi has always told him truth about ... 24 Jan 2023 at 6:43pm
This live blog is now closed. There are two urgent questions in the Commons later. At 12.30pm Caroline Lucas (Green) is asking one about the child asylum seekers who have gone missing from hotel accommodation provided by the Home Office, and that will be followed by Ben Bradshaw (Lab) asking one ...
Why is Scotland?s gender reform bill so contentious? | Podcast 24 Jan 2023 at 3:00am
The bill was supposed to streamline the way that people can apply to change their legal gender. So why has it sparked a constitutional crisis ? and become a culture war battleground?It has been six years in the making. The political debates over it went late into the night. But, finally the mos...
Minister unable to say whether Zahawi was telling truth when he first said ta... 23 Jan 2023 at 8:23pm
Labour MP asks whether Zahawi statement in the summer was untrue, with Cabinet Office minister saying he does not know the answerNadhim Zahawi, the Conservative party chair, has welcomed the decision by Rishi Sunak to ask the No 10 ethics adviser to investigate his case. ?I am confident I acted p...
Scottish Labour criticised as ex-MSP who made ?sexist? remarks put on MP shor... 23 Jan 2023 at 12:53pm
Frank McAveety apologised for comments made in Holyrood meeting in 2010 about 15-year-old girlThe Scottish Labour party has been criticised for putting a former MSP who made ?deeply sexualised and racist remarks? about a 15-year-old girl on to its shortlist for a parliamentary seat in Glasgow.Fra...
Stoking a culture war? No, Nicola Sturgeon, this is about balancing conflicti... 21 Jan 2023 at 7:00pm
Scottish gender reform plans jeopardise legal protections for womenThe term ?culture war? once had meaning: the weaponisation of socio-cultural issues to foment division. But, like the words bigoted and phobic, it is being rendered impotent by how often it is now used to mean ?opinion I disagree ...
British politics, a consensus of delusion 2 Feb 2023 at 12:24pm
Every time the deputy Prime Minister Demonic, sorry, Dominic Raab appears on the telly I can’t help but think about one of those crime dramas in which an arrogant area sales manager with a terrible temper and a permanent smirk is spied on by his neighbours in the dead of night, pouring concrete for a …
Brexit : Three years on, lies, deceit and delusion 1 Feb 2023 at 11:43am
On Tuesday 31 January it was the third anniversary of the UK crashing out of the EU with Boris Johnson’s half baked and fundamentally dishonest Brexit deal. None of the much heralded Brexit benefits have materialised, there is still no sign of the advantageous trade deals that the rest of the world was supposedly poised …
EU membership for Scotland, let?s do it the right way 31 Jan 2023 at 11:32am
The SNP constitution secretary Angus Robertson has suggested that a vote for Scottish independence should also count as a vote for Scotland to rejoin the European Union and that a second vote on EU membership would therefore not be required. He said that in a future vote the independence case would be “for Scottish independence …
Holyrood?s death by a thousand Tory cuts 30 Jan 2023 at 11:01am
In a recent interview with the News Agents podcast, the First Minister said that she is no longer 100% certain that the Conservatives would not attempt to abolish the Scottish Parliament. Even a few months ago this would have been an unthinkable possibility, but given the blatantly anti-democratic behaviour of the Conservatives over recent months …
Coronation sicken 26 Jan 2023 at 10:57am
The beginning of May would be a very good time to escape the country, if you can afford to seeing as how the energy price cap comes to an end in April and millions of households will be struggling to afford their gas and electricity bills, a Westminster created utter disgrace in a country such …
Winning a de facto referendum is within our grasp 25 Jan 2023 at 10:48am
A major new poll for The National has found that a clear majority of voters would back pro-independence parties if the next UK General Election were to be used as a de facto independence referendum. In such a scenario total of 54.4% of voters would give their votes to either the SNP, the Scottish Greens, …
The Twilight Zone 24 Jan 2023 at 10:09am
Alister Jack has spent the past week or so refusing to explain his reasons for blowing up the devolution settlement by making unprecedented use of a section 35 order to veto the Gender Recognition Reform Bill passed by the Scottish Parliament after extensive debate and consultation and with cross-party support. As Shona Robison the Scottish …
The Trojan horse 23 Jan 2023 at 11:13am
Alister Jack, the Viceroy of the Province of North Britain, has compounded his contempt for the Scottish Parliament by refusing to appear before a Holyrood committee to explain his reasons for his unprecedented use of a section 35 order to veto a Holyrood bill relating to devolved matters which was passed by a large and …
Prime Minister?s Quarrelling 19 Jan 2023 at 10:31am
There’s pointlessness, and then there’s Prime Minister’s Question, where democracy goes to kill itself, who needs to stare aimlessly at peeling wallpaper when every week we are confronted with this joyless exercise in futility. There may once have been a time when the Prime Minister gave a serious and informative response put to him or …
Nap time with Alister Jack 18 Jan 2023 at 9:58am
The cluelessness of the Conservative Governor General of the colony of Scotlandshire never ceases to amaze. Alister Jack takes arrogant patrician ignorance to such depths that by comparison he makes the self regarding contestants on Love Island seem like professors of moral philosophy debating why if there is indeed a loving god he allows so …
Listen: Stooshie podcast ? Brexit, budgets and NHS Tayside pressure 3 Feb 2023 at 3:30pm
Brexit is three years old. Is this time to celebrate or commiserate? We listened to one fishing industry figure who says the ‘poster boys’ have been let down. And we discuss the latest economic pressures hitting health boards including Tayside.
Who?s on strike across Scotland and what do they want? 1 Feb 2023 at 5:00pm
Widespread industrial action has disrupted nearly every public service in Scotland, including our schools, emergency services and transport.
How the 1970s began for me and how I was nearly written off at the age of five 23 Jun 2022 at 12:29am
How the 1970s began for me and how I was nearly written off at the age of five Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 22 June 2022 It did not start too well for me: the seventies. I was only a few months into primary school. Making friends. Finding my feet as a shy, sensitive only child …
How the 1970s began for me and how I was nearly written off at the age of five appeared first on Gerry Ha...
Independence is not about process politics. It is about democracy 22 Jun 2022 at 12:18am
Independence is not about process politics. It is about democracy. Gerry Hassan The National, 21 June 2022 The air is thick with talk of referenda. How one is held, its status, who can initiate it and has to agree to it, and the timetable indicated by Nicola Sturgeon and Angus Robertson of October 2023. All …
Independence is not about process politics. It is about democracy appeared ...
What Scotland?s big independence debate is about and should be about 17 Jun 2022 at 7:35pm
What Scotland?s big independence debate is about and should be about Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, 15 June 2022 Nicola Sturgeon has fired the gun on Scotland?s independence debate, standing in Bute House yesterday with Patrick Harvie, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, launching the first of several papers on independence. This has brought forth the usual …
What Scotland’s big indepen...
What independence has to do to win 15 Jun 2022 at 7:36pm
What independence has to do to win Gerry Hassan The National, 14 June 2022 The Scottish Government will make an important announcement on independence today; one long awaited by independence supporters. It has long been apparent that the 2014 offer needs not just updating but completely revising and that serious, substantive work needs to be …
What independence has to do to win appea...
The last days of Boris Johnson and what comes after? 8 Jun 2022 at 7:43pm
The last days of Boris Johnson and what comes after? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 8 June 2022 Tory leadership votes of no confidence come around much more frequently nowadays. This is not a misperception, but rooted in the decline in the authority and quality of Tory leaders, the nature of the Tory tribe and the …
The last days of Boris Johnson and what comes after? appeared first o...
Goodbye to the Britain that we have all grown up with 7 Jun 2022 at 8:18pm
Goodbye to the Britain that we have all grown up with Gerry Hassan The National, 7 June 2022 Four days of Platinum Jubilee celebrations; wall-to-wall endless media coverage and sycophantic commentary on TV, radio and papers; and as the weekend concluded a Tory leadership vote of no confidence was finally triggered against Boris Johnson, beginning …
Goodbye to the Britain that we have...
The relevance of George Orwell today; Standing up for democracy and against f... 1 Jun 2022 at 8:26pm
The relevance of George Orwell today: Standing up for democracy and against fascism Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 1 June 2022 George Orwell?s influence as a writer has grown since his death in 1950 at the age of 46, particularly in recent decades. He was unashamedly a voice on the left – independent minded, an iconoclast …
The relevance of George Orwell today; Standing up for democra...
What are we celebrating in the Queen?s Jubilee? 31 May 2022 at 8:30pm
What are we celebrating in the Queen?s Jubilee? Gerry Hassan The National, 31 May 2022 This is a watershed week for Britain and the monarchy at the marking of the Queen?s Platinum Jubilee. It does however raise the question – what exactly are we celebrating? The Queen has been Head of State for the past …
What are we celebrating in the Queen’s Jubilee? appeared first on Gerry Hassan ...
How do we put government and leadership back in Scotland and the UK? 25 May 2022 at 9:31pm
How do we put government and leadership back in Scotland and the UK? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 25 May 2022 UK government and politics are not in a good place. They have been traduced and trashed in ways once unimaginable. Boris Johnson has presided over an administration from top to bottom of unbelievable incompetence, serial …
How do we put government and leadership back in Scot...
Progressive politics has to talk about class and race, and challenge the fals... 24 May 2022 at 9:32pm
Progressive politics has to talk about class and race, and challenge the false divisions of the right Gerry Hassan The National, 24 May 2022 These are divisive times in politics and public life; strident voices stoking division are all around. Many of them tell us that the age we live is shaped by ?culture wars? …
Progressive politics has to talk about class and race, and challenge t...
Should Flower of Scotland be kept not so much for our sake but for all the ot... 3 Feb 2023 at 11:50am
In the Murder two days ago: Former Scotland coach Jim Tefler is still adamant his nation should “show maturity” by ditching their national anthem. The Scots will blast out Flower of Scotland loud and proud at Twickenham before their blockbuster Six Nations Calcutta Cup clash against England on Saturday. But Tefler, 82, believes it is time for the anthem to be shelved because of its anti-English...
Have BBC Radio Scotland audiences fallen by 20% in one year mainly because of... 3 Feb 2023 at 11:01am
The RAJAR report this week suggests: BBC Radio Scotland has lost a fifth of all listeners in a year, according to the latest audience numbers. The figures published by the research body Rajar, show that nearly 196,000 people have turned off the national broadcaster over the last 12 months. In the final quarter of 2021, 976,000 people were tuning in, but by the same time last year that had fall...
This is the Party of failure to build affordable homes in England, attacking ... 3 Feb 2023 at 10:02am
Why is Miles Briggs looking so glum? The Herald has used the same image from their 2018: Rape Crisis Scotland slam Tory MSP over ‘intimidating’ sexual harassment probe So, a high profile case leads to an understandable surge in complaints, to local housing departments or other owners, about mould by social housing tenants and the Scottish Conservatives are platformed by Bol in the Herald to bla...
School violence: A classic example of seeking to stoke moral panic 2 Feb 2023 at 4:23pm
stewartb I?ve only read the front page of The Herald ? magnifying the picture above to read the article. I have no wish to give The Herald the benefit of my custom even tho? a decade ago it was my newspaper of choice. It?s an appalling piece of journalism: it is rightly being called out in the blog post as a classic example of seeking to stoke moral panic. Yet another example: a pattern emergin...
Violence in schools: Irresponsible scare-mongering and no hard evidence whats... 2 Feb 2023 at 9:16am
The Herald likes to think of itself as ‘serious’ and informative. Here it is in the gutter, with its eyes still fixed in that gutter, not reporting reality for the benefit of its readers but constructing a dark alternative reality within which the vulnerable may be damaged. What evidence do they have? ONE whistleblower, unnamed, but in Glasgow’s east end. With the smallest respect, is that a re...
94% of homeless are in housing accommodation and not rough-sleeping 1 Feb 2023 at 1:54pm
I won’t be using an exploitative image of a sad child here, as BBC Scotland have. Yesterday, they were keen to tell us: The number of people classed as homeless in Scotland hit an all-time high last year, according to the latest figures. There were 28,944 open homelessness cases in September 2022 – the highest since Scottish government records began in 2002. The figures were an 11% rise on the ...
Less ?troubled?? Glasgow?s ?super hospital? A&E sees 82% improvement 1 Feb 2023 at 11:39am
Scotland’s largest A&E department at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, often fondly described by Scotland’s media as ‘troubled’ by, for example, pigeon fungus, has recovered to levels not seen since January 2022. In week-ending 22 January 2023, 67.2% of attendances were seen and resulted in a subsequent admission, transfer or discharge within 4 hours. This was an impressive 81...
Grenfell: What you won?t hear from Michael Gove 1 Feb 2023 at 9:31am
Leah Gunn Barrett This letter refused by Sunday Times. Michael Gove?s admission of Tory culpability six years after the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster won?t bring back the 72 people who died. The deadly blaze was caused by the lack of English fire safety building regulations, which Tory ministers would no doubt deem to be ?useless red tape.? After all, the Tories? property development chums are m...
Schools in 30 out of 32 councils NOT closed today 1 Feb 2023 at 8:28am
From Reporting Scotland this morning, as all of England’s schools close, we hear: Most schools in Clackmannanshire and Aberdeen are closed… There is of course no public information reminder that in 30 out of 32 council areas, schools are not on strike today. Muuum, my school is closed, Jennifer told me. We’re not in Aberdeen or Clackthingy! I was listening to that lassie on the news there. Don’...
Worry not! Scotland?s trains are running today 1 Feb 2023 at 8:17am
From BBC Reporting Scotland this morning as they work hard to make sure you don’t feel excluded from the even more disruptive events elsewhere in the UK Thousands of workers from a range of sectors are preparing top joining picket lines across the country… After a string of warnings of industrial action, of the kind a public service broadcaster should be providing, we hear in some detail of the...
Breaking the Cycle 31 Mar 2022 at 2:58pm
Holyrood's Chris Marshall talks to Sean Duffy, chief executive of the Wise Group, and SNP MSP Rona Mackay, a member of the Scottish Parliament's Criminal Justice Committee, about Scotland's stubbornly high prison population and the effectiveness of community-based alternatives to incarceration.
This podcast is sponsored by the Wise Group.
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Keeping it human 10 Feb 2022 at 8:38pm
After a bruising week in which the statutory regulator, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, found itself in the eye of the Gender Recognition Act storm, Mandy Rhodes interviews its chair, Baroness Kishwer Falkner.
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Questioning the question 14 Jan 2022 at 12:49pm
After a paper written by the former SNP policy lead, Chris Hanlon, on ?devo max? sparked an almighty row about what question or questions should be asked in any future Independence Referendum, Mandy Rhodes speaks to SNP President, Mike Russell, former Labour MSP Neil Findlay, and academic, Professor James Mitchell, on why it mattered.
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Labour of Love 16 Dec 2021 at 11:45am
Scottish Labour?s Richard Leonard talks to Louise Wilson about his political career and why he decided to step down as party leader earlier this year. Elsewhere, the Holyrood team discuss the coming Omicron wave and whether the controversy over Downing Street parties has made it less likely that people will follow guidelines this Christmas.
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COP26: Where are the Global South? 10 Nov 2021 at 3:35pm
In this special COP26 edition of the podcast, Louise Wilson hears from Alistair Dutton of SCIAF about who is feeling climate change first and worst, the missing $100bn climate finance, and the achievements of COP so far.
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COP26: Can we be cautiously optimistic? 5 Nov 2021 at 11:20am
In this special COP26 edition of the podcast, Louise Wilson speaks to WWF Scotland?s Fabrice Leveque about cautious optimism, how Scotland can prove it?s a climate leader and the work still to be done.
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All Eyes on Scotland 29 Oct 2021 at 11:30am
In the latest edition of the podcast, Mandy Rhodes speaks to SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford about the latest push for independence and the UK Government?s decision not to award a carbon capture plant to Scotland. Elsewhere, the team discusses the upcoming COP26 climate summit and asks ? does Glasgow really have a rat problem?
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An Attack on Democracy 25 Oct 2021 at 9:31am
Following the murder of Sir David Amess MP, there is renewed focus on the growing level of threat and intimidation politicians face, particularly online. In this edition of the podcast, journalist Margaret Taylor speaks to SNP MP Carol Monaghan about what it was like to receive a death threat. Elsewhere, the team discuss whether Sir David?s death will lead to a tightening of security for electe...
Joking aside 13 Oct 2021 at 2:00pm
Former Scottish Conservatives leader Jackson Carlaw is the guest on this week?s edition of the podcast, fresh from being named Wag of the Year at the Holyrood Political Awards. He reflects on a career in politics and what really happened when he stepped down as leader last year. Elsewhere, the team discuss Nicola Sturgeon?s comments about having ?time on her side? when it comes to a second inde...
The case for independence 6 Oct 2021 at 4:35pm
In this edition of the podcast, Mandy Rhodes speaks to former SNP deputy leader Jim Sillars about his life in politics and why he believes the current party leadership is failing to articulate the case for independence. Elsewhere, the team discuss a landmark legal ruling by the Supreme Court and Prime Minister Boris Johnson?s speech to the Conservative party conference.
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Associate Feature: Journey to Net Zero 3 Feb 2023 at 6:00am
Having risen to the twin challenges posed by a global pandemic and a difficult economic situation, the focus on climate change continues for businesses in Scotland
Associate Feature: Delivering modern hospitals to improve Scottish healthcare 2 Feb 2023 at 6:00am
Hospitals and healthcare are never far from the news. While Covid brought bed capacity to the fore, the recent wave of strikes has shone a light on hospital facilities and their importance in helping clinical staff provide quality care for patients and, c
Public sector strikes begin across UK 1 Feb 2023 at 7:00am
Trade unions have coordinated plans for industrial action in a bid to improve pay and conditions
Associate Feature: Digital future 1 Feb 2023 at 7:00am
Alec Harley, Director for devolved government at Leidos talks to Holyrood about how technology can benefit us all in challenging times
