Leith local election candidates faced the voters last night at the Leith Links hustings. On the menu were crucial issues for the port including the biomass proposal and the tram project. Leith Waterworld was also discussed and the closure of the family-friendly pool last January has not deterred campaigners, Splashback, from trying to reopen it. Edinburgh Napier News [...]
It’s campaign time and on May the 3rd voters will choose the future of the city transport. Transport had been in the spotlight in recent years due to the troubled tram project. Now Edinburgh faces another challenge with European Union strict standards on air pollution. The Green party have highlighted the deadline for the city [...]
George Galloway, a Respect Party Candidate, most well known for his infamous Big Brother Stint, has won the Bradford-West by-election by 10, 140 votes. Galloway, in a shocking victory, has taken the Bradford West Parliamentary seat from the Labour Party, and polled more than 18,000 votes. Galloway was expelled from the Labour Party in October 2003 [...]
A “little April foolery” is a protest staged all over Edinburgh by local artists on the first of April. The protest is aimed at the controversial legislation, which will come into action on the first of the month. Many hundreds of artists are set to make the city centre their big stage as they fight [...]
One of Britain’s largest Model United Nations Conferences took place in Edinburgh this weekend. Over 600 teenagers took part in the three-day conference at George Watson’s College. Now in its sixth year, it is the biggest school-based MUN in Scotland and attracts participants from as far afield as Egypt and Turkey. Alexandra Wingate reports exclusively [...]
Theresa May the Home Secretary has made the latest in a series of allegations about the prospects for an independent Scotland. In an interview with the BBC, Ms. May stated that there may be border controls on the border with England, dependent on whether Scotland opts out of the Schengen agreement or not. This comes [...]
Yesterday the Sunday Herald published a full 800 page report by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC). For five years no paper was allowed to get access to the report. The controversial report highlights hopes of a new appeal in the name of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, since a believed miscarriage of justice [...]
David Cameron is expected to pledge to double funding for dementia research by 2015 to £66 million. It is hoped that this funding increase will ensure that the UK will become “the world leader for dementia research and care”. With the figure of dementia sufferers set to rise to 1 million within the next decade [...]
Scottish gay rights charity, Equality Network has responded to a sermon given yesterday by the Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow, Mario Conti. In the sermon he claimed that “tolerance” is turning into “tyranny” on the subject of gay marriage, accusing the political mainstream of “marginalizing” religious opinion. The Archbishop claimed yesterday that the proposed introduction of [...]
£150m will be removed every year from the Scottish economy as a result of the UK Government’s new Housing Benefit law. More than 95,000 households in the social rented sector will be affected by the reform and this will mean an average monthly loss of up to £65 for claimant tenants. Great concern has been [...]
@James_Reekie1 Great to see what Conservative councillors are doing in the Borders and South Ayrshire #scup12 @evagroeneveld Great to hear SAyrshire Councillor ‘embracing the green agenda’ at #scup12. Let’s now go beyond just recycling. @holyroodkate Lamont: Conservatives want to give power to the people to run their communities #scup12 @labourpress Cameron praising Budget which gives [...]
Conservative Health Spokesman Jackson Carlaw will today criticise the SNP for refusing to set up a cancer drugs fund, and instead prioritising free prescriptions for all. He will use his annual speech at the Scottish Conservative Party Conference in Troon to argue that English cancer sufferers have a better chance of survival because of access [...]
The Scottish Law Commission has published a discussion document proposing changes to the law surrounding online contracts. It suggests that laws governing signing international contracts in Scotland are lagging behind England. According to Charles Garland, project manager at the Scottish Law Commission, businesses do not trust electronic signatures and often have to fly to Heathrow [...]
Prime Minister David Cameron has spoken in Troon at the Conservative Party Conference where he discussed the independence referendum and Scotland’s role in the United Kingdom. During his speech this morning he has stated that First Minister Alex Salmond is “dithering” over the independence referendum. He said, “So my message to the First Minister is this: we’ve delivered [...]
Council contractors have cut down five trees along the Water of Leith, despite earlier promises they would be protected. Stop the Chop campaigners were informed of the reversal on Thursday, with three trees removed within 24 hours. The two remaining trees were cut down earlier today. Stop the Chop’s anonymous petition organiser said that [...]
A survey out today found a third of children in Scotland are binge drinking by the age of 13. The Scottish government believes that the link between consumption of alcohol and affordability is a major factor in aggrevating problems of alcohol abuse and aims to tackle this by introducing a minimum alcohol price to discourage [...]
The SNP has mobilized its members in a concerted effort to shift public opinion ahead of a vote for independence. At the weekends party conference, Angus Robertson, Campaign chief urged supporters to “go back to your local area and make sure we are doing everything we can to be as effective as possible.” Members were [...]
Activists from Edinburgh joined the worldwide commemorations of the Tibetan National Uprising Day on Saturday with a march through the Scottish capital. This year marks the 53rd anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising in the country’s capital, Lhasa. The Uprising erupted on 10 March 1952, a decade after the Chinese invasion of the country. One of [...]
David Cameron has said that he aims to help more people in the UK become home-owners. The government has launched a scheme targeting lenders, encouraging them to offer 95 per cent deposits on new build properties. It is hoped that the scheme will provide a financial ‘cushion’ if a property falls into negative equity.
The Catholic Church’s most senior figure in Britain has been accused of ‘scaremongering’ and ‘whipping up gay marriage fears’ after hitting out at the Government’s plans to legalise gay marriage. Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, was told his comments were ‘unacceptable’ and MPs warned of him fuelling prejudice on [...]
After recent criticism over presumed employee exploitation in Tesco, the supermarket giant published some good news, announcing plans to create 20,000 new jobs in the next 2 years. Prime Minister David Cameron has welcomed the plan, which he hopes will provide a boost for Britain’s struggling economy. In a statement he complimented Tesco on their [...]
Vladimir Putin has won the Russian presidential election, reclaiming his former position after operating as Prime Minister for the last term of government. Results indicate a landslide win with a majority of 64%, in what Putin declared was an “open and honest battle”. However opposition groups dispute the fairness of the election, claiming the contest [...]
David Cameron has refused to sign a new fiscal treaty, despite the agreement of 25 of the EU’s 27 member states. The treaty, which enforces budget discipline, aims to restore confidence in the future of the Eurozone in a bid to restore economic growth and jobs. The prime minister said: “There were insufficient safeguards for [...]
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Comment: George Watson’s College’s MUN Conference
If there’s one group we like to blame society’s problems on, it’s young people. These binge drinking hoody wearers are disaffected, uncaring and couldn’t spell “politics” if their entire Spelling Bee credibility depended on it, right? Wrong. While some of us continue to bury years of repressed memories of endless evenings spent crying over boys [...]