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Edinburgh first to back global Occupy movement

November 24, 2011 By
Edinburgh Council has become the first political body to officially back to worldwide Occupy movement.

The council this afternoon voted in an overwhelming majority to redirect economic decisions to be more focussed on the needs of the 99% in an attempt to reduce the “inequitable gap” between the rich and poor.

The SNP, Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Greens, all voted in favour of the motion, with the Conservatives the only party to reject it.

During the debate, Councillor Chapman of the Scottish Green Group said: “Next week workers will go on strike to protect pensions whilst the 1% continue their parasitic feasting on the commonwealth.”

Labour Councillor Gordon Munro, who is an advocate of the Robin Hood Tax, added: “Occupy Edinburgh is a civilised response to the irresponsible actions of global bankers.”

Conservatives voiced concern over the safety of the Edinburgh camp based at St Andrew’s Square, citing anti-social behaviour and a risk to public safety. They also felt that a vote to back the movement would suggest that Edinburgh was closed to the needs of businesses.

Councillor Chapman responded: “This is not about saying Edinburgh is closed to business. It’s about representing the interests of the people.”

Background to the Occupy Movement

St Andrew’s Square has seen an influx of approximately 300 protestors since October 15 calling themselves Occupy Edinburgh. The demonstration, inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protests in America, has seen campaigners rally against the influence of the ‘one per cent’ of wealthy individuals and companies over the ’99 per cent’ of the general public. Their mantra, ‘We are people over profit’, reflects their protests against cuts to education, disability benefits and the NHS. Dozens of students, working mothers, trade unionists and other campaigning groups have set up camp and made a call for social equality and corporate responsibility.

The non-violent protests in Edinburgh are among a small minority of the demonstrations which have gone smoothly with little disruption.

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Council scraps environmental privatisation plans

November 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The council has scrapped plans to outsource its environmental services to private firm Enterprise.

The move means that services such as bin collection, recycling and responsibility for public spaces including parks will remain with the council.

The decision came this afternoon after SNP councillors won a majority vote against their Liberal Democrat coalition partners who were in favour of privatisation. The SNPs were backed by both Labour and the Green Party, while the Conservatives supported the Liberal Democrats.

However, not all Liberal Democrat councillors were in favour of outsourcing. Councillor Gary Peacock was applauded by the public gallery for voting against privatisation, saying: “I believe that waste and parks should remain in the public sector”, but added that it wasn’t a decision he took lightly.

Today’s vote is seen as significant in keeping other council services out of the public sector.

During today’s debate, Councillor Burgess of the Green Party said: “The Liberal Democrat motion, if approved, would see a large proportion of council services handed over to the private sector.”

The privatisation plans alone have cost the council £3.6million over the last two years, but the council’s director of Services for Communities, Mark Turley – who last year was paid £120,513 – said that a positive vote could have saved the city £27 million at a time that serious cuts are having to be made.

Councillor Mowat of the Conservatives warned councillors before the vote: “If you vote against Enterprise, you can go and justify it to the people who lose their jobs next year.”

There are now unconfirmed reports that the vote may lead to a collapse in the Lib Dem/SNP coalition.

More background on today’s decision is available here.

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New future ahead for Spain after the General Election Day?

November 24, 2011 By 1 Comment

by Natalia Rodríguez Domínguez

Mariano Rajoy, new president of Spanish Goverment

Will Spanish General Election results mark the beginning of a new era for the country to get over its worst-ever economic crisis?

This year’s elections have been dominated by Spain’s deepest debt crisis. In his victory speech, Mariano Rajoy, new President of the Spanish Government stated: “There won’t be any miracles. We never promised any”. However, despite the seriousness of the current situation, he also expressed his optimism: “As we have said before, when things are done properly, the results come in.”
 

Rajoy has encouraged all Spanish citizens to join together and act as a whole nation in order to fight against the crisis and try to restore Spain’s financial health. His advice is to work as a unit and try to gain back respect in Europe.

Last Sunday, 20th November, Spain’s Conservative Popular Party won overwhelming victory over the then-ruling Socialist Party, which suffered its worst defeat since the start of Spanish Democracy. The Popular Party won about 45% of the votes (10,830,693) while the Socialists received only 29% (6,973,880).

The landslide victory of opposition leader Mariano Rajoy meant that his Popular Party won 186 seats in parliament, compared with the 154 they had in the last administration. As far as the Socialists are concerned, their party dropped from 169 to 110 – their worst performance in parliament since records began. The Socialist Party, which has governed in Spain since 2004, had no choice but to concede to a crushing defeat.

As the final report for the count of votes was revealed, many citizens have expressed their indignation against the method traditionally used for allocating the lower house seats in Spain.

The D’Hondt method is party-list system based on proportional representation, it was first conceived by the Belgian mathematician Victor D’Hondt, in 1878. This system slightly favours large parties and coalitions over small parties regardless of the number of votes. This means that parties with the highest number of votes do not necessarily get the most seats.

In the case of Spain’s latest General Elections, the use of this method has meant that UPyD Centre Party only won 5 seats at the Parliament despite having received 1,140,242 votes. Whilst other parties with less votes have been allocated a higher number of seats; AMAIUR Party was voted by 333,628 people, but thanks to the D’Hondt Method, they won 7 seats (2 over UPyD).

The voting system has come under scrutiny from the Spanish public with critics claiming the old system is undemocratic. Pressure is mounting to adopt a new method, which gives a fairer representation of seats, based on the number of votes cast.

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National strikes row continues

November 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
On November 30, the largest series of strikes in UK history are set to take place.

They will involve over 25 different unions around the country including UNISON, Unite, NUS and EIS. The Trades Union Congress’(TUC) website states that their Day of Action could potentially attract up to 3 million workers in the walkout.

The unions have come out in anger about the government’s plans to renegotiate pensions. Under the new proposals, public sector workers will pay more towards their pensions, work longer, and receive less when they retire.

This strike action has attracted unions historically unwilling to walk out, including the Association of Headteachers and Deputies in Scotland. The National Association of Probation Officers are also on the list and they have only gone on strike twice in the past 100 years.

The government has warned that the strikes on Wednesday could cost the country £500m and lead to job losses. The unions responded to these claims by accusing the government of “fantasy economics.” The general secretary of the TUC, Brendan Barber, has said that the government is using public sector workers as scapegoats for the country’s economic problems.

The strikes were announced shortly after the government stated they were making concessions to the Unions, exempting public sector workers within 10 years of retirement, from these changes. The unions are unhappy with the government’s lack of flexibility.

Student walkouts, encouraged by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, are also planned for next Wednesday.  The collective protests mean the number of people on the streets is likely to be more than 3 million.

These demonstrations are likely to cause school closures, disrupt NHS services, border agencies, waste collection and universities.

Filed Under: All Politics

Finland says farewell to the Markka

November 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

"The Euro: what 'value' a currency?"

Before leaving Scotland a friend handed over some old Finnish markka,
challenging me to see if I could “still use them.”

In truth the Finnish markka ceased to be legal tender in 2002. Finland adopted the euro when entering the Eurozone in 1999, and is still the only Scandinavian country to have embraced the single currency.

My only option, then, is to get them changed.  On a day when the euro crisis has deepened, and Nokia Siemens Networks has been forced to announce cutting a quarter of its workforce,  I show the 240 Finnish markaas, including two big green notes depicting the composer Sibelius to Jenni, the teller at Forex Bank.  She looks surprised to see them. “You want to get rid of them,” she advises, adding that from next year nowhere will take them, even the Finnish National Bank.  “Are the Finns sad about that?” I ask.  “No” she says instantly.

“With everything that’s been going on in the Eurozone, do Finnish people want their old currency back?” I ask, adding, “are you fed up of the euro?” Jenni’s smile falters.  She looks at me as if I am stupid.  “No, why?” she asks.

Her reaction will be a disappointment to Timo Soini, the outspoken leader of the far-right party True Finns, who made surprising gains in last year’s election.  Soini is an outspoken critic of the EU, and has since voiced his desire to run for the presidency.  He takes credit as attempts to derail the bailouts of Portugal and Greece.

Every Finn I speak to seems embarrassed by the True Finns.  “Finland is a Social Democratic country, like the rest of Scandinavia,” Taisto Oksanen, 47, a well-known Finnish actor tells me. “But in the last ten years we’ve seen that erode.  We didn’t have too much of a class divide before, but since the Euro some people have got very rich, and a few hundred thousand people have just dropped into poverty. Our education and social welfare has been damaged.   The old parties were seen as corrupt and in with business, so I think people voted for the True Finns for change.  But it’s happening all over Europe – people are voting for those that blame the immigrants.  Look at Spain.  It is history repeating.”

“True Finns are very conservative, want the Finnish markka back and to kind of isolate Finland from the rest of Europe.  I don’t know how the support packages will actually help the citizens and I think that the banks should also take some responsibility for all of this.” says International Business student Milka Tanskanen, 21. “ I was ten years old when we started to use Euro in Finland, so I don’t actually have any real experience of the Finnish mark.”

“The old notes were nice,” Oksanen tells me.  “The euro, the note, doesn’t mean anything to me.  It has less ‘value’.”

 

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Salmond “scared of separation”

November 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Iain Gray used today’s First Minister’s Questions to corner Alex Salmond over his refusal to name a date for Scotland’s referendum on independence, accusing the First Minister of being “scared of separation”.

In typical First Ministers’ Questions style, Mr Salmond responded in kind by accusing the Labour leader of being “frightened of the concept of independence.”

The Labour leader urged Mr Salmond to “steady the ship and decide a date for the referendum,” after a week of bickering between Holyrood and Westminster, which saw Finance Secretary John Swinney accuse the UK Government of “becoming ever more hysterical” over the issue of independence.

The First Minister confirmed that the referendum would take place in the second half of the SNP’s current term in parliament, as set out during the party’s election campaign earlier this year, but refused to confirm a specific date.

Mr Gray said: “The longer this goes on, the more it looks as if Alex Salmond is trying to rig the referendum to get the results he wants.

“He always puts party before principal and isn’t that why he can’t name a date?”

Mr Salmond responded by saying: “Some people in the Labour party actually recognise that they lost the election and have to accept the mandate of the Scottish people.”

He added: “Westminster should keep out of the referendum and not meddle.

“It would be insulting and contemptuous for the Scottish people for Westminster to get involved.”

The First Minister went on to say that a number of opinion polls are showing increasing and substantial support for an independent Scotland. He reminded the main chamber that the SNP were re-elected with “a massive majority” six months ago on the basis of their promise to hold a referendum.

He went on to express concerns that the UK Treasury was not keeping the Scottish Government properly informed about the impact the euro will have on the Scottish economy. The Chancellor, George Osborne, is yet to respond to John Swinney’s request that economy-boosting measures are included in the Treasury’s autumn statement, including an increase in capital spending.

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“Chinese Army” couldn’t grit Edinburgh

November 24, 2011 By 1 Comment

Central areas like the mound are being gritted, but will they go far enough?

A local Councillor has described Edinburgh’s attempt to keep the city’s streets safe during the winter season as “impossible for the Council to do, even if they got the Chinese army.”

The comments come as local residents raise concerns about the availability and distribution of grit as predictions of a harsh winter loom. Last year grit bins ran out of salt and members of the public were forced to buy their own or stay in their houses.

Councillor Norman Work, vice-convenor of Health and Social Care, has taken a controversial stance on the issue of whose responsibility it is for gritting Edinburgh’s roads.

Last year, he angered many Edinburgh residents when he said: “A lot of people think the Council should clear the pavements, but I think residents and shopkeepers should do it – unless you’re 90 years old. This is no time for laziness: why not clear your own pavement?

“I remember when people used to clear the pavements outside their own property.”

This year, he is again urging individuals to be more proactive. “People think the council’s going to come and dig their car out of their driveway.”

“If you’re able, get a shovel and help.”

The Council are setting up a scheme for members of the public to register as volunteers to help with the gritting.

Councillor Work said he would pitch in: “I’ve got a pair of wellies – I’ll get out and help.”

Yet he did promise that “there is more money” going towards gritting this year, with the Council having bought more bins and holding open discussions with local residents to improve on last year’s problems.

Suggested strategies include adapting vehicles to have shovels, and dumping builders’ bags of grit onto pavements to supplement the shortage of bins.

However,  Work pointed out bureaucratic issues in the system. “Health and safety is preventing the workers who bring the grit to replenish the bins. They bring it, then they can’t walk on the pavement.”

Grit poachers also undermine the Council’s efforts. “Sometimes the Council fill [the bins] and people come and steal it to sell on privately,”  Work added.

Distribution and restocking of bins are becoming an increasingly worrying issues for community members.

Gorgie and Dalry was identified as an area with a worryingly small number of salt or grit bins which are allocated unevenly. On Ardmillan Terrace there are two bins, but between there and Haymarket – a distance of two miles – there are no bins, while there are none at all north of Dalry Road.

Rona Brown, Secretary of the Community Council, said: “We shouldn’t have to wait for an accident to happen”.

Local resident Angela Astor expressed concern that they would run out, saying: “There definitely isn’t enough grit in the bins right now to last the winter.” She also claimed people have been urinating on the material making it impossible or difficult to use.

Chair of the local community council Maria Kelly said: “There is concern that the council is trying to dump salt responsibility on the neighbourhood community council.” She requested more salt bins last month, but has not received an acknowledgement from the Council.

The Council website has a map of bin distribution available here. They also invite requests for relocating bins.

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Scotland climate change warning

November 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Scotland is at increasing risk from climate change,
a new report published today claims.

The report, entitled, ‘How well is Scotland preparing for climate change’, argues that there will be both benefits to Scotland, and risks. It urges the Scottish government to take action to mitigate the impact of climate change.

Some of the benefits of a warmer climate detailed in the report include: fewer winter deaths, lower demand for heating, new opportunities for tourism, and increased agricultural capacity.

At the same time, the report details a range of risks. Flooding is a risk for densely populated urban regions, while Scotland’s disparate rural community is more likely to struggle with extreme weather, if transport links and essential services are disrupted. Scotland’s population profile is increasingly ageing, and the elderly, together with groups already vulnerable to health problems in deprived communities, are both identified as less adaptable to extreme weather.

Stan Blackley, Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said, “With the UN climate talks starting in Durban next week, this is a timely report. At those talks, we need all of the countries in attendance to commit to serious action to reduce carbon emissions and support those who are being worst affected by the impacts of climate change.

“While we already know the devastating effects climate change is having and will increasingly have on developing countries, this report shows that climate change will also impact negatively on Scotland, and that we need to both prepare for it and mitigate against it.”

Potential economic and ecological impacts are also identified by the report. One aspect singled out for particular attention is the potential loss of peat from Scotland’s sensitive peatlands. As well as providing an important ecological environment, peatlands form a significant carbon store, the report contends.

The Adaptation Sub-Committee of the UK Committee on Climate Change, who produced the report, make a number of recommendations to the Scottish government. These include setting specific ‘adaptation outcomes’ which seek to address potential consequences from climate change. They urge greater uptake of ‘low-regret adaptation actions’, the integration of adaptation thinking into policy and decision-making, and effective collaboration with the UK national adaptation programme.

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The week so far in Scottish politics

November 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Holyrood Parliament. Image: Pete Swift

Squabbles over independence, a fight against sectarianism and donations from lottery winners:
this is the week so far in Scottish politics.

Listen here:

Check back this afternoon for a run down of the first minister’s questions.

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Salmond Slams Tories’ Misplaced Interests

November 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By Alexandra Wingate

First Minister Alex Salmond has attacked Scottish Conservatives
for acting to aid the interests of the UK Tory party, rather than that of the Scottish people.

The comments came during today’s First Minister’s Questions after Mr Salmond was asked, no less than three times, about the number of international companies investing in Scotland. This follows Tuesday’s opening of Amazon’s distribution and customer service centres in Fife and Edinburgh respectively. These openings are expected to create more than 3,000 permanent and temporary jobs in Scotland.

Mr Salmond said: “While the success in this investment is not recognised by the opposite benches in this government, it is recognised by the Tory party in the North East of England.”

He went on to explain that Linda Arkley, Conservative mayor of North Tyneside, has been well-documented in her interest in what Mr Salmond described as “the success and firepower of Scotland in attracting thousands of jobs.” He claims that Mrs Arkley has been lobbying George Osborne in an attempt to force these investments to be moved  away from Scotland and into the North East of England.

Mr Salmon continued:  “The dangerous thing is that this lady, after lobbying, said, quote, ‘Ministers have agreed to look at this’, unquote. So what action have Westminster ministers got in mind to dissuade international companies?”

“I hope that at least this parliament can be united by welcoming the investment by Amazon and other companies who are expressing more confidence in Scotland than is held by the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer.”

The issue of money and investment in Scotland featured highly in Mr Salmond’s answers. When Scottish Conservative David McLetchie MSP congratulated Mr Salmond’s recent success in solving the recent fossil fuel levy row with Westminster – which resulted in a windfall of £100m from the UK Treasury – Mr Salmond retorted: “They think it a tremendous triumph to get 50% of Scotland’s money. Wouldn’t it be better to get 100% of Scotland’s money?”

“The other 50% of Scotland’s money is going to help capitalise the Green Investment Bank. Is that not yet another reason for the Green Investment Bank being headquartered in Scotland?”

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Thousands of students protest against Spanish education cuts

November 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

by Natalia Rodríguez Domínguez

Just three days before the Spanish General Elections, thousands of students and teaching staff from  Spanish Universities have taken to the streets
in order to protest against education cuts, difficult working conditions and educational reform which is to be implemented by the government in 2015.

Spanish students have chosen the International Student’s Day,  which is 17th November, as the perfect date to call for a day of protests and teaching strikes across Spain. In Madrid, hundreds of students have been occupying teaching rooms at the five main public Universities since the 14th November.

This movement has been organised by several student groups which have encouraged action against the increasing state cuts in public education and the expected increase of fees which will take effect in 2015. All across the main Spanish cities, students have skipped classes today to show their indignation.

In Barcelona, a number of teaching stuff have joined the students’ demonstrations across the city.  Some faculties also started the day under occupation by students. A group of radical protesters has demonstrated in the middle of some main roads and the city bypass. This has forced the traffic to stop for a few hours, until the demonstrators were removed.

This evening more demonstrations are expected as students and teaching staff plan to take part in localalised protests. They are demanding better quality higher education and an improvement in access to higher education regardless of family income.

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Activists condemn ‘Another Pine Gap’

November 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

by Tom Freeman and Marie Montodo

Australian peace activists have criticised a new agreement between Australia and the US
which will lead to an increased American military presence in the area.

President Barack Obama assured the Asia-Pacific region that the U.S. was “here to stay,” after announcing 2,500 U.S. troops and aircraft will operate out of the city of Darwin, close to the Indonesian border.

Missile guidance base Pine Gap is an example of how the US and Australian militaries have worked together since the 1970s .

Cameron Hall, 35, from Tasmania, said “A lot of Australians will be upset about this.  In the cold war many people were worried because Pine Gap made us a target for Russia and China.  This announcement is bad timing because China is our main trade partner, and there is also a growing feeling of dissent about what is seen as a cavalier attitude by our government to giving away Australian territory.”

Pine Gap, near Alice Springs employs over 800 staff and is a Joint Defence Facility, like Menwith Hill in the UK.

“I have directed my national security team to make our presence and missions in the Asia Pacific a top priority,” Obama told an audience of American and Australian troops at the Royal Australian Air Force base in Darwin yesterday.

China has already expressed concerns about the move.  Xinhua, China’s state news agency, said “it wouldn’t come as a surprise if the United States is trying to seek hegemony in the region, which would be in line with its aspirations as a global superpower.”

Obama responded to these objections by saying the U.S. wants to work with China: “We’ll seek more opportunities for cooperation with Beijing.” He also added, however, that the U.S. would not ignore issues such as human rights in the region.

“Asia will largely define whether the century ahead will be marked by conflict, or cooperation; needless suffering or human progress,” he said.

SOUND FILE: obama addresses troops.

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Another Statutory Notice Saga

November 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By Alexandra Wingate

Another Edinburgh flat owner has come forward with complaints
about the City Council’s poor Statutory Notice failures.

Listen here:
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Salmond:Teacher strike is “premature”

November 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Today in parliament Alex Salmond praised Scottish teachers,
but refused to bow to impending strike action.

Teachers have responded by accusing the First Minister of ‘serving platitudes’.

Last week members of Scotland’s largest teaching union voted “overwhelmingly” to join other public sector workers in a national day of strike action on the 30th November. Salmond used first ministers questions today to praise the work of teachers.  “I bow down to no-one who doesn’t recognise the contribution of Scottish teachers to Scottish Education” he said.  But he also claimed that  any move toward strike action was ‘premature’

“I’m a  supply teacher.  Our pay has been slashed already” said Scottish teacher Donna McGlynn, “but this strike is even bigger.  It’s about pensions, it’s about the loss of McCrone time, meaning teachers will work more hours for less pay.   Alex Salmond should see that we don’t do things like this lightly.  It’s just platitudes.  He has to see the severity of what’s going on in our profession.  All these proposed changes will have a severe impact on our children’s futures, the education of generations.  It’s a pebble dropped in a pond, but I fear the ripple effect.”

EIS general secretary Ronnie Smith said that the 82% vote in favour of industrial action showed  “The patience of teachers and lecturers has been exhausted.  Faced with a wide ranging attack on their pensions,  on top of a two-year pay freeze, rampant inflation and education budget cuts, our members are signalling that ‘enough is enough’.”

Salmond also accused the Westminster Government of “Poisoning the atmosphere with regard to public sector workers” but vowed that they would get fairer conditions in an independent Scotland.

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NUS Scotland reacts to spending review

September 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

NUS Scotland President Robin Parker "very worried" about cuts.

By Joseph Blythe

NUS Scotland have welcomed Scottish Government plans to increase funding for universities by around £75million. However they have said that they are “concerned” at proposed cuts to college funding, and warned that the government should ensure the number of places available doesn’t fall. The plans, announced yesterday by Finance Secretary John Swinney, are part of the government’s spending review, outlining the budget for the next three years.

There had been fears that austerity measures would lead to cuts in education, but Swinney was able to deliver on his party’s campaign promises of increased financial support and no tuition fees for Scottish students. He pledged a minimum income of £7000 for the poorest students, and the protection of the EMA for young students and pupils.

NUS Scotland President Robin Parker said “Taken together these proposals are a major step in right direction towards making access to education in Scotland fairer. This progress is very welcome news and testament to the hard work and campaigning by thousands of students across Scotland in the run-up to the last election.”

But he was less enthusiastic at the cuts facing the budget for colleges, saying “Colleges serve some of the most deprived communities in Scotland, offering an educational lifeline and local access to education to some of the most excluded in our society. They must make sure that no matter what, the number of places at college is at least protected and that quality is maintained.”

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Edinburgh Council’s ‘painful’ vote goes ahead despite court action

September 22, 2011 By 4 Comments

Portobello Park, the site of the new school.

By Tom Freeman

In the face of legal action, Edinburgh City Council is today voting to approve preparatory works on building on one of Edinburgh’s community parks.  Portobello Park, between the ancient Portobello 9-hole golf course and the Milton Road section of the A1, is the preferred site for the new Portobello High School.  The Portobello Park Action Group have condemned the decision to build on the park, citing this as another example of shrinking public green space in Edinburgh and have now raised a legal action in the Court of Session to review the decision, an action which the Council have vowed to ‘vigorously defend’.

“Green space is an asset” Ros Sutherland, chair of PPAG said yesterday, “Step outside the bounds of Portobello, and look at Edinburgh as whole, there’s a history of building on public space”

Local SNP councillor Michael Bridgeman was quick to distance the current administration from the previous Labour-led council  “The SNP pledge to leave the golf course and its 150 year history alone” he told Napier News.  “We have published a clear Open Space Strategy.”  He conceded, however, that there were no plans to create new green space in Edinburgh.

“I fully acknowledge that for those living nearby this choice is totally unacceptable and very painful.” Labour councillor Maureen Child said yesterday.

The PPAG is holding a 5k fun run in the park tonight from 7pm, followed by tea and home baking in St Martin’s church hall.  They hope this will raise awareness and funds for their appeal.

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2.30 Bulletin

March 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Headlines:

Susannah prepares to read the news

 

Listen to today’s 2.30 bulletin to hear about the latest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolution, funeral marches in Syria and how to have a dinner with the lights off.

Listen Here:

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1.30 Bulletin

March 25, 2011 By 1 Comment

by Catherine Mumford, Susannah Radford, Fearghus Roulston, Orla Nr Sheaghdha

Orla all warmed up for the 1:30pm bulletin

Headlines:

Listen to today’s 1.30 bulletin to join in the debate as questions are asked about aid to Burma. We talk with Grassmarket Community Project about helping people to fill out the census.  We investigate whether people know about Earth Hour and find out what’s happening in this weekend’s first International Scottish Tattoo Convention.

Listen Here:

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Air raids continue over Libya

March 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Warfare in Libya. Credit: B.R.Q

By Edoardo Zandona’

Several air raids were conducted last night by the coalition forces over Libyan cities. In Adjabiyah, French planes destroyed an artillery battery belonging to Gaddafi’s army and British Tornadoes threw missiles on Libyan tanks. Residents reported other air raids in Tripoli and Sirte, followed by distant explosions and anti-aircraft gunfire, that also hit the Colonel’s bunker-residence in Bab al-Aziziya.

Meanwhile, clashes between Gaddafi’s and rebel forces continue in the town of Misrata.

British and French government announced today they are ready to work on a ‘political and diplomatic solution’ for the Libya crisis. This decision arrived after NATO said it will take over Libya’s no-fly zone, and it is ready to assume ‘broader responsibility’. The Alliance said their plan is to accomplish the ‘Odyssey Dawn’ mission in 90 days, but may be extended or shortened. NATO has already managed to involve the first Arab country in the conflict with the United Arab Emirates ready to send 12 planes to enforce the no-fly zone. [Read more...]

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12.30 Bulletin

March 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

by Catherine Mumford, Susannah Radford, Fearghus Roulston, Orla Nr Sheaghdha

Newsreader Cath reads the latest bulletin

Headlines:

Listen to today’s 12.30 bulletin to join in the debate as questions are asked about aid to Burma. The latest news about the war plane strikes on Ajdabiya from British troops.

Also, find out what charity has been helping with the census.

Listen Here:

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“Reclaim Your Voice”, once again to fight for education.

March 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By Giulia Mattei

Reclaim Your Voice Logo

Yesterday morning, Tuesday the 22nd of March, students from all over Scotland gathered together in Edinburgh with the aim of taking part in the demonstration organised by the Scottish campaign “Reclaim Your Voice”.

Margaret Smith, Scottish Lib Dem education spokesperson and MSP for Edinburgh West, was invited to the rally to speak to the crowd. “”We are the party in government who scrapped Labour’s tuition fees while Tony Blair and the Labour party were increasing tuition fees down south, so I don’t need any lectures from the chap in front of me.” she said while people booed at her.

Oliver, 19 year old protester, comments on her speech by saying “I don’t even understand why she came her, I wouldn’t have had the guts to show up probably”.

The campaign’s website posted a slogan to encourage people to take part in the demonstration, it says : “For the first time in the history of the Scottish Parliament, we face budget cuts. The threat of tuition fees returning to Scotland has never been more real and we know that student support in Scotland is in deep crisis.”

Student leaders, lecturers, trade unionists and parents marched on Holyrood outside the Scottish Parliament before the elections on the 5th of May, to express their disapproval of cut-backs and tuition fees. People felt like it was the right time to step up once again and fight for the future of Scotland’s students, which explains why hundred of them showed up to protest.

Protesters urged the parties to rule out tuition fees, increase financial support for students, and protect university and college places, the three commitments demanded by Reclaim Your Voice.

If people were not impressed by Margaret Smith’s talk, they were definitely inspired by by what Liam Burns said. “In the rest of the UK, students were betrayed with huge cuts to colleges and universities and the trebling of tuition fees.” said the President of NUS Scotland, during his speech ahead of the march “We must come together with one voice to make sure that this never happens here in Scotland.” he added while the crowd applauded him.

Filed Under: All Politics, Education, Life and Society Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Last days before dissolution

March 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

by Gráinne Byrne

Third session of Holyrood about to go into recess

As we approach the last official day for Holyrood MSPs before Parliamentary recess, opposing parties are marking their line in the sand ahead of tomorrow’s final questions session.  This final session, before dissolution, sets the tone for a battle between the parties leading to the election on 5 May 2011.

In an attempt to engage with the public, First Minister Alex Salmond and his main opponent, Labour leader Iain Gray, will take part in various debates over the next few weeks.  Key issues in the frame include higher education, the economy, the health system and, perhaps most importantly, how they will deal with the financial cuts. [Read more...]

Filed Under: All Politics, MA Monday Tagged With: , , ,

Flying visit to London as Leuchars petition is delivered to government

March 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

by Patrick McPartlin and Tom Barry

With the closure of RAF Kinloss in Moray already confirmed, fears are mounting over the future of Scotland’s other airbases in Lossiemouth and Leuchars following orders by the Westminster government to cut RAF spending as part of the strategic defence review.

Campaigners are set to hand in a petition with 7000 signatures to Downing Street, protesting the closure of the RAF Leuchars airbase. There are more than 21,000 members of the Save RAF Leuchars group on Facebook, which has been set up by Residents Action Force Leuchars.

One of the Tornado jets based at RAF Leuchars.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: All Politics, MA Monday Tagged With: , ,

That’s tweeting brilliant! Twitter is five years old

March 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

by Tom Barry

Twitter is 5 years old today. Picture: P McPartlin

 

Social networking website Twitter celebrates its fifth birthday today.

The micro-blogging site, which enables users to follow the antics of friends and celebrities via posted updates known as tweets,  was founded in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, and has since grown from the simple idea of an individual using an SMS service to communicate with a small group to being one of the most popular forms of communication in the world and is today estimated to have over 200 million users, generating 65 million tweets a day.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: All Politics, MA Monday, Science and Technology Tagged With: , , , , ,

Libya declares ceasefire

March 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By Edoardo Zandona’

UPDATE (15:06) Libyan Youth Movement reports via Twitter: “very large explosions heard and continuing west of Tripoli”. You can follow their tweets here.

UPDATE (14:57) US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the international community had “no other choice” but to take action after the killing of civilians in Libya. She stated: “This resolution is an important step, but the US and its partners will continue to explore other ways of ending the Libyan crisis”.

UPDATE (14:50) Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Zapatero declared that “the international community will not be deceived by the Libyan regime”, and it will “verify its enforcement of the resolution”. Italian Foreign minister Franco Frattini announced that Italy is going to shut down its embassy in Libya.

UPDATE (14:42) BBC’s diplomatic correspondant James Robbins said “the ceasefire is a classic tactic from Colonel Gaddafi and it will not stop military preparations”.

UPDATE (14:12) Despite the announced ceasefire, bombardments and crashes between rebels and loyalist troops continue in the city of Misrata. Arabic network Al-Arabiya said 25 people have been killed in the bombardments. CNN broadcasted an interview of a witness stating: “There isn’t any ceasefire in Libya, they are bombing us in this very second. Misrata is on fire”.

UPDATE (14:02) NATO General Secretary Anders Fogh Rasmussen declared: “NATO is completing its plan in order to be ready to take appropriate action in support of the U.N. Security Council’s resolution”. The organization decided to speed up planning for military action in Libya, but whether to intervene in the conflict has not been decided yet.

UPDATE (13:40) First replies to Libya’s declaration of ceasefire from Western countries’ leaders. The French government declared that “the threat in Libya is unchanged”. David Cameron told the BBC that “Gaddafi will be judged by his deeds, not by his words”.

Following the U.N. resolution imposing Libya a no-fly zone, the country declared a ceasefire to assure the protection of civilian population. Libya’s Foreign minister Mousa Koussa declared journalists in Tripoli that the country “agrees with the resolution” and will therefore suspend the planned offensive on the rebels in Benghazi. The minister explained: “Libya is part of the United Nations and must accept the Security Council’s resolution”. He added that Libya will protect the foreigners in the country and their assets. The Libyan government’s announcement has already made the oil price drop of 3 dollars per barrel.

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi

Filed Under: All Politics, MA Friday, World In Depth Tagged With: , , ,
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