JUSTICE Secretary Kenny MacAskill has welcomed another increase in police numbers, confirming that the pledge for 1,000 extra officers continues to be exceeded. The latest Police Officer Quarterly Strength Statistics show that there were 17,343 police officers in Scotland on December 31, 2011. This is an increase of over 1,100 officers, up almost 7% from [...]
By Alessandro Brunelli A SCOTS council has paid more than £10 million to sick workers in just nine months. Fife Council forked out more than £1m a month to absent staff between April and December last year. But the true figure could be even higher as the figure doesn’t take into account money paid [...]
NICK Clegg is the political leader most hated by Scottish voters, a survey has revealed. The head of the Lib Dem party pipped Labour colleague Ed Miliband to the post in a poll of Scottish voters. 77% of those surveyed said they were dissatisfied with the performance of Clegg, compared to 76% for Milliband. The [...]
SCOTLAND is at risk of being “left behind” on childcare in the coming year, Scottish Labour warned today. South of the border, three and four-year olds have a statutory entitlement to 15 hours’ nursery education, but a formal agreement to achieve this in Scotland by 2010 has been delayed. Only a handful of Scottish councils [...]
TRAM bosses accused of shredding crucial project documents today insisted that they do have them after all – but will keep them under wraps. Edinburgh City Council say finding the documents and putting them together would cost too much, leading to claims they have something to hide. Officials had responded to a Freedom of Information [...]
Labour today accused the SNP of being complacent on violent crime. Johann Lamont MSP, Scottish Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice, voiced his belief that SNP budget cuts are responsible for a lack of active police patrols on the streets. Mr Lamont further claimed that the “boasting” of Cabinet Secretary Kenny MacAskill [...]
THE Scottish Liberal Democrats have backed the SNP in their motion to introduce minimum pricing for alcohol. The Bill, which was published this morning, will introduce a minimum price per unit of alcohol, preventing retailers from selling high strength alcohol products at rock-bottom prices. Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson Alison McInnes MSP announced the end of the [...]
Elaine Morris has pledged new allegiance to the SNP in a shock defection By Kirsty Topping A SENIOR Liberal Democrat councillor has caused shock by defecting to the SNP. Elaine Morris said she was disillusioned by the party’s Westminister coalition with the Conservatives and by the lack of leadership in the Edinburgh trams debacle. Her [...]
By Kevin Duguid ANTI-FASCIST groups could mount a demonstration against right-wing extremists at a planned rally in Edinburgh. The Scottish Defence League (SDL) is in talks with police chiefs about making a return to the city this September. Eighteen months ago a stand-off in the Royal Mile saw five men arrested as tensions rose between [...]
Scottish Labour has called on the Government and Southern Cross to guarantee that care home residents will not be disrupted despite the private care company’s current crisis. The comment follows Southern Cross’ announcement that it had entered administration at the weekend. Scottish Labour: a commitment to welfare Scottish Labour Shadow Health Secretary, Jackie Baillie MSP, [...]
A POLICE plan to save cash by pensioning off more than 300 senior officers has been thrown into disarray following an unprecedented revolt by councillors. Lothian and Borders Police, Scotland’s second biggest force, wants to save millions of pounds annually by forcing officers with 30 or more years’ service to retire. But at a stormy [...]
SNP plans to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes could lead to a rise in counterfeiting – say critics. The party hopes to introduce plain packaging for all tobacco companies and force them to display bigger health warnings. But critics and the tobacco lobby have warned that standardised packaging could also have damaging effects. They say [...]
INTERNET giants Google have been forced into blacking out details of former PM Gordon Brown’s home from its controversial Street View mapping service. They acted within days of Mr Brown’s security team being tipped off on detailed images showing security cameras and even armed guards patrolling at the rural property in Fife. A Street View [...]
MORE than 20,000 people marched through the centre of the Scottish capital to demonstrate against the financial cuts announced in Westminster this week. The mass of demonstrators, made up of trade unionists, community activists and members of the public assembled on New Market Street, close to the City of Edinburgh Council offices on Saturday. The [...]
By Christine Lavelle SENIOR officers have clashed with the Scottish Government over plans to merge Scottish police forces. The Scottish Government no longer want eight separate constabularies, nor do they want one super-force, but speculation is growing over how many forces this will mean as the policing landscape of the country gets set for a [...]
By Christine Lavelle A HUGE rise in attacks on emergency service workers could mean every member of staff is fitted with a personal panic alarm. Prosecutions for assaults on NHS workers have risen by 542 per cent, and court proceedings increased from 57 to 309 under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act, which was extended in [...]
MORE than 20,000 people marched through the centre of the Scottish capital to demonstrate against the financial cuts announced in Westminster this week. The mass of demonstrators, made up of trade unionists, community activists and members of the public assembled on New Market Street, close to the City of Edinburgh Council offices yesterday (Sat). The [...]
By Christine Lavelle UNIVERSITIES in Scotland are cashing in China’s “crucial” student population to bolster the country’s educational sector. Education Secretary Mike Russell said China has become a key strategy in attracting more students to study in Scotland and encouraging more researching funding from the Far East for Scottish universities. He said it could open [...]
By Clare Carswell MORE than 20,000 people marched through the centre of the Scottish capital to demonstrate against the financial cuts announced in Westminster this week. The mass of demonstrators, made up of trade unionists, community activists and members of the public assembled on New Market Street, close to the City of Edinburgh Council offices [...]