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In: News

News that Germany is to follow Scotland in banning GM crops under new EU rules has been welcomed by the SNP. German Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt has informed German states of his intention to use a new EU law, passed in March, to ban the use of GM crops. This follows the Scottish Government’s announcement earlier this month that they will take similar action to protect Scotland’s clean, green status. The German announcement also comes as Professor Carlo Leifert, Professor of Ecological Agriculture at Newcastle University, said that he strongly believes the Scottish Government ban on GM crops is right and that “there are likelyRead More →

On:
In: Political News

An SNP MP has called for clarity from Scottish Secretary David Mundell on the use of the Scotland Office in London. Dover House – the Scotland Office’s base in London – occupies an enviable location in central London on Whitehall and has hosted receptions for the Scottish Fashion Awards and the Scotch Whisky Association in recent years. But in response to a series of parliamentary questions seeking the number of public engagement events that have been held in Dover House aimed at promoting Scotland’s place in the UK and across the world lodged by Dunfermline and West Fife MP Douglas Chapman, the only answer fromRead More →

On:
In: Grant Thoms

Corbynmania may or may not enter the Oxford English Dictionary next year. It is a word that strikes fear, loathing and depression in the minds of many ‘progressive’ Labour MPs. For progressive read whatever you like: right wing? Blairite? Brownie? Everyone wants to claim the title of being progressive and Nicola commandeered, nae owned it, in the General Election. After all, as an adjective all one has to believe in is a sense of going forward. For the youngsters among you, the Progressives in local government in the 1970s and before were Tories by another name. Enough about that. Jeremy Corbyn kicked off the openingRead More →

On:
In: Guest Blogger

Richard Lochhead has just defended the governments position to ban growing of GM crops here in Scotland, and I am currently in favour of that position. It may come as a surprise to some that a farmer is opposed to a science that we are told will bring massive benefits to our industry, but quite simply, I have yet to be convinced. I am not opposed to genetic modification because as farmers and agrarians we have been doing that for generations. We grow our livestock, crops, fruits and everything else through selective breeding to try and maximise particular traits that we wish to encourage. ForRead More →

On:
In: Recommended

Following two sell-out performances, a third and final event takes place at the Saltire Society’s Edinburgh Old Town Headquarters this week. 45 years since first taking to the stage, Wednesday the 19th August could be your last chance to meet the original Heretics as they hand over to a new generation of writers and musicians. Committed to promoting the poetry and music of Scotland’s living tradition, The Heretics first appeared in 1970. They gave an early platform to future household names including Billy Connolly, Aly Bain and Liz Lochhead. It will be an opportunity to see the original Heretics hand over the baton to aRead More →

On:
In: Jim Lynch

In the Herald of Monday 10th August I came across two articles which irritated me.  The first was by David Torrance at present in  South Africa apparently,  entitled “The politics of hope is little more than political escapism”, and as anyone with knowledge of Mr Torrance will be aware, he regards the Tories as the only realists. He used a phrase about “the SNP, whose mediocrity in devolved government….”  Mr Torrance may not have noticed but the SNP took over in May 2007 with a minority government which was only expected to survive weeks, but lasted four years.  In that time they abolished prescription charges,Read More →

On:
In: Jim Lynch, Political News

Monday 10th August PATRONAGE CIRCUS CONTINUES AT WESTMINSTER WITH KNIGHTOODS FOR DEFEATED MPS LUCRATIVE GONGS WILL OPEN DOORS FOR THE TORIES’ LIB DEM HELPERS There are reports that a number of Liberal Democrat MPs who lost their seats at the election in May are to be rewarded with peerages and knighthoods – despite being comprehensively rejected by the electorate. The LibDems have now just one MP in Scotland but look certain to add to their tally at Westminster with the imminent creation of another 50 or so peers – to add to the cronies and party funders who make up Westminster’s second chamber. It nowRead More →

On:
In: Political News

The SNP has today marked UN International Youth Day by calling on young people aged 15 and over to register to vote ahead of next year’s Scottish general election. This reflects this year’s International Youth Day theme of ‘Youth Civic Engagement’. The 2016 election will be the first where 16 and 17 year olds will have the right to vote following the unanimous passage of the Scottish Elections (Reduction of Voting Age) Bill in June this year. Last week the Electoral Commission launched a campaign to maximise voter registration amongst young people who will be 16 by the time of the election. Commenting, the UK’sRead More →

On:
In: Recommended

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mwwjx. Episode 1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01n0v2p   Episode 2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06715gp   Episode 3 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nbtwc    Episode 4 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ng1br    Episode 5 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b069x4y5    Episode 6        Read More →

On:
In: Clare Adamson

As analysis takes place of the Tory Government’s austerity agenda, the evidence mounts that it is the most vulnerable in our communities who are hit hardest; children, disabled people, single parents and the working poor.  Only this week it has been highlighted that the shameful tory cuts in tax credits will see nearly 350,000 children worse off as a result of George Osborne’s budget.  The Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) show that 197,200 families in Scotland with a total of 346,000 children have been hit by the changes to tax credits.  This comes hot on the heels of the Institute of Fiscal Studies report “LivingRead More →