Sunday Herald

Scotland’s schools accused of ‘harming pupils permanently’

■ ‘Absurd’ decisions attacked by Lindsay Paterson, Edinburgh University professor emeritus – one of the nation’s foremost authorities on education ■ ‘Listening to the wisdom of teachers is only way forward’ says renowned expert as he urges SNP to...

Arrested development?

These details only became public knowledge in December 2022. Mr Murrell said the loan was to “assist with cash flow” after the Holyrood election earlier that year. Operation Branchform was launched by Police Scotland following complaints from an...

Not changing his stripes

Is BBC’s Christmas TV just ‘lazy lip service’?

Scotland exports £26m of drink to Russia since Ukraine war

SCOTLAND has exported at least £26 million worth of drink to Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, new government figures show. Scottish firms were urged to break off all trade with Vladimir Putin’s regime in early 2022 – and most, including...

‘Alex dared to dream’

MOURNERS at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh were told former first minister Alex Salmond was a “pivotal figure” due to the role he had played in Scotland’s politics at his memorial service yesterday. Politicians from across the political divide...

Scots prisoners who pose an ‘immediate risk’ to public may be freed early

PRISONERS deemed “an immediate risk” to a specific person or members of the public by governors earlier this year may be released under proposals to be fast-tracked through Holyrood this week. A total 477 prisoners were freed under an emergency early...

Too close to Keir?

LACKING a distinct identity or policy agenda and tagged by the UK Government’s faltering efforts to ‘fix broken Britain’, today ex-member of the party’s executive committee Coll McCail asks if the Scottish Labour Party and their leader Anas Sarwar have...

Charities ‘won’t criticise SNP in fear of being financially silenced’

CHARITIES are reluctant to publicly condemn decisions taken by SNP ministers in fear of being financially “silenced”, it has been claimed. Clare MacGillivray, pictured right, director of Making Rights Real, said third sector organisations have praised...

Police investigate new sex assault allegation against Alex Salmond

POLICE are investigating a fresh allegation of sexual assault against Alex Salmond, the former First Minister of Scotland. A woman reported the alleged incident, said to be “non-recent”, to Police Scotland, shortly after Mr Salmond died, aged 69, last...

Legal loophole leaves rapist free to contact his victim

A RAPE survivor is leading calls to remove a legal “loophole” which could allow her attacker to contact her once he leaves prison. Protective orders are often put in place while charges are pending and while a conviction of rape or sexual assault is...

‘Walter was a second father to me’

Salmond collapsed at lunch after making a speech in support of his lifelong dream

ALEX Salmond, Scotland’s fourth first minister and a former leader of the SNP, has died aged 69. He collapsed at a conference in North Macedonia, organised by the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy Forum. According to reports, he collapsed at a lunch...

Union chief warns ‘people will die’ as fire service faces ‘shocking’ crisis

THE fire brigade is in a “deadly cycle of decline” so severe that lives are now being put at risk, the Scottish secretary of the Fire Brigades Union has warned. John McKenzie, pictured right, a firefighter for nearly 20 years, sat down with The Herald...

A gripping 25 years at Holyrood

KING Charles and Queen Camilla met with Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney and MSPs at Holyrood yesterday – urging them to use the 25th anniversary of reconvening of the Scottish Parliament to mark “the beginning of the next chapter” for what the...

‘No, not all men. But the ones it isn’t must now turn their fury on the ones it is’

SNP accused of being in ‘bunker of denial’ over the damage Sturgeon has caused party

IN a visceral article written for The Herald on Sunday to mark 10 years since the referendum, SNP stalwart Jim Sillars hits out at ex-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, blaming her for a splintered Yes movement and “arrogant control of the party”. He...

Death of the arts

DURING the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Summerhall – the sprawling, old Edinburgh University vet school that has been home to new and emerging work at the world’s largest arts festival for over a decade – hosted performances by 22 Scottish...

Flynn:‘Voters sent the SNP a stark message’

THE SNP’s Stephen Flynn has called for ‘patience’ in achieving independence as he admitted the SNP had to be ‘brutally honest’ about its General Election failures at the party’s annual conference yesterday. The event coincided with an online claim by...

SNP halts ex-FM Sturgeon’s plan to open new Scots ‘embassy’ in Polish capital

PLANS to expand the Scottish Government’s network of European offices are on hold amid emergency spending controls, we can reveal. Ex-FM Nicola Sturgeon’s administration promised to open new headquarters in Copenhagen and Warsaw to promote Scotland...

Musk falls from grace as Scots take flight from X

WE’RE in the middle of the social media flouncing season. These spells occur haphazardly and sporadically – like small dust storms – and feature groups of people leaving the social media site Twitter/X. It’s not sufficient, however, that they merely...

‘No room for fascists here’

Hundreds of anti-racism demonstrators gathered at rallies in Edinburgh and Glasgow yesterday as campaign group Stand Up To Racism Scotland (SUTRS) organised counter-protests outside Holyrood in Edinburgh and in George Square in Scotland’s biggest city.

‘Inexcusable’ Fury at Scot Gov ‘false assurances’ over disastrous bottle scheme

MINISTERS have been condemned for providing ‘false assurances’ to the state-owned investment bank over the delivery of the disastrous deposit return scheme – spearheaded by former circular economy minister Lorna Slater, – that is now expected to cost...

Curtice urges drastic measures to solve Scots Tories’ ‘dire situation’

PROFESSOR Sir John Curtice has suggested that the Scottish Conservatives may need to reconsider their relationship with colleagues in Westminster if they aspire to be more than an “also-ran” in Holyrood. Speaking to The Herald on Sunday, the top...

Court battle over future of Scotland’s forests

THE future of Scotland’s forests is to be fought in the courtroom. A £2 million contract granted by Scottish Forestry to plant 700 hectares of mostly Sitka spruce on a stretch of the John Buchan Way has sparked a legal challenge. A group of...

Children among victims as councils break law to protect homeless 15,000 times

A LAW designed to ensure homeless people including children and pregnant mothers have suitable accommodation has been broken more than 15,000 times over five years. The figure can be revealed as part of a weeklong Herald investigation into the housing...

Scots gangsters plot to murder prison officers and recruit their own footsoldiers

ORGANISED crime gangs are running a campaign of terror against Scottish prison officers from inside the nation’s crisis-hit jails. In an exclusive interview with The Herald on Sunday, Phil Fairlie, Scottish secretary of the Prison Officers...