Scottish Daily Mail
CLUELESS!
JOHN Swinney has been accused of being ‘out of his depth’ after repeatedly failing to answer simple questions about his public sector reforms. The First Minister was asked seven times in a live TV interview to explain the impact on jobs or finances of...
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ARGENTINA CAN ‘SMELL BURNHAM’S WEAKNESS’
ANDY Burnham was last night accused of being ‘too weak’ to stand up to Argentina over its latest threat to ‘recover’ the Falklands. The Prime Minister failed to respond after Buenos Aires escalated tensions to their highest level since 1982 by...
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SEX GANG VICTIMS FAILED BY THE SNP
THE true scale of grooming gangs in Scotland is unknown because of a failure to gather data, watchdogs have found. Inspectors warned gaps in intelligence-sharing mean authorities cannot accurately gauge the extent of group-based child sexual...
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SWINNEY’S BLUEPRINT UNRAVELS UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
JOHN Swinney’s public sector reforms started ‘unravelling’ yesterday as compulsory redundancies were ruled out. He said there was a ‘need for public sector employment to fall’ but he would not ‘put particular numbers’ on it and did not identify job...
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MEDDLING SWINNEY’S FIVE-YEAR PLAN ‘JUST GIMMICKS’
JOHN Swinney has been accused of unveiling ‘empty promises’ and ‘gimmicks’ after he pledged public sector reforms, bus fare caps and a food price cap. The First Minister used his first Programme for Government (PfG) since the Holyrood election to...
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SNP ‘CULL OF THE HEALTH BOARDS’
MOST of Scotland’s health boards are to be axed as part of ‘radical’ plans to streamline the public sector and save money. John Swinney is expected to announce that the majority of the 14 regional boards will disappear when he sets out his Programme...
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NOW SCRAP THE FOOD PRICE CAP MADNESS
JOHN Swinney is under mounting pressure to scrap his food price cap plan after industry leaders warned it will increase costs for consumers. Organisations representing more than 300,000 staff in the UK’s food and drink sector joined together to issue...
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SWINNEY’S INDY REF SLAPDOWN
JOHN Swinney’s latest plan for a second independence referendum has been slapped down by the UK Government which insisted the issue is ‘off the table’. The Scottish Government yesterday published draft legislation to hold a second divisive vote at...
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FACES OF BRITONS MISSING IN NEPAL
BRITISH families were last night desperately trying to contact loved ones missing in Nepal’s deadly ‘tsunami from the sky’. As rescuers battled to reach villages wiped out by Wednesday’s 600ft surging wall of mud, rock and ice, dozens of Britons...
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OVER 30 BRITONS MISSING IN NEPAL FLASH FLOODING
A DESPERATE hunt was on last night for 33 Britons, including a schoolgirl, missing after an apocalyptic mudslide in Nepal. More than 400 tourists were among thousands caught in the monster flash flood that swept away whole villages. A 13-year-old...
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BURNHAM WARNED OF IMPENDING RUSSIAN UK ‘ATTACK’
ANDY Burnham has been warned that Britain faces Russian retaliation over its support for Ukraine. Security experts have told the Prime Minister to be prepared for a ‘direct response’ from Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin is set to target the UK, sources...
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SEX ABUSE SHAME OF SNOOKER STAR DOTT
FORMER world snooker champion Graeme Dott was last night behind bars after being convicted of sexually abusing two children. The 49-year-old preyed on a girl and boy then tried to buy their silence with gifts or money. Dott, who was described as a...
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LABOUR’S NET ZERO THREAT TO 100K NORTH SEA JOBS
MORE than 100,000 jobs are set to disappear in the North Sea oil and gas sector over the next 25 years, according to Labour’s own figures. The loss will represent a fall of 80 per cent between 2024 – when the party won the election – and 2050. Labour...
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Harry, Elton & Co will have to pay millions to Mail
PRINCE Harry and his fellow claimants face a bill of up to £34.5million after the High Court ruled their ‘inadequate’ Daily Mail hacking case was ‘unreasonable to a high degree’. The Duke of Sussex, Doreen Lawrence, Sir Elton John and others have...
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SUSSEXES’ SECURITY COULD COST TAXPAYERS £5M A YEAR
PRINCE Harry’s shock return to the UK could cost taxpayers up to £5million a year, security experts claimed last night. It is not known if his security will be financed privately or by the taxpayer, but the Sussexes’ decision – six years after fleeing...
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Ministers forced to tell asylum seekers: Don’t rape women
ASYLUM seekers have been warned in an official government guidebook not to rape women. The disturbing Home Office document setting out the ‘rules and expectations’ of living in Britain comes in the wake of a series of horrific rapes and sex...
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SALMONELLA IN IMPORTED EGGS SPARKS OUTBREAK ACROSS UK
ONE person is dead and hundreds have fallen ill in a major salmonella outbreak being blamed on imported eggs. Issuing a national alert, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) suggested those affected had become sick after eating in cafes and...
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So who was White House hoaxer who duped PM?
ANDY Burnham was left red-faced yesterday after he was fooled by an imposter posing as Donald Trump’s chief of staff. An international hunt is under way for the hoaxer who targeted the Prime Minister as he took office last month. Mr Burnham thought he...
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Paedophile fireman used loophole to keep changing his identity
MINISTERS were under pressure last night to close a legal loophole that allows paedophiles and perverts to change their identity. The Daily Mail can today reveal that a convicted sex offender adopted as many as 20 aliases to hide his...
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Dani Dyer’s back with the Strictly gang after last year’s dramatic exit
LUCY Letby’s ‘boyfriend’ died after being sacked for exchanging messages with the convicted serial killer about a baby she tried to murder, the Daily Mail can reveal. The 53-year-old consultant doctor was found collapsed in his car the day after he...
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INFERNO
Devastation: Fires destroyed houses in the West Midlands yesterday after a blaze at a golf course spread to residential properties
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The day the earth stood still to watch the eclipse ... even if the clouds did get in the way!
AN AWESOME once-ina-generation solar eclipse saw stargazing mania grip the nation last night, with millions marvelling at the most glorious celestial display in decades. The uncanny sensation – as day briefly turned into a strange twilight – caused...
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NOW 198 LANGUAGES SPOKEN IN SCOTTISH SCHOOLS
NEARLY one in ten pupils in Scotland do not speak English as their main language with almost 200 different tongues spoken in classrooms. There were fewer than 10,000 pupils in this category in 2006 but the figure has risen to a record high of nearly...
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Day small boats crisis became a BIG boats crisis
LABOUR’S attempts to tackle the Channel crisis were branded a ‘complete laughing stock’ last night after a record 230 migrants arrived on one dinghy. The huge number – more than the capacity of a Boeing 737 jet – crossed from France yesterday,...
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SNP FACE NEW PROBE THREAT OVER MURRELL
THE scandal surrounding jailed former SNP chief Peter Murrell is set to be investigated by peers in the House of Lords, the Mail can reveal.
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TUBE MONSTER BAILED TO RAPE AND MURDER
A CONVICTED sex offender was free to kill two women and rape another despite warnings he was a danger to women. And incredibly, Simon Levy, 40, committed the second murder while on bail suspected of carrying out the first. Kemi Badenoch last night...
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SCOTS STUDENTS ‘CROWDED OUT’ OF UNIVERSITIES
SCOTS pupils who failed to get the exam grades they wanted are being shut out of university places in favour of fee-paying students from the rest of the UK and abroad. At many of Scotland’s top universities, hardly any courses are available through...
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FURY OVER SNP PLAN TO LET SEX ATTACKERS WALK FREE
VICTIMS have issued a plea to John Swinney to scrap plans to allow sex offenders and domestic abusers out of jail early. Campaigners urged the First Minister to deliver on his pledge to tackle violence against women by ensuring those guilty of sexual...
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SNP AND A SHAMEFUL BETRAYAL OF SCOTS CHILDREN
JOHN Swinney has been urged to apologise to pupils after failing to deliver on a promise to close the school attainment gap by this year. Scotland’ s exam results yesterday revealed there remains a huge gulf between the performance of the poorest and...
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ATHENS SUITCASE MURDER SUSPECT
AN AFGHAN boxer who arrived in Greece on a small boat has been arrested over the murder of a Scottish missionary. Sharif Ahmadzai, 26, is suspected of killing Elisabeth-Jane Ross, 38, before putting her body in a suitcase and dumping it in a derelict...
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BURNHAM MUST SCRAP ‘DISASTROUS’ PRO-UNION STRIKE LAWS
The swingeing changes will make it easier for unions to ballot for strikes, which could leave the country in a state of paralysis. Keir Starmer’s government passed the Employment Rights Act last December but some of its most damaging elements will...
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Ministers MUST stop the Spanish border invaders reaching UK
MINISTERS were under pressure last night to stop thousands of Africans who stormed a Spanish territory from reaching the UK. Spanish troops struggled to restore order yesterday after 60,000 migrants surged into Ceuta – a Spanish city on Morocco’s coast...
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BURNHAM ADMITS OIL DRILLING CAN EASE COST OF LIVING
ANDY Burnham was urged last night to ‘get Britain drilling’ after he admitted that North Sea oil revenues could ease the cost of living. The Prime Minister hinted at a shift in Labour’s ideological ban on new drilling, saying that at a time of tight...
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SCANDAL OF SNP’S £22M TAX BLUNDER
SNP ministers failed to consult their own tax experts before hiking the top rate so high it may have cost the public purse £22million, it was claimed yesterday. Dan Neidle, a member of the government’s Tax Advisory Group, suggested stupidity,...
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£36M SNP CLINICS SEE JUST 12 PATIENTS EACH DAY
JOHN Swinney’s £36million GP walk-in clinics have been ‘exposed as a flop’ after treating an average of just 12 patients each per day. Doctors said the flagship election plan was driven by ‘politics over practicality’, Deputy Scottish Political...
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BURNHAM’S £18 BILLION ‘DEATH TAX’ NIGHTMARE
ANDY Burnham was last night warned against reviving his ‘nightmare’ plan for a ‘death tax’. The Prime Minister has long favoured a 10 per cent levy on all inheritances and yesterday said he wants cross-party agreement on resolving the care...
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STREETING: I WILL QUIT IF DEFENCE PLAN FALLS SHORT
WES Streeting vowed yesterday to follow his predecessor and quit as Defence Secretary if Labour does not increase military spending. He said he would leave the job he has held for just days ‘as a matter of principle’. John Healey resigned from the...
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Hundreds told to leave homes as wildfire rages
Smoke billowing from the inferno, which has been raging in the Cairngorms for more than a week, drifted as far as 60 miles away as it continued to tear through heathland. As the devastating blaze approached Nethy Bridge, home to around 600 people,...
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LOOK WHO’S DROPPED IN!
TWELVE summers ago 40,000 of us sat in a stadium bathed in evening sunshine and watched a confident, reinvented Glasgow bellow its welcome to the world. Though the benchmark for success at that Commonwealth Games opening ceremony was the London...
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SARWAR PLUNGES SCOTTISH LABOUR INTO CIVIL WAR
SCOTTISH Labour is embroiled in a ‘civil war’ after the revelation that Anas Sarwar is to quit as leader to take up a job in Andy Burnham’s government. The party is facing the prospect of another divisive leadership contest as the Left desperately...
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Sarwar jumps ship for seat in Burnham’s Government
ANAS Sarwar is to quit as Scottish Labour leader to take up a job in Andy Burnham’s new Government – after having led calls for Sir Keir Starmer to resign. He is to be given a peerage and take up a role as a minister in the Department for Business,...
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Let’s pray he knows what he’s doing...
On his first day as PM, Andy Burnham vowed the biggest political changes for 40 years, refused to rule out yet more tax hikes, put a convicted fraudster in charge of his Leftist agenda and made Ed Miliband Foreign Secretary — but thankfully not...
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Burnham rocked by poll blow... on first day in No 10
ANDY Burnham faces an extraordinary crisis of legitimacy when he enters No 10 today. Exclusive polling for the Mail reveals that, outside of his Manchester stronghold, many question his right to be Prime Minister after he seized power by...
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BURNHAM TO DRAG US BACK TO THE 1970S
ANDY Burnham vowed to steer Britain back to the 1970s yesterday. Immediately after taking over as Labour leader, the next Prime Minister signalled a lurch to the Left, saying Britain had taken a ‘series of wrong turns’ under Margaret Thatcher that...
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STURGEON ACCUSED OF LYING OVER MURRELL
NICOLA Sturgeon lied about the Peter Murrell scandal and stitched up Alex Salmond to hide the truth, a Tory MP has claimed. David Davis, who was a close friend of Mr Salmond, launched an explosive intervention in the House of Commons yesterday where...
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Kane’s pain as Argentina end World Cup dream
IT WAS World Cup heartbreak for England once again last night after Argentina’s stunning comeback sent them crashing out in a thrilling semi-final. Lionel Messi’s side got the better of Harry Kane’s team at the Atlanta Stadium in Georgia with the...
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WIDDECOMBE SUSPECT PROBED OVER LEFT-WING EXTREMISM
POLICE investigating Ann Widdecombe’s murder are probing whether the suspect planned to kill other politicians. Detectives are examining if Left-wing extremism fuelled the brutal attack on the 78-year-old who was bludgeoned to death in her Devon home...
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Widdecombe murder WAS political, terror police believe
THE brutal murder of Ann Widdecombe was last night being treated as a suspected politically motivated terrorist attack. In a dramatic escalation, counter terrorism officers yesterday took over the investigation into the killing of the former Tory...
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‘Loner left his house with a pole’ on day of Widdecombe murder
THE man suspected of Ann Widdecombe’s murder is a ‘loner’ believed to have driven 270 miles to her Devon home armed with a ‘foot-long pole’. He was arrested on suspicion of killing the former Tory MP after a dozen armed officers descended on his...
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‘ABJECT TERROR’ OF MURDERED WIDDECOMBE
THE family of Ann Widdecombe last night spoke of their shock at her brutal murder. They feared the 78-year-old former Tory minister spent her last moments in ‘abject terror’ when an intruder broke into her home. Ms Widdecombe was found covered in...
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WHAT A SHAMELESS STITCH-UP!
THE ‘coronation’ of Andy Burnham was almost complete last night as hundreds of Labour MPs scrambled to nominate their new ‘king’. Despite not knowing what he will do in power, backbenchers and ministers stampeded to pledge their loyalty to the...
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FARAGE: BINFACE BY-ELECTION IS DEADLY SERIOUS
NIGEL Farage last night insisted he is fighting a ‘real election’. He spoke out after his by-election gamble left him facing off against a man dressed as a bin. Voters in Clacton face the prospect of a ‘farcical’ ballot, featuring none of the main...
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VINDICATED
In a 46-day High Court case costing over £50m, seven claimants including Prince Harry, Baroness Lawrence and Elton John accused the Mail of 57 counts of illegal information gathering. Over 40 of our journalists defended themselves in the witness box....
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HOUSE MARKET FEARS OVER SNP’S LATEST TAX GRAB
COUNCIL tax bills will soar by up to £3,600 a year under SNP proposals for a ‘mansion tax’, leading to concerns it could damage Scotland’s entire property market. The SNP government yesterday launched a consultation which proposes punishing tax hikes...
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NOW POLICE PROBE YES GROUP OVER ‘MISSING’ £1.5M FUNDS
POLICE are probing claims that £1.5million went missing from a company set up by the SNP to run the proindependence campaign. A complaint has been made to police by a former SNP branch secretary about ‘anomalies’ in the accounts of Yes Scotland, which...
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JUSTICE AT LAST FOR JEAN
A MAN has been found guilty of murdering a Scots expat on a holiday island almost two decades ago. The body of Jean Hanlon, from Dumfries, was recovered from the water off Heraklion, Crete, in March 2009. Her death was initially dismissed as an...
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WHAT IS THE SNP TRYING TO HIDE?
JOHN Swinney has been accused of ‘running scared’ of a parliamentary probe into the Peter Murrell scandal after his party refused to support it. The SNP rejected calls for a Holyrood committee to launch an inquiry into the fallout from the case, which...
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SWINNEY FEELS THE HEAT OVER MURRELL
A POWERFUL Westminster committee is to urge the Scottish parliament to consider working on a joint probe into the Peter Murrell scandal. The Scottish Affairs Committee yesterday agreed to ask relevant Holyrood committees to consider ‘joint working’ on...
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INDEFENSIBLE
SIR KEIR Starmer passed the buck to Andy Burnham on defence yesterday after short-changing Britain’s military. After months of delays, the Prime Minister published the Defence Investment Plan (DIP), only to be told it was not enough to protect the...
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Is Burnham really about to hand over MORE power to the SNP?
ANDY Burnham has sparked a political row in his first major speech by pledging to devolve more power to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Prime Minister-in-waiting yesterday announced plans for the transfer of further responsibilities to the...
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SOFT-TOUCH SNP ‘FAILING’ TO TACKLE SHOPLIFTING EPIDEMIC
SCOTLAND is in the grip of a shoplifting epidemic with soft-touch SNP ministers accused of failing to take action to tackle the problem. The latest crime statistics show there were 53,369 thefts from shops recorded north of the Border in 2025/26, or...
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HIT BY A BOLT FROM THE BLUE!
SCOTLAND was battered by floods, hail and thunder – and more than 41,000 lightning strikes in 24 hours – as the heatwave gave way to storms yesterday. Homes were damaged and roads and railways affected amid heavy downpours after soaring temperatures...
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SNP’S CHARTER FOR KILLERS AND RAPISTS
Long-term prisoners, including those convicted of culpable homicide and child abuse, will be released automatically after two-thirds of their term. Those jailed for less than five years will be freed after serving just 30 per cent of the time imposed...
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PRESSURE GROWS ON SWINNEY OVER SNP CASH PROBE
THE SNP has ‘giant questions’ to answer on the Peter Murrell scandal, Sir Keir Starmer said yesterday, as he blasted the party for refusing to back a parliamentary inquiry. Sir Keir attacked John Swinney for his lack of transparency after the First...
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NOW THERE MUST BE A PROBE INTO SNP CASH SCANDAL
PRESSURE is growing for a full probe into the SNP financial scandal after its former chief executive was jailed for stealing £400,000. Peter Murrell was locked up for five years and three months at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday after admitting...
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‘MESSIAH’ WITHOUT A MANDATE
ANDY Burnham is set to be installed as Prime Minister in just three weeks – despite having the feeblest mandate in British political history. The self-styled ‘King of the North’ is on course for a ‘coronation’ next month after Keir Starmer...
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Messiah complex? Andy’s heatwave sandals
WHEN a senior Westminster figure finally succumbs to political mortality there is a long-held Parliamentary convention not to speak ill of the dead. Their successes, not failures, are highlighted. A consensus forms that their resignation – assuming...
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THE TWO LAME DUCK LEADERS
JOHN Swinney and Keir Starmer have been reduced to ‘lame duck leaders’ after two seismic by-elections fired up their would-be successors, it was claimed yesterday. The First Minister was left badly wounded after a historic SNP defeat in Aberdeen South...
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Toddler critical after being ‘thrown’ into crocodile pit at zoo
A BOY of three was seriously injured after being thrown into a crocodile pit at a zoo yesterday. The traumatised youngster was taken to hospital after he was dramatically pulled from the enclosure. Last night witnesses said the little boy’s rescuer...
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VOICE OF COMMON SENSE ON SNP’S SOFT JUSTICE
MORE criminals should be locked up to put an end to Scot- land’s ‘soft-touch’ justice system, a senior police officer has said. Chief Superintendent Rob Hay also demanded a review of guidelines urging lenient treatment of thugs under the age of 25 on...
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PUTIN OPENS FIRE IN THE CHANNEL
A RUSSIAN warship fired warning shots at a yacht in the English Channel yesterday. The British-flagged Bright Future was shot at after it came within just 150 yards of the Admiral Grigorovich in heavy fog. The heavily armed Krivak V-class frigate...
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The eight missed chances to save baby Preston from evil adoptive fathers
OFFICIALS missed a string of chances to save a baby sexually abused and murdered by the teacher adopting him. Serious questions were being asked last night about the scrutiny faced by Jamie Varley, 37, and his boyfriend, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32,...
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£200M WORLD CUP JACKPOT
SCOTLAND is set for a World Cup economic boost of more than £200million after the national team won its first match in the tournament for more than 30 years. Richard Marsh, a leading economist and government adviser, said the gain was likely to be the...
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COME ON SCOTLAND! LET’S MAKE HISTORY
SCOTLAND’S national side has been buoyed by an outpouring of support at home and abroad as the men’s team look to make history at the World Cup. Steve Clarke’s players are about to start their campaign at football’s biggest show for the first time in...
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GOD HELP US!
KEIR Starmer is ‘unable’ to defend Britain, his own Defence Secretary said yesterday as he quit with a furious blast. John Healey accused the Prime Minister of being too weak to face down Rachel Reeves over the defence of the nation. Mr Healey...
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