Scottish Daily Mail
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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PRESSURE GROWS ON SWINNEY OVER SNP CASH AUDIT
A FORMER SNP treasurer has urged John Swinney to launch a full audit of party accounts over the past decade following the Peter Murrell scandal. Douglas Chapman quit his role in charge of the SNP’s finances in 2021 in protest at not being given enough...
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SPEND NOW ON DEFENCE OR WE WILL PAY A ‘COST IN BLOOD’
BRITAIN faces a ‘blood cost’ if Labour keeps dithering on defence, Keir Starmer was warned last night. Former Nato chief General Sir Richard Shirreff said the country could suffer ‘catastrophic costs’ unless the Government moves to shore up our...
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ALL AT SEA!
BRITAIN’S flagship £3.5billion aircraft carrier has broken down again as ministers wrangle over boosting defence funding. HMS Prince of Wales, which has been plagued by problems since entering service, was forced into port in Norway for repairs,...
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NOW SNP FACE GRILLING FROM THE TAXMAN
THE SNP could face a tax probe into whether it reclaimed VAT on bogus purchases made by Peter Murrell. John Swinney yesterday disclosed his party had ‘already opened up discussions’ with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Murrell’s admission that he...
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HOW CAN ANYONE TRUST A WORD THE SNP SAYS?
THE SNP has been accused of ‘hoodwinking’ its own members after John Swinney admitted a £667,000 ‘ringfenced’ referendum fund was used for election spending. The First Minister said the cash was used for ‘ongoing activities’ despite promises that it...
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MURRELL’S WEB OF GREED LAID BARE
PETER Murrell’s extraordinary web of greed has been laid bare as fresh details emerged about his embezzlement of £400,000 of SNP funds. The High Court in Edinburgh yesterday heard that the party’s former chief executive had unfettered access to the...
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Labour’s poisonous puppet master and a £1million cover-up
THE Mandelson Files yesterday exposed the toxic infighting at the heart of Labour. Hundreds of documents showed ministers and officials sniping at each other over the fate of Keir Starmer’s ‘beleaguered’ Government. The chaos was compounded by...
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AND STILL SHE WON’T SAY SORRY!
DEFIANT Nicola Sturgeon has refused to apologise to SNP donors over the embezzlement scandal. The former First Minister also said she will not help them recoup the missing £400,000 by handing back gifts bought by her estranged husband Peter Murrell...
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WILL STURGEON BE GRILLED AT WESTMINSTER?
NICOLA Sturgeon and John Swinney could be hauled before a powerful Westminster committee and forced to testify what they knew of the SNP embezzlement saga. The Scottish Affairs Committee (SAC) has been asked to intervene after the First Minister...
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STURGEON: LIES AT HEART OF MY MARRIAGE
Denies she knew anything about his £400k fraud spree Admits they were so rich she wouldn’t have questioned spending NICOLA Sturgeon yesterday broke cover for the first time since her now estranged husband pleaded guilty to embezzling more than...
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WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO HIDE, MR SWINNEY?
JOHN Swinney has been blasted for trying to ‘dodge scrutiny’ after ruling out any further probe into the SNP’s financial scandal. He insisted the police investigation into Peter Murrell was enough, despite the party hierarchy being accused of shutting...
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DO US ALL A FAVOUR AND JUST PARK IT!
JOHN Swinney faced ridicule yesterday after launching another push for independence based on ‘security and prosperity’ amid the SNP fraud scandal. The First Minister appealed for trust as his party reeled from the guilty plea of former SNP chief...
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HOW ON EARTH DID STURGEON NOT KNOW?
PETER Murrell was locked up yesterday after admitting embezz- ling more than £400,000 from the SNP. The former chief executive of the party was led away from court in handcuffs. He was initially charged with using more than £459,000 of the SNP’s funds...
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SNP: WE’LL NEVER CUT BACK £7BN BILL FOR BENEFITS
THE SNP will never slash Scotland’s run- away £7billion benefits bill, the finance secretary said yesterday. Jenny Gilruth was branded ‘out of touch’ after signalling she would rather slash all other areas of public spending before tackling the...
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‘SCARED’ SNP RISK OIL JOBS DISASTER
KEMI Badenoch has accused John Swinney of ‘running scared’ from the Greens over his party’s failure to back two controversial oil and gas developments. Speaking during a visit to Scotland’s oil capital, the Conservative Party leader urged voters to...
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Brain drain as young people f lee Labour’s broken Britain
THE UK is facing an escalating ‘brain drain’ as young people turn their backs on Labour’s broken Britain. Data shows 75,000 more 16 to 34-year-olds left the country last year than returned home. Across all age groups, 136,000 more Britons left than...
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PUTIN JETS MENACE RAF PLANE WITH ‘CRAZY IVAN’ STUNT
RUSSIAN jets brazenly imperilled an RAF spy plane in the closest confrontation yet between the two countries’ air forces. Vladimir Putin’s pilots flew reckless passes at more than 500mph in the terrifying incident over the Black Sea. One of the...
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FOR THE SAKE OF SCOTLAND ... DROP IT!
JOHN Swinney has been urged to drop his independence plans ‘for the sake of Scotland’ after MSPs reappointed him First Minister. Russell Findlay, leader of the Scottish Tories, warned him not to get ‘distracted’ by the constitution and focus instead...
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SWINNEY DOUBLES DOWN AMID SINN FEIN OUTRAGE
JOHN Swinney has provoked fury by doubling down on his call for peo- ple to ‘move on’ from Sinn Fein’s IRA links so he can join forces with the Irish nationalists. The First Minister said he had ‘no intention’ of apologising after being accused of...
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Rugby legend Scott dies on tragic wife’s birthday
RUGBY legend Scott Hastings has died after a four-year cancer battle – on the day of his late wife’s birthday. Hastings, 61, was a member of Scotland’s famous Grand Slamwinning team of 1990 alongside older brother Gavin. His wife Jenny vanished in...
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STARMER FACES HIS WATERLOO
KEIR Starmer is facing his Waterloo after Andy Burnham was given the green light to fight a by-election on the anniversary of the famous battle. Labour’s National Executive Committee yesterday waved through permission for the Mayor of Greater...
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LABOUR’S GREAT PRETENDERS
KEIR Starmer’s Government was frozen in the headlights last night as the plots to topple him finally burst into the open. On another dramatic day at Westminster, Andy Burnham announced plans for a return to Parliament, where the self-styled ‘King of...
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STREETING TO IGNITE LABOUR DAY OF ANARCHY
WES Streeting will plunge Labour into civil war today by quitting the Cabinet to mount a leadership challenge against Keir Starmer. The Health Secretary is ready to fire the starting gun this morning following yesterday’s face-to-face showdown with...
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PARALYSED BY LABOUR CHAOS
LABOUR’S civil war triggered a markets meltdown yesterday – and left the Government ‘paralysed’. Keir Starmer was locked in an extraordinary standoff with his MPs last night after he brushed aside calls to quit and told rivals Wes Streeting and Angela...
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Starmer on the brink as Cabinet ministers tell him it’s time to go
KEIR Starmer’s premiership was in freefall last night as Cabinet ministers urged him to quit. Dozens of Labour MPs called for the Prime Minister to resign after a last-ditch fightback speech failed to quell a growing mutiny. Last night, Labour sources...
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TIME TO END THE DIVISION... AND START DELIVERING
JOHN Swinney’s call for another independence referendum following last week’s Holyrood election has been rejected by the UK Government. Labour ministers said their position ‘remains exactly the same’ and they will not support another vote on...
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THINK AGAIN, MR SWINNEY!
JOHN Swinney is facing demands to drop his independence referendum push after he failed to secure the majority he said would be a mandate. The SNP suffered losses compared with the last election in 2021 and saw its vote shrink markedly while still...
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SWINNEY ROCKED BY POLL SETBACK
JOHN Swinney looked set to miss his target of an SNP majority last night as voters rejected his divisive independence plans. The final polling analysis of the election campaign put the SNP on 56 MSPs, nine short of overall control of Holyrood. A...
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SWINNEY’S DAY OF RECKONING
IT is a high-stakes election that will shape the future of Scotland – and a day of reckoning for the SNP. After 19 years of failure and incompetence, voters will today get the chance to unseat a government that is dedicated to breaking up Britain....
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