Political News Archive

  • New law widens contract bid ban
    Monday 19 March 2012

    FIRMS linked to people convicted of bribery or involvement in serious organised crime offences will be barred from bidding for public sector contracts under new Scottish Government regulations.

  • Davidson will head bid to keep Scotland in the union
    Monday 19 March 2012

    TORY leader Ruth Davidson is to head a campaign to keep Scotland in the UK.

  • Budget 'for working people'
    Monday 19 March 2012

    CHANCELLOR George Osborne has insisted his priority in Wednesday's Budget is to help "working people" on low and middle incomes.

  • £1billion worth of fish 'may be wasted by 2022'
    Monday 19 March 2012

    An estimated £1billion-worth of fish could be wastefully thrown back dead into the sea by the combined European fleet in the next decade unless major changes are agreed, the Scottish Fisheries Secretary has warned.

  • Northern Isles MSPs call for bigger share of oil revenue
    Monday 19 March 2012

    ORKNEY and Shetland should be given more powers, including control of the Crown Estate, and a greater share of oil and gas revenue, the islands' MSPs have claimed.

  • The church, the Labour whip, his dad and the riddle of the blocked planning application
    Sunday 18 March 2012

    THE Labour whip in a knife-edge local authority is under fire after he helped his father block a planning application.

  • Wendy Alexander takes up academic role in London
    Saturday 17 March 2012

    LABOUR'S former Holyrood leader, Wendy Alexander, is moving to a new high-level post in the academic world, joining the London Business School.

  • Moore warns Salmond plans will 'hit Scots pockets hard'
    Saturday 17 March 2012

    SCOTS would face thousands of pounds in higher taxes under Scandinavian-style independence promoted by Alex Salmond, Michael Moore, the Scottish Secretary, warned yesterday.

  • Osborne will throw lifeline to North Sea oil industry
    Saturday 17 March 2012

    THE North Sea oil and gas industry is to get a major boost in next week's Budget that will pave the way for tens of billions of pounds of extra investment to create and secure thousands of jobs.

  • First Minister accused of local income tax cover-up
    Saturday 17 March 2012

    Opposition parties have rounded on Alex Salmond after it emerged he personally had a hand in delaying embarrassing details about his doomed plans for a local income tax.

  • Chancellor to axe national rates of pay
    Saturday 17 March 2012

    CHANCELLOR George Osborne will announce plans in his Budget to axe national pay rates and offer lower salaries to public sector workers in poorer parts of the country.

  • Don't act like men women are told
    Saturday 17 March 2012

    WOMEN should not behave like men in the name of equality, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has stated.

  • Key points in dialogue
    Saturday 17 March 2012

    l Axing 50p rate: Looks set to be reduced to 45p or 40p.

  • Cameron faulted over adviser in Liam Fox probe
    Saturday 17 March 2012

    David Cameron came in for fresh criticism yesterday over the investigation into former Defence Secretary Liam Fox's working relationship with his friend Adam Werritty.

  • MP questions nuclear test veterans' legal advice
    Friday 16 March 2012

    SERIOUS questions need to be asked of the lawyers who acted for ex-servicemen who lost a bid for compensation for illnesses allegedly caused by exposure to radiation during nuclear weapons tests, it has been claimed.

  • Gay marriage law plans 'a gentle measure'
    Friday 16 March 2012

    LEGISLATING for gay marriage was a "very gentle measure ...

  • Alert on Holyrood representation
    Friday 16 March 2012

    WOMEN'S representation is in danger of slipping back at Holyrood, said the Electoral Reform Society in a call for action to prevent previous achievements being lost.

  • Miliband pledges jobs guarantee for young people
    Friday 16 March 2012

    ED Miliband will today put defeating the scourge of youth unemployment at the heart of his bid for government as he pledges a "Real Jobs Guarantee" of six months' paid work for those under 25s unemployed for more than a year.

  • Cable calls for 'hire and fire' views
    Friday 16 March 2012

    THE Coalition Government yesterday embarked on a consultation over the issue of making it easier to "hire and fire" workers.

  • Leaders discuss ways to cut cost of petrol
    Friday 16 March 2012

    HOPES of lower petrol prices rose last night after it emerged David Cameron and Barack Obama had privately discussed the possibility of releasing emergency oil reserves to dampen down pump prices this summer.

  • SNP warned on defence jobs
    Friday 16 March 2012

    THOUSANDS of defence jobs will be lost in an independent Scotland as firms downsize or pull out altogether, a leading industry expert claims in a scathing report.

  • 37% on disability benefit 'can work'
    Friday 16 March 2012

    More than one in three people claiming disability benefits is fit to work, the Coalition Government said yesterday, as it released the first nationwide statistics.

  • Jobless rise turns up heat on Osborne
    Thursday 15 March 2012

    CHANCELLOR George Osborne must put jobs creation at the centre of next week's Budget, the Scottish Government, trade union and business leaders have said after unemployment increased to a near 17-year high.

  • Changes to child benefit are raised by DPM
    Thursday 15 March 2012

    NICK Clegg yesterday hinted that changes were on the way about how the Coalition plans to axe child benefit for higher rate taxpayers from January 2013.

  • Crown's actions in Megrahi case face scrutiny
    Thursday 15 March 2012

    THE Crown Office's handling of the prosecution of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing is to be raised in the Scottish Parliament.

  • Concern over gaps in search and rescue
    Thursday 15 March 2012

    THE SNP last night lambasted Britain's "much diminished" military surveillance capability following the Coalition Government's defence cuts, saying the resultant massive search and rescue gaps could put lives at risk.

  • Lennox to fight Scottish issues
    Thursday 15 March 2012

    SCOTTISH singer and musician Annie Lennox, who is known for her campaigning work in Africa, hopes to team up with philantrophist Sir Tom Hunter to do more for struggling Scots.

  • Minimum alcohol pricing vote won
    Thursday 15 March 2012

    THE MOVE towards minimum pricing of alcohol took a huge step forward last night when the bill passed its first stage at Holyrood without a single vote against.

  • Clegg faces the music as Obama is Cameron's new best friend
    Thursday 15 March 2012

    It was billed as the showdown of the deputies.

  • Independent Scotland 'would lose its triple-A status'
    Thursday 15 March 2012

    An independent Scotland would be economically "subordinate" to the rest of the UK and lose its coveted triple-A rating, an economic expert has warned.