Scottish Government to meet Orange Order after air rifle shot
Thousands marched through Glasgow earlier this month as part of events to commemorate the 1690 Battle of the Boyne.
During the day, four people were struck with 'air weapon pellets', according to police, while the march continued along Sauchiehall Street, near Kelvingrove Park, with no serious injuries reported.
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Speaking to the PA news agency, First Minister John Swinney (below) confirmed officials will speak to representatives of the Orange Order on Wednesday, with community safety minister Siobhian Brown due to do the same at a later date.
(Image: PA)
'The Scottish Government is meeting with representatives of the Orange Order today,' he said.
'Officials will take that forward and in due course, the community safety minister will meet with the Orange Order.
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'In recent days, members of the Orange Order have been subjected to acts of violence which are deplorable and they are unacceptable to whoever they affect within our society.
'These matters are currently being taken forward by Police Scotland.'
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The Herald Scotland
24 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Sturgeon can shut the door on the way out and few will give a toss
As far as I am aware, I have never met Ms Sturgeon but I was in the vanguard of identifying her as a nasty piece of work. That was in the summer of 2000. Sam Galbraith, then Scottish education minister, and his young family were holidaying with us in Lewis; a desperately needed break for the world's longest-surviving lung transplant patient. Read More: Sam, as a brilliant neurosurgeon, had spent his life caring for people. The Galbraiths had hardly arrived when a commotion arose about the new Scottish Qualifications Authority which had made a mess of issuing exam results. It was the kind of thing Ministers are accountable for sorting out but nobody with any sense believes they can personally pre-empt. Sam, of course, was deeply concerned about the implications for pupils and headed straight back to get to the bottom of it and limit the damage. By this time Ms Sturgeon – the SNP's education shadow - was in full flow, demanding his resignation as if that would have helped a single child. Rather, she smelt the opportunity to establish a reputation as the SNP's attack-dog, which she duly did. I do not know if the episode merits a line in Ms Sturgeon's collection of political trivia and have no intention of finding out. But for those of us close to its effects, the sustained venom of her crusade, devoid of human empathy, marked her out for what she would duly become – a glib, unscrupulous operator who believed in nothing so much as her own self-promotion. In later years, as she ordered or organised one cover-up after another to conceal inconvenient truths from the Scottish public, or cover the backs of her anointed ones, we often thought back to her early career as a demander of resignations. Clearly, a harsh tongue would take her a lot further in politics than it was ever likely to in law, where standards are more demanding. The 'revelations' squeezed from her prose for the purposes of pre-publicity mainly serve notice that she has no intention of telling readers anything that might be worth knowing. For example, if there is still anyone remotely interested in her personal life, the tortuous form of words about sexuality being 'not binary' is unlikely to have come as a tremendous shock. If she thought this was important, the time to say it was when it would have involved even a modest degree of political courage and leadership. Politics is awash with people who are open and honest about their sexuality, and a good thing too. There is no evidence that voters care a hoot, which is real social progress. So why would they be impressed by the coy phraseology of a long departed First Minister? Another of the 'poor me' anecdotes which rang false was the one about her reduction to tears by a male MSP calling her 'Gnasher' which had been attributed by the vulgar to an alleged sexual encounter. Actually, she wrote about this in 2005 when the more light-hearted source of her concern was the embarrassment of telling her mother its alleged basis. Twenty years later, to fill a few paragraphs – or, for all I know, a few pages – the same episode has grown into a traumatic experience of "bullying of an overtly sexual nature, designed to humiliate and intimidate, to cut a young woman down to size and put her in her place". Maybe she should have stuck with her original story and told us what her mother said. Probably the most unpleasant aspect of her pre-publicity has been the ghoulish determination to further blacken the name of Alex Salmond, safe in the knowledge that he is dead. Her suggestion that he briefed the Daily Record against himself when he was still trying to head off allegations becoming public is fantastical and surely intended to divert from much more plausible theories. If I thought Ms Sturgeon might have revealed what she knows about another 'leaking' exercise – to pre-empt the Holyrood committee's report into the Scottish Government's role in the Salmond affair – I might even have bought the book. I am confident my money is safe. Like all the other dirty work at the crossroads, performed in her interest during that murky affair, omerta will continue to prevail. Ms Sturgeon's disdain for the Scottish justice system unless it delivers the results she demands ill befits the dignity of the office she once held. Mr Salmond was found not guilty by a jury of his peers, with a majority of women, in Scotland's highest criminal court. End of story. It is those who tried to put him behind bars who have still not been held to account. As Ms Sturgeon gender-neutralises Samuel Johnson's aphorism about the noblest prospect a Scotchman ever sees being the high road that leads to England, what symptoms of legacy has she left behind? Well, take your pick but there's not much to boast about. At least she can take satisfaction from the fact that the National Library of Scotland bans books which oppose her views on gender - not on grounds of content, they plead, but for fear of the backlash. That's the kind of Scotland which Sturgeon's career did so much to shape – too small, too stifling, too divided; a land where enlightenment has been subordinated to zealotry and progressive politics to empty sloganising. The late Margo Macdonald delivered the classic put-down when Ms Sturgeon asked her disparagingly: 'What planet are you on?'. To which Margo replied: 'Planet Nice. One that you will never visit'. She can shut the door on the way out, frankly, and very few will give a toss. Brian Wilson is a former Labour Party politician. He was MP for Cunninghame North from 1987 until 2005 and served as a Minister of State from 1997 to 2003.
The Herald Scotland
39 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Sturgeon's Fawlty memory recalls Basil buckling under.
But who was advising, or coaching, Nicola Sturgeon to face questions based on forensic digging from the media? Yet another example of our former First Minister making a poorly thought through decision. (Others include gender recognition, NHS, ferry provision, the A9 dualling, drug deaths, agreeing to most of the Greens' half-baked policies… I could go on.) I have little interest in the selected memories contained in her 'Frankly' memoir. Meanwhile, what she said during her interview with ITV news journalist Julie Etchingham was basically a re-run of her performance at the Alex Salmond inquiry (which I did watch from start to finish) where she 'couldn't recall' and was hazy to say the least in her recollection of events in her own home. This time around she had a new tactic, claiming she 'shut down' and had little or no memory of the police investigation. How familiar and hollow this sounded, as she failed to reply to direct questions regarding important matters. I was reminded of sitcom character Basil Fawlty. When asked an awkward question by a guest, he'd literally fall down, as if felled by a sniper's bullet, only to bounce back on his feet with the apology: 'I'm sorry, I fainted. Now, where was I..?' But, my, didn't Ms. Sturgeon get in a tangle over the gender recognition issue? Maybe she should ditch the red jacket which seems to accompany her whenever she's in similar situations. It may be the cause of her memory lapses. Ironic when she's peddling her memoir. Colin Allison, Blairgowrie. Read more letters Hold praise for Kate Forbes until we get proper action on Ardrossan Harbour Nicola Sturgeon has called into question the entire ethos of her party Labour now needs to adopt maximum devolution and move towards a federal UK state Brought to book The response from the commentariat (and The Herald letters pages) over Nicola Sturgeon's biography requires some response from someone who has never been a member of the SNP, and who thinks Ms Sturgeon has questions to answer regarding Alex Salmond. Ms Sturgeon was the most trusted and admired UK politician only a few years ago (after polling revealed this, there was a relentless campaign of personal vilification against her) so her book being reviewed across the wider media is normal. Criticism without context of her policies is simply partisan prejudice. Scotland, in reducing attainment in education, is doing better than England or Wales. Scotland has better waiting times (4 and 12 hours) than England or Wales, and the Scottish NHS has better staffing levels (and without NHS England's repeated health scandals). Scotland has reduced child poverty: England and Wales have not. Gender legislation was supported by members of all political parties in Holyrood, and both Theresa May and Mark Drakeford supported the scheme. Advocates for Scottish independence have been saying for many decades (and ignored by the media) that England and its people are not our enemy, but that national sovereignty is the goal. London is one of the world's great cities. People from many countries once in the British Empire see no problem with their nationals living there. So what exactly is the problem with Sturgeon wishing to? Strip away all the usual British National exceptionalism and what are we left with? Claustrophobic ad hominem smears are what I see, with a touch of misogyny thrown in. GR Weir, Ochiltree. Money matters Nicola Sturgeon claims in her many media interviews that her revision of Scotland's income tax bands is one of her greatest achievements. Really? Then why is Sturgeon channelling her non-public sector income through a company she's set up for the purpose of avoiding the high Scottish tax rates of which she's so proud? This essentially enables her to take income from writing, public speaking, etc. as dividends, thereby reducing her personal income tax liability significantly. Not illegal but surely morally questionable? Martin Redfern, Roxburghshire. Pathfinder Richard Allison claims that Nicola Sturgeon's right to move freely within the UK is solely down to being part of the Union (Letters, August 13). Eh, no. Freedom of movement within a country is covered under Protocol 4 of the European Convention of Human Rights. However, Tony Blair refused to ratify that Protocol, fearing the mass immigration from Hong Kong of millions of Chinese UK passport holders. This remains the current position. I discovered this in the 1990s when a fuel strike prevented me from getting to work. Ironically my Polish colleagues could seek a remedy because under EU law they were entitled to freedom of movement within another member state. However, that right doesn't apply to a member state's own citizens. That's the loophole that the ECHR protocol was supposed to close. Robert Menzies, Falkirk. The hole truth The publication of the latest GERS (Government Expenditure and Revenue for Scotland) figures has triggered a now traditional feeding frenzy. A black hole in Scotland's finances is heralded by Unionist politicians as validating the continuation of the Union. The killer phrase for me from the GERS report is: 'The report is designed to allow users to understand and analyse Scotland's fiscal position under different scenarios within the current constitutional framework.' GERS is therefore a measure of the public finances under the current Union. Hardly the greatest endorsement for how the economy has been managed on the UK's watch. Indeed, major economic levers required to stimulate economic growth are still currently reserved to Westminster. Contrast this with our near neighbour, the Republic of Ireland, which has run budget surpluses totalling over £34 billion since 2022, with another forecast this year. Despite having considerably less in the way of natural resources than Scotland, the government there has announced a 'transformational' plan to spend over £183 billion over the next decade on infrastructure. The point of independence is not to do everything in the same way as it has been done within the current constitutional framework. But to move away from this one-size-fits-all fiscal straitjacket to a tailored approach that prioritises stimulating economic growth. Alex Orr, Edinburgh. (Image: PA) Are there cracks in the pledges made by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar? Smashing job In light of your recent article ("Scottish Labour's man at the top... leader or follower?", August 8), it's essential to reflect on Anas Sarwar's responsibility for broken promises. This admission, while significant, must evolve into a catalyst for much-needed reform within the party's leadership. Sarwar hints at guilt for past failures. Yet Scotland requires a political leader willing to translate that guilt into pragmatic change. Simply acknowledging missteps does nothing to address the deeper issues that plague our governance, particularly the disconnect between Holyrood and the communities it aims to serve. Local governance suffers as citizens watch their concerns sidelined in favour of grand, but often hollow, rhetoric. Moreover, our taxation system needs urgent reform to ensure that taxpayers are not excessively burdened while local authorities struggle with resources. As Margaret Thatcher said: "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." Sarwar must recognise the urgency of his role in leading a party that prioritises small government and local accountability. Let us hope that Scottish Labour can embrace a bold, new direction. One that champions the voices of ordinary Scots rather than getting lost in internal conflicts or national identity politics. The time for genuine leadership is now; the electorate deserves nothing less. Alastair Majury, Dunblane.
The Herald Scotland
39 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Starmer to welcome Zelensky to No 10 ahead of Trump meeting with Putin
Meanwhile, Mr Trump threatened Russia with 'severe consequences' if a ceasefire was rejected by its leader. During a call with the US president and European allies on Wednesday, Sir Keir praised Mr Trump for his work to bring forward a 'viable' chance of an end to the war. But concerns have been raised over Mr Zelensky's exclusion from the meeting between the Mr Trump and Mr Putin, which is set to take place in Alaska on Friday. Speaking on Wednesday, Sir Keir said: 'This meeting on Friday that President Trump is attending is hugely important. 'As I've said personally to President Trump for the three-and-a-bit years this conflict has been going on, we haven't got anywhere near a prospect of actually a viable solution, a viable way of bringing it to a ceasefire. 'And now we do have that chance, because of the work of that the president has put in.' Further sanctions could be imposed on Russia should the Kremlin fail to engage, and the UK is already working on its next package of measures targeting Moscow, he said. 'We're ready to support this, including from the plans we've already drawn up to deploy a reassurance force once hostilities have ceased,' he told allies. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer co-chairs a virtual meeting with pro-Ukraine allies from Downing Street (Jack Taylor/PA) 'It is important to remind colleagues that we do stand ready also to increase pressure on Russia, particularly the economy, with sanctions and wider measures as may be necessary.' Sir Keir and European leaders have repeatedly said discussions about Ukraine should not happen without it, amid concerns the country is being sidelined in negotiations about its own future. Asked if it was his decision to not invite Mr Zelensky to the meeting, Mr Trump said 'no just the opposite', before adding that a second meeting with the Ukrainian president could take place afterwards. 'We had a very good call, he was on the call, President Zelensky was on the call. I would rate it a 10, you know, very, very friendly,' he told reporters in Washington. He added: 'There's a very good chance that we're going to have a second meeting which will be more productive than the first, because the first is I'm going to find out where we are and what we're doing.' The US president has previously suggested a truce could involve some 'swapping' of land. It is believed one of the Russian leader's demands is for Ukraine to cede parts of the Donbas region which it still controls. But Mr Zelensky has already rejected any proposal that would compromise Ukraine's territorial integrity, something that is forbidden by the country's constitution. A joint statement from the Coalition of the Willing, which is co-chaired by Sir Keir, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, said 'international borders must not be changed by force'. It added: 'Sanctions and wider economic measures to put pressure on Russia's war economy should be strengthened if Russia does not agree to a ceasefire in Alaska.' The Coalition of the Willing is a European-led effort to send a peacekeeping force to Ukraine in the event of truce.
