GRAHAM GRANT: A growing army of woke apparatchiks now dominate every corner of public life. Votes will be won by the party which vows to take an axe to it…
As we revealed yesterday, it's one of a host of key dates in a woke 'inclusion' calendar helpfully supplied to officers by force diversity managers.
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Scotsman
16 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Voting at 16 can make elections a habit
Sixteen and 17 year olds in Scotland have been able to vote in Holyrood and council elections for more than a decade. And thanks to last week's announcement by the UK Government, that will now be extended to Westminster elections too. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It's a logical move and fulfils a Labour election pledge, but UK-wide polls suggest nearly half voters oppose it, so the case will have to be made again. Scotland introduced votes at 16 for the 2014 independence referendum and then extended it to Scottish Parliament and council elections. Those who first got the vote at 16 were more likely to vote in subsequent elections, researchers found Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The year after the referendum, a study found 16 and 17 year-olds in Scotland were more engaged with politics - researching issues, taking part in demonstrations, signing petitions and engaging with elected representatives - than people of the same age elsewhere in the UK. Sadly, the effect did not seem to last. Research by Edinburgh University academics in the context of the last Scottish Parliament elections in 2021 concluded that the lowering of the voting age had not led to any long-term increase in political engagement among young people. But what did last was an increased likelihood of turning out to vote. The research by Jan Eichhorn and Christine Hübner found those who first became entitled to vote at 16 were more likely to turn out at the 2021 election than those who were first able to vote at 18 or older. And this applied not only to those who first got the vote at the referendum, but also those who became eligible at subsequent elections. The researchers say: "This suggests a lasting positive effect of being allowed to vote from 16 on young people's voter turnout as they grow up." Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Opponents will claim that at 16 people are not mature enough to vote. The same argument was made when the voting age was reduced from 21 to 18 in 1969. Indeed, the Speaker's Conference, a cross-party body looking at election rules, recommended only reducing it to 20. But the Labour government had already accepted another committee's recommendations to lower the age of majority to 18, so decided the voting age should follow suit. The latest change will bring England into line with Scotland and Wales, which also has votes at 16 for Senedd and council elections. The next challenge is to increase citizenship education, give young people more opportunities for genuine engagement and show them it can make a difference.
Daily Record
16 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Ministers must protect value of state pension as it is lifeline for many
The sad reality is people drawing their pension 25 years from now are set to be £800, or eight per cent, worse off per year than their counterparts today. The governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown made huge strides in cutting pensioner poverty. Introducing pension credit helped millions of low-income pensioners and retirement savings were boosted, But every generation faces fresh challenges and this one is no different. The sad reality is people drawing their pension 25 years from now are set to be £800, or eight per cent, worse off per year than their counterparts today. Four in 10 – nearly 15million people – are not saving enough for retirement. Young people are in a bind caused by the cost-of-living crisis. Their incomes are squeezed and they are paying an outrageous amount of their net income on rent. Many people want to save more for when they retire but simply cannot afford to do so. One of the issues the UK-wide Poverty Commission is expected to look at is the challenges facing the low-paid and the estimated three million self-employed people who are not saving into a pension. Labour must take a values-based position into pension reform. Ministers must protect the value of the state pension as it is a lifeline for many people. Labour is right to encourage people to save more for their retirement if they can. But they must also provide greater incentives for people on modest incomes to find the spare cash. Part of this involves turning the corner on the cost-of-living crisis so that people have more money in their pockets. Keir Starmer has the chance to be as bold as previous Labour Prime Ministers and he must seize the opportunity. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Identity scandal The public's right to be protected from beasts like Connor Tait does not end when they are let out jail. The 32-year-old hid in a bush and pounced on the child who was walking home from football training in 2013. He was released from jail in 2023 and has recently changed his identity – using the name 'Connie Duncan' – while advertising himself on social media as a cleaner and dog walker. Ash Regan MSP is right when she says the case underlines a deeply troubling reality that when sexual offenders can change their identity without proper safeguards. How can it be right that a convicted paedophile can simply adopt a new identity and begin advertising services to enter people's homes? Public safety must be put first. Tait should not be allowed anywhere near any family's home. We need robust checks and transparency to prevent offenders from simply reinventing themselves and potentially putting others at risk.
The Guardian
27 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump bans Wall Street Journal from Scotland trip press pool over Epstein report
A Wall Street Journal reporter was kicked out of Donald Trump's press pool for his upcoming weekend trip to Scotland. The removal marked increased retaliation after the newspaper published an article alleging the US president sent Jeffrey Epstein a 50th birthday letter that included a drawing of a naked woman. The US president promptly sued the paper for $10bn. 'As the appeals court confirmed, the Wall Street Journal or any other news outlet are not guaranteed special access to cover President Trump in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, and in his private workspaces,' said White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, in a statement. 'Thirteen diverse outlets will participate in the press pool to cover the President's trip to Scotland. Due to the Wall Street Journal's fake and defamatory conduct, they will not be one of the thirteen outlets on board. Every news organization in the entire world wishes to cover President Trump, and the White House has taken significant steps to include as many voices as possible.' Tarini Parti, the reporter selected for removal, was not one of the writers of the Epstein piece. Trump is headed to Scotland to work on the UK-US trade deal, and to visit his golf courses in Scotland. The Guardian US also confirmed the reporter's removal. Prior to the second Trump administration, decisions regarding the White House press pool were in the hands of the White House Correspondents' Association. Seats in the press pool are highly coveted, and crucial for media that wish to stay on the cutting edge of politics coverage. The administration initially banned the Associated Press from the Oval Office, Air Force One and other exclusive access after the outlet declined to use Trump's new moniker for the Gulf of Mexico. The decision for the administration to control the press pool came shortly after. White House Correspondents Association president, Weijia Jiang, spoke strongly against the decision to remove Parti from the Scotland trip's press pool. She said the administration had yet to clarify whether the ban was temporary, or if it was permanently barring Wall Street Journal reporters from the press pool. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion 'This attempt by the White House to punish a media outlet whose coverage it does not like is deeply troubling, and it defies the First Amendment. Government retaliation against news outlets based on the content of their reporting should concern all who value free speech and an independent media,' Jiang wrote in a statement to The Guardian US. Trump's fury over the Epstein article comes amidst increasing scrutiny over his relationship with the now deceased Epstein. One of Epstein's first public accusers said she urged the FBI to investigate Trump's relationship with Epstein decades ago. Trump is also named as a friend of Epstein in early 2000's write-ups from Vanity Fair and NYMag. In a rare crack in armor, Trump appears to have lost control over the Epstein narrative to some Maga-faithful, with the unreleased files opening huge rifts among some of Trump's most die-hard supporters. The Wall Street Journal has stood by the accuracy of its reporting, which the Guardian has not been able to verify. 'We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit,' a Dow Jones spokesperson wrote in a statement.
