Swinney ditches Sturgeon's route map to independence
Speaking in Falkirk, the first minister said there should be a 'legal referendum recognised by all' on Scottish independence if the SNP secures a majority at the Holyrood elections.
Previously, he had said a 'democratic majority' of pro-independence MSPs after next year's Scottish parliament elections should pave the way to a new vote on the constitutional question.
The SNP leader will bring a motion to the party's autumn conference that abandons Nicola Sturgeon's previous stance that a pro-independence majority of nationalist and Greens MSPs was sufficient to secure a second poll.
Writing in the Daily Record, Swinney insisted a clear SNP majority at May's Holyrood elections is the only proven path to achieving a legally recognised referendum.
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Donald Trump to open resort's second golf course on final day in Scotland
Donald Trump will officially open his new golf course in Aberdeenshire on the final day of his visit to Scotland. The US president's fifth day in Scotland on Tuesday follows a meeting and press conference with Sir Keir Starmer on Monday. Mr Trump will cut the ribbon on a second 18-hole course at his resort in Menie, Aberdeenshire before he flies back to the US on Air Force One. The president has played several rounds of golf during his Scottish trip, teeing off at his other resort in Turnberry, Ayrshire, on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. As they met at Turnberry for bilateral talks on trade and the situation in Gaza, Mr Trump and Sir Keir took part in what proved to be a lengthy press conference, with the president discussing a number of topics. The Republican Party leader spoke of his 'great love' for Scotland and said he wanted to see the nation 'thrive'. He returned to his long-running objections to wind turbines, branding them 'ugly monsters' and speaking of his admiration for North Sea oil and gas. Discussing the war in Ukraine, Mr Trump said he was 'very disappointed' in Russian President Vladimir Putin and suggested he would bring forward a deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire. The US president called Sir Sadiq Khan a 'nasty person', which prompted Sir Keir to come to the defence of his 'friend' the London Mayor. Construction of the new course in Menie began in 2023, with Mr Trump and his son Eric breaking ground on the project. Trump International Scotland claims the two courses will be the 'greatest 36 holes in golf'. The second course is expected to be dedicated to the president's mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born on the Isle of Lewis. Critics say the Trump developments in Scotland have not delivered as many jobs as promised and work at the Menie site has caused environmental damage. Mr Trump and Sir Keir landed at Menie aboard Marine One, the president's helicopter, which was seen circling the new course before it touched down on Monday evening. The president then hosted a dinner at Menie with members of his family and guests including Scottish First Minister John Swinney. A demonstration took place in Balmedie, near the resort, on Monday. A small number of protesters sat at the roadside in the centre of the village, surrounded by cardboard signs bearing anti-Trump slogans.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Von der Leyen ducks Trump's trade blitz – but deal exposes EU's faultlines
There is no doubt that Ursula von der Leyen was under intense pressure on Sunday when she sat next to Donald Trump in the ballroom at his Turnberry golf course before what EU officials knew would be a gruelling round of trade talks. As the European Commission president emerged less than an hour later to announce that the worst of Trump's tariff threats had been avoided, the recriminations from inside the EU began almost immediately. Under the deal agreed in Scotland, an economically devastating trade war has been prevented. Still, European leaders are eyeing up the cost to the bloc from being locked in to tariffs of 15% on most EU exports to the US, when they had previously averaged 4.8%. French and German leaders, following in the footsteps of Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orbán, focused on this outcome, rather than the potential damage that could have been inflicted by a US president with an intense dislike for the EU. The French prime minister, François Bayrou, was among leaders who thought Trump's threatened 30% rate could at least be lowered to match the 10% tariff deal secured by the UK. He said the EU had capitulated and described Sunday as a 'dark day'. The irony of one leader beset by factional warring berating another for failing to present a united front to the US was lost on Bayrou. There were many in Brussels who thought he might have taken a more emollient tone given that parliamentary infighting has prevented him from passing a long-delayed budget bill. And especially when Paris is often the cause of friction inside the EU's Brussels headquarters. On this occasion, Bayrou objected to the EU threat of tariffs on US bourbon, fearing that French wine and brandy producers might be caught in the crossfire. Some insiders asked how the commission president could go nose-to-nose with Trump when the EU was, and remains, divided, with member states seeking carve-outs for their own vulnerable industries. Von der Leyen can also say that most of the trade concessions, including a commitment to buy a large quantity of gas from US producers, matter little when the purchases were likely to be made anyway. She is also hopeful that the deal can circumvent Trump's obsession with the US pharmaceutical industry. The sector has been left out of all trade deals so far, which means no one yet knows what US tariffs on pharmaceutical imports will be. Ireland is especially fearful after accumulating much of the US offshore pharma industry in County Cork. Brussels is hopeful that 15% will also be the tariff on EU-based pharma exports to the US. David Henig, the director of the UK trade policy project at the European Centre for International Political Economy, said the result of Trump's actions would probably hit trade and economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic, but only marginally. 'Nobody wins, there are unlikely to be big trade shifts, but the world keeps turning,' he said. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion HSBC economists said the 15% tariff would be offset by a reduction in uncertainty hitting businesses that had been weighing heavily on trade, leaving the EU to face 'a fairly marginal impact'. There is also much left to negotiate on a deal, which at present is more like an impressionist painting than a clearcut photograph. As the summer turns to autumn, von der Leyen must hope the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and Italy's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, refuse to join Bayrou in criticising the deal for fear of handing Trump even more negotiating power in the detailed phase. The obvious weakness in the EU's negotiating position may have the opposite effect by encouraging more leaders to consider changes put forward by the former Italian prime minister and European Central Bank chief, Mario Draghi, who estimated that internal trade barriers within the bloc amount to almost 50% on goods and 110% on services. Draghi's call for a collective endeavour on both investment and regulation is the best blueprint for leaders who know that pursuing sectional national interests is economically and socially illiterate. The problem is that von der Leyen's trade fudge – minimising the impact of Trump's threats – will allow the EU to continue muddling through, and leave Draghi's report to gather more dust.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Donald Trump flags huge tariff hike that will impact Australia
Australian exporters may be hit with tariffs of up to 20 per cent at the US border, after President Donald Trump flagged a hike in the baseline impost. On Monday, the US President suggested countries that do not negotiate separate trade deals would soon be hit with a new minimum tariff up to twice as high. 'We are going to be setting a tariff, for essentially the rest of the world, and that's what they're going to pay if you want to do business in the United States,' he told reports at a press conference at his luxury golf resort in Turnberry, Scotland. Asked what the new rate would be, he answered: 'I would say it'll be somewhere in the 15 to 20 per cent range.' 'Probably one of those two numbers'. Trump floated broad-sweeping tariffs as a key election promise last year which, he claimed, would encourage more manufacturing firms to set up shop in the US. Australia is among the roughly 200 countries expected to be hit with the new baseline tariff despite its bilateral free-trade agreement with the US. Shadow Finance Minister James Paterson said the update shed new light on the need for the Australian Prime Minister to meet with Trump. 'I think there is enough evidence now in the public realm that we do have a problem in the bilateral relationship between Australia and the United States,' he told Sky News. 'It's more than 260 days since the president was elected, Anthony Albanese has still not sat down and met with him.' Mr Albanese sought to discuss the tariffs with Trump during their attendance at the G7 summit in Canada last month before the US President cut his trip short. Mr Peterson added it remained 'unclear' whether Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd had yet to meet with the White House administration since Trump was sworn in in January. 'I suspect we would know about it if he had, I suspect it would be all over social media if he had, so I think it's a reasonable inference now that there has been no meetings.' For its part, the Albanese government has restated its opposition to the tariffs but has downplayed what it says about the two country's relationships. 'We are a country that relies on trade, we are a country with a very high proportion of jobs that rely on trade,' Assistant Treasurer Dan Mulino told Sky News. 'That remains the position of this government. So, we would rather a situation in which the world doesn't go down the path of imposing tariffs. 'But what I can say is that Australia remains in a situation where we've got as good a deal as anybody, and we continue to engage with the US Government intensely on these matters.' A spokesperson for Trade Minister Don Farrell said Australia would continue to engage 'at all levels' to advocate for the removal of the tariffs. 'Our position is unchanged – any tariffs on Australian goods are unjustified and an act of economic self-harm,' they said. It comes only days after Australia lifted its ban on importing US beef - eliminating a key reason cited by the Trump administration for its tariff on Aussie goods. Mr Albanese insisted the move was the outcome of a review that had been underway for years, but Trump's officials have celebrated it as a win for the president.
