Edinburgh man recognised for services to veterans in Kings Birthday Honours List
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info
Get the latest Edinburgh Live breaking news on WhatsApp
Edinburgh has seen 18 residents recognised in His Majesty The King's Birthday Honours List 2025.
They are part of 110 Scottish recipients who will be celebrated as community champions, role models in sport, pioneers in the arts, passionate health workers, and supporters of young people.
1,215 individuals will be recognised for their brilliant achievements, with a particular focus on those who have given their time to public service. Scotland makes up nine per cent of the total honours issued this year.
Retired major Charles Matthew Pelling who works as a manager at the Lady Haig Poppy Factory has been recognised for his services to veterans and will be awarded an OBE.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: 'This year's Birthday Honours List is a powerful reminder of the extraordinary dedication, compassion, and service that exists in every corner of our country.
Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sentstraight to your messages.
"From community champions to cultural icons, each recipient reflects the very best of Britain. I extend my heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to them all.'
The secretary of state for Scotland, Ian Murray, said: "I am delighted to congratulate all those recognised in the King's Birthday Honours list, particularly John and Linda Norgrove on their well-deserved OBEs for their extraordinary humanitarian work in Afghanistan through the Linda Norgrove Foundation. Their dedication to improving the lives of Afghan women and girls, born from personal tragedy, exemplifies the very best of Scottish compassion and resolve.
'Communities across Scotland benefit from the extraordinary effort of those honoured. From Dr Richa Sinha Chair of the Scottish Hindu society and their work to tackle Hinduphobia, to Zahrah Mahmood Chair of the Rambling Society to Heather Hall founding The Usual Place in Dumfries.
'I would also like to extend special recognition to Scotland Office's own Moira Vance on receiving her MBE. Moira's unwavering commitment to public service has been instrumental in the work of our department for 44 years, and this honour reflects her exceptional contribution to the people of Scotland.
'The Honours list showcases the remarkable achievements of individuals across Scotland who have gone above and beyond in their respective fields. Their service to our communities represents the spirit of dedication and excellence that makes Scotland proud."
Anyone can nominate someone for an honour. If you know someone who has achieved fantastic things worthy of recognition, click here to put them forward.
A list of Edinburgh recipients are below:
CBE:
Professor Julie Lydia FITZPATRICK OBE FRSE Chief Scientific Adviser, Scottish Government.
For services to Science
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
OBE:
Yvonne Cecelia Elizabeth LEAVY (Yvonne Sibson) Lead Epilepsy Nurse, NHS Lothian.
For services to Epilepsy Nursing
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
Catherine Anne MACDONALD (Kiki Macdonald) Co-Founder and Trustee, Euan 's Guide.
For services to People with Disabilities
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
Dr Alastair John MACGILCHRIST Chair, Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems.
For services to Medicine and Public Health
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
John Grant MACRAE For Charitable Services in Scotland
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
Duncan Andrew MOSS Technical Relationship Consultant, Ordnance Survey.
For services to Technical Consultancy and to Government Resilience
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
Major (Rtd) Charles Matthew PELLING Manager, Lady Haig Poppy Factory, Poppy Scotland.
For services to Veterans
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
Alexander James Samuel STEWART Senior Statistician, Office of the Chief Economic Adviser, Scottish Government.
For services to Scottish Economic Statistics
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
Karen Valerie WATT Lately Chief Executive Officer, Scottish Funding Council.
For Public Service
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
MBE:
Anthea Margaret DONAGHUE Lately Chair, Pregnancy Counselling and Care Scotland.
For services to Pregnancy Support in Edinburgh
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
Professor Donna-Jean Corrigan O'BOYLE Professional Adviser to the Chief Nursing Officer's Directorate, Scottish Government.
For services to Improving Patient Safety
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
Lesley STEPHEN Patient Advocate, Make 2nds Count.
For services to People with Secondary Breast Cancer and to Cancer Research
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
Bridget Mary STEVENS Pioneer, Audio Description, Edinburgh.
For services to the Arts
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
BEM:
Alan BORTHWICK Artistic Director, Edinburgh Gilbert and Sullivan Society.
For services to Music
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
Frank DONOGHUE Lately Locality Hub Team Leader, City of Edinburgh Council.
For Public Service in Edinburgh
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
Thomas DOUGLAS Veterans Community Support Manager, Royal British Legion Scotland.
For services to Veterans in Scotland
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
David Liston LYLE Musical Director, Edinburgh Gilbert and Sullivan Society.
For services to Music
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
Margaret McPhillips MANSON Founder, Edinburgh Technician Network.
For services to the Provision of Sciences in Education in Edinburgh
(Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Comparison of political party membership numbers is cause for optimism
Some interesting facts emerged from the article by Xander Elliards in Saturday's National on the membership numbers of Scottish political parties (Reform UK claim to have 11k Scottish members, Jun 14). On adding together the quoted figures for the independence-supporting parties (SNP, Green and Alba), the total membership equals 74,093, and for the Unionist parties (Labour, Tory, Reform) 34,408. These figures may not be completely up-to-date, but even allowing for generous margins of error, they indicate that those of us who are committed enough to become independence-supporting party members are more than twice as many as those who are against. If these figures were more widely publicised it might generate some much-needed optimism. Graham Park Stirling
The Herald Scotland
5 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
SNP's nuclear stance costing Scotland jobs, says UK minister
While energy is largely reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government effectively has a veto on new nuclear power developments through planning regulations. Last week, in her Spending Review, Rachel Reeves unveiled a multi-billion-pound investment programme in new nuclear energy. The Chancellor said £2.5 billion of the £8.3bn set aside for Great British Energy would be redirected to support new nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors, and a new plant in the south of England. READ MORE: In an interview with BBC Scotland's Sunday Show, Mr Shanks was asked about why the money had been redirected, particularly given the party's manifesto made no mention of nuclear, but instead focussed on onshore wind, solar, and hydro power. 'Well, it's not an exclusive list, because there's a lot of other clean energy technologies,' Mr Shanks said. 'Nuclear is part of our energy mix. 'I'm not going to make any apologies for the government investing in nuclear where thousands of highly skilled jobs can be delivered, including in Scotland if it wasn't for the ideological position of the SNP to block new nuclear, could be delivering those well paid skilled jobs here in Scotland. 'They turned their face against that, and they will have to answer for that.' He added: 'The broader point here is Great British Energy is all about harnessing the power of the public purse to invest not just in clean power projects directly but supply chains that drive them. 'Because unlike the previous government, we want to see those well paid, industrialised jobs coming alongside us, not towing in offshore wind and switching it on, but building it in this country and getting the manufacturing jobs that go with it. "That's how we deliver the jobs of the future.' The Herald revealed at the weekend that unions are calling on the Scottish Government to end its longstanding resistance to new nuclear power. Louise Gilmour, from GMB Scotland, has written to Energy Minister Gillian Martin calling for an urgent rethink. She said: 'Amidst broken promises on a green jobs revolution, the Scottish Government cannot afford to scoff at the offering of nuclear energy on the table. An offer that would in large part be funded by the UK Government. The ban against new nuclear – especially SMRs – must be lifted.' Responding to Ms Gilmour's comments, a Scottish Government spokesperson told The Herald: 'The Scottish Government is focused on supporting growth and creating jobs by capitalising on Scotland's immense renewable energy capacity rather than expensive new nuclear energy which takes decades to build, creates toxic waste which is difficult and costly to dispose of and does not generate power at a cost that will bring down energy bills.' READ MORE: Meanwhile, during the interview with the BBC, Mr Shanks was pressed on the impact of oil and gas job losses in Aberdeen. Companies in the north east have blamed the UK Government's Energy Profits Levy, which means the effective rate of tax on oil and gas companies is 78%. Mr Shanks said: 'Every single job loss is hugely distressing for the individuals and for their families and communities. 'I do not for a second discount the impact that job losses have, but I do not think that is an entirely fair assessment, because yes, there have been job losses recently announced, but there have also been thousands of jobs created.' He argued that transition involved movement from one part of the energy sector to another, and that support for workers was crucial. 'That is why we announced incredibly quickly that passporting support—where if you are an offshore oil and gas worker doing a particular job and you could do the same job in offshore wind, you should not have to requalify or have your skills reassessed. 'You should be able to move straight into that job. That is something the previous government talked about for a long time. We delivered it.' READ MORE: The Labour Energy Minister also said he was 'hopeful' that an announcement on investment in Grangemouth will be made soon. Mr Shanks said more than 80 potential investors had come forward since the UK Government pledged £200 million for the site. The Government is seeking a further £600m in private investment in the area, following the closure of Scotland's last oil refinery. Mr Shanks said the investment would help provide a 'long-term, sustainable future' for the site. Petroineos, the joint venture between INEOS and PetroChina, which owns the 100-year-old refinery, first announced plans to close in November 2023. They said the plant's future as an import terminal would 'require significantly fewer people to operate' and that there would need to be a 'net reduction of approximately 400 roles over the next two years.' Mr Shanks said the Government was engaging with businesses on new projects for the area. 'We have had some really positive meetings around potential investors,' he said. 'In fact, more than 80 potential investors have come forward. Scottish Enterprise is driving forward due diligence on that. There are a number of really credible projects that we are developing at the moment. 'We hope we will have some really positive announcements to make soon.' Mr Shanks said the 'unprecedented' £200m investment from the National Wealth Fund would help 'create the jobs of the future' while ensuring long-term investment security. He added: 'I am not involved in the due diligence, as you would not expect, but there are some really exciting, viable projects coming forward that will deliver jobs in Grangemouth long into the future.' Last week, Jan Robertson, Grangemouth director for Scottish Enterprise, said she had received a 'mixture of inquiries' from businesses—some interested in the site itself and others with 'a good opportunity to become projects in the relatively near term.' 'What I mean by that is the next three to four years,' she told Holyrood's Economy and Fair Work Committee. 'Our approach at the moment is very much working with those and working as closely and quickly as we can to make the progress that we want to see in Grangemouth.' Ms Martin told the committee the 'door is not closed' to companies looking to work at the site, and said Petroineos had also received approaches. 'We could look back five years and start pointing fingers, but the most important thing is that in the last year—actually the last six months—Project Willow and the taskforce have moved things along in a way that has been swift, agile and focused,' she said. 'I am feeling so much more confident than I did this time last year in the prospects for that site.'
Scotsman
5 hours ago
- Scotsman
John Swinney's critics should bite their tongues and get behind him
Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, 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... With his bank-managerly demeanour, he was the opposite of his predecessor, under whom the nationalists had grown increasingly divided. It did not take long, however, for the Swinney project to begin falling apart and, after a poor election result, calls for his resignation grew so loud that he could not credibly ignore them. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad I write, of course, not about current events but about the end of Swinney's first spell in charge of the SNP which ended, after four years, in 2004, paving the way for the return to the leadership of Alex Salmond. First Minister John Swinney joins candidate for the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election Katy Loudon during the last weekend of the campaign. Picture: JeffHistory has a habit of repeating itself. Today, little more than a year after succeeding Humza Yousaf as leader of the SNP, Swinney finds himself in what must be uncomfortably familiar territory. Defeat for the SNP in the recent Hamilton, Larkhall, and Stonehouse by-election has triggered a crisis in his leadership. There have been calls – both anonymous and public – for his resignation. The sense that he is losing his grip on the SNP grows stronger by the day. Just as he did in 2004, Swinney has decided to fight on. Responding to reports that a group of colleagues had met to discuss a leadership challenge during the SNP's annual conference in October, the First Minister said he did not think that would be a good idea. Swinney told BBC Radio Scotland that he had returned to the SNP leadership in order to help his party 'recover' from what he described as 'a very, very difficult situation in the spring of 2024' and that he remained focused on the job in hand. He was not, he added, worried 'in the slightest' about the briefing against him. If you say so, First Minister. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Swinney's characterisation of the state of his party when he took over last year is correct. Former FM Humza Yousaf's decision to end the power-sharing agreement between the SNP and the Greens had blown up in his face, leaving him without the parliamentary support needed to get things done, and the nationalists had descended into the sort of in-fighting that had, for many decades, kept them on the fringes of our politics. Given the circumstances, Swinney's flaws became his advantages. The SNP – and, indeed, the country – very much required a period of calm after years of stormy political weather. Steady old John was just the captain his party needed. However, Scottish nationalists are not, by nature, patient. Swinney may have been elected to be a safe pair of hands but, already, he's under pressure to be more radical, with a number of critics inside the SNP demanding he push harder for a second independence referendum. In response to these briefings, Swinney declared that, after returning stability to his party, he planned to 'open up a conversation about independence'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad For some of Swinney's critics – one thinks, for example, of former health secretary Alex Neil, whose contempt for the First Minister dates back decades – this will never be good enough. Scotland will never gain its 'freedom' through conversations. Rather, the break-up of the Union will require something more radical than a cosy chat. It is perfectly understandable that those SNP members now agitating for Swinney to either change course or quit, want to see a new strategy for independence. Having been told, for years, that defeat in the 2014 vote was a bump in the road on the way to nationhood, they believe they have been badly let down in recent years. I'm not at all sure, however, what Swinney could be doing differently to advance the cause of independence. Former FM Nicola Sturgeon spent nine years telling SNP members that 'Indyref2' was on the horizon. A rush and a push, lads and lassies, and the land that they stood on would be theirs. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But reality – in the shape of continuing minority support for independence and the Scottish Government's lack of power to call a referendum – got in the way of Sturgeon's plans. The authority to stage another vote remains with the UK Government. Recent polls suggest support for independence is rising and that, if there were another referendum tomorrow, the Union would come to an end. This, says one senior Swinney ally, is something for which the First Minister deserves some credit. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad I have some sympathy for that view. Do those now agitating for Swinney to go really think that their party – and their cause – would be in ruder health had Humza Yousaf remained in post? With the next Holyrood election just 11 months away, the last thing the SNP needs is another destabilising leadership contest. Polls may show increased support for independence but Swinney knows – because the focus group data he reads tells him so – that the constitution does not top the list of voters' priorities. Swinney is every bit as fanatical about independence as those now whispering about a leadership challenge – many years ago, one of the SNP leader's aides told me he 'would live in a cave to be free' – but the First Minister's zealotry is tempered by a degree of common sense. He knows and accepts that the time is not right for another referendum. Swinney also knows that the slight recovery his party has made under his leadership is still fragile. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The SNP is – as was perpetually the case for decades before the party unified under Alex Salmond in 2004 – divided and fractious. Any Scottish nationalist who thinks it's now time exacerbate that division is a fool.
