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Edinburgh Reporter
04-05-2025
- Business
- Edinburgh Reporter
Programme for Government will be published on Tuesday
New measures to strengthen Scotland's public services and ensure people are supported during the cost-of-living crisis will be set out by the First Minister this week. First Minister, John Swinney, will deliver his Programme for Government on Tuesday 6 May, focused on his four key priorities – eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, investing in public services and tackling the climate emergency. The First Minister announced last month that he would bring forward the Programme for Government from its expected publication date post-summer to enable a full year of delivery before the 2026 Scottish Parliament election. The First Minister said: 'Times are tough for households and businesses across Scotland, and the world around us is changing in ways that are difficult to predict. 'But my promise to the people of Scotland is that amidst the uncertainty there is one thing they can be sure of: the government I lead will always seek to do what is best for Scotland. 'As First Minister, I will always put the needs and interests of the people of Scotland first. 'I made the decision to bring my Programme for Government forward to ensure people know that the government I lead is entirely focused on improving their lives. 'On Tuesday, I will bring my plan to Parliament that will strengthen our health service and ensure more money stays in people's pockets during this cost of living crisis. 'The 2025-26 Programme for Government will make Scotland healthier and wealthier.' The First Minister making a keynote speech given to delegates of the Better Society Academy at The Social Hub in Glasgow on Friday 2 May 2025 PHOTO courtesy of The Scottish Government Like this: Like Related
STV News
02-05-2025
- Politics
- STV News
Tackling climate change vital, says Swinney in warning over ‘dangerous rhetoric'
Action to tackle climate change is an 'absolute necessity', Scotland's First Minister has insisted as he hit out at 'dangerous rhetoric' from the right. John Swinney warned dealing with rising global temperatures is 'the biggest challenge of our age', and he called on politicians from all parties to 'recommit' to tackling the problem. His plea, made as he addressed the Better Society Academy climate conference at The Social Hub in Glasgow, came after UK Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch claimed it is 'impossible' for Britain to meet its goal of achieving net zero by 2050. Reform UK meanwhile has pledged to scrap 'net stupid zero' initiatives, with deputy leader Richard Tice echoing the words of US President Donald Trump by saying 'drill, Scotland, drill' when he visited Glasgow earlier this year. Swinney spoke out against the 'anti-science climate denial approach that we have just now'. He said: 'I think it's important for all parties to recommit ourselves to tackling one of the great global issues of our time, and ignore the dangerous rhetoric that is growing on the right that sometimes climate action is avoidable.' Holyrood has committed to reaching net zero five years ahead of the UK in 2045, and Mr Swinney insisted his Government's 'goal is that Scotland's contribution to climate change will end definitively within one generation'. He said that is happening despite the 'very challenging global context for that particular debate'. Here, the SNP leader added: 'The journey to net zero is tough enough with the practicalities of what is involved, but the journey to net zero, when that route is disputed and contested and denied, is an even more significant and challenging journey.' While some 'undermine climate action… in the face of all evidence', the First Minister insisted it is now 'undeniable that extreme weather events are becoming much more frequent'. He told the conference: 'Here in Scotland, we see an increasing number of named storms, including earlier this year, Storm Eowyn which was the fifth storm of the 2024-25 season and the most powerful wind storm in the United Kingdom in over a decade. 'And it wasn't alone. Further afield, we've recently seen a spate of disasters such as the devastating floods in Valencia, dangerous heatwaves in Japan and flash floods in Pakistan and Brazil. 'Last year, according to the UN's World Meteorological Organisation, extreme weather events across the globe displaced more than 800,000 people.' Stressing 'every one of us has got a contribution to make to meet the biggest challenge of our age', Swinney added: 'We cannot resign ourselves to a prevailing political debate which seeks to diminish and deny the significance of climate action. 'Climate action is an absolute necessity in our world today if we want to hand on to the world of tomorrow the world we have had the privilege to enjoy today.' He added this is a responsibility he takes 'deadly seriously' as First Minister, saying such efforts are 'at the heart of my Government's programme'. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The Independent
02-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Tackling climate change vital, says Swinney in warning over ‘dangerous rhetoric'
Action to tackle climate change is an 'absolute necessity', Scotland's First Minister has insisted as he hit out at 'dangerous rhetoric' from the right. John Swinney warned dealing with rising global temperatures is 'the biggest challenge of our age', and he called on politicians from all parties to 'recommit' to tackling the problem. His plea, made as he addressed the Better Society Academy climate conference at The Social Hub in Glasgow, came after UK Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch claimed it is 'impossible' for Britain to meet its goal of achieving net zero by 2050. Reform UK meanwhile has pledged to scrap 'net stupid zero' initiatives, with deputy leader Richard Tice echoing the words of US President Donald Trump by saying 'drill, Scotland, drill' when he visited Glasgow earlier this year. Mr Swinney spoke out against the 'anti-science climate denial approach that we have just now'. He said: 'I think it's important for all parties to recommit ourselves to tackling one of the great global issues of our time, and ignore the dangerous rhetoric that is growing on the right that sometimes climate action is avoidable.' Holyrood has committed to reaching net zero five years ahead of the UK in 2045, and Mr Swinney insisted his Government's 'goal is that Scotland's contribution to climate change will end definitively within one generation'. He said that is happening despite the 'very challenging global context for that particular debate'. Here, the SNP leader added: 'The journey to net zero is tough enough with the practicalities of what is involved, but the journey to net zero, when that route is disputed and contested and denied, is an even more significant and challenging journey.' While some 'undermine climate action… in the face of all evidence', the First Minister insisted it is now 'undeniable that extreme weather events are becoming much more frequent'. He told the conference: 'Here in Scotland, we see an increasing number of named storms, including earlier this year, Storm Eowyn which was the fifth storm of the 2024-25 season and the most powerful wind storm in the United Kingdom in over a decade. 'And it wasn't alone. Further afield, we've recently seen a spate of disasters such as the devastating floods in Valencia, dangerous heatwaves in Japan and flash floods in Pakistan and Brazil. 'Last year, according to the UN's World Meteorological Organisation, extreme weather events across the globe displaced more than 800,000 people.' Stressing 'every one of us has got a contribution to make to meet the biggest challenge of our age', Mr Swinney added: 'We cannot resign ourselves to a prevailing political debate which seeks to diminish and deny the significance of climate action. 'Climate action is an absolute necessity in our world today if we want to hand on to the world of tomorrow the world we have had the privilege to enjoy today.' He added this is a responsibility he takes 'deadly seriously' as First Minister, saying such efforts are 'at the heart of my Government's programme'.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tackling climate change vital, says Swinney in warning over ‘dangerous rhetoric'
Action to tackle climate change is an 'absolute necessity', Scotland's First Minister has insisted as he hit out at 'dangerous rhetoric' from the right. John Swinney warned dealing with rising global temperatures is 'the biggest challenge of our age', and he called on politicians from all parties to 'recommit' to tackling the problem. His plea, made as he addressed the Better Society Academy climate conference at The Social Hub in Glasgow, came after UK Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch claimed it is 'impossible' for Britain to meet its goal of achieving net zero by 2050. Reform UK meanwhile has pledged to scrap 'net stupid zero' initiatives, with deputy leader Richard Tice echoing the words of US President Donald Trump by saying 'drill, Scotland, drill' when he visited Glasgow earlier this year. Mr Swinney spoke out against the 'anti-science climate denial approach that we have just now'. He said: 'I think it's important for all parties to recommit ourselves to tackling one of the great global issues of our time, and ignore the dangerous rhetoric that is growing on the right that sometimes climate action is avoidable.' Holyrood has committed to reaching net zero five years ahead of the UK in 2045, and Mr Swinney insisted his Government's 'goal is that Scotland's contribution to climate change will end definitively within one generation'. He said that is happening despite the 'very challenging global context for that particular debate'. Here, the SNP leader added: 'The journey to net zero is tough enough with the practicalities of what is involved, but the journey to net zero, when that route is disputed and contested and denied, is an even more significant and challenging journey.' While some 'undermine climate action… in the face of all evidence', the First Minister insisted it is now 'undeniable that extreme weather events are becoming much more frequent'. He told the conference: 'Here in Scotland, we see an increasing number of named storms, including earlier this year, Storm Eowyn which was the fifth storm of the 2024-25 season and the most powerful wind storm in the United Kingdom in over a decade. 'And it wasn't alone. Further afield, we've recently seen a spate of disasters such as the devastating floods in Valencia, dangerous heatwaves in Japan and flash floods in Pakistan and Brazil. Speaking at the #BetterSocietyAcademy in Glasgow, First Minister @JohnSwinney said climate action will continue to be one of our key priorities. By working together between the public and the private sector, we can strengthen our economy while reducing emissions. — First Minister (@ScotGovFM) May 2, 2025 'Last year, according to the UN's World Meteorological Organisation, extreme weather events across the globe displaced more than 800,000 people.' Stressing 'every one of us has got a contribution to make to meet the biggest challenge of our age', Mr Swinney added: 'We cannot resign ourselves to a prevailing political debate which seeks to diminish and deny the significance of climate action. 'Climate action is an absolute necessity in our world today if we want to hand on to the world of tomorrow the world we have had the privilege to enjoy today.' He added this is a responsibility he takes 'deadly seriously' as First Minister, saying such efforts are 'at the heart of my Government's programme'.
The Herald Scotland
29-04-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
The student housing pioneer who became 'better society' guru
Charlie MacGregor, the Netherlands-based businessman behind TSH, a B-corp certified brand which started out by creating a new model for student accommodation, is determined to use his company to, he said, create 'a shift in the needle'. The Better Society Academy held in Glasgow's Merchant City this week is part of that effort, bringing together more than 30 leaders in the emerging 'new economy' to share ideas, forge partnerships, and accelerate climate action, as part of its Europe-wide masterclass series. For MacGregor these events are about bringing people together to 'listen with both ears'. An advocate of the thought of Rutger Bregman, whose books, Humankind: A Hopeful History and Moral Ambition, are hopeful about the possibility of humans solving the world's problems, he believes in bringing people together to find answers. The Glasgow programme of The Better Society Academy, titled 'Changemakers Leading the Way to Net Zero: Inspiring Stories of Collaboration and Impact', will feature leading figures in sustainability, business, design, and activism. Among them are Anna Campbell-Jones, designer and presenter of BBC's Scotland's Home of the Year; climate activist Clover Hogan, plastic pollution campaigner Laura Young. Alison McRae, Senior Director, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and Ally Mitchell, founder of Ocean Plastic Pots. Ahead of the event, first minister John Swinney, who will deliver a keynote speech, described tackling climate as 'intrinsic to the nation's success'. The Better Society Academy (Image: TSH) MacGregor, whose father built the first-ever student housing building in 1980 for the University of Edinburgh, began his own journey as property entrepreneur, when he purchased a small student accommodation company at the age of 25, which he sold 10 years later. It was when he moved to the Netherlands and became aware of a student housing crisis in Europe that he saw the opportunity to create a new model. 'When I started The Student Hotel, I wanted to give students better because I saw that what they had before and I thought that was pretty bad and they deserved better as the next generation of our movers and shakers.' READ MORE: The approach was ground-breaking at the time, 2006. MacGregor, who didn't go to university himself, but left school at 16 and worked in building construction, recalled: 'Everybody told me in the beginning. Don't mix students with hotel customers. That's going to be dangerous. There's going to be old corporate men jumping on young students. And never mix your locals with business community of co-workers. "But we have one open door. We bring everybody together and what I started to see what happened when you mix people together by bringing these different demographics together. 'Most student accommodation blocks are full of one demographic or one stereotype. 300 students without any adults there will behave like 300 students – just as you know the same when you take a group of guys to a football match, they believe behave like a group of guys at a football match.' 'What I saw was that by blending them together, you create a better society. We really believe that. We're social. We want that to be our main thrust.' The Social Hub, Candleriggs, Glasgow (Image: TSH) The TSH model of student accommodation, he described, brings enormous value to the neighbourhoods in which it is built. 'We're four times more valuable for a city than a standalone hotel," he said. "That's four times more social and economic value. We're still working it out for students accommodation and I think it's going to be 8 to 10 times more valuable than the than a standalone student accommodation. We've got real data to show what the social, the regeneration value that we bring to a city is." The idea behind both TSH and the Better Society Academy is to bring people together in order to try to understand each other's point of view. 'It's a space,' said MacGregor, 'where people can just hear and you can agree to disagree and it's totally fine. And I think we've forgotten a little bit in society that it's OK to disagree.' 'In today's society, we like to pigeonhole ourselves. We like to say you're left. You're right. You're pro. You're anti. And even if I look at myself I don't want to be left or right. I'm kind of in the middle, and even if you're there then you'll be attacked from both sides.' What he hopes is that the big investors which have shares in TSH, but also in so many of the planet's companies, will start to say, 'Look, we've got this little company in Holland and they gave away 1% and they drive 5% of their revenues.' 'If I can really show," he said, "these other businesses that by being social, by welcoming the neighbours, and hosting Better Society Academies, by being a better corporation for my local neighbourhood, that is driving my bottom line, then I will start to move the needle.' MacGregor is also co-founder of the refugee support NGO, Movement On The Ground - and his sense of social purpose came out of the response he had to the global refugee crisis in 2015. Charlie MacGregor, entrepreneur behind The Social Hub and The Better Society Academy (Image: Rachel Ecclestone) At the time, he had three hotels in Holland and he called a government minister to say that he had 1500 rooms and could take refugees, and started to take them in. 'Then we started collecting clothes and I was nervous of what the neighbours would say. I was collecting clothes for refugees.' But what hit him most was seeing the shocking image of Alan Kurdi, the Syrian refugee toddler washed up dead on a beach in Turkey. 'I was sitting on my bed at the time, putting my socks on and I saw his image burst out crying. My son, my youngest son, who was the same age as him, walked into the room and said, 'Hey Daddy, what's going on? He had never seen me cry like that before. And I picked him up and I was so grateful that my son was here and I was alive, that I decided I'm doing the wrong stuff. I want to do more.' With a good friend, he went out to Lesbos to help, and two weeks later he was 'in the sea helping people get off a boat and onto land and making sandwiches for 1000 people', 'I guess at the moment,' he said, 'when I got off my CEO pedestal, the moment that I stopped holding meetings and started doing something myself, it put in place the piece of the jigsaw that hadn't been there previously. I came back and I I felt much more comfortable getting involved. It also seemed that everybody wanted to help us. Everybody that I spoke to from businesses to banks to investors to customers to locals, everybody was excited about what we were doing there. That kind of changed me that that gave me more guts to put my heart on my sleeve.' 'Changemakers Leading the Way to Net Zero' is at The Social Hub in Glasgow's Merchant City from April 29 till May 2
