Latest news with #MairiMcAllan
The National
3 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Scottish Government minister marches in support of Palestine
In a post online, Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan shared an image of her marching in Scotland's "national demonstration" from Glasgow Green to the city centre, organised by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign. The MSP is pictured holding a sign which states: "Peace for Palestine now." She is also wearing a Medical Aid for Palestinians T-shirt. McAllan previously took part in a Stride for Palestinians, in aid of raising money for the charity. Alongside her constituency team, McAllan completed 107km on foot, representing the distance from Occupied East Jerusalem to Gaza. READ MORE: Israel in talks to resettle Palestinians in South Sudan, sources say Today I marched in Glasgow for every child and innocent Palestinian civilian being bombed, displaced and starved by the Israeli government," McAllan wrote on Instagram. "The atrocities must end! We must stand up and raise our voices against a genocide unfolding before our eyes. War crimes cannot be committed with impunity. "Leaders must act. Palestinians must be free." McAllan's words come after First Minister John Swinney said he is looking at a 'whole range of measures' to take against Israel amid its genocide in Gaza. The Scottish Government has come under mounting scrutiny over the public money it has continuously provided for these companies. The government agency Scottish Enterprise (SE) has given £8 million to 13 companies involved in weapons manufacturing since 2019 – although the SNP Government maintains that the funding doesn't go directly to the production of munitions and that 'due diligence' checks are thorough. However, that has been called into question given that, of the 199 human rights checks between 2021 and 2023, no firm ever failed. Pressure has also built around arms firms' links to Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel plans to widen its coming military offensive with the mobilisation of forces expected to take weeks. Families of hostages fear the coming offensive further endangers the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, just 20 of them thought to be alive. The United Nations is also warning that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began. Palestinians are drinking contaminated water as diseases spread, while some Israeli leaders continue to talk openly about the mass relocation of people from Gaza. Another 11 malnutrition-related deaths occurred in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the territory's health ministry said on Saturday, with one child among them. That brings malnutrition-related deaths during the war to 251. The UN and partners say getting aid into the territory of more than two million people, and then on to distribution points, remains highly challenging with Israeli restrictions and pressure from crowds of hungry Palestinians. The UN human rights office says at least 1760 people were killed while seeking aid between May 27 and Wednesday. In a statement, organisers of the Glasgow march stated: "The horror genocide continues. Having mass-bombed the Palestinians and their infrastructure, we now see the systematic starvation of a desperate, displaced population. READ MORE: European leaders speak with Donald Trump after Ukraine ceasefire talks "Skeletal babies are dying in front of the world's eyes, deprived of the most basic nutrition. Doctors and aid workers are collapsing from hunger and exhaustion, unable to help the injured and save lives. "Like scenes from a 'hunger games' movie, people approaching the regime's death trap 'aid' facilities are being shot as they scramble for a paltry bag of flour. "The whole dystopian spectacle is being watched by the regime's Western patrons, refusing to impose economic sanctions and an arms embargo. Starmer, Lammy and their cohorts belong in The Hague for their direct part in the apocalypse."
Scotsman
5 days ago
- Politics
- Scotsman
Net zero target blowing in the wind
The SNP is sticking to its target of 2045 to reduce carbon emissions to net zero (Picture:) Six years ago, the SNP set a target of 2045 to reduce carbon emissions to net zero, accompanied with rhetoric of achieving a 'just transition' to renewable energy. 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 was an unachievable goal, set only to undercut the UK target of 2050 so the Nationalists could talk up their claims to be more ambitious and more concerned about the planet than the evil Conservative government. They bowed to the inevitable only last year when Energy Secretary Mairi McAllan admitted the interim target of a 75 per cent reduction by 2030 would be missed. But she stuck with 2024, so the plan now appears to be to find someone who can do the actual work, when it might have been presumed that the thousands of civil servants her department employs would already have been hard at work. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Yet the Scottish Government has just started to advertise for a £140,000-a-year 'Director-General Net Zero' who will be expected to 'forge and deliver a coherent, joined-up strategy and subsequent outcomes which bring a just transition of the economy whilst delivering transformational change across the whole of government.' That sounds like a very big job, but isn't that what they've supposed to have been doing for the last six years? Transformational change across the whole government? Phew! Has anyone told the rest of the government? Transforming the economy for £140,000 a year sounds like a bargain, except the SNP has been blowing billions for years and the only thing that's been transformed is thousands of lives for the worse. Sue Webber is a Scottish Conservative MSP for Lothian
STV News
07-08-2025
- Business
- STV News
Scottish Government announces £20m to speed up dangerous cladding removal
The housing secretary has announced a further £20m to speed up action to remove dangerous cladding in Scotland. Mairi McAllan announced the additional funding and expanded eligibility on Thursday, stating that social housing will now be eligible for remediation funding. It comes after the Scottish Government has been repeatedly criticised by opposition parties over the pace of remediation work following the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster in London, which killed 72 people. 'Scotland's cladding remediation programme is progressing at pace and the additional £20m I've announced today will further expedite this vital work,' McAllan said. 'Ultimately I am determined that, by 2029, every high-risk residential building over 18 metres will have been resolved, with buildings between 11 and 18 metres placed on a clear pathway to resolution.' The announcement follows criticism that Scotland's removal of dangerous cladding is behind other parts of the UK. Out of an estimated 1,450 buildings that may require work to remove cladding, just three have been fully assessed under the cladding remediation programme. Only two buildings in the country currently have active remediation work being undertaken. Another 12 single building assessments (SBA), which assess any risk to life caused by cladding, are currently under way. The Scottish Liberal Democrats said the Government was moving at a 'glacial pace'. McAllan, who was given the newly created role in June, said the additional money will speed up actions to make Scotland's buildings safe. It will boost the Scottish Government's single open call fund, which was launched in March. The fund, which was launched in March, allows owners and residents to apply for an assessment to determine the work required to make buildings safe. She also set a deadline of October 31, 2025, by which developers must sign the developers' remediation contract, an agreement between the UK government and major developers, requiring them to fix life-critical fire safety defects in buildings they developed or refurbished over the past 30 years. The Scottish Government said the fund has already made 258 initial grant funding offers for building owners and residents to take forward a single building assessment. The £10m additional funding will ensure every eligible application received before the end of December will be progressed. 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
Daily Record
04-08-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
Praise for work of Strathaven Memory Club from MSP
Clydesdale MSP Mairi McAllan visited the local organisation to learn more about their eforts. A group supporting Lanarkshire residents with dementia has been praised as 'a wonderful resource for the community' by a local MSP. Clydesdale representative Mairi McAllan visited Strathaven Memory Club, hosted at the town's Trinity Church, for one of their fortnightly sessions – where attendees were entertained by talented members of the Morag Fraser Highland dance group. The group is for people with memory issues and provides activities, companionship and refreshments and was recognised at this year's South Lanarkshire Provost Awards for their work. Ms McAllan extended her 'warm thanks' to group members and volunteers for hosting her at the 'brilliant afternoon' and said: 'Strathaven Memory Club has proven to be a wonderful resource for the community. 'Their success can be seen in the growing number of families attending each session and the obvious fun and friendship felt by all in attendance. The meetings provide fun and support, with music and Scottish dancing provided by talented local groups when I attended.' She added: 'Their efforts received much deserved recognition at the South Lanarkshire Provost Awards this year, and I look forward to seeing their continued work in the community.' The group supports dozens of families and carers, with a growing volunteer roll and numerous community links. Meetings take place at Trinity Church in Strathaven on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, from 1.30pm to 3.15pm.
Scotsman
17-07-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
How McAllan can tackle our housing emergency
The new Housing Secretary needs to put in place a ten-year plan to sort problems Sign up to our Scotsman Money newsletter, covering all you need to know to help manage your money. 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... New Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan has had a busy first month and has announced she is working on a plan to address Scotland's housing emergency which she will announce when Holyrood returns in the autumn. Given that housing charity Shelter Scotland recently named John Swinney's legislative agenda a 'Programme for Homelessness' it is clear that the Scottish Government must produce some positive and effective policies. More housebuilding is required, easier and quicker planning regulations, a long-term focus on addressing social housing shortages, and a much closer working relationship with the private rented sector (PRS) to both maintain existing stock and encourage greater investment. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms McAllan said she would act on stalled developments, which she calls an 'untapped area,' and said the Scottish Government is 'brokering' those issues with developers to 'unlock tens of thousands of houses'. David J Alexander is an expert in Scotland's rental sector These developments are stalled due to continued uncertainty over the Scottish Government's direction on the private rented sector. Proposals in the Scottish Housing Bill to introduce rent controls don't help despite proof from the Governments' own data showing this policy results in greater costs for tenants. The most recent statistics reveal that the Scottish Government's intervention in the PRS – through its Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Scotland Act 2022 which introduced temporary rent controls – resulted in rents rising at a faster rate in two years than they had in the preceding 12. Between 2010 and 2022 average rent rises across Scotland for one, two, three and four-bedroom properties were up £138; £182; £232; and £523 respectively. In the following two years between 2022 and 2024 average rents increased by £130; £157; £230; and £333 for one, two, three and four-bedroom properties. In cash terms rents rose in two years at almost the same level that they did over the previous 12 years. These figures highlight just how destructive the Scottish Government's intervention into the PRS was between 2022 and 2024. A major outcome of this policy has been the freezing of property investment, falling housebuilding levels, with money intended to be invested in Scotland to build more properties being transferred to other parts of the UK. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad If Ms McAllan is to make an impact on the staggering levels of housing need in Scotland, then she must embrace the private rented sector. She should not interfere in the market with rent controls and should be encouraging greater investment through policies which encourage growth over the long-term through support of the PRS. Mairi McAllan 'must embrace the private rented sector' (Picture: Jeff) The new Housing Secretary needs to put in place a ten-year plan which addresses Scotland's enormous housing problems. More housebuilding, more involvement and encouragement of the PRS, more social housing and a plan that ensures there are substantially more homes available in all markets in the future. With 250,000 people on the social housing waiting list, 10,000 children in temporary housing and a private rented sector which has been experiencing unprecedented demand there is an immediate need for clarity and action. Housing policy needs the involvement of all interested parties, and a strategy that looks beyond a single electoral cycle if the housing emergency is to be tackled.
