Latest news with #SNP-led
ITV News
a day ago
- Business
- ITV News
SNP group on D&G Council say they have officially called for a vote of no confidence
The SNP group on Dumfries and Galloway Council say they have officially called for a vote of no confidence in the leadership. It comes after seven Conservative councillors left the party, making the SNP the biggest group. Councillor Gail MacGregor has been the leader of the Conservative administration since 2023, when an SNP-led rainbow coalition collapsed. SNP group business manager Councillor Katie Hagmann told ITV Border her party had submitted a no confidence motion that has received cross party support. The vote is expected to take place at a special full council meeting in the coming days. In February, councillors voted through the opposition SNP budget. Councillor Katie Hagmann said the administration was in 'disarray.' She added: 'We have submitted a motion of no confidence in the current administration. There is likely to be an announcement of a full council meeting and we are calling for the removal of the convener and the deputy convener, which is also the leader of Dumfries and Galloway council. "It is not acceptable the way that the administration is acting and the SNP group are the biggest group within the whole of the council and this is an snp budget that's been passed. "We've got business to do, we've got to deliver for the people of Dumfries and Galloway and we're determined to do that." The Conservative rebels have formed two separate groups. Councillors Andrew Giusti, Chrissie Hill, David Inglis and Richard Marsh have formed a new group called Novantae. The three other councillors Ian Carruthers, Karen Carruthers and Andrew Wood, have formed a separate independent group. A spokesperson for the Scottish Conservatives said: 'We wish them well.' The rebellion means that the Conservative group shrinks from 16 to nine and raises questions over the viability of the current administration. The political make-up of the council is now: 11 SNP members; nine Scottish Conservatives; eight Scottish Labour; one Scottish Liberal Democrat; 14 independent / other. A spokesperson for Dumfries and Galloway Council said: 'Dumfries and Galloway Council can confirm that seven councillors have resigned from the Conservative group. The council's website has been updated. 'Four of the councillors have formed a new political group called Novantae – councillors Richard Marsh, Chrissie Hill, Andrew Giusti and David Inglis. 'Three of the councillors have informed council officers that they have set up a separate group and they intend to call it The Dumfries and Galloway Independent Group. These are councillors Ian Carruthers, Karen Carruthers and Andrew Wood. 'The council will not be commenting further at this time.'
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
85% of Aberdeen traders rejected for LEZ retrofit scheme
However, of the 26 businesses who applied for aid, just four were approved. The figures come amidst rising anger over traffic regulations in the city. A legal challenge against the SNP-led council's bus gates is poised to be heard next month, after local residents and business owners raised more than £65,000 to fund the effort. The LEZ and bus gates have sparked anger in Aberdeen. (Image: Josh Pizzuto-Pomaco) Scottish Conservative MSP for North East Scotland Liam Kerr said the sums were evidence of the government's 'pitiful' stance towards businesses affected by the restrictions. In response, Transport Scotland said that the majority of applicants did not meet the necessary criteria for funding. Kerr said: 'Several businesses have already closed since the LEZs went live in Aberdeen, while others are on the brink of their livelihoods being decimated by this draconian scheme. 'Many are relocating their premises or simply avoiding these parts of Aberdeen because the SNP-Lib Dem council have demonised them from coming into our city centre. The Tory MSP added: 'Yet the woeful number of grants issued by the LEZ Retrofit Fund shows the Scottish Government has also shut the door on Aberdeen's business community. 'Rather than punishing motorists, the SNP government, with the council, should focus more on working constructively with businesses to help renew confidence and deliver economic growth.' Kerr submitted a written question in Holyrood to Transport Minister Fiona Hyslop on 21 May. He asked: 'How much of the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) Retrofit Fund has been allocated to be used for businesses in Aberdeen's LEZ since its introduction, and how much of that allocation was distributed to businesses?' Hyslop responded: '26 applications for this funding have been received from businesses in the Aberdeen area. The majority of applications were rejected due to applicants not meeting the eligibility requirements. 'Four applicants were eligible and offered funding, however only two accepted these offers. The amount received by these businesses to support retrofitting of vehicles to meet LEZ standards was £14,066 in total.' Transport Minister Fiona Hyslop (Image: PA/Jane Barlow).Hyslop noted that 'over 98%' of vehicles that upgraded using the scheme were taxis, and most were based in Edinburgh and Glasgow. She added: 'Lower demand retrofit funding in Aberdeen may be attributed to a combination of local taxi licencing conditions and vehicle eligibility, combined with an LEZ exemption for taxis in the city.' According to Transport Scotland, there are a number of requirements which must be met in order for businesses to qualify for financial assistance. First, funds are only available for 'micro businesses and sole traders'. A 'micro-business' is defined as firms that report a turnover of less than £632,000 or a balance sheet of £316,000 or retain nine or fewer full-time employees. Furthermore, the applying business must not have received any other retrofit grants, must have been operational for at least 12 months, must not be registered to reclaim VAT, and must hold a UK business bank account. Glasgow's LEZ has been live since June 2023. (Image: Image taken by Newsquest staff) Several businesses in Aberdeen have blamed traffic regulations for the failure of their firms. Whisky bar CASC, located on the city's Stirling Street, shut in December 2024. Owners Bill and Paul West said at the time: 'The final nail in the coffin was the utterly ridiculous LEZs/bus gates, and the seemingly never-ending construction around the city turning the centre into a no-go zone for many.' The Herald previously reported how taxi drivers in Glasgow struggled to enhance their vehicles after one of the only firms equipped to carry out the necessary repairs suddenly went bust last summer. At the time, 225 taxis were on the road under a temporary exemption while retrofitting was being carried out. In January 2025, Labour MSP Pam Duncan Glancy raised the issue in Holyrood, telling Hyslop: 'Taxi drivers in Glasgow are keen to play their part in the transition to net zero, but at present they struggle to access some support to comply with the low-emission zone in the city.' Read more: Glasgow drivers racked up £1.7m in LEZ fines since 2023, figures show 'Hypocrisy': One third of Glasgow City Council vehicles don't comply with LEZ rules 'Kick in the teeth': Lost Glasgow LEZ court case costs campaigners £130,000 A recent Freedom of Information Request submitted by The Herald found that Glasgow's drivers have been fined around £1.7m since the LEZ scheme two years ago. Likewise, in Aberdeen, drivers have been fined more than £3m since June 2024. A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: 'Eligibility criteria for the LEZ Support Fund is set to ensure funding is available for those most in need of support to adapt to Low Emission Zones. 'The majority of rejected applicants in Aberdeen did not meet the microbusiness/sole trader criteria, were registered to reclaim VAT, or did not provide the required evidence for eligibility. Four applications were rejected as no retrofit solution was available for the selected vehicle. 'Additional factors such as the local licensing of taxis in cities like Aberdeen has meant there was less need for retro-fitting due to lower numbers of non LEZ compliant vehicles, in addition Aberdeen has granted exemptions for wheelchair accessible vehicles which will likely have further reduced grant applications'.
The Courier
6 days ago
- Business
- The Courier
New council power team to hold on to £1m SNP fighting fund for Angus rebuild
Ousted SNP councillors say they will be 'watching closely' how a million-pound fund to rebuild Angus is used by the group which dumped them from power. The £1 million Angus infrastructure fund was revealed when the council set its budget in February. It was a surprise announcement by the then SNP-led administration. And the fund was the key difference between its budget and opposition proposals. Ex-leader Bill Duff planned to use it to unlock around £20m of extra borrowing capacity. He said it would 'restore basic infrastructure that has suffered from underinvestment and climate-related damage for some time.' Rebuilding Brechin after Storm Babet and combating the threat of coastal erosion at Montrose were given as examples. But it proved to be the SNP's last big move before they lost control of Angus Council. A new multi-party coalition grabbed power in April after securing a vote of no confidence in the ruling group. It is led by one-time stand-in SNP chief George Meechan and Arbroath Conservative Derek Wann. Kirriemuir councillor Mr Meechan confirmed the seven-figure fund will stay in the spending plans. 'The administration group have no plans to change the overall concept of the infrastructure fund,' he said. Former leader Mr Duff said: 'I very much welcome that the incoming administration recognise the value of the innovative infrastructure fund introduced in February's budget by the SNP/Independent administration. 'This offers over £20m of additional capital resource. 'This initial investment will start to address Angus's serious infrastructure requirements. 'Specifically, we were very conscious of the need to spend capital on dealing with the aftermath of Storm Babet and the reconstruction required in Brechin, and the impacts of coastal erosion in Montrose, both impacts of global warming. 'As the public will know, neither the then opposition budget nor the non-aligned budget addressed these two critical issues.' 'We will be watching carefully how this fund is used.'
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Alberta's push for independence pales in comparison to Scotland's in 2014
One day after the Liberal Party secured their fourth consecutive federal election victory, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith tabled legislation to change the signature threshold needed to put citizen-proposed constitutional questions on the ballot. She lowered it from the current 600,000 signatures to 177,000. Since the pro-independence Alberta Prosperity Project already claims to have 240,000 pledges in support of an Albertan sovereignty referendum, the change clears a path to a separation referendum. In 2014, Scottish voters went to the polls on a similar question to the one proposed by the Alberta Prosperity Project, but asking voters whether they wanted to regain their independence from Britain. Although the Scottish 'Yes' campaign was defeated, it garnered 45 per cent of the vote, far exceeding what most thought was possible at the start of the campaign. The 2014 Scottish referendum injected a huge amount of enthusiasm into the Scottish separatist parties, with the largest, the Scottish National Party (SNP) — which led the fight for the Yes side — soaring from 20,000 members in 2013 to more than 100,000 months after the referendum. While the Yes campaign did not achieve its goals and the Scottish historical context is very different from Alberta's, there are still important lessons about how people can be won over to the cause of independence. Albertan separatists don't seem to be heading down the same path. Smith has suggested that if the necessary signatures were collected, that she would aim to hold a referendum in 2026. But the Alberta Prosperity Project's Jeffrey Rath suggested the group would push Smith to allow a referendum before the end of 2025, giving the referendum a maximum of seven months of official campaigning. The broad ground rules of the Scottish referendum were established in the Edinburgh Agreement in October 2012. On March 2013, the SNP-led Scottish government announced the date of the independence referendum — Sept. 18, 2014. The long campaign period allowed a wide variety of grassroots campaign groups to organize in favour of independence. While Alberta separatism is less likely to be buoyed by artist collectives and Green Party activists like Scottish independence was, a longer independence campaign would allow a variety of members of Albertan society to make the case for independence. Dennis Modry, a co-leader of the Alberta Prosperity Project, recently told CBC News that the initial signature threshold of 600,000 was not all bad, as it would 'get (us) closer to the referendum plurality as well.' That remark suggested Modry sees value having more time to campaign before a referendum is held. In this regard, he and Rath seem to be sounding different notes. Hints that the Alberta Prosperity Project is already divided raises broader questions of leadership. In 2014, the Scottish Yes side had a clear and undisputed leader — First Minister Alex Salmond, head of the SNP. The late Salmond led the SNP to back-to-back electoral victories in Scotland, including the only outright majority ever won in the history of the Scottish parliament in 2011. Salmond was able to speak in favour of independence in debates and to answer, with democratic legitimacy, specific questions about what the initial policy of an independent Scotland would be. The SNP government published a report, Scotland's Future, that systematically sought to assuage skeptics. Its 'frequently asked questions' (FAQ) section answered 650 potential questions about independence. The Alberta Prosperity Project, on the other hand, only answers 74 questions in its FAQ. Whereas Salmon's rise to the leadership of the Scottish independence movement was done in full public view and according to party rules, the Alberta Prosperity Project's leadership structure is far murkier. The organization claims there 'is no prima facie leader of the APP, but there (is) a management team which is featured on the website Follow that link, however, and no names or management structures are listed. While independence always involves some unknowns, clear leadership can provide answers about where a newly independent nation might find stability. The Yes Scotland campaign promised independence within Europe, meaning Scotland would retain access to the European Union's common market. By contrast, the Alberta Prosperity Project isn't clear on the fundamental question of whether a sovereign Alberta should remain independent or attempt to join the United States as its 51st state. Despite the claim on its website that 'the objective of the Alberta Prosperity Project is for Alberta to become a sovereign nation, not the 51st state of the USA,' the organization backed Rath's recent trip to Washington, D.C. to gauge support for Albertan integration into the U.S. Rath has also said that becoming a U.S. territory is 'probably the best way to go.' The 2014 referendum in Scotland was called a 'festival of democracy', and even anti-independence forces agreed the referendum had been good for democracy. It took time and leadership to put forward a positive case for independence, one that voters could decide upon with confidence. Alberta could learn from Scotland and strengthen its democracy by holding a referendum based on legitimate leadership, reasonable timelines, diverse voices and clear aims. Or it could lurch into a rushed campaign, with divided leaders of dubious legitimacy, arguing for unclear outcomes — and end up, no matter which side wins, weakening its democracy in the process. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organisation bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Piers Eaton, L'Université d'Ottawa/University of Ottawa Read more: Alberta has long accused Ottawa of trying to destroy its oil industry. Here's why that's a dangerous myth Danielle Smith's subservient Florida trip flouts the Team Canada approach to fighting Trump Why Alberta's Danielle Smith is rejecting the Team Canada approach to Trump's tariff threats Piers Eaton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Council forced into second homes climbdown after ‘fiery' residents' revolt
A Scottish council could be forced into reversing its second home tax raid after a revolt from residents. North Ayrshire Council is reviewing the impact of the policy on the island of Great Cumbrae after residents complained it would harm their economy, which is reliant on tourism. The SNP-led authority imposed a 100pc council tax premium on second home owners last month, sparking an opposition movement among its 1,400 residents. The majority of Scottish authorities introduced similar charges after being given the power to do so in 2024. More than 200 authorities in England also launched a second homes raid this year – something The Telegraph is campaigning against. There are 450 second homes on Cumbrae, a small island situated one mile – or a 10-minute ferry – from the Scottish mainland. Its close proximity to the mainland makes it an attractive destination. One in three properties on Cumbrae are a second home while around a quarter of residents work in tourism-related jobs. An impact assessment found the council tax raid would strip £500,000 off the island's annual GDP of £12.9m. Cameron Inglis, the Conservative leader on North Ayrshire Council, said the reaction from residents had been 'fiery'. He told The Telegraph: 'We are asking second home owners to pay double, get nothing in return, so that we can balance our budget gap. 'The whole thing has been pushed through so that supposedly rich people can plug a budget gap. The whole thing is a sham. It's smoke and mirrors.' Mr Inglis added that ringfencing 10pc of the additional revenue for affordable housing was the equivalent to £110,000, which would pay for the construction of approximately 20 houses a year, built using council money and government grants. He said: 'That's not 20 houses for the island. That's 20 houses across the whole county. It's a drop in the water when it comes to the number of houses we need.' Alex Harvie, chairman of the Cumbrae Community Council, said the premium would force second home owners to sell up, reduce income for the island and could 'start a spiral of decline' as facilities fall into disrepair. In an appeal to North Ayrshire Council to re-examine the impact on the island, he accused the authority of rushing through the policy before the completion of a three-month review period to allow it to respond to the initial impact assessment. The council's initial impact assessment found 'concerns' with the economic impact on Great Cumbrae and cast doubt as to whether it would benefit housing availability. It conceded the island 'may not lend itself or be suitable for permanent island living'. A consultation, of which around 60pc of the respondents were not second home owners, also found widespread opposition to the policy. Only 38pc were in favour of the premium while 59pc were against. North Ayrshire has now been forced to review its original impact assessment following the pressure applied by the community council. A public consultation has been opened with the council accepting representations from residents, visitors and businesses until May 20. A spokesman for North Ayrshire Council said: 'Like other councils across Scotland who have already adopted this measure, we hope to see real long-term benefits to the availability of housing for people in communities across North Ayrshire, and for homes to be occupied for longer periods of time throughout the year.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
