Bomb squad keeps cordon at Donald Trump's Scottish golf course
However, police have now said that as the cordon was being removed, members from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Regiment requested to carry out further checks of the vehicle.
Police have confirmed that the lock down of the entrance is still ongoing.
READ MORE: Funding golf tournament was not attempt to butter up Donald Trump, says John Swinney
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: 'As the cordon was being removed, military colleagues from EOD requested to carry out further checks on the vehicle.
'These remain ongoing, and the decision has been taken to maintain the cordon at this time.'
Members of the public, journalists and staff at the site were evacuated from the entrance to the course and moved beyond a crash barrier after the alarm was raised.
One report has claimed that people had been blocked from leaving the area for more than an hour.
Earlier in the day, Trump teed off at the New Course in Menie in front of a crowd including golfers, the Scottish First Minister and the Scottish Labour leader.
Trump also made reference to late James Bond actor Sean Connery's reported support for his golf resort – even attempting to recreate the actor's voice.
(Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)
Just before hitting the first ball at the New Course, the US president told those gathered on a grandstand: 'We started with a beautiful piece of land, but we made it much more beautiful.
'The area has really welcomed us. If you remember at the beginning there wasn't quite a welcome, but it wasn't bad.
'But with time they liked us more and more, now they love us and we love them.'
Critics have claimed that the Trump developments in Scotland have not delivered as many jobs as promised and that work at the Menie site has caused environmental damage.
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STV News
29 minutes ago
- STV News
Trump claims Epstein stole women from Mar-a-Lago spa including Virginia Giuffre
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The Guardian
30 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Israel has deliberately starved the people of Gaza. It couldn't have done it without the west's help
What have we done? As the UN-backed monitor declares that 'the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip', this should have been the question ricocheting between the walls as Keir Starmer met Donald Trump this week. Israel's deliberate starvation of Gaza is, after all, a crime confessed to, designed and implemented in plain sight. Starmer has said the UK will recognise Palestinian statehood if Israel doesn't agree to a ceasefire and a two-state solution, but don't be beguiled: Palestinian national self-determination is an inalienable right, not a bargaining chip, and it's the most symbolic action he could take rather than, say, imposing sweeping sanctions and ending all arms sales. The hand-wringing of western politicians and media outlets will not feed Gaza's emaciated children, any more than it will absolve them of guilt. Israel's leaders have said, explicitly, repeatedly, from the very beginning, that they are deliberately starving Gaza's people. 'Man-made famine is not something that I've seen in my lifetime,' Martin Griffiths, the UN's former humanitarian chief, tells me. On 9 October 2023, Israel's then defence minister, Yoav Gallant, announced 'a complete siege on [Gaza]: no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel', justified on the grounds: 'We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly'. The next day, the Israeli general charged with humanitarian affairs in Gaza and the West Bank – Ghassan Alian – declared that the 'citizens of Gaza' were 'human beasts' who would suffer 'a total blockade on Gaza, no electricity, no water, just damage. You wanted hell, you will get hell.' The following week, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, promised 'we will not allow humanitarian assistance in the form of food and medicines from our territory to the Gaza Strip'. These statements were not reported at all by many western media outlets – or, if they were, it was in passing and with no explanation given about their objectively illegal intent. It's as though these statements were being uttered in a parallel universe, because if they were accurately covered with due prominence, then our media would have been forced to cover Israel's onslaught as a criminal enterprise, rather than a war of self-defence. Israel's western allies knew exactly what it was up to. In March 2024, our then foreign secretary, Lord Cameron, wrote a letter setting out many ruses used by Israel to block aid from entering Gaza, yet Britain took no action. In April 2024, two US government departments concluded that Israel was deliberately blocking aid, which legally required the administration to stop supplying weapons. This was overruled by Joe Biden's team. Later that year, that same administration sent a public letter detailing Israeli aid obstructions, but Tel Aviv correctly calculated this was political posturing during the presidential election, largely ignored the demands and suffered no consequences for doing so. Israel has perpetrated the biggest slaughter of aid workers in history, killing more than 400 by the spring. It waged a relentless war against Gaza's main humanitarian agency – Unrwa, the UN's Palestinian refugee agency – and banned it from the occupied territories last October. Its military killed police officers charged with escorting aid and preventing looting. It's not just the blocking of aid from entering. Israel's onslaught has left nearly all agricultural land unusable, as well as damaging 80% of cropland. Nearly all livestock and most plant life is dead. Gaza's port and fishing vehicles have been destroyed, and Palestinians defying Israel's ban on fishing face slaughter. The massacre of starving Palestinians looking for aid has been a consistent theme. In February 2024, more than a hundred civilians waiting for flour were butchered by the Israeli military, yet – as been the case throughout the genocide – media outlets treated its denials, deflections and lies as credible claims. A detailed investigation by CNN weeks later concluded what should always have been obvious – the Israeli military was to blame – but by then attention had moved elsewhere. In March this year, Israel imposed a total siege, and replaced the UN's effective aid system with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, whose 'distribution sites' are dystopian killing fields. As the UN-backed IPC notes, that aid is not only far too little, but it is often unusable because Israel has left Palestinians without cooking gas and clean water to prepare it. More than a thousand civilians have been butchered trying to access this aid. As aid agencies have noted, the GHF is designed to coax a starved population to the south, so they can be confined in what the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert described as a 'concentration camp', before being deported. Despite Israel's obvious, transparent, shameless guilt, its lies are indulged by western politicians and media outlets. On Monday, Donald Trump repeated that 'a lot of the food is stolen' by Hamas. This lie has been contradicted by Cindy McCain, director of the World Food Programme, and widow to the hawkishly pro-Israel late Republican senator John McCain. An internal US government analysis found no proof, and Israeli officials have briefed that their military reached the same conclusion. Perversely, it is criminal gangs backed by Israel – which Netanyahu's own former deputy noted are linked to Islamic State – that are stealing aid. The international criminal court's arrest warrants, issued eight months ago, centred on Israel's deliberate starvation for a reason: the evidence is overwhelming. Yet even if Gaza were suddenly flooded with aid, many Palestinians would die because their bodies have been irreversibly ravaged by hunger. And that is not even on the agenda. The 73 trucks allowed in on Monday were forced to take an unsafe route, and then looted. Our own prime minister has been promoting airdrops of aid. These are pinpricks, badly targeted and have killed Palestinians when they've fallen on their heads. All they really achieve is cover for Israel, to pretend it is doing something, deflecting from its deliberate mass starvation. But what else should we expect from Starmer, who backed Israel's right to impose a siege on Gaza at the beginning of the genocide, then tried to gaslight us into believing he hadn't? What have we done? If western elites had any shame, this question would be robbing them of sleep. 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The National
38 minutes ago
- The National
SNP and Greens slam Starmer's conditional Palestine stance
The SNP and Scottish Greens have warned that recognition of Palestine must be 'irreversible' and free of political caveats. In response to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's statement that the UK could back Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly in September – conditional on an Israeli ceasefire and a commitment to a two-state solution –John Swinney made clear that such recognition must not be a bargaining chip. "Having called on the UK Government to recognise the State of Palestine, I welcome the intent behind this announcement," the First Minister said. READ MORE: I'm a Scottish farmer – here's what I'm doing to help the people of Gaza "However, recognition of a Palestinian state should be irreversible. "Recognition must not be conditional and must be backed by sanctions against Israel if the violence continues." Swinney called for an immediate ceasefire and urgent access for humanitarian aid to address the catastrophic man-made famine in Gaza. He reiterated his support for a two-state solution, saying it remains the only viable path to lasting peace. "A two-state solution is the only way that the Palestinian and Israeli peoples can have a future, living side-by-side in peace and security," he said. "The Palestinian people deserve no less." His remarks came as the death toll in Gaza reportedly surpassed 60,000 – a milestone Swinney described as 'truly horrific' and 'a shame upon us all.' He demanded that Israel commit to ending the killings and comply with international investigations into war crimes and genocide. Swinney also called for the unconditional release of all hostages, noting the urgency of halting further bloodshed. The Scottish Greens echoed Swinney's condemnation of conditionality, insisting that Palestinian statehood should not be subject to Israeli cooperation. They criticised Starmer's announcement, which stated the UK could support recognition only if Israel agrees to halt its assault and engage in peace talks and only if the annexation of the West Bank ceases. The Greens, who have long supported Palestinian statehood and denounced the occupation, described the UK Government's framing as dangerous and insulting. They warned that Starmer's conditions effectively allow Israel to veto Palestinian sovereignty whilst continuing to displace, starve and murder Gazan civilians. Co-leader Patrick Harvie condemned Starmer's position, calling it 'an insult to the Palestinians' right to self-determination.' 'Recognition of Palestine is decades overdue, and should not be conditional,' Harvie said. He pointed to 'some of the worst war crimes recorded in recent history,' many of them livestreamed by perpetrators and met with silence or complicity from Western governments. Harvie said: 'Gaza has been decimated, entire generations of families have been wiped out, and the most basic universal human rights have been stripped away. READ MORE: Recognition of Palestine is 'worthless' without concrete action, expert says 'Starmer's words would carry some meaning if he immediately recognised the state of Palestine, called out the ongoing genocide, and ended UK complicity in arming and training the Israeli military.' The Greens have called on the Labour Government to recognise Palestine without delay and to stop aiding Israeli forces via weapons sales and military collaboration. They argue that Starmer's delay is a betrayal of a people 'at risk of being extinguished by genocide.' Harvie stressed that recognition must be a starting point – not an end. He said: 'Even if recognition for Palestine does come, it must be only the beginning – a moment when the international community steps in to stop the slaughter, end the occupation, and hold Israel's leaders to account for their crimes in front of the International Criminal Court.'
