
Tom Devine speaks after Neil Oliver binned from Glasgow tour buses
Now, leading historian Sir Tom Devine has responded to Oliver being dropped by the tour guiding business, saying the GB News host had taken a slot which could have been filled by a real historian.
READ MORE: Theatrics of Unionist duo on Question Time were cringeworthy
Devine told The National: 'It has taken some time for Oliver's name to be removed from the city's tourist buses. Now that it has finally happened, I am pleased.
"He is not a historian. Scotland is currently awash with excellent historians, any one of whom could have been selected as the face of this tourist campaign.
'I suspect the decision to delete his image is partly to do with the fact that he has become a much more controversial figure in recent years because of his eccentric opinions on politics and other issues, which have undermined his former public standing.'
READ MORE: Bob Vylan member responds to Glastonbury backlash with lengthy statement
Oliver has descended into the realm of conspiracy theories in recent years, claiming Covid lockdowns are part of a new world order and that vaccinations can give people "turbo cancer".
He called the prospect of a new independence vote 'cancerous' and most recently had one of his YouTube videos blocked by the platform for using antisemitic language.
His involvement with the tourism service has long been questioned, given his fierce support of the union and Glasgow's majority-Yes vote in 2014.
West Coast Motors, the firm who operate the City Sightseeing Glasgow tour bus service, did not respond to requests for comment.
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STV News
an hour ago
- STV News
Councillor suspended after making 'inappropriate' comments about Gypsy Travellers
A Stonehaven councillor has been suspended for two months after she was found to have made 'inappropriate' comments about Gypsy Travellers. Wendy Agnew was thought to have suggested that 'gypsies are not British people' at a Kincardine and Mearns area committee meeting back in November 2023. Her comments were made during discussions around retrospective plans to change the use of the Findon Park football pitch near Portlethen into a Gypsy Travellers site. The incident sparked some controversy and resulted in Agnew stepping down as committee chairwoman. A councillor colleague made a complaint about her comments the following month and an investigation was carried out by the ethical standards commissioner. In April, the Standards Commission was sent a report that suggested that Agnew had breached the Councillor's Code of Conduct. The Stonehaven member faced the Standards Commission on Tuesday to face the consequences of her comments. Ethical standards commissioner Ian Bruce said: 'The respondent made inappropriate comments about Gypsy Travellers and the appropriateness of granting a retrospective planning application for a Gypsy Traveller site, including insinuating that they are not British. 'This was deemed a failure to treat everyone with courtesy or respect, and also a failure to advance equality of opportunity and to seek to foster good relations between different people.' Aberdeenshire Council Wendy Agnew, Aberdeenshire Council At the meeting, Agnew admitted she didn't 'feel hatred' towards Gypsy Travellers and blamed her comments on 'clumsy language'. The councillor also stated that she had 'no intent to be disrespectful'. Before the recording of the meeting was published online to YouTube, it had been edited to remove Agnew's comments. The council's head of legal and people, Karen Wiles, admitted this had been done to prevent the local authority from facing any potential legal challenges. She said: 'It was apparent to me that people of a Gypsy Traveller community may have seen themselves as being differentiated from British people. 'That could be offensive since the two terms are not mutually exclusive.' Standards Commission member and chair of the hearing panel, Helen Donaldson, said members found Agnew had treated the applicant 'less favourably' because she was a Gypsy Traveller. They based this on Agnew's suggested knowledge of unauthorised use of a different site and an assumption that travellers were 'more likely to breach planning conditions'. Ms Donaldson added: 'The provisions that state councillors must be respectful, must foster good relations between different people and must avoid any perception that they are not acting fairly and without bias when making decisions on quasi-judicial matters, such as planning applications, are key requirements of the Councillors' Code. 'The panel noted that a failure to comply with the code's provisions in this regard can have a detrimental impact on the right of an applicant to be treated fairly, and can erode public confidence in the role of a councillor. 'Such a failure also had the potential to bring the committee, the council and its decisions into disrepute and open it up to the risk of a successful legal challenge.' The panel found that Agnew had breached paragraphs 3.1, 3.2, 7.4a, 7.4c and 7.5a of the councillor's code of conduct. Members then decided to hand the Stonehaven councillor a two-month suspension. This means she will not be allowed to attend any meetings or represent Aberdeenshire Council during this time. 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


Edinburgh Reporter
3 hours ago
- Edinburgh Reporter
Another delay to Edinburgh bus lane trial announced
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In 2022, the scheme was revived when councillors voted to have officers explore the feasibility of rolling out 7-7-7 bus lanes in the capital. It is unclear what progress was made with this, but two years later, in February 2024, councillors at the Transport and Environment Committee voted to have officers develop plans for a trial. And in August last year they approved the trial, which would have seen 7-7-7 bus lanes be rolled out along the length of the 44 bus route by the first quarter of 2025 – but no trial has come. At a meeting of the transport committee last Thursday, a councillor asked officers for more information on why the scheme was delayed yet again. Green councillor and co-convener Chas Booth said: 'The original committee decision from August of last year stated that the trial would start in the first quarter of 2025 – so that's already at least three months delayed. 'Can I ask what is the reason for the delay, and whether we have a new date for the trial to start?' Council officer Deborah Patton said: 'There are probably two main reasons. One is around orders, overlapping [traffic regulation orders] which needs to be sorted out, but will hopefully be sorted out later this year. 'The other really crucial one is funding for this piece of work. We had hoped that we would be able to secure some funding from Transport Scotland's bus infrastructure fund, and indeed have submitted a proposal for that to Transport Scotland several months ago. 'However, unfortunately, at the time of speaking today, we still haven't heard whether that bus infrastructure fund is going forward or not.' Another officer, Jamie Robertson, said the council is aiming to complete preparatory works for the trial by February 2026. Cllr Booth continued: 'Obviously, there is a long history to this. Committee, I think four years ago, even more, agreed to the roll-out of 7-7-7 bus lanes across the city. 'And now, we've seen a delay to just the very limited trial that committee agreed to last year.' Council officer Gareth Barwell said: 'We'll have to look at some form of a plan B on the funding of this if it's not successful. 'This is an important thing to do. We'll continue to push contacts at Transport Scotland and we'll keep members updated if we'll have to look at using resources differently.' Cllr Booth asked Mr Barwell if councillors could be provided with a written brief on the issues facing the trial. Mr Barwell said he was happy to do it. Labour councillor and Transport and Environment Committee convener Stephen Jenkinson said: 'I think that would be helpful. I think if there's anything we can do as councillors to apply pressure in the right places to maybe speed up funding decisions, certainly as convener, I'm more than happy to do that. 'But maybe collectively as committee it's something we can take a brief on and take offline, and decide what a plan B might look like. 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Cllr Jenkinson said: 'Making public transport more efficient, reliable, and reducing journey times, are key objectives for us. 'I share the frustration over the delayed roll-out of this trial. Officers are working with transport partners to secure the necessary funding and progress experimental traffic orders to deliver improved bus priority infrastructure.' By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter Like this: Like Related


Spectator
4 hours ago
- Spectator
Fighting welfare rebels, Liz Kendall looked like a woman tortured
That this government is bad at maths will not come as a surprise to many readers. Thus far, however, in its endless parade of resounding successes, this has been mostly confined to miscalculations on the economy. Now, though, government innumeracy seems to have spilled out into its Parliamentary arithmetic too. Despite having a landslide majority, Labour has managed to find itself, not quite a year into power, with a serious backbench rebellion on its hands. This is doubly impressive: not only is the government's majority enormous, it is composed of an intake of infamously supine backbenchers, desperate for attention and promotion from No. 10. They make the 1997 Labour cohort look like The Few. To have provoked this lot into open rebellion is quite the achievement. Enter Liz Kendall, whose flagship welfare reform bill has run into choppy waters as backbenchers threatened to torpedo its passage through parliament. Kendall wanted to give the impression she had come with open ears; 'we've listened' being her most oft repeated introit. In fact, an open chequebook might have been more appropriate. More and more concessions were announced – from a rise in Universal Credit to another £300 million in disability allowances. Reassessments for benefits were stripped back, the constraints on those claiming PiP were watered down. This wasn't just a retreat, it was full-scale surrender. Even so, it was still tough going for Kendall. There were innumerable requests for her to give way, with the queries from her own benches as hostile as those opposite. Labour MPs had self-selected into two groups. Immediately behind Kendall was a gaggle of youthful MPs who looked like the focus group for an acne cream brand. This Praetorian Guard of work experience students huddled protectively to her rear. Next to her were her ministers of state, including a rather melancholy-looking Sir Stephen Timms, on whose upcoming review of the changes Kendall hung much of her argument. Further up the benches were the vultures, Labour veterans of rebellions of yore, greyer and grimmer in outlook. I could swear I saw John McDonnell lick his lips as Kendall struggled to answer for yet another time. A lot of them had turned out, which didn't help the already hot temperatures. Many MPs resorted to fans: varying from Cat Smith's stylish opera-style number to Kim Johnson's vast fanning device – the size of a tennis racket – which looked like it might have been part of the cooling system at a nuclear power plant. Also struggling to keep her cool was Kemi Badenoch in her response. Labour goading when she mentioned the Covid pandemic tipped her over the edge. 'I remember sitting on that side of the House and them demanding that we spend more and more money' she bellowed, visibly angry with the hindsight enthusiasts opposite. Meanwhile the government benches radiated misery. 'I feel sorry for the Right Honourable Lady: she looks like she is being tortured', snapped Mrs Badenoch. Liz Kendall pulled a face which did not exactly dispel that notion. Mrs Badenoch then motioned at the Starmer and Reeves-shaped craters on the government benches. Indeed, the Leader of the Opposition mentioned the Chancellor considerably more than she mentioned anybody else: for her it was very clear where the blame should be laid. Today is the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme: Mrs Badenoch's thrust was that the tradition of sending people over the top without sufficient support was alive and well. There was precious little comfort for Ms Kendall from her own side, either. Rachel Maskell, leader of the rebels and whose amendment it is that could sink the bill, accused the government in a carefully-worded speech of 'lacking mercy' and of having their priorities all wrong. 'We know that those with the broadest shoulders could pay more,' lamented Emma Lewell. (Perhaps; they could also just hop on a plane to Dubai.) Chair of the Work and Pensions committee Debbie Abrahams described the bill as 'a dog's breakfast'. Over on the vulture step, Kim Johnson brandished her inflatable tennis racket and began flapping again. The Lib Dems announced they would be supporting Rachael Maskell, their spokesman, Steve Darling – who is himself blind – accusing the government of creating a two-tier and 'Orwellian' system. They're good at that, it seems. After hours of ceaseless grumbling, Stephen Timms returned to announce the biggest U-turn of all; gutting the reforms entirely and scrapping the section on PIP. But this massive concession only seemed to enrage the rebels further. 'Ootraaageous!' yelled Ian Lavery, brandishing his order paper at the Deputy Speaker. 'This is crazy, man!' One Tory backbencher asked how much of the promised £5 billion savings would the taxpayer now be on the hook for, following the government's various U-turns. (The correct answer is surely, 'every penny of it'). Even Mr Timms, a popular figure on both sides of the House, couldn't get away with his next bit of bluster – a cop-out so clear you could see it from space. 'We'll set out these figures in the usual way,' he replied, triggering gales of laughter on the opposition benches. In the end, the rebels didn't vote down the Maskell amendment – because they didn't need to. The welfare reform was no more! It had ceased to be! It had expired and gone to meet its maker! It was stiff, bereft of life, an ex-bill! Meanwhile, there sat Kendal, the front benches looking more and more like a crater in no man's land and with no sign of a rescue party in sight.