Edinburgh Council set to spend £1.7m on Tour de France
Both the men's and women's races are set to begin in the UK in 2027, with the men's race beginning in Edinburgh.
A report on unaudited council accounts for the past financial year contains an ask for up to £1.7m to be spent on the race from council reserves, with plans to backfill the spend with money from the city's upcoming Visitor Levy.
The report does not specify what the money will be used for, but it says the council has been in 'confidential discussions' with the Scottish Government and VisitScotland about hosting the event.
The SNP group has tabled an amendment to the unaudited accounts, which if approved by councillors would see the spending request denied.
The 2027 running of the Tour de France will be the first time both the men's and the women's race start in the same country, where that country is not France.
Edinburgh has never hosted any part of the race before, but it has come to the UK four times: in 1974, 1994, 2007 and 2014.
By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter
Like this:
Like
Related
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
31 minutes ago
- The National
Scottish energy bills to rise to pay for English nuclear plant
The SNP have warned that Scottish bill payers will have to cough up after Energy Security Secretary Ed Miliband confirmed the plant will cost £38 billion, nearly double the previous estimate of £20bn. Miliband snuck out a statement hours before Parliament was due to go into a six-week summer recess, admitting energy bill payers would face a decade-long levy as a result of the price hike. This is despite Labour promising ahead of the General Election that their flagship GB Energy policy would save people £300 a year on their energy bills. In actual fact, bills are on average 10% higher than they were this time last year. An average of £1 will be added to each household's energy bills per month from autumn, over the duration of the nuclear site's construction phase. READ MORE: SNP minister slams UK minister Steve Reed for Scottish water comments Graham Leadbitter, the SNP's energy spokesperson, hit out at the news on Tuesday. "Nuclear is extortionate, takes decades to build and the toxic waste is a risk to local communities – Scotland's future is in renewables, carbon capture and links to Europe, not more money for white elephants. 'Just months ago, the Labour Government rubbished the £38bn figure for Sizewell-C yet today Ed Miliband snuck out a statement that confirmed they've lost control of this project before spades are even in the ground. "To make matters worse, Scots will be left to foot the bill with a levy on energy bills – you simply couldn't make it up, yet Anas Sarwar and Scottish Labour back this extortionate and wasteful plan that energy rich Scotland will pay for through the nose." Leadbitter added that it seems the "pot of cash never runs out" for projects in England, while Scottish plants like Grangemouth see minimal support from the UK Government. "Westminster's fiscal regime has ruined Scottish energy jobs – Scotland isn't just an afterthought, it's barely a thought at all," he added. "It is absurd that energy rich Scotland is home to fuel poor Scots and that while energy bills go up, Scottish energy jobs are going down – that's directly as a consequence of Westminster policy and the further squandering of cash on expensive nuclear won't change that." Leadbitter concluded: "Time and time again Westminster's priorities undermine Scotland's priorities and that's why more and more Scots are increasingly asking how long we stay tied to this so-called Union of Equals?' READ MORE: Scottish ice rink to close due to 'spiralling energy costs' The UK Government announced on Tuesday that it had signed a deal with a group of investors on Sizewell-C. The Government will become the biggest equity shareholder in the project with a 44.9% stake. New investors include Canadian investment fund La Caisse with 20%, British Gas owner Centrica with 15%, and Amber Infrastructure with an initial 7.6%. It comes alongside French energy giant EDF announcing earlier this month it was taking a 12.5% stake – lower than its previously stated 16.2% ownership. Once Sizewell C is up and running, it is expected to create savings of up to £2bn a year across the future low-carbon electricity system. The Government did not confirm how much individual households are estimated to save from the cheaper clean electricity. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the cost is about 20% cheaper than the development of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset – which is under construction and projected to open in 2031. Sizewell C will power the equivalent of six million homes and create some 10,000 jobs once it is operational, which is expected to be in the 2030s.
The National
33 minutes ago
- The National
Inside the Scottish Greens as key member quits in candidate row
The party shared their full list of candidates on Monday, which saw Maggie Chapman removed from the top spot of the North East list, meaning she is unlikely to win a seat in next year's election. She was replaced as the lead candidate by activist Guy Ingerson, who previously lodged a bullying complaint against Chapman. Maggie Chapman (Image: Christian Gamauf) Meanwhile, party co-leader Patrick Harvie saw off a challenge from a "radical" group of members to replace him as the lead candidate for Glasgow. Internal messages seen by The National show members raising concerns about the selection process for both lists, with some members demanding a recount. READ MORE: SNP minister calls on UK counterpart to retract 'misleading' Scottish water comments Speaking about the North East list, Shetland councillor Alex Armitage said: "Our integrity as a party is a hugely important aspect of our values and our identity as Greens. It is so important that we can trust and have confidence in our selection procedures. "I rarely speak out on internal issues but this just doesn't sit right with me at all. I'd like to move forward but before doing so I believe this should be properly scrutinised." The National understands concerns were also raised around the selection contest between Harvie and Ellie Gomersall – who placed second on the Glasgow list – particularly around the transferring of votes to Gomersall from candidates who were knocked out in previous voting rounds. Patrick Harvie The party had sought to reassure members on Monday evening, as a spokesperson was quoted saying in the media that the party's internal elections officer (IEO) "has confirmed that the process and the methodology used are compliant with our selections procedure, and the lists published are correct". However, shortly after that statement was published, the party's IEO, Kate Joester, announced she had quit the role and said she had no part in the statement. "To clarify regarding the statement in the press on members' concerns about counting irregularities; this did not come from me as Internal Elections Officer, and I am no longer in that post as of this evening", she told members. A Scottish Greens spokesperson went on to say that there had been a "misunderstanding about the sign-off that [the statement] received which we apologise for", but that the rest of the statement's content remained accurate. READ MORE: Police operation for Donald Trump visit will be 'biggest since Queen's death' And on Tuesday, Joester shared with members that she resigned from the role because "I hadn't done a good enough job", although clarifying that she did "not know whether or not there is a problem with the results". The party has since confirmed a review into the process is underway with the company which supplied the service, and that members will be updated in due course. Concerns have continued to be raised into Tuesday, although it is understood members are awaiting more detailed feedback from the party before taking further action, such as potentially tabling an emergency motion calling for the vote to be thrown out and re-run. Speaking to The National, one member put it simply: "It's all a bit of a clusterfuck." They added: "It's just spiralling more and more, and the party seem to want to try and ignore it, hoping it will blow over, but it won't." Another member said: 'This is an absolute mess. If someone like Kate Joester is stepping down, there must be something seriously wrong. "This isn't a factional issue, this is about basic fairness and democracy which is clearly not being applied. "The results could easily be very different, and the longer questions aren't answered, the more this looks like a cover-up to protect a chosen few." A Scottish Greens spokesperson said: 'As said to members last night, we are speaking to the provider to get more details about the approach used. These details will be shared with members in due course.'
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Environment Secretary urged to apologise for ‘misleading' Scottish water claims
The Scottish Government is demanding an apology from UK Environment Secretary Steve Reed for 'inaccurate and misleading' made about water quality north of the border. Mr Reed came under fire after claiming that under publicly-owned Scottish Water 'pollution levels in Scotland are worse than they are in England'. The UK Government minister made the remarks to Channel 4 News as he dismissed calls for water services south of the border to be nationalised. Gillian Martin, the Scottish Government Secretary for Climate Action and Energy, said she was 'extremely disappointed' that Mr Reed had made the 'inaccurate and misleading comments regarding performance in Scotland' as he sought to 'dismiss out of hand the value of public ownership of a key asset like water'. She wrote to Mr Reed noting that Monday's report from the Independent Water Commission, led by Sir Jon Cunliffe, had found 66% of Scotland's water bodies to be of good ecological status, compared with 16.1% in England and 29.9% in Wales. And while she accepted the figures for the different countries were 'not calculated on the same basis', Ms Martin stated: 'It is clear that Scotland has a higher performance.' She insisted that 'much of the improvement' seen in water in Scotland was 'due to significant investment in the water industry to reduce pollution', which she said was driven by both Scottish Water and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa). Ms Martin told the UK Environment Secretary: 'Your comments sought also to undermine the idea of public ownership in the minds of voters, yet this is clearly what the people of Scotland continue to want. 'Indeed, it is the very fact of that public ownership and control which has allowed us to keep water bills lower for people, compared to what people with privatised water supplies in England have to pay.' Noting that Sepa had found 87% of the Scottish water environment to be of 'high' of 'good' quality – up from 82% in 2014 – she insisted this was 'in part, due to water being a publicly-owned asset, allowing for investment without shareholder returns or the pressure to make profits'. The Scottish Government minister went on to tell Mr Reed: 'I am therefore asking that you acknowledge that your comments were inaccurate, that you apologise publicly for making them, and seek to correct them.' Sir Jon's review of water services south of the border did not explore renationalising water companies – with the Government at Westminster opposed to this despite demands from campaigners for a return to public ownership in England. Mr Reed however warned that nationalisation would cost £100 billion and would slow down efforts to cut pollution. The UK Government has been contacted for comment.
