First Corran Ferry foot passenger fare to be introduced
The group of councillors had raised concerns about an impact on residents and businesses.Andrew Baxter, Liberal Democrat councillor for Fort William and Ardnamurchan, led calls for a debate at a meeting of the full council.The fare would only apply to passengers aged 23 to 60 years old.It would include cyclists, although there would be no extra charge for the bicycle.The alternative journey by road around Loch Linnhe takes about two hours.Highland Council describes the Corran Ferry as Europe's busiest single-vessel car ferry.It carries about 10,000 foot passengers, 270,000 cars and 11,000 commercial vehicles a year.Highland Council said a £2 charge could generate £20,516 a year.Councillors agreed to a 10% increase on vehicle fares in March, but left a decision on foot passengers to the economy and infrastructure committee.
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Daily Mail
15 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Starmer joins Trump on Air Force One
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The flight will land at RAF Lossiemouth, due to Aberdeen Airport having too short a runway for the 747. It was the PM's second flight of the day, having arrived in Scotland from Switzerland, where he watched the Lionesses retain their Women's Euros title last night. Without any awkwardness about playing one mate off against the other the president used the hour-long televised bromantic encounter to tell the PM to cut taxes and stop 'murderers and drug dealers' from coming to Britain. While Sir Keir sat beside him with an impassive look on his face he also attacked subsidies for wind power and - gently - suggested he should back fresh drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea instead. He was full of praise for the Prime Minister and the way he was running the country, despite their ideological differences, saying Sir Keir was was 'liberal ..but not too liberal' in his approach. Mr Trump added: 'I think the one that's toughest and most competent on immigration is going to win the election, but then you add… low taxes, and you add the economy. '(Sir Keir) did a great thing with the economy, because a lot of money is going to come in because of the deal that was made. But I think that, I think that immigration is now bigger than ever before.' The president had earlier told Sir Keir Britain and the rest of Europe it must stop illegal immigration to avoid 'ruin' as the two leaders met in Scotland today. Mr Farage is not meeting Mr Trump during the visit. The American leader attacked Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan as a 'nasty person' and hailed both Sir Keir and Nigel Farage as 'great men' as the leaders took a series of questions across domestic and foreign affairs. 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BBC News
15 minutes ago
- BBC News
How is Windsor preparing for Donald Trump's visit?
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Daily Mail
15 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trump issues final trade deal threat
President Donald Trump levied a fresh threat to countries that have yet to announce trade deals with the U.S. with just four days to go before his new August 1 'doomsday' deadline. Trump skirted over the details when questioned about highly anticipated price hikes for steel, aluminum and pharmaceuticals, with vast economic impacts at stake in each sector. Then he was asked about what his tariff would be for the remaining countries that haven't landed a deal. 'I would say it'll be somewhere in the 15 to 20 percent,' he said to reporters at his Turnberry, Scotland, golf course sitting next to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. 'Probably one of those two numbers,' Trump added, leaving himself some flexibility. But his latest trade agreements, with Japan , Indonesia , the Philippines, and the EU, indicate that he remains firmly settled on keeping substantial tariffs in place. Trump repeatedly cheers the billions in revenue they bring in to the U.S. Treasury. 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On Sunday, Trump announced he had reached a 'very powerful' trade deal with the European Union that would lower barriers to U.S. exports and bring new European investments into the U.S. Speaking from his Turnberry golf course, Trump said European Union countries would purchase $750 billion of energy from the U.S., and provide an additional $600 billion in U.S. investments. 'All of the countries will be opened up to trade with the United States at zero tariff, and they're agreeing to purchase a vast amount of military equipment,' Trump added. 'We don't know what that number is.' It came after Trump inveighed against 'one-sided' trade with Europe as he sat down at his Turnberry golf course with the EU Commission president, while raging against windmills and saying there were prospects for reaching a deal imminently. 'We wanted to rebalance the trade relations,' said EU Commission Chair Ursula von der Leyen , confirming the agreement while sitting alongside Trump. Trump flashed his anger when a reporter asked if turmoil over the Jeffrey Epstein story had contributed to the rush to get the deal done. 'Oh, you've got to be kidding. No – had nothing to do with it. Only you would make that. That had nothing to do with it,' Trump responded. Both leaders made nice – after the 'Liberation Day' tariffs Trump rolled out in April threatened to cleave the powerful allies. Trump had more recently threatened a 30 percent tariff on the EU – providing an incentive to negotiate it down. Trump upon arriving here in Scotland said the powerful trade bloc must 'buy down' the number. 'Basically the European market is open,' said von der Leyen. 'It's 450 million people, so it's a good deal. It's a huge deal. Was tough negotiations. I knew it at the beginning, and it was indeed very tough, but we came to a good conclusion from both sides,' she said. The number comports with what had already been floated. 'We are agreeing that the tariff straight across for automobiles and everything else' would be 15 percent, said Trump. The agreement – with details still to be revealed – comes after Trump announced other agreements with Japan and other nations, while firing off a series of trade 'letters' announcing new tariffs he is imposing on other nations. Japan, too, would face a 15 percent rate on its auto exports to the U.S. After many economists warned that Trump's tariffs could break the alliance, the two leaders proclaimed new cooperation after they had agreed to broad terms. 'This deal will bring us very close together actually. It's a partnership in a sense,' Trump said. The progress came about an hour after Trump complained about the trade relationship. 'It's been a very one-sided transaction – very unfair to the United States,' he complained alongside von der Leyen, keeping her hands in her lap and her expressions muted. 'It's been a very, very one-sided deal, and it shouldn't be,' Trump fumed. He said a deal, if it can be reached, would be the biggest deal 'ever struck by anybody.' 'This is the biggest deal. People don't realize – this is bigger than any other deal. And it could happen – should happen,' he said. Fielding questions at a press event that put the 'working' in what his team calls a 'working visit,' Trump went off on a number of topics. His attacks quickly changed to wind turbines he said obstructs the view from his Scottish golf course. 'It ruins the landscape it kills the birds. They're noisy,' Trump complained. He said what he terms windmills in Massachusetts were 'driving them loco – driving them crazy.' 'Today I'm playing the best course, I think, in the world: Turnberry ... And I look over the horizon and I see nine windmills. I say isn't that a shame,' he said. On immigration, another tension point, Trump said: 'We've sealed our borders. We have nobody coming in ... I think they're going to end up in the same place. You might as well go there quicker.' Von Leyen shared his assessment on the chance of reaching an agreement, putting it at 50 percent. Trump got asked at one point if he could do better than 15 percent – the amount of a tariff on European imports that has been floated as a potential final number in an agreement. 'Better meaning lower? No,' Trump said flatly. But the former German politician showed some give in her own remarks, and kept her composure even as Trump tore into European policies on trade, energy, and immigration. 'I think the President is right. You have a 50 percent chance to strike a deal. And indeed, it is about rebalancing. So you can call it fairness, you can call it rebalancing.' She continued: 'United States has a deficit, and we have to rebalance it. We have an excellent trade relations – it's a huge volume on trade that we have together. So we will make it more sustainable. The two leaders sat in the Donald J. Trump ballroom – one Trump said he wishes he could simply drop down inside the White House , where he has plans for a new ballroom. 'You know, we just built this ballroom, and we're building a great ballroom at the White House. The White House has wanted a ballroom for 150 years, but they never had a real estate person,' he said. He called the ballroom, which is named for himself, 'quite the success.' 'I could take this one, drop it right down there, and it would be beautiful,' Trump said. The trade talk comes a day before Trump is set to sit down with British PM Keir Starmer, amid indications that Trump's love of pomp and pageantry could be working to his host county's benefit. He also complained that the U.S. doesn't get enough credit to approving food aid for Gaza, amid growing hunger and signs of starvation as Israel paused military action. 'Nobody acknowledged it. Nobody talks about it,' Trump complained. 'The US is going to do more aid for Gaza but we'd like to have other countries participate,' Trump said. The meeting came after Trump spent a second day on his Turnberry golf course Sunday – after raging at rivals from Democrats to Beyonce overnight. This time, he golfed just with his son Eric, despite touting a littany of big shots he said would be staying at his private course. 'We'll have numerous executives that we're meeting with – lot of them. We're going to be meeting with a lot of people. A lot of people will be staying at Turnberry,' Trump said after landing Friday night. His aides are calling it a 'working visit' – although he has made time to play his course for two successive days. There is a typically massive security footprint – including the rollout of a new armored golf court after a phalanx of agents swept his course in search of potential security threats. The last minute addition to his schedule has Trump going toe-to-toe with a top European leader days after he said there was a 'fifty-fifty' chance of reaching a trade deal. If Trump wanted to send a message about what kind of contender she was dealing with, he posted a short video of himself swinging a driver at one of the tees on his Turnberry course. Trump also put in plug by golf legend Gary Player, quoting him as saying 'Turnberry is, without a question, in the Top Five Greatest Golf Courses I've ever played in my 73 years as a pro.' 'Thank you, Gary!' Trump added. Not all of his musings were upbeat – on a trip that Trump began by railing against wind turbines and illegal immigration. Trump used his site to fire at Democrats about the 2024 election, after spending part of the week accusing President Barack Obama of 'treason' after his administration released declassified documents about Russian election interference intelligence assessments. 'I'm looking at the large amount of money owed by the Democrats, after the Presidential Election, and the fact that they admit to paying, probably illegally, $11 million to singer Beyoncé for an endorsement (she never sang, not one note, and left the stage to a booing and angry audience!), $3 million for 'expenses,' to Oprah, $600,000 to very low rated TV 'anchor,' Al Sharpton (a total lightweight!), and others to be named for doing, absolutely nothing!' he wrote, sprinkling in all-caps. The Kamala Harris campaign has long denied paying for any endorsements. Oprah Winfrey has said she was 'not paid a time' to appear with Harris, although the campaign picked up production costs of the event. FEC filings show the Harris camp gave $165,000 to Beyonce's production company, Parkwood Production Media LLC, Trump called it 'totally illegal to pay for an endorsement and added that 'Kamala, and all those that received endorsement money, broke the law,' again using all caps.
