Solar array proposed for Isle of Skye's Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI
The college and UHI have been asked for comment on the proposals.
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig was founded in Skye in 1973 by Sir Iain Noble, a businessman, landowner and Gaelic activist.It was first set up in a former farm steading, and over the years more modern facilities have been added to the site on the Sleat peninsula.Today it offers higher and further education, including PhDs, and has been described as the only facility of its kind in the world.Last year, the first 17 properties of Skye's first new village in more than 100 years opened near the college.Kilbeg is eventually to have about 100 homes in total.There is an expectation the village will attract Gaelic speakers, though the development is open to anyone who wants to live or work in the area.
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The Guardian
38 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Two UK pro-Palestine organisations have bank accounts frozen
At least two grassroots pro-Palestine organisations in the UK have had their bank accounts frozen, raising fears about a wider attempt to silence voices speaking out about Gaza. Greater Manchester Friends for Palestine (GMFP) and Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), which both organise peaceful protests and vigils, have had access to their funds cut off indefinitely by Virgin Money and Unit Trust bank respectively. The Guardian understands a local PSC branch in England has also had its bank account frozen but was unable to confirm it directly. Coming amid the banning of Palestine Action earlier this month and the arrest of more than 100 people for showing support for the group, and the threatened arrest of a peaceful protester for having a Palestine flag and 'Free Gaza' sign, it has amplified concerns about a crackdown on critics of Israel. Owen Cooper, co-treasurer of GMFP, said the group, which lists bike-riding among its activities, has been marching peacefully for more than a year and a half without incident or criminal activity but Virgin Money refused to say why its account had been frozen. 'If it's purely the fact that we have Palestine on the bank account name, I think it's a very worrying sign,' said Cooper. 'It would be not only hugely worrying but hugely disappointing to think that a country that values freedom of speech, that is a liberal democracy can be acting like this and that ordinary, decent people with a conscience are being regarded as extremists. 'What could the bank be thinking that we've done? Certainly nothing that the police believe is a crime.' He said the freeze meant that GMFP could not send money to Gaza and the West Bank to help those in need. 'They're actually preventing aid and support going into Gaza, and it's going in for food and medical supplies,' said Cooper. 'We don't have access to F-35 jets or 500lb bombs that we're funding.' Unity Trust bank says its aim is to be 'the bank of choice for all socially minded organisations in the UK', including charities and trades unions. But Mick Napier, from Scottish PSC's finance committee, said it had acted disgracefully. He said Scottish PSC was told the reason for its account being frozen last month was that it had a button on its website to donate to Palestine Action before the group was banned on 5 July. But the button was removed when Palestine Action was proscribed and yet the account had not been restored, said Napier. 'It's shocking,' he said. 'It's absolutely disgraceful that a campaign like ours [has been treated like this]. We've been operating for 25 years. Palestine Action we supported until they were proscribed. It came out the blue [the freezing of the account], and we were very disappointed. We think it's very bad practice. 'We can't get into our cash at all. We've had to use other means, very inconvenient means to pay bills and generally operate, it's been extremely burdensome.' The Guardian asked both banks for the reasons for the accounts being frozen and if there had been any external influence. Both said they were unable to comment on individual customer accounts. A Virgin Money spokesperson added that there were 'a variety of reasons why we may decide, or be required, to suspend or close an account in order to comply with applicable laws and regulations'. A Unity Trust bank spokesperson said it was 'a politically neutral organisation. Our mission and values underpin our commitment to operating with integrity'. They added: 'Unity has a diverse customer base that represents a broad range of communities.'
BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
c2c trains are nationalised and return to public ownership
Rail services between south Essex and London have become publicly owned for the first time since the 20th c2c, which runs services between Fenchurch Street and Shoeburyness, was nationalised on became part of Great British Railways, set up by the government to oversee the rail system in England, Wales and Secretary Heidi Alexander said passengers had been suffering "spiralling costs, fragmentation and waste". Ministers have been allowed to take rail companies back into public ownership when their existing contracts was enabled under the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024, passed by Labour in Sunday, c2c became the sixth operator to become would be followed by Greater Anglia, which runs trains throughout the East of England, on 12 October. Alexander said public ownership would tackle "deep-rooted problems" experienced on the added: "A unified network under Great British Railways will take this further with one railway under one brand with one mission: delivering excellent services for passengers wherever they travel."The government hoped nationalisation of all services in Britain would bring savings of up to £150m, while also reducing delays and Burton-Sampson, the Labour MP for Southend West and Leigh, said it would bring a host of benefits for passengers."What they will notice in the longer-term is a better service, a more consistent level of ticketing and hopefully a continued improvement in punctuality," he shadow rail minister and Conservative Norfolk MP Jerome Mayhew previously said he feared nationalisation would end up costing taxpayers more money in increased costs for leasing rolling said the government was "risking" successful operations for "ideological reasons". Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The Herald Scotland
8 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Scots firms get nothing from £350m of SNP-backed ferry deals
It can be revealed that there has been no agreement with Remontowa for any Scottish input in terms of providing products or other support or supply services for the construction of seven new electric ferries for Scotland signed off by CMAL at a cost of £147.5m. The only Scottish benefit is the company agreeing to match CMAL's charitable funding of £9000 a year and that 21 Scotland-based shipbuilding apprentices would get to attend an unstipulated number of sessions for training purposes when the vessels are delivered including involvement in sea trials. When Turkey landed a second £115m contract in 2023 to build two ferries for longsuffering islanders in a bid to shore up the nation's ageing ferry fleet, the only Scottish benefit set down was that an undefined number of Scottish apprentices would get an unspecified period on attachment at the Turkish yard. The community benefit of the first £91m contract award for two ferries given to Turkey was that up to three Scottish apprentices would gain one week's work experience at the Cemre shipyard every year over the course of the three year build and a total of £30,000 to CMAL's fund to support projects across Scotland. As of the start of last year, of the 58 companies providing products or services for ferries being built in Turkey - all are from overseas or based in England. Details of the lack of Scottish input has produced a new wave of anger over how vital vessels are being procured and has come two-and-a-half years after there was a political row over steel being sourced in China for two of the ferries being built in Turkey. CMAL then confirmed that steel from China was being used because sourcing materials from war-torn Ukraine had been ruled out. CMAL is directly funded and overseen by the SNP-led [[Scottish Government]], which provides loans and capital grants for ferry contracts and infrastructure projects. It comes amidst the continuing fall out over state-owned Inverclyde shipyard firm Ferguson Marine failing to win any of the publicly funded contracts to build the 11 ferries. Calls to the [[Scottish Government]] to give an uncontested direct award of ferry contracts to its shipyard were dismissed by deputy first minister Kate Forbes who cited legal risks. Ferguson Marine was told that the Ferguson bid for seven of the ferries did well in the technical evaluation but could not match the overseas yard on price. Read more: Why did ministers back awarding of Scots ferry contracts to foreign firms? Public inquiry demand over 'scandal' of hundreds of Scots jobs lost in ferry fiasco 'Laughable': Turkey-built ferry to be delivered seven years faster than fiasco ship Cost to repair CalMac ferry now £2m more than to buy replacement 'Final nail in coffin'. Scots fiasco firm loses out on big ferry contract to Poland 'Material uncertainty' over Scots ferry operator future amidst £45m funding hike 'Mismanagement': Public cost of Scots ferry fiasco firm hits £750m amidst overspends One industry body as said that overseas yards enjoyed more state support and cheaper labour costs, often able to undercut UK yards by 10-20%. The UK's refreshed national shipbuilding strategy has called for a minimum 10% social value element in public tenders to offset that. A 10% social value evaluation element is required where appropriate for high value public contracts in other parts of the UK but is not mandatory in Scotland. But CMAL said it did not include social value - which includes the likes of employment, training or environmental benefits - in the scoring for the small vessels contract because it was worried about a possible legal challenge. That came as concerns continue over wildly delayed and massively over-budget delivery of Glen Rosa and its sister ship Glen Sannox which both due to be online within first seven months of 2018, to serve Arran. In the midst of the delays and soaring costs, Ferguson Marine, under the control of tycoon Jim McColl, fell into administration and was nationalised at the end of 2019 with state-owned ferry and port-owning agency Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd and the yard's management blaming each other. Glen Sannox finally started taking passengers in January, while Glen Rosa's latest schedule for delivery is between April and June, next year - eight years after it was due. According to the latest Scottish Government details from last year of 58 companies said to be supporting the Scots ferries' build in Turkey, just one has any Scottish connection. Norway-based Kongsberg have an agreement in place with Cemre Marin Endustri for 50 retractable fin stabilisers for the first two vessels. They have a production facility based in Dunfermline. Chris McEleny, the ex-leader of the [[SNP]] group on [[Inverclyde]] Council who has long been fighting for direct awards of ferry contracts to [[Ferguson Marine]] as well as spin-off community benefit clauses said: "The renewal of Scotland's ferry fleet should've presented a pipeline of work that would've seen the creation of 1000 jobs, seen the Clyde re-emerge as a shipbuilding powerhouse and bring the Inchgreen dry dock back into industrial use. "It is Scotland's shame that this work, and the community benefits that should've come with it have been outsourced to abroad. For decades our ships proudly carried the badge of honour 'Clyde Built'. Now they will sail under a wind of shame that says built in Turkey or built in Poland paid for by us." He added: "CMAL is only focused on the bottom line and they couldn't care less in regard to where ferries are made from. "This is the ultimate failure of Government as it is their job to see the bigger picture to ensure that when we spend millions of pounds renewing our ferry fleet that the procurement exercise builds capacity in our community by upskilling the workforce, guaranteeing apprenticeships and ensuring that Scottish suppliers receive work." Former community safety minister Ash Regan said it was "obscene that a country with a shipbuilding heritage like Scotland's is sending hundreds of millions of pounds of contracts to Turkey and Poland". This means that instead of Scotland's vast amount of public money helping to sustain, build and secure more jobs and better resilience within our own manufacturing sector the Scottish taxpayer is instead subsidising jobs overseas instead of creating them in Scotland. The Alba Edinburgh Eastern MSP added: 'This is not how to show the ambition of a country driving towards independent statehood - this is settling for the devolved disempowerment of managed decline within a failing UK. 'It seems that time and time again community benefits - which are a legal requirement - in our procurement either receive lip service or the only communities that benefit from public sector procurement are those not in Scotland.' Ministers and CMAL have previously been condemned for the lack of community benefits which are defined in the ground-breaking Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 as a "contractual requirement" relating to training and recruitment and the availability of sub-contracting opportunities. The Scottish Government in its commentary on the Act said: "Community benefits have contributed to a range of national and local outcomes relating to employability, skills and tackling inequalities by focusing on under-represented groups. The Act aims to achieve the maximum use of these requirements in public procurement." The ground-breaking Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 when it was brought in was seen by many as a welcome move away from contracts awarded only on the basis of the lowest price towards those which offer the best long-term outcomes for Scotland's communities and the environment. Public contracts valued at £4m or above have specific requirements in relation to community benefits in the authority area that a contract is issued. These should include training and recruitment, the availability of sub-contracting and supplier opportunities, and that it is intended to improve the economic, social or environmental well-being of the area. If no community benefits are sought in a contract, a statement must be published justifying the decision. CMAL has previously denied that there is a breach of procurement laws saying there was no legal requirement to consider community benefits. They have said that the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations requires contractors to treat economic operators "equally and without discrimination, and restricts CMAL from artificially narrowing competition by unduly favouring or disadvantaging any particular economic operator". They have said that to narrow the supply base to a particular location like Scotland could be construed as "favouring manufacturers, particularly as there is a limited supply base in Scotland, leading to potential challenge". In the initial two ferries contract award to Turkey, CMAL had invited four overseas companies to bid to build the two vessels bound for Islay - and excluded Ferguson Marine. Scottish Government-controlled Ferguson Marine, failed to get past the first Pre Qualification Questionnaire hurdle in the Islay ferries contract. CMAL said of the agreement with Norway-based Kongsberg that eight retractable fin stabilisers have so far been purchased and sourced in Scotland. A spokesperson said: "CMAL follows robust procurement process and complies with all applicable Scottish procurement law. The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 does not legally require community benefits to be included in contracts. "However, at the SPDS [Single Procurement Document Scotland] stage of the procurement process for the small vessel replacement programme, we highlighted our commitment to community benefits, and advised yards there would be an option to include them in tender responses. None of the bidders included details of community benefits. "During contract discussions with Remontowa shipyard, two community benefits were agreed and included before signing. 'While Scottish public authorities can include social value considerations in procurements, they are not permitted to set requirements which would unlawfully discriminate against foreign shipyards and must at all times treat all bidders equally.'
