Swinney ditches Sturgeon's route map to independence
Speaking in Falkirk, the first minister said there should be a 'legal referendum recognised by all' on Scottish independence if the SNP secures a majority at the Holyrood elections.
Previously, he had said a 'democratic majority' of pro-independence MSPs after next year's Scottish parliament elections should pave the way to a new vote on the constitutional question.
The SNP leader will bring a motion to the party's autumn conference that abandons Nicola Sturgeon's previous stance that a pro-independence majority of nationalist and Greens MSPs was sufficient to secure a second poll.
Writing in the Daily Record, Swinney insisted a clear SNP majority at May's Holyrood elections is the only proven path to achieving a legally recognised referendum.
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Glasgow Times
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- Glasgow Times
Removal of dangerous cladding moving at ‘glacial pace', warn Lib Dems
Out of an estimated 1,450 buildings that may require work to remove cladding, just three have been fully assessed under the Cladding Remediation Programme. Another 12 single building assessments (SBAs), which assess any risk to life as a result of cladding, are currently under way. Only two buildings in the country currently have active remediation work being undertaken. It comes despite the Government scheme having already received 600 expressions of interest from those responsible for potentially impacted buildings. The Scottish Liberal Democrats said there is 'no excuse' for slow progress after the Grenfell tragedy eight years ago. The party pointed to figures from England that show 48% of buildings identified with unsafe cladding have started or completed remediation work. Willie Rennie, the party's communities spokesman at Holyrood, said: 'In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower disaster, there can be no excuses for making such glacial progress, but this SNP Government continue to blunder their way through in slow motion. 'This is an issue where Scotland simply cannot afford to fall behind; by moving so sluggishly with the necessary building works, the SNP Government are only increasing the risks to people's lives. 'That's why I am imploring ministers to urgently step-up the pace in fixing at-risk buildings and keep homeowners, residents and local authorities informed on developments.' A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'A ministerial working group on fire safety was established immediately following the Grenfell Tower tragedy and continues to co-ordinate cross-government activity to improve fire and building safety. 'The Scottish Government has introduced legislation mandating the use of fire-suppression systems in new-build multi-occupancy properties over 18 metres; introduced regulations prohibiting the use of combustible cladding materials on high-medium risk buildings; and introduced regulations requiring the installation of interlinked smoke alarms in all properties. 'We committed to addressing unsafe cladding and the wider system failures that allowed these risks to go unchallenged. That commitment is now underpinned by law through the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024, which took effect in January 2025. 'We are moving at pace to support the identification, assessment, mitigation and remediation of buildings affected by unsafe cladding. Where risks are identified and require immediate intervention, we will take appropriate action because protecting lives is our top priority and cannot wait. 'Since the Cladding Remediation Act came into effect in January, we have launched the single open call, backed by £10 million of [[Scottish Government]] funding, to enable residential property owners to apply for a Government-funded single building assessment. 'We will shortly be announcing the second stage of the single open call, which will allow homeowners to apply for funding for measures recommended by an assessment. 'We will continue to provide updates on progress.'
Glasgow Times
2 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Plan to fly old burgh coat of arms in Johnstone 'not possible'
Provost Lorraine Cameron has confirmed the local authority encountered a 'problem' that effectively means it does not have the power to display that particular emblem at this time. The council had intended to fly the burgh flag in the town's Houstoun Square but could now fly the flag of Johnstone Burgh Football Club instead following their Scottish Junior Cup win in June. There are no such issues in the case of Renfrew, however, because the community council petitioned to matriculate its arms to the group in 1987. In an update to councillors, Provost Cameron explained: 'Unfortunately, we have uncovered a problem in respect of Johnstone. 'Following the council meeting, [the head of corporate governance] contacted the Lord Lyon's office to confirm what was the correct coat of arms for Johnstone Burgh and to confirm who had permission to fly it. 'The response received from the Lord Lyon's office was that under the Local Government (Scotland) Act, the status of 'Burgh' was abolished in 1975. 'They have stated that this makes the 1955 Grant of Arms to the Burgh of Johnstone redundant and therefore they may not be displayed. 'Unlike Renfrew, there has never been any such petition in Johnstone, so currently no one has the right to fly a flag bearing that coat of arms. 'Were the council to do so, the Lord Lyon has criminal enforcement powers. 'Accordingly, we will not be able to fly the old burgh coat of arms in Johnstone as envisaged in the council decision, unless a local group, like the community council, petitions the Lord Lyon. 'I have asked what this would involve and have been told that even if there is an organisation that could petition to matriculate the Johnstone coat of arms it could take 30 to 36 months to complete the process. 'So, in the absence of the power to fly the burgh flag in Johnstone, I am proposing, in honour of their recent success, that we fly the flag of Johnstone Burgh Football Club until April 2026 when the Renfrewshire Council flag will be raised in respect of the anniversary of the council. 'If a local Johnstone group decides to petition the Lord Lyon for matriculation of the flag, the council can revisit the issue if they are successful.' Councillor Andy Doig, an independent representative for the village, said he was 'hopeful' one of the community groups would pick up the mantle and petition the Lord Lyon for approval. 'That would be great if they wanted to do that,' he added. 'But I feel that it sticks in my throat that we're hidebound by these sort of medieval rules. 'I agree with the provost's suggestion, however, and I think it's wise under the circumstances. 'Johnstone Burgh Football Club did so well and everyone wants to recognise that.'
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
This is the week Scotland was forced to confront its role in slavery, and say: ‘Yes, that was us'
As a child growing up in Edinburgh, I was taught this was a city built on the genius of the Scottish Enlightenment. That story was sunk deep into our bones and passed between us as our treasured inheritance. It formed our sense of ourselves and our belief in Scotland's good and worthy contribution to the world. We walked past statues of David Hume and Adam Smith. We celebrated their intellect and claimed it as our own. Yet no one spoke of what lay beneath that brilliance – of whose labour built their wealth, whose bodies were stolen, dispossessed and abused as a consequence of their 'thinking'. Edinburgh was framed not as a city of complicity but of genius. That silence shaped us. Now, the University of Edinburgh's review of its legacies of enslavement and colonialism joins a wider reckoning that has been building across Scotland. It confronts the stories we were told – that we continue to tell. That we love to tell. Scotland has long positioned itself as a nation on the margins of empire. We speak of being oppressed, victimised – or as a benign participant in the British imperial project. But many of us, through our family histories, have always known that's not the whole truth. It's a lie of omission. One that has excluded us, exiled us from a national story in which we also have histories to contribute, and in which we have a claim. Edinburgh University's recent inquiry into its history is sobering. It focuses on the institution's financial gains from plantation slavery, its intellectual support of racial pseudoscience and its memorialisation of colonial figures. It names how Enlightenment thinking in Scotland justified racial hierarchies. These aren't revelations for many Black and Brown Scots, or for those involved with Scotland's anti-racism movements – they're confirmations of truths long lived and denied. And still, we are met with denial, minimisation and the defensive recoil of a nation uncomfortable with the truth of itself. There's a reflex to preserve pride at all costs within our society – even when the cost is exclusion and erasure of fellow Scots; of their histories and their story of Scotland. The work of uncovering Scotland's pivotal role in enslavement and colonialism has been led by individuals such as the academics Geoff Palmer and Stephen Mullen, Zandra Yeaman at the Hunterian Museum, Lisa Williams, founder of the Edinburgh Black History Walk, and the poet Shasta Hanif Ali, who explores the stories of the Indian ayahs who lived and worked in Edinburgh. Their work has helped us understand long-denied histories and given many of us a stronger sense of belonging as a result. The University of Edinburgh's report adds further weight to their labour. But what comes next? Race is a social construct. But we must now confront the fact that it was constructed, in part, here, by so-called 'great men' – our great men – whose legacy continues to shape our country and institutions. And their legacy still causes us harm. This harm is not abstract. In 2024 alone, Police Scotland recorded 4,794 hate crimes under the new Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act. Black and minority ethnic people are 60% more likely to live in the most deprived parts of Scotland than their white counterparts. Black and minority ethnic workers have poorer outcomes than white workers when applying for jobs in our public sector organisations. These are reverberations of a legacy born in Enlightenment philosophies that theorised racial hierarchies – ideas presented as science, later used to justify enslavement and colonialism. These narratives of white supremacy negatively affect us all, and they continue to endanger and blight the lives of Black and Brown people. What happens next must therefore go beyond apology and symbolism. It must be structural, sustained and fiercely imaginative. Education is key. Not just to correct the record, but to transform how we imagine and create a better nation. Within our schools, reform is under way – initiatives such as Education Scotland's Building Racial Literacy programme and collectives such as The Anti-Racist Educator provide vital resources and training. Such efforts must be scaled, funded and politically backed if they're to meaningfully reshape how we understand ourselves, how we embed anti-racism within our institutions and how we teach Scotland's history. Edinburgh council's Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review, endorsed by councillors in 2022, included a public apology and the creation of an implementation group, chaired by Irene Mosota, to guide reparative action. This included initiatives such as the Disrupting the Narrative project, which has formed the main body of my work as Edinburgh makar (the city's poet laureate). The meetings of the Scottish BPOC Writers Network's writers group at the University of Edinburgh, and the important work of mentorship and support from We Are Here Scotland are also living examples of this reparative work. This work is not symbolic – it is foundational. It allow us to rebuild from the margins, and write ourselves back into the story of Scotland, and into the story we tell. This is a live, unfinished conversation – one that must embrace intersectionality, mobilise solidarity and resist the far right's weaponisation of pseudoscience and historical denial. Opposition to anti-racism is often framed as resistance to 'political correctness', and calls for decolonisation are frequently mocked or deliberately misunderstood. Silence, however, is complicity. History is not settled. Our story is not finished. We are capable of confronting ourselves honestly and critically. We can take pride in our history of social justice movements – but this pride must also own and acknowledge the truth of what and who built this nation. That means interrogating our past and the reasons for our collective amnesia. It means listening to voices long silenced. The time has come, Scotland. The time has finally come. Hannah Lavery is a Scottish poet and playwright. She will be appearing in Disrupting the Narrative – a Performance, at the Edinburgh international book festival
