Latest news with #Israel-linked
The National
3 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Labour will let children go hungry but the war machine is always fed
While Westminster gleefully slashes disability benefits, hammers the poor, and guts public services, it's shovelling £40 billion a year into the insatiable maw of Nato – an alliance of warmongers demanding 5% of GDP for war while children go hungry and the sick are left to rot. This isn't governance – it's larceny on a national scale. READ MORE: Support for UK electoral reform is at a record high. Here's why And let's be clear: Scotland is a colony. A cash cow milked dry to feed the British state's addiction to militarism and empire. Our resources, our taxes, our people – all sacrificed on the altar of Westminster's delusions of grandeur. Liz Kendall, Starmer's merciless attack dog at the DWP, is sharpening her knives to butcher welfare for nearly a million people. 950,000 lives destroyed – 800,000 stripped of disability payments, 150,000 carers thrown to the wolves – all so Labour can bankroll more bombs, more jets, more death. And don't be fooled by their crocodile tears. They know exactly what they're doing. Their own impact assessment admits 250,000 more people will be plunged into poverty, including 50,000 children. But do they care? Of course not. Because Scotland's suffering has never mattered to London. READ MORE: Labour accused of making 'world more dangerous' with nuclear jets plan Rachel Reeves screeches about protecting the NHS while handing it a real-terms cut – 2.8% funding increases, below even the Tory average. Meanwhile, half of all public spending will be swallowed by healthcare because everything else has been bled dry. And what's left for Scotland? Crumbs. A pittance in housing, a joke of an education budget, and local councils driven to bankruptcy. All while Westminster hoards our wealth to fund its wars. This is the brutal reality of the so-called 'United' Kingdom: Scotland is a resource colony, its people an afterthought. Starmer, Reeves, Kendall – they're just the latest gang of thieves in a centuries-long racket. READ MORE: Scottish Enterprise to keep funding Israel-linked arms firms We must break free. Not just for our dignity, but for our survival. Every penny stolen from Scotland's poor to feed Nato's war machine is proof that this Union is a fraud. Enough. No more blood money. No more lies. No more Westminster rule. Scotland must be independent – before there's nothing left to save. Alan Hinnrichs Dundee I READ that Rachel Reeves is borrowing again and we are likely to face tax increases. From what I can gather, essentially all countries have a national debt on which they are paying interest. Even the G7 nations, supposedly the cream of the crop, have national debts which are increasing both in the amount and as a percentage of their GDP. In 2024 there were 20 of 186 identifiable countries whose accumulated government debt exceeded the country's GDP. The World Economic Forum estimates that the total global debt is $307 trillion. READ MORE: SNP Government 'to cut spending by £2.6 billion per year by 2030' This financial year the Office of Budget Responsibility estimates Westminster will spend £104.9 billion on national debt interest payments, the equivalent of 8.2% of government spending. To whom do all these 186 governments owe money and why, in a democracy – supposedly government of the people by the people for the people – does our elected government not control something as basic as our currency? Why does the Chancellor have to borrow money and pay interest on the loan rather than just create it out of thin air? David J Crawford Glasgow TOMMY Sheppard's Monday column really cannot pass without some comment (SNP don't yet have answers but we're now asking right questions, Jun 23). As an activist with more than 45 years of campaigning, I hope I have something to add. Firstly, prior to last year's conference I advised Keith Brown of points raised in Mr Sheppard's column. No response! I believe that without radical change and direct action by the SNP government, there will be no majority SNP government in 2026. Mr Sheppard now advises that 'first things first', independence will be central to the party's message. How about it being first, second and third priority? As to 'frustration and fatigue eating away' at the SNP's capacity, it is the feet-under-the-table attitude of our SNP MSP and MPs that is undermining the supporters. READ MORE: SNP need two distinct arms in order to achieve their twin objectives As to control of our own resources, let's get a horse whip out to the SNP MSPs who negotiated the wind farm contracts first. And as to MSPs providing grants of millions of pounds to companies without enforceable safeguards should they decide to relocate to England, what private company would fail to consider such an outcome? As to people not coming out to vote, same old, same old is not going to cut it any more for the SNP. Nor do I blame the intransigence of the UK state; I expect dirty tricks from them. What country ever got free of Westminster corruption by fair play? I expect our parliament to act as Westminster acts towards us. 'Vote for SNP next May and we will tell you our plans for the future'. Tommy, do you not see that this attitude is what is killing us bit by bit? Tell people what the SNP government has achieved, tell them what Scotland will do as an independent country, what we are going to do about our currency, oil and gas reserves, what we are going to do about business progression, training for young people, land ownership, water management, wealth management, global warming. Explain to young people why there are no car factories in Scotland. I could go on, but you see the picture. As I said to Keith Brown a year ago, if the SNP don't grow a pair they are going to be gone in 2026. Patience is not endless. Vince Godley via email
The National
4 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Minister responds to claims of 'Iranian Scottish independence X accounts'
External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson addressed the claims which were first reported in the UK Defence Journal. The outlet said a number of small-scale accounts on Twitter/X "abruptly went silent" after Israeli strikes on Iran, leading to suggestions that they were part of an Iranian bot network. During cabinet questions being put to Robertson on Wednesday, Tory MSP Murdo Fraser asked: "Does it not concern the Scottish Government that its central policy objective is being actively backed by the terrorist state of Iran as part of its campaign to weaken this United Kingdom?" READ MORE: Scottish Enterprise to keep funding Israel-linked arms firms, Kate Forbes says Robertson replied: "I think Mr Fraser should be very careful about seeking to smear people in this country who believe that this country should be a sovereign state. "It is a position held by the majority of people elected to this parliament, and I think it's beneath the member to seek to smear a majority in this parliament, notwithstanding the differences that we have on this issue." During attacks launched by Israel, Iranian military and cyber infrastructure were hit with an internet blackout affecting 95% of national connectivity. In an editor's note on the original article, it states: "This article does not claim that Scottish independence is a foreign plot, nor does it suggest that support for independence is illegitimate, inauthentic, or driven by anything other than sincere political conviction. "The focus is not on genuine activists or grassroots communities, but on documented attempts by Iranian-linked actors to exploit real political movements in the UK for strategic advantage."
The National
4 days ago
- Politics
- The National
SNP minister responds to claim 'Iran supports Scottish independence'
External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson addressed the claims which were first reported in the UK Defence Journal. The outlet said a number of small-scale accounts on Twitter/X "abruptly went silent" after Israeli strikes on Iran, leading to suggestions that they were part of an Iranian bot network. During cabinet questions being put to Robertson on Wednesday, Tory MSP Murdo Fraser asked: "Does it not concern the Scottish Government that its central policy objective is being actively backed by the terrorist state of Iran as part of its campaign to weaken this United Kingdom?" READ MORE: Scottish Enterprise to keep funding Israel-linked arms firms, Kate Forbes says Robertson replied: "I think Mr Fraser should be very careful about seeking to smear people in this country who believe that this country should be a sovereign state. "It is a position held by the majority of people elected to this parliament, and I think it's beneath the member to seek to smear a majority in this parliament, notwithstanding the differences that we have on this issue." During attacks launched by Israel, Iranian military and cyber infrastructure were hit with an internet blackout affecting 95% of national connectivity. In an editor's note on the original article, it states: "This article does not claim that Scottish independence is a foreign plot, nor does it suggest that support for independence is illegitimate, inauthentic, or driven by anything other than sincere political conviction. "The focus is not on genuine activists or grassroots communities, but on documented attempts by Iranian-linked actors to exploit real political movements in the UK for strategic advantage."
The National
4 days ago
- Science
- The National
Capercaillie numbers double in parts of Scotland, study finds
With just over 500 of the ground-nesting birds left in the wild, the capercaillie, a large woodland grouse, is in danger of extinction in the UK. One contributor to the birds' decline is the eating of eggs and chicks by predators – including the pine marten, another protected species. READ MORE: Scottish Enterprise to keep funding Israel-linked arms firms, Kate Forbes says In an effort to protect capercaillie broods while not harming the predators themselves, researchers at the University of St Andrews used a 'diversionary feeding' scheme to give predators an easy alternative food to capercaillie nests. The study, which was carried out in and around the Cairngorms National Park over three years, saw researchers leave out deer carrion for predators at the 'critical' eight-week period when capercaillie are nesting and hatching. The result, as captured on camera traps, was a doubling of the number of broods in areas where alternative food was available, with 85% of monitored capercaillie having chicks in these areas, compared with just 37% in 'unfed' sites. The study team said this equated to an increase in the number of chicks per hen from 0.82 chicks per hen without feeding to 1.90 with feeding – an increase in capercaillie productivity of 130%. (Image: Jack Bamber / St Andrews University) Dr Jack Bamber, from the University of Aberdeen, said 'This study provides compelling, robust, landscape-scale evidence that diversionary feeding can reduce the impact of recovering predators, without killing them, aligning with shifting ethical and ecological goals for conservation management in the UK. 'The combination of rigorous experimentation and innovative monitoring indicates that this method is worth exploration for other species vulnerable to predation, with land managers concerned with other rare prey, and land managers aiming to help capercaillie elsewhere in Europe already considering this tool as an option for them to trial and apply in future.' The team said the study confirmed that the boost in chicks per hen was directly linked to a higher chance that a hen had a brood at all, indicating, they said, that diversionary feeding reduces catastrophic brood failure often caused by nests being raided by predators. READ MORE: Scottish city's economy outperforms London's for first time Diversionary feeding is now endorsed in the Cairngorms Capercaillie Emergency Action Plan, with 18 independent land holdings using the method to help the endangered bird in 2025. Dr Chris Sutherland from the Centre for Research into Ecology and Environmental Modelling at the University of St Andrews said: 'This project is an excellent example of how the impact of research can be maximised when it is co-designed in close collaboration with the wildlife managers and policy makers. 'Doing so enabled us to deliver timely decision-ready evidence underpinned by scientific and statistical rigour'. The findings build on earlier results from an artificial-nest study published in 2024 that found a 50% reduction in pine marten predation, as a result of diversionary feeding, led to a nearly 83% increase in artificial nest survival. The project was a partnership between the University of St Andrews, the University of Aberdeen, Forestry and Land Scotland, RSPB Scotland, NatureScot and Wildland Ltd working under the umbrella of the Cairngorms Connect Predator Project. It was funded by the Scottish Universities Partnership for Environmental Research Doctoral Training Partnership, and the findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The National
4 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Labour's nuclear jets plan will make 'world more dangerous'
On Wednesday, the UK Government announced it will buy 12 F35A jets, which can carry conventional weapons but can also be equipped with nuclear bombs. Downing Street has called the move the "biggest strengthening" of Britain's posture "in a generation", while Keir Starmer said the UK "can no longer take peace for granted". READ MORE: Scottish Enterprise to keep funding Israel-linked arms firms, Kate Forbes says The Prime Minister is currently gathered with leaders of other Nato leaders – including US president Donald Trump – in the Hague, where they formally agreed a 5% of GDP defence and security spending pledge. The move has drawn criticism, with the Scottish Greens arguing that it would "make the world ever more dangerous". The party's co-leader, Patrick Harvie, accused Labour of supporting "unilateral rearmament" as he said the money could have been used to address "genuine security needs" and the cost of living crisis. He told The National: 'Nuclear weapons are incapable of discriminating between military and civilian targets. Their use would cause mass murder and environmental damage on a scale never seen before, and would amount to the biggest war crime in human history. 'They are also wildly expensive, having already cost the country hundreds of billions of pounds which could have been used to address the genuine security needs the world has, or on tackling the cost of living crisis that is plunging thousands of families into totally avoidable poverty. 'Labour used to tell us how responsible they were being, supporting multilateral disarmament. Now it's clear that they want the opposite - unilateral rearmament. This will make the world ever more dangerous." READ MORE: Donald Trump no longer meeting King in Scotland ahead of state visit Meanwhile, the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) said the UK Government's decision "totally contradicts the spirit of the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty" (NPT), an international treaty which aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and promotes disarmament. The UK is one of 191 state parties signed up to the NPT, as is the United States. The Scottish CND said that the planned system "locks in the UK's dependence on the USA". "This is already obvious in our government's muted response to the illegal bombing of Iran by the USA and of the multiple illegal acts of Israel in Gaza and Iran, our government's failure to end all UK military support to the Israeli military or to ensure that UK manufactured arms are completely unavailable to Israeli use," a statement from CND said. The group went on: "In Scotland, we already live with the fear of catastrophic nuclear accidents and the knowledge that our land and sea is used to threaten world destruction despite our wish to face the world in friendship. "Nuclear weapons are indiscriminate, inhumane, genocidal and ecocidal, all of which contradicts the international laws that prohibit indiscriminate targeting of civilians and the infrastructures and ecosystems needed for life. This is not in our name." READ MORE: Why support for electoral reform is at a record high in the UK South of the Border, defence minister Maria Eagle addressed the Commons on the matter in an urgent question on Wednesday afternoon. Addressing the minister, Ellie Chowns, Green MP for North Herefordshire, echoed concerns that the decision would tie the UK further to a US administration which "is the very definition of a loose cannon". "The prospect of UK fighter jets carrying Donald Trump's nuclear bombs cannot be anybody's vision of security," Chowns said. "This decision flies in the face of our obligations under the non-proliferation treaty, it ties us further into a US military that cannot even keep its own classified intelligence secure, it ties us further to a Trump administration that is the very definition of a loose cannon." She asked the minister: "Given the inescapable truth that nuclear weapons make the world more dangerous, that normalising tactical weapons is incredibly reckless, how can she possibly justify this decision?" Eagle responded by stating that the announcement was compliant with the NPT, to which Chowns could be seen shaking her head.
