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Janik going for gold in Home Nations championship
Janik going for gold in Home Nations championship

Edinburgh Reporter

time2 days ago

  • Sport
  • Edinburgh Reporter

Janik going for gold in Home Nations championship

Edinburgh teenager Eryk Janik goes for gold as Scotland's shore angling team open their campaign in the Home Nations sea angling championship in Northern Ireland from Tuesday, July 1. The Trinity Academy pupil (pictured) is in a four-strong team which also includes Jai McKinney, Louis Wemyss and Frankie Hamilton. The manager is Nuno Santos with Billy Buckley, a Scotland international and world championship competitor, as his assistant. Ian Campbell from Falkirk earns his second cap after winning silver 12 months ago, Scotland cruelly denied on fish countback over two days at Riverside Drive in Dundee. Campbell, who is retail manager for Edinburgh Angling Centre in Granton, casts a line alongside David Neil, a well-known bait supplier, and Brian Maxwell, both from Ayr, plus Bruce McLean from Stranraer. This time, fishing is over three days at two venues, an estuary on two of the days and a beach for one and . Scotland's squad also includes debutant, Arbroath-based Stewart Falconer, a regular attender in the Edinburgh Winter and New Year sea fishing matches in and around the Capital. He has been a fishing buddy of Campbell for around 30 years and Scotland are fielding a strong team as they bid for gold in Coleraine. Campbell said: 'We're competing against the best in Britain here and to win gold we will have to be at our best over the three days.' The anglers fish the Foyle Estuary near Coleraine on the first and last day, fishing between 11.00 and 15.00 on Tuesday and 11.30 and 15.30 on the Thursday, and cast a line on Benone Beach on Day 2. Fishing there is from 18.00 to 22.00. The squad are doing their homework on the venues and Campbell said: 'Two of the boys have fished Benone before. It is a shallow beach and the Foyle Estuary is a big basin, not like the Forth or the Tay, and so we don't expect the tide to run hard. 'We also don't expect to have to cast a long distance, but we will if we have to.' There are no ladies from the Lothians in the women's team now that Buffy McAvoy has moved from Edinburgh to Fife but they are also anxious to make a real impression. The team is Gill Coutts, Joanne Barlow, Lesley Maby and debutant, Margo Robinson, a member of Scotland's world championship fly fishing team. Manager is Kevin Lewis. Like this: Like Related

Disgraced ex-rape centre boss hopes to become Scottish Greens MSP
Disgraced ex-rape centre boss hopes to become Scottish Greens MSP

Times

time25-06-2025

  • Politics
  • Times

Disgraced ex-rape centre boss hopes to become Scottish Greens MSP

A trans woman responsible for the unlawful harassment of a rape crisis worker for her gender critical beliefs is attempting to enter Holyrood as a Scottish Greens MSP. Mridul Wadhwa, who resigned in disgrace from her role as chief executive of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC) last year following a damning employment tribunal ruling, is standing in internal elections for selection on the Edinburgh & Lothians East regional list. Previously an SNP activist and candidate, Wadhwa is a controversial figure having carved out a career in women's sexual violence services. The tribunal found Wadhwa had been the 'invisible hand' in a 'heresy hunt' against ERCC support worker Roz Adams, who was hounded out of the organisation after she spoke up for women who wanted assurances they would be seen by a biological female.

Scottish Parliament chief to stand down at next Holyrood election
Scottish Parliament chief to stand down at next Holyrood election

Scottish Sun

time21-06-2025

  • Politics
  • Scottish Sun

Scottish Parliament chief to stand down at next Holyrood election

Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) HOLYROOD presiding officer Alison Johnstone will stand down as an MSP next year. The former Scottish Greens politician has announced that she won't run in next May's election. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Sign up 2 Alison Johnstone is set to stand down as an MSP Credit: Alamy 2 She has been presiding officer at the Scottish Parliament since 2021 Credit: Alamy Ms Johnstone took on the non-partisan presiding officer position in 2021. Following the last Scottish Parliament election, the Lothians MSP emerged as the only candidate for the Holyrood chamber role. She was elected with 97 votes in favour, 28 against, two abstentions and one spoiled ballot. The job of presiding officer is equivalent to the Speaker of the House of Commons. They are responsible for overseeing business at Holyrood and chairing meetings in the debating chamber. Ms Johnstone, 59, said: 'I was elected in 2011 and it was always my intention that this would be my last term in Holyrood.' She said she did not come from a political background, adding: 'I was not in a political party but campaigned for the creation of a Scottish Parliament and I then worked as an assistant for Robin Harper, the first-ever Green parliamentarian in the UK elected to the first-ever Scottish Parliament.' Recent weeks have seen the Scottish Conservatives accuse Ms Johnstone of bias in her role, an allegation she has always denied. At the end of May, the presiding officer took the rare decision to kick former Tory leader Douglas Ross out of the chamber due to his interjections at First Minister's Questions. During her tenure, Ms Johnstone guided the parliament through the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, which included implementing social distancing and remote working practices. John Swinney defends Gray's car use after minister was 'driven to pub' She was also heavily involved in the ceremony following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, when the King visited the Scottish Parliament to hear a special motion of condolence session. Before entering politics, she was a qualified athletics coach and previously held the east of Scotland titles for the 800m and 1,500m.

Fergus Ewing to stand as an independent
Fergus Ewing to stand as an independent

Edinburgh Reporter

time21-06-2025

  • Politics
  • Edinburgh Reporter

Fergus Ewing to stand as an independent

The MSP explained his reasons in a statement released on Friday after months of public discussion over whether he would continue as a politician due to the ongoing differences between him and the SNP leadership. Mr Ewing voted against Lothians MSP Lorna Slater during a vote of no confidence in 2023. After a temporary suspension following his breaking of the whip he was restored to the SNP benches but announced earlier this year he would not stand for the party at the election next year. He said: 'For 26 years I have had the privilege to be the constituency MSP for Inverness and Nairn. I am enormously grateful for having had the opportunity to serve. 'Over that time, I have seen the Scottish Parliament at its best and its worst. I fear in recent years it has been at its worst. That is why today I am announcing my decision to stand for the honour of representing the people of Inverness and Nairn for the seventh time as an independent. 'I want to help get the Scottish Parliament back to its best. 'This has not been an easy decision. I have taken it because I love the people of Inverness and Nairn and the people of Scotland more than my party which I have been in for more than half a century. 'The SNP has been part of the fabric of my life for more than half a century. Indeed, I believe there has been a distinctive thread of Ewing running through its plaid for even longer. I hope that is never removed. But fabrics can become worn. I hope the SNP can repair itself and return to the honour and traditions of those who first wove it in a manner that meets Scotland's real modern needs.' Mr Ewing continued: 'Over the 14 years as a Scottish Government Minister I tried every day, to help ordinary people, and to improve their lives, in each of the portfolios in which I served. 'But over the past decade, the party seems to have deserted many of the people whose causes we used to champion. 'In oil and gas, farming, fishing, rural Scotland, tourism, small business and many other areas of life. Betraying generations who fought for women's rights. 'It's time for Holyrood to live up to the high expectations people rightly held for it, when my mother, Winnie, reconvened our own Parliament in 1999. 'It came of age some years ago – surely now it's time for it to grow up. To act with maturity. 'Over the past four years on the backbenches, I sought to offer advice as a critical friend. 'Warning Nicola Sturgeon at the outset, that to enter a pact with the fringe Green Party was a strategic blunder which would only damage us by association. 'Then we saw the Bute House Agreement, negotiated by the present First Minister, gradually disintegrate as inherent flaws in its promised policies were inevitably exposed as manifestly impracticable and wholly unaffordable. 'These failures – plus a strange preoccupation with issues regarded as largely irrelevant to most people' lives – have all cost the SNP much loss of electoral support but also something else which is priceless. Public trust.' Mr Ewing's family is an integral part of SNP history. His sister Annabelle is MSP for Cowdenbeath and his late mother Winnie won the Hamilton seat in 1967 which was a pivotal moment for the party. The SNP have selected Emma Roddick who sits as a regional MSP to contest Mr Ewing's seat in Inverness and Nairn. Fergus Ewing MSP. Credit: Colin D Fisher/ Like this: Like Related

Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone to step down as MSP at election next year
Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone to step down as MSP at election next year

STV News

time21-06-2025

  • Politics
  • STV News

Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone to step down as MSP at election next year

Scottish Parliament Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone has confirmed she will not run to be an MSP again at next year's election. Johnstone, who was elected as a Scottish Green before taking on the non-partisan role in 2021, says she will be leaving politics. Following the last Scottish Parliament election, the Lothians MSP emerged as the only candidate for Presiding Officer and was elected with 97 votes in favour, 28 against, two abstentions and one spoiled ballot. The role of the Presiding Officer is equivalent to the Speaker of the House of Commons and is responsible for overseeing business at Holyrood, chairing meetings in the debating chamber. Speaking to The Times, Ms Johnstone said: 'I was elected in 2011 and it was always my intention that this would be my last term in Holyrood.' She said she did not come from a political background, adding: 'I was not in a political party but campaigned for the creation of a Scottish Parliament and I then worked as an assistant for Robin Harper, the first-ever Green parliamentarian in the UK elected to the first-ever Scottish Parliament.' Recent weeks have seen the Scottish Conservatives accuse Ms Johnstone of bias in her role, an allegation she has always denied. At the end of May, the Presiding Officer took the rare decision to kick former Tory leader Douglas Ross out of the chamber due to his interjections at First Minister's Questions. During her time as Presiding Officer, she steered the parliament through the Covid pandemic restrictions which saw social distancing and remote working practices implemented. She was also heavily involved in the ceremony following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, when the King visited the Scottish Parliament to hear a special motion of condolence session. Before entering politics, Ms Johnstone was a qualified athletics coach and previously held the east of Scotland titles for the 800m and 1500m. Some of her earlier campaigns as a parliamentarian included Fans First, a push for fan ownership of football clubs. She also proposed a ban on fracking and campaigned against benefits sanctions in devolved employment schemes. The 59-year-old is a former co-leader of the Scottish Greens and one of her most prominent campaigns was against the killing of mountain hares. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country

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