Latest news with #NeilMackay
Scoop
10-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Major Event Strategy Delivers A $6.7 Million Boost For Kāpiti Coast
Kāpiti Coast District Council's Major Events Fund delivered an exceptional return for the year 2024/25, with $6.7 million injected into the local economy from $200,000 of investment. More than 80,000 people attended ten Council-supported events across the district last year, including visitors from across Aotearoa New Zealand and abroad. Kāpiti Coast Economic Development Kotahitanga Board Chair Neil Mackay says with a *33.5 to 1 return on investment, the results speak for themselves. 'These events are drawing new audiences, building our district's reputation as a destination, and delivering tangible benefits for local retailers, hospitality teams, volunteers, and the tourism sector,' says Mr Mackay. 'The Major Events Fund is a clear example of a smart, visitor attraction strategy delivering real results in real time. 'And real money is being put back into local hands, driving spending in our businesses, and giving Kāpiti a stronger platform for long-term growth – showing why economic development matters.' Kāpiti Coast District Mayor Janet Holborow says the events the fund has supported are not a luxury, they're a powerful tool for community wellbeing and local momentum. 'They bring people together, create memorable experiences, support local businesses, and build pride in the places we call home,' says Mayor Holborow. 'Across the district, these events are helping our towns bounce back, not just economically, but socially and culturally.' The 2024/25 events included triathlons and trail runs, the Māoriland Film Festival, Matariki celebrations, the Ōtaki Kite Festival, Kāpiti Food Fair, and the inaugural Kāpiti Classic music concert. Mayor Holborow says across the district, these events built connection and unity, while attracting visitor investment in our people and places. 'Backed by a smart strategy and strong results, the Major Events Fund is doing exactly what it was designed to do: strengthening the Coast, one event at a time. We look forward to announcing the 2025/26 recipients soon.'
The Herald Scotland
09-07-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
The craven surrender of our leaders over Gaza should disgust us all
As I wrote in an earlier letter (July 5), we're now entering the dystopian world described by Orwell in his novel 1984. "War is peace. Ignorance is strength." "But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought." "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – for ever." That's not the future I want for my kids and grandkids, but it's looming over us. And that's because of the craven surrender of so many of our political leaders, who are driven by their need to hold onto power and who have lost sight of simple values of decency, fairness and humanity. As Lord Acton remarked, long before Orwell: 'Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' Doug Maughan, Dunblane. More OAPs under threat Neil Mackay registers his dismay at the treatment of protesters supporting Palestine Action. He especially draws attention to the 83-year-old pensioner, Reverend Sue Parfitt, being arrested for displaying a placard declaring: "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action." We cannot fail to see a parallel with those (many of whom are pensioners) also at risk of arrest, who dare to stand 200 yards within an abortion facility with a simple placard declaring the truth that "abortion kills babies, hurts women". Not only could people be arrested for displaying these statements but also for standing and simply praying silently within the limits of that zone. I don't recall Neil Mackay registering his disapproval of the Government's stance on this issue. Irene Munro, Conon Bridge. Read more letters Keep talking about Palestine Kevin McKenna presents a decent report on Paisley's Sma' Shot Day ("How a shot in Paisley created some of the first trade unions ", The Herald, July 7), apart from one thing. He manages to mention most organisations who were involved in the march through Paisley, with one glaring omission. One of the largest and most noticeable groups on the march was Paisley for Palestine, both in terms of numbers, noise and colour, it would have been impossible to miss them. This omission strengthens the need for people to #keeptalkingaboutpalestine while the Israeli government through its IDF attacks, blockades of aid and support for settler violence, continues to wreak havoc in Gaza and the West Bank. Sma' Shot Day commemorates oppressed people fighting back, an appropriate day to take action over Palestine and other issues. It's a pity that Mr McKenna was not either more observant or considered in his reporting of radical activities in Paisley. John Kelly, Paisley. • In his excellent article Kevin McKenna captured so much of the essentials of Paisley life over many generations. He referred to "Paisley's superb civic buildings" and to the "gorgeous" Coats Memorial Church. He sketched a significant part of Paisley's industrial history when the weavers' craft and workmanship were at an outstanding level and when the manufacture took place of the Paisley shawl with its three different types of yarn. Moreover, the article confirmed that Paisley folk are not easily pushed around and exploited, with the manufacturers eventually having to pay fairly for the work put into the making of Paisley pattern shawls. Yes, keep your eye on Paisley. Ian W Thomson, Lenzie. Degrees of suffering Martin Frizzell, husband of TV presenter Fiona Phillips, has said about his wife that he "wishes she had cancer instead of Alzheimer's". What a shocking thing to say. I have been though cancer and I would not wish it on anyone. My late father had cancer, my late mother whom I looked after for 20 years on my own, had vascular dementia. They were different kinds of suffering but on balance I know who suffered the most. It would have been better if Martin Frizzel had just said he wished his wife was well and could be her old self again. Dorothy Connor, Rutherglen. Crack down on e-bikes I watched an article on the BBC on Monday morning showing a Midlands police crackdown on e-bikes and scooters, most of which were modified to do well in excess of 30mph. I wonder when Police Scotland will take up this initiative and clamp down on this blight on our pavements and streets. Previous complaints I made to them about one I regularly had to avoid on my way to work were ignored. The fast food delivery companies must also stop condoning turning a blind eye to the blatant law-breaking by their employees. Douglas Jardine, Bishopbriggs. Diverse voices Whatever might be said about The Herald, one can only admire the diversity of columnists it employs and today (July 8), the juxtaposition of their views. On page 15, Marissa MacWhirter ("What do people hope to gain by painting neighbourhood as needle-infested hell hole?") and Kevin McKenna ('How Scotland's satnav socialists abandoned working-class people') appear to have a different take on the Safer Drug Consumption Facility in Glasgow. And Kevin also has a go at Roz Foyer for being a millionaire property tycoon, and at the STUC for allowing her to be its leader. I'm not sure you'd find this behaviour in the Daily Mail (or the Guardian for that matter). Independent thinking broadens the mind, keep it up. Willie Towers, Alford. Benjamin Netanyahu has nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize (Image: Getty) A piece of the action I see Benjamin Netanyahu has nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. Perhaps in the light of the lack of quality politicians we should have a Gie's Peace Prize. I can think of several nominees. Michael Watson, Rutherglen.
The Herald Scotland
08-07-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
So this is what it's come to: arresting pensioners and priests
That was made abundantly clear when we were treated to the sight of elderly women being bodily carried away by police, arrested under the Terrorism Act, and taken into custody. Their crime was to hold placards reading: 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.' Among the 29 arrested was 83-year-old Reverend Sue Parfitt, taken away by police while wearing her dog collar. Palestine Action is now proscribed as a terror organisation. Members broke into RAF Brize Norton and sprayed two military planes red. For that, it is now on an equal footing with the IRA. The terror label means that even showing support for Palestine Action can lead to 14 years in prison. Our Government has gone through the looking glass when it comes to Gaza. Read more from Neil Mackay To stand in the street and protest what you believe to be genocide, to offer support to an organisation which has been labelled a terror gang itself for protesting what it believes to be genocide, is now enough to get you carted away by the police in Britain in 2025. There's a craziness about this. Rather than discuss what is happening in Gaza, rather than debate how our Government is behaving regarding Gaza, rather than focus on the death, the bombing, the hunger, we're fixated on sideshows about singers causing outrage at Glastonbury, and arresting old ladies. The wilful blindness is absurd. The silencing runs deep. The BBC refused to air one of the most important documentaries of recent years, the film Gaza: Doctors Under Attack. Channel 4 stepped in after the BBC claimed the documentary could create 'a perception of partiality that would not meet the high standards that the public rightly expect'. Channel 4 said the film was 'meticulously reported' and 'deserves to be widely seen'. It was, according to the channel's head of news and current affairs, subject to 'rigorous fact-checking' and presented an 'impartial view'. The channel had a 'duty to tell important journalistic stories – especially those that aren't being told elsewhere'. The film was among the most harrowing and horrifying ever aired on British television. Yet our national broadcaster chose to keep it from public sight. Instead, Channel 4 assumed the mantle of national broadcaster. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy wants BBC staff fired over the decision to air a separate Gaza documentary narrated by the child of a Hamas official. The Mail on Sunday ran a front page headline reading "Now arrest punk band who led 'Death to Israelis' chants at Glastonbury". The band in question is Bob Vylan. It's important to note – in these days of silencing – that the band did not chant "death to Israelis", but "death to the IDF". Accuracy matters, as does the deliberate elision. Perhaps musicians court controversy simply for controversy's sake, perhaps they speak out as they have deeply-held beliefs they wish to tell the world. Either way, the thoughts, words and deeds of minor celebrities should not be given greater importance in our news agenda that the reality of what is happening in Gaza. Reports about Bob Vylan jostled alongside reports of starving Palestinians shot at food distribution centres. There should be no such equivalence. At times, the average citizen must doubt their sanity. Why are we talking about punk bands when Francesca Albanese – who holds the post of United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories – is talking about the need for global corporations to be held accountable for 'profiting from genocide' in Gaza? Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, says Gaza is 'hell on Earth', and 'humanity is failing'. She added that 'the fact that we are watching a people entirely stripped of its human dignity, it should really shock our collective conscience.' In Britain, though, it seems we wish either silence or distraction. Our Government and our media have lost all sense of reality when it comes to Gaza. The public simply wants honest reporting, political and moral decency, and an open debate. These are not dangerous nor difficult requests. There is an historic duty on humanity right now. If we cannot find a moral and peaceable solution to what's happening in Gaza then we open the door to a monstrous future for ourselves and our children. If the rules of war can be rewritten in Gaza, they can be rewritten anywhere. If, in the future, some conflict should break out in Europe with Russia, or in the Pacific involving China, then what is happening now in Gaza becomes a template for the rules of engagement in years to come. Our behaviour today shapes tomorrow. Indeed, we are reminded of that truth this week, as we mark the 20th anniversary of the 7-7 London terror attacks. There have been calls for Bob Vylan to be arrested (Image: PA) At the time of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, anyone with a brain was predicting that this illegal war would bring terror to British streets. The 2005 attacks proved those fears valid. As the 20th anniversary rolled round, the former head of counter-terrorism with the Met Police, Neil Basu, said the Iraq war 'made extremists of people who might not have been radicalised'. Foreign policy and Iraq was a 'driver of the 7-7 attacks', he said. The act of silencing is itself radicalising. Anger and fear are bottled up and become channelled in dangerous ways. By telling people not to speak – on an issue as deeply felt as Gaza – the Government risks creating a pressure cooker of rage. It's notable that many now keen on silencing portrayed themselves as champions of free speech for years. They were never interested in the free speech of others, only themselves. Gaza is the greatest test our Government and media face. Trust is on life support in this country. If the Government and media cannot deal honestly with Gaza then trust will die. Once all trust is gone, then we have nothing to hold us together. Neil Mackay is The Herald's Writer-at-Large. He's a multi-award-winning investigative journalist, author of both fiction and non-fiction, and a filmmaker and broadcaster. He specialises in intelligence, security, crime, social affairs, cultural commentary, and foreign and domestic politics.
The Herald Scotland
26-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Why don't they ever highlight the benefits of moderate drinking?
There is no doubt that alcohol consumed in excess is very harmful, but it is also clear that consumed in moderation, it is not. Many hundreds of studies across the world and over time have established that those drinking up to the levels which are the average for Scottish drinkers have a lower mortality than those who abstain. There have been attempts to discredit this, but they are not very credible against the huge weight of evidence, and even if they managed to call into question the health benefits of moderate drinking, they could not establish it as materially harmful. It is stated that there is no safe level of drinking, which is based on the truth that moderate drinking slightly increases the risk of some cancers, but what it ignores is that this is more than balanced out by the fact that it decreases the risk of other diseases, mainly cardiovascular. It is noteworthy that this pretty conclusive body of research is simply airbrushed out of notice by the public health lobby. The relentless public health campaign against alcohol, instead of targeting high levels of consumption, is determined to exaggerate the risk of moderate drinking. This is a form of dishonesty. And even if it were true that there is an increased health risk at moderate levels (which in aggregate it is not), the risk would be very low. Many of the activities of normal life carry increased risk (such as driving), but the benefits and enjoyment of these activities are also taken into account, but not for alcohol. Its pleasures and its cultural importance in our social life are to be completely discounted. It might be argued that they mean well, but the use by scientifically based messaging of the propagandistic techniques of public relations and politics demeans it and adds another undermining corrosion to the integrity of our public discourse. Stephen Smith, Glasgow. Read more letters Why indy will run out of gas Neil Mackay's Unspun article ("SNP is treating independence like a secret to be locked away in the attic", The Herald, June 21) failed to mention the inability of the party to project-manage large engineering schemes. The problem started with the two ferries ordered for the Ardrossan/Brodick run, with the mainland port still unable to accommodate the vessels and the Glen Rosa still not in service. That was followed by the dualling project of the A9 which will not be completed during the next session at Holyrood. Then the news broke that, in spite of a four-year delay to ending municipal waste landfill, the SNP failed to build sufficient incinerators, hence the plan to send 100 lorries a day filled with waste to England. However, the biggest secret of all is the lack of progress on the construction of 25,000 MW of hydrogen-fuelled gas turbines as detailed in the SNP Energy Plan of 2023. The result of this failure means that, under dunkelflaute weather conditions, there could be no power for schools, hospitals, supermarket freezers, ATMs or charging facilities for tablets, smartphones and computers. It has been pointed out that "independence is irrelevant until we fix the climate", so surely installing the generation plant required to keep the lights on in Scotland is the prime target for Holyrood over the next 20 years? Ian Moir, Castle Douglas. When ferries worked well This year the MV Aries went off to the breakers' yard. She was built at Govan Shipbuilders with work starting in 1985, entering service in 1987. Launched as the MV Norsea for North Sea Ferries she was the largest and last passenger and vehicle ferry built in Govan. Thirty-seven years of service across the North Sea and finally in the Mediterranean says a lot. No doubt our leaders at Holyrood will attest that the renewal of the oldest ferries by the Glens Sannox and Rosa and the four ships bring built in Turkey was well planned to take account of build times and intended service implementation allowing the older ships to leave service But things went very wrong and the pity is that the high head yins give the appearance of not caring all that much. At least there is (or was) a model of the Norsea at Glasgow's Riverside Museum. Maybe when viewed it gives an opportunity to reflect on how things have changed in those 37 years. Ian Gray, Croftamie. The Ardrossan ferry terminal (Image: Newsquest) Subtitle suffering I watched a (partially) interesting programme on BBC1 this evening (June 24), Why Cities Flood: Spain's Deadly Disaster. I say partially interesting because there was a fair proportion of subtitles involved. Fine if you can read them but white script on a white background does not work. Documentary makers please note: it would definitely be of more interest if we could read the subtitles. Steve Barnet, Gargunnock. The sad decline of Aberdeen I read Kerry Hudson's article about her trip to Norway and her reflections on three of its cities ("Want to follow the hottest trend? As the world warms, book yourself a coolcation in Norway", The Herald, June 24). I found it hard not to compare her observations on Stavanger with my observations on recent trips to Aberdeen. Stavanger appears to be an upbeat city, looking ahead to the future post-oil, whilst remaining an attraactive city, with striking traditional and modern buildings. I'm not sure I can say the same about Aberdeen, where something seems to have seriously gone wrong in the city's governance. The city centre, particularly Union Street and the area around Schoolhill and Belmont Street, looks distinctly down at heel. And the bus station and its surrounding area must be the most unwelcoming in Scotland. Willie Towers, Alford.
The Herald Scotland
18-06-2025
- The Herald Scotland
Grooming has been in Scotland for decades. We need an inquiry now
I urge you not to hate this officer for the words used. Back then, that was the only language available. The term "grooming" hadn't yet been invented. The officer cared and wanted a reporter to bring these crimes to public attention. Technically, this was an exceptionally complex and difficult investigation. It took a long time to make headway. I teamed up with a Herald colleague, Jenifer Johnston, and we shared the work. By spring 2002, we'd compiled enough material to publish what I considered a story of real public interest. We revealed that an estimated 300 children – both boys and girls – were being raped and sexually exploited in Scotland. A third of the offences were believed to be happening in Glasgow. Read more by Neil Mackay As far as we could understand most of the children were care-experienced. I recall one conversation where a case worker told me that men would pick up some of the girls from "outside the gates of their care home". Did staff know what was happening? Yes, I was told, but what could they do? I thought: "Well, stop them, for Christ sake. Restrain them. Confront the paedophile. Call the cops. Do something. Anything. Protect the child." I'd recently become a parent and remember returning home one night, reading my daughters their bedtime story, coming downstairs and bursting into tears at the thought of what was happening in this city. We discovered that in one six-month period, of 80 children known to have been sexually exploited, 57 were girls and 23 boys. It's important to remember how long ago this was. Reports of grooming gangs of Asian men operating in England didn't emerge until 2011. Back in 2002, I was distinctly uneasy with the term "child prostitution". Children can't consent to sex – due to the fact they're children. The children, we learned, were being plied with drink and drugs, as well as money. Often, they were being groomed – we'd now say – by men offering them fake affection. It was truly a glimpse into hell, I felt. Some of the children who were being raped were as young as 12. It's important to note that ethnicity was not an issue which emerged during the investigation, apart from once. We became aware of one young girl who was seen at Glasgow Green getting into the car of a white man. She was believed to be aged around 14. She drove away with the white man, then returned to Glasgow Green where she got into the car of an Asian man. It was believed at the time that the white man had paid to rape the child, and that the Asian man had "sold" her to the white man. I can offer no other information on ethnicity in terms of the offenders. Jenifer and I wrote three investigations across three weeks. We truly believed that our work would lead to public outrage, political action and a public inquiry. In the end, nothing really happened. The then Labour administration in Scotland made a statement, which we reported, that 'child prostitution is nothing less than a scandal. The children are victims and we must provide them with the support they need'. One girl we spoke to was called Marie. She was just 14 when she was first raped – or "prostituted" as society would then have termed her abuse. She spent much of her young life moving from refuge to care home to secure unit after her parents split up when she was seven. Most of the men who abused her were married, she told us. Perhaps the language used a quarter of a century ago explains the lack of action, the lack of interest, the lack of care. Remember also that this was a time when images of child abuse were referred to as "child pornography". I recall a police officer I worked with at one stage, who was part of Scotland Yard's paedophile unit. He was the first person I heard say that the words "child pornography" should be ditched for the term "images of child abuse". I was stunned that the stories we worked on all those years ago weren't followed up by other media outlets. As far as I understand, the most that happened was that a working group in the Scottish Parliament was established 'to consider the support needs of children who run away from home and children abused through prostitution'. The Scottish Parliament's website today says that the intention in January 2003 was to address the 'lack of data on the numbers of young people sexually exploited through prostitution'. I must also wonder if perhaps the lack of ethnicity as a component of the story played a part in how little attention the investigations gathered at the time. A working group in the Scottish Parliament was established years ago (Image: Newsquest) For 25 years, memories of this story have eaten away at me. I brought it up when the grooming gangs scandal first came to public attention in 2011. But again, nobody seemed to care much. Today, those 300 children will now all be in their thirties at least. The men who raped them will still be alive. If they offended in 2001, they could still be offending now. If this happened in Glasgow at the turn of the millennium, it could still be happening. There are calls for Scotland to launch its own grooming gang inquiry. I fully support this. Such an inquiry does not have to, and should not, take place under a pall of hysteria and inflammatory racist rhetoric. Any inquiry should have one purpose: the protection of children. We need to establish what has happened in this country, why it was allowed to happen, how the state failed children, and who the perpetrators were and are regardless of their ethnicities. To do otherwise doesn't just fail the victims of the past as well as the victims of the present, but it dooms the most vulnerable children of the future to face the same horrors all over again. Neil Mackay is The Herald's Writer at Large. He's a multi-award-winning investigative journalist, author of both fiction and non-fiction, and a filmmaker and broadcaster. He specialises in intelligence, security, crime, social affairs, cultural commentary, and foreign and domestic politics
