Latest news with #SeamusLogan
The National
5 days ago
- Politics
- The National
2 arrested at Led by Donkeys Gaza protest outside Labour HQ
On Tuesday, Led by Donkeys erected a large poster opposite the Labour Party HQ in London, which showed an image of the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. On the poster were the words: "Protesting this isn't terrorism." (Image: Led By Donkeys, via Twitter/X) Led By Donkeys said: "We've turned their street into Jabaliya camp in Gaza. A genocide is happening, but the Labour Government is supplying weapons, intelligence and diplomatic cover to the perpetrator. "Protesting this is not terrorism." READ MORE: 'If not now, when?': Cabinet ministers pressure Keir Starmer to recognise Palestine The campaign group later said two activists had been arrested and removed by police, sharing an image of a man being taken away by the police. (Image: Led By Donkeys, via Twitter/X) The Met Police confirmed that two men, aged 50 and 51, were charged with aggravated trespass and are due to appear in court in August. The poster's reference to "terrorism" likely refers to the designation of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, which was brought in by the Labour Government earlier this month. It means that membership of or support for the group is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. READ MORE: Seamus Logan: I've been an SNP MP for a year. Here's what it's been like However, condemning Israeli actions in Gaza or showing support for Palestine does not automatically create any connection to a proscribed organisation such as Palestine Action. According to campaign group Defend Our Juries, nearly 200 people have been arrested within a fortnight in the UK under terror law since the proscription of Palestine Action came into effect. Most recently in Scotland, three people were arrested under the Terrorism Act following a national pro-Palestine demonstration on Saturday. The men, aged 78, 60 and 58, were arrested in Edinburgh "for showing support for a proscribed organisation". A Met Police spokesperson said: "Police were called at 7.17am on Tuesday, July 22 to Rushworth Street, SE1 following reports of two men climbing the scaffolding of a building before displaying a large banner. "Officers attended and the two men safety left the scaffolding at around 12.30pm. "They were arrested and have since both been charged with aggravated trespass. "Oliver Knowles, 50 (09.07.1975) of Ranelagh Road, N17 and Ben Stewart, 51 (29.03.1974) of Richmond Avenue, Bristol appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday, 23 July. "They will next appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on 20 August." The Labour Party have been contacted for comment.
The National
6 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Led by Donkeys stage Gaza protest outside Labour HQ
On Tuesday, Led by Donkeys erected a large poster opposite the Labour Party HQ in London, which showed an image of the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. On the poster were the words: "Protesting this isn't terrorism." (Image: Led By Donkeys, via Twitter/X) Led By Donkeys said: "We've turned their street into Jabaliya camp in Gaza. A genocide is happening, but the Labour government is supplying weapons, intelligence and diplomatic cover to the perpetrator. "Protesting this is not terrorism." READ MORE: 'If not now, when?': Cabinet ministers pressure Keir Starmer to recognise Palestine The campaign group later said two activists had been arrested and removed by police, sharing an image of a man being taken away by the police. (Image: Led By Donkeys, via Twitter/X) The Met Police has been contacted for further information. The reference to "terrorism" likely refers to the designation of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, which was brought in by the Labour Government earlier this month. It means that membership of or support for the group is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. READ MORE: Seamus Logan: I've been an SNP MP for a year. Here's what it's been like However, condemning Israeli actions in Gaza or showing support for Palestine does not automatically create any connection to a proscribed organisation such as Palestine Action. According to campaign group Defend Our Juries, nearly 200 people have been arrested within a fortnight in the UK under terror law since the proscription of Palestine Action came into effect. Most recently in Scotland, three people were arrested under the Terrorism Act following a national pro-Palestine demonstration on Saturday. The men, aged 78, 60 and 58, were arrested in Edinburgh "for showing support for a proscribed organisation". The Labour Party has been contacted for comment.
The National
09-07-2025
- Business
- The National
Ed Miliband ditches plan for cheaper energy in Scotland, reports say
The Energy Security Secretary has allegedly decided not to proceed with the scheme that has been strongly backed by Octopus Energy, according to The Guardian. Octopus Energy has repeatedly said such a scheme could give Scots some of the cheapest energy in Europe. Zonal pricing would split the UK into regions based on local supply and demand, meaning Scotland would likely have benefitted enormously due to its abundance of renewables. The proposals would have set lower electricity prices in areas where supply far outstrips demand, in an attempt to encourage industry to move into those areas and reduce the need to switch off generation. READ MORE: What is the point of Octopus Energy's wasted wind tracker? One source told the paper: 'The government has been weighing this up carefully and concluded that the benefits of delivering the clean power mission at pace, particularly given the expected impact of imminent grid upgrades; the need to deliver on the coming renewables auctions; and the significant risk premium being attributed to the UK by international investors, would outweigh the purported benefits of zonal pricing – which at any rate would take beyond the next election to implement.' While Octopus Energy backed the proposals for zonal, the scheme was opposed by the likes of SSE and Scottish Power who warned investors could be put off. Octopus Energy CEO Greg Jackson (Image: Octopus Energy) Supporters of zonal pricing argued it would have helped resolve the issue of windfarms being paid to turn off. Scotland's biggest wind farm – Seagreen – is paid to not generate 71% of the time it could be. As a result, the effective cost of electricity it generates is four times higher than it should be. The UK has one national energy price despite the cost of producing electricity differing throughout the day across the country. If an offshore wind farm in Scotland produces more electricity than the network can handle it is paid to turn off, or be "constrained", and a gas-fired power plant in the south of England is paid to turn on. READ MORE: Seamus Logan: Keir Starmer's lack of principle will finish off the Labour Party Octopus Energy has recently launched a "wasted wind" tracker to show the public how much billpayers' money is being spent on turning off windfarms. According to the energy provider, constraint costs have hit almost £700 million already this year. Zonal pricing could have cut the cost of renewing and updating the country's electricity grid by billions. A report by FTI Consulting predicted overall savings of £52 billion for consumers over 20 years, while another, which was commissioned by Octopus, found the UK would need to spend £27bn less on major grid upgrades in the future. However, the outgoing chief executive of SSE Alistair Phillips-Davies, claimed recently the plan would be a 'huge mistake', saying it would create a 'postcode lottery' where some households would pay £200 to £300 more because of where they live. It is understood an official decision will be announced once it has been signed off by the cabinet. The decision has reportedly gone to senior ministers in a process known as 'write-round', and will be announced before the next renewables auction which is scheduled for early August.
The National
04-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Why do the Unionists' work for them with dismissal of ‘de facto' plan?
A recent example came up in the column by Seamus Logan MP of June 25 (Using an election as plebiscite referendum is just not going to fly), the nub of which is to disparage the notion of independence through a plebiscitary election. He wrote: 'I'm always puzzled how so many who argue that we absolutely must take this route can argue with 100% certainty that any UK Government will say no to another referendum on independence, yet can still believe the same UK Government would just roll over and say yes to actual independence in the face of a positive election result.' The tactic has been employed ever since the 2014 indyref. Sturgeon said much the same in a tired, off-guard moment on TV a few years ago, and cultish devotion to the 'ye cannae' line is still prevalent. Where it comes from, I have no idea, but it is suicidal nonsense, which has gripped the movement and is doing the Unionists' work with a ferocity they themselves lack. At root, two and only two things must occur for Scottish independence, namely a democratic vote for it to happen, and the implementation of that vote. There are only two ways of holding the vote. One is an official referendum. By law, Holyrood cannot arrange that without special consent from London, which Labour, Tory and Reform UK all completely refuse. Such refusal bars them from complaining about use of the only alternative method, a plebiscitary election. In fact, there is no indication that they would so complain, so at least on that point they are more level-headed than the Loganites. A UK General Election is the most solemn, legally sacrosanct, direct expression of the public will, and may be turned into a plebiscite on independence in Scotland simply by the appropriate brief manifesto seeking a head-count majority vote for Scotland to leave the Union, and promising implementation. Such a majority, of any size, would swamp the Scottish seats with the supreme representatives of the Scottish people, mandated to take Scotland out. They could give effect to the vote, restoring Scottish statehood by declaration. No superior manifestation of the will of the people of Scotland exists, and it is perfectly legal and constitutional. When it comes down to it, after such a vote and with the Scottish members resolved to carry it through, London would not be crazy enough to attempt to prohibit it, and would come to the table for an agreed split. They would have no case and no power to do otherwise. London claims neither the legal justification nor the practical ability to frustrate the will of Scotland to go. That very proper acknowledgement underpinned the Edinburgh Agreement which preceded the 2014 indyref, and which would not have been possible if London had not conceded Scotland's right. Anyone who maintains that London would throw over the entire legal and constitutional position, and display itself to the world as the open oppressor of Scotland, has lost the plot. So it is not a matter of giving London the place, or London taking it, to rule on Scottish independence. The decision is Scotland's alone, and it is high time that Mr Logan and those who share his catastrophic misgivings saw the simple truth of that fact, and acted on it. Alan Crocket Motherwell
The National
01-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
If our SNP politicians do not inspire hope, what use are they?
Those who nurtured our movement into a political force imbued us with hope. My personal journey began in the heady days of the early 1970s: the first Govan by-election followed by the two 1974 General Elections, where the SNP came within a few thousand votes of winning virtually every seat in Scotland. READ MORE: Promises broken by SNP are clearly not forgotten by Scotland's voters The wilderness years of the 1980s and early 1990s were almost biblical, as many of us drifted from active politics but still felt that spark of hope whenever the SNP won a council seat or campaigned with others against the grotesque injustice of the poll tax or the decimation of our industrial heritage. It was hope that empowered us into supporting a devolved parliament, and despite the disappointment of the early years of the Scottish Parliament, it was hope and the inspiring leadership of Alex Salmond that propelled us into government in 2007. I recall driving over the Erskine Bridge in 2011 when the radio announced that the SNP had achieved the impossible, a majority in the Scottish Parliament. I was 57 years old, and I wept tears of hope. How I wept. Many tears have been wept since, but hope has never failed me, until last Thursday. I'd always believed that whatever foibles our SNP politicians might have, that the one common steadfast factor they would have was hope. In one self-indulgent article, Seamus Logan MP killed hope (Using an election as plebiscite referendum is just not going to fly, Jun 25). READ MORE: The simple Ipsos poll change that could be significant for independence How dare anyone who is paid handsomely by the British state, and entrusted with the hopes of thousands of Scots to proclaim the legitimacy of the sovereignty of the Scottish people, demean that right to the convenience of any British prime minister? The independence movement, both within the SNP and wider society, is way ahead of so many of the SNP politicians that one wonders what criteria was used by the SNP to approve potential candidates for Westminster and Holyrood, especially when poll after poll shows that support for independence is way above support for the SNP. If we have reached a stage in our journey to statehood that one man or woman in an alien country can just say no, and our princes of the independence movement don't have the imagination, intellectual vigour and smeddum to overcome that, then the SNP must sweep these individuals aside. READ MORE: Scots back independence as Keir Starmer's popularity at record low Independence is not an Oxbridge debate. It's a necessity to address the poverty visited on our people; the plundering of our assets; the relentless degradation of our living standards and values; the subjugation of global humanity and nature; and above all the destruction of hope. We elect politicians to deliver independence, not to wait on some Damascene conversion by a foreign government. The big worry is that these politicians pontificate to us when they have made little or no effort to explore and educate themselves on the opportunities international law and unused devolved powers provide to lead us out of this blasted union. For almost 300 years our unique legal system not just survived but thrived without a dedicated legislature to serve it save for the occasional piece of Westminster legislation. Scots law survived because of the sophistication of our pre-Union common law and the ability and willingness of our judges to apply the principles of our law to society's changing norms and expectations. In this regard, the absence of a British constitution and codified legal system is a positive pathway to independence. The hurdles are of the mind and not the law. Graeme McCormick Arden
