Scotland at 7 – 22/02/2024
Scotland at 7 is a our nightly news and current affairs programme for Scotland. On tonight’s Scotland at 7, Brian Liddy and William Duguid discuss the latest Scottish and international news including the Ukraine update.
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Good evening and welcome to Scotland at 7 my name is Brian lydy and it’s Thursday the 22nd of February I’m joined once again this evening by William D good the writer and activist with person kin Ross Yes Hub welcome once again again William for thank you yeah well thank you for having me
Again Brian looking forward to it thank you I want just make sure I get your name right consistently through the show tonight so that would be good it would yes Ukraine update day 729 Vladimir Putin remains intent on trying to defeat and dominate Ukraine 2 years after launching an invasion that
Has caused more than half a million casualties Western officials said in a friend fresh assessment of the war however Putin has not thought to have any clear-cut medium-term strategy on Wednesday the European Union approved its 13th package of sanctions against Russia the new package which will be formally approved in time for
The secondth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the 24th of February we’ll see nearly 200 entities and individuals added to the sanctions list three Mainland Chinese firms were added to a list of companies that EU businesses were banned from dealing with diplomats said the firms the first in
Mainland China to be targeted by the measures were accused of involvement in supplying sensitive military technology to Russia firms in turkey and India were also included as the EU increasingly targets third countries for helping Moscow circumvent its sanctions the EU also imposed an asset freeze and Visa ban on North Korea’s defense minister
Kangsun Nam for supply flying ballistic missiles to to Moscow diplomats said Iran has provided Russia with a large number of surface to surface ballistic missiles deepening the military cooperation between the two US sanctioned countries NATO Secretary General Jen stoltenberg said he believes the best way to honor the memory of Alexi Nal was
To ensure a Russian defeat in Ukraine Andre morz of a prominent proar Russian blogger has reportedly died by Suicide following outrage over a post in which he claimed that the Russian army lost 16,000 soldiers during the capture of the Eastern Ukrainian city of aiva Russia’s capture of Av divka has
Alarmed people in nearby towns and many are now leaving for safer areas after hunkering down for months from constant fire according to reports on Wednesday the Ukrainian Army denied it had lost kekney its Bridge head on the Russian occupied side of the Deno River a day after Russia’s defense
Minister said the area had been taken Finland has said it has launched almost 800 investigations into potential sanctions breaches on its border with Russia in the two years since Putin invaded Ukraine the border with Russia has recently been closed because of a regular migration which the fins believed was orchestrated by Russia from
St Petersburg it has meant train and shipping transports are now the focus of sanctions enforcement in Finland the BBC Russian service and news Outlet media Zona have confirmed the identities of about 45,000 Russian soldiers who died in Ukraine since the invasion began in February 2022 the issue of military casualties is
Extremely sensitive in both countries Russia has banned criticism of the conflict and no official figures have been released since 2022 um William was there anything that stood out in today’s update for Ukraine um it’s it’s kind of marking time a little bit as we get close to the second
Anniversary um I think that uh it’s probably correct to say that Russian doesn’t have a medium-term plan and that probably means that uh things will carry on much as they are but um with no particular sign of Ukraine being able to resist the gradual Advance as we’ve seen
With aiva um unless and until whatever the European nations may do and what um the UK may do unless and until um America really gets involved and um really UPS the funding to Ukraine and the supplies to Ukraine but um this is looking increasingly like a kind of
Messy stalemate and it would be interesting to wonder if there’s any move towards um looking at what a peace settlement might resemble because otherwise this will just grind on for for ages uh so that’s quite a depressing Outlook at at the second anniversary and the other thing to note I think is um
The slight uneasiness in Finland about what’s going on with the borders there and that’s always something to keep under review um but as I say pretty much a marking time sort of thing and uh post a divka we’re just letting that sort of settle I think before we know what
Happens next thank you William I’m just going to um be cheeky and ask you one more question that which isn’t including in the runner order but it is relevant and but Finland is now part of NATO which means that that our border with Russia is now quite a bit closer um to
In terms of NATO and then today I think there was um the Russian Air Force was spotted out off the coast of Scotland and the North Sea um do you think the two are really ated um probably not because I suspect that Russia’s been close to Scotland
Quite a few times in that way um but yeah Finland is very much in the game as if you like the the frontier of NATO uh which is something that that Putin has never liked the idea that that that that NATO was getting closer and closer in a
Sense uh and it’s it it’ll be interesting to see see how that develops um but I don’t think at this point Putin is particularly um making eyes at at um doing anything in in around Scotland okay thank you and now the latest from Israel and Gaza at least
29,41 Palestinians have been killed and 69,4 65 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since the 7th of October 2023 the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement today the foreign Ministers of 26 European countries on Thursday called for a pause in fighting leading to a longer ceasefire they urged Israel not
To take military action in Rafa that would worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian situation un Secretary General Antonio guz said that in North Gaza one in six children under 2 years old is acutely malnourished as he called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire he linked to a news release on the world
Food program website which highlighted the scarcity of food and Safe Water it also said diseases are R compromising women and children’s nutrition and Immunity and resulting in a surge of acute malnutrition a un attempt to deliver 10 convoys of food food Aid to Northern Gaza over 7 days was suspended earlier
This week after trucks were looted by crowds a driver was beaten and gunfire reported amid chaotic enes in a collective appeal heads of un humanitarian entities and Global non-government organizations have implored world leaders to help prevent further deterioration of the crisis in Gaza Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 48 as
Fierce Mount over humanitarian crisis seven Israeli strikes hit Rafa early today one of them flattening a huge mosque and devastating much of the surrounding block another strike hit a residential home in Rafa Sheltering the AL Shyer family killing at least four people including a mother and her child
Strikes in central Gaza overnight killed 44 people including 14 children and eight women according to hospital officials there an Israeli bombing of an of a United Nations relief and works Agency for Palestine refugees otherwise known as unra building in housing sorry I’ll read that again an Israel bombing of an
Unra or United Nations relief and work agency for Palestine refugees building housing displaced people in the jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip has resulted in casualties according to Al jazer Israeli media reported that there were clashes between security forces and Israeli protesters at the Kum Shalom border crossing where demonstrators have
Been attempting to blockade humanitarian Aid entering Gaza tension are rising in the West Bank ahead of Ramadan which in the past has seen increased clashes often in connection to restrictions imposed on Palestinian worshippers going to the alasa mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City during the holy month Israeli War
Cabinet members Benny Gant has said there are promising early signs of progress on a new deal to release hostages from Gaza a m Regional talks to secure to secure a pause in the war Israel is seeking Palestinian Ians who are not affiliated with Hamas to manage civilian Affairs in planned human
Humanitarian pockets of the Gaza Strip designed as testing grounds for post-war administration of The Enclave a senior Israeli official said today according to Reuters Japan has had strong words for Israel in the opening of his oral submission at the international court of justice in the Haag which is hearing
Further arguments today in the case legal Con in in the case legal con quences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory including East Jerusalem William there was a lot there um was there anything that you want to highlight uh yeah the the increasing
Problem and it will go on being a problem is is getting Aid in in such a way that it can be used and we see that there is still a blockade first of all of protesters to try and stop Aid getting in at all but slightly more
Worrying is um the fact that they had to abandon an attempt to get Aid into Northern Gaza because of looting and uh that says to me that people are absolutely desperate and that is when you start to get to the Tipping Point where it doesn’t matter what you do with
Aid there is going to be an issue because people are just so desperate they will they will try to grab it and you know um I I can’t really see an easy way out of that even if there were a humanitarian pause tomorrow um and we
Also see that it’s now having its effect the lack of Aid the lack of resources with one in six children under two in Northern Gaza suffering from what um Antonio gutterz describes as acute malnourishment um and that I suspect will be the tip of the iceberg and U to
Be thus affected that that early an age isn’t going to be good and uh it it it it’s going to keep getting worse unless we really can break this cycle of violence and work out a way of making things better and getting people talking and getting some sort of stability back
Into the region but it seems to me that we’re much more interested um certainly in this country in playing party political games and in making that stick I think some of the other um Nations the EU Nations 26 of whom have made a statement are being a way bit more
Forceful but again without the US really taking a hand I don’t see that this improves very quickly at all thank you William you you mentioned trying to make something stick when it comes to a ceasefire speaking of which our next item is the Fallout from last night’s
House of Commons debate on a Gaza ceasefire continued as Steven Flynn the snp’s Westminster leader said that as a result of yesterday’s debacle the S SMP does not believe that sir Lindsay Hil should remain his speaker they do not have confidence in him um we’ve actually
Got a video clip that we’d like to show you um which in which Steven Flynn um talks about this Steven Flynn leader of the SNP thank you Mr Speaker last evening we saw the the best of this house and its ability to debate and we
Also saw the worst of this house as it descended into fce and I think I speak for everyone in the chamber just now and indeed yesterday when I expressed my deep sorrow that that was able to happen given the content of what it was we were debating nevertheless Mr Speaker it
Descended into fce because of the decision that you made and you alone made to ignore the advice that was given to you by the clerks in doing so on the opposition day of the Scottish national party my colleagues and I were denied the ability to vote on
A matter which is of grave concern to us and which over recent months we have sought to raise in this chamber every available opportunity it’s ultimately turned in to a labor opposition day that quite frankly is not accept and as I have expressed to you privately prior to proceedings here
Today we do there we do not on these benches therefore believe that you can continue in your role as Speaker we do not have confidence in your ability to do so so I would therefore welcome Clarity either from yourself or indeed from the leader of the house as to how we can best
Facilitate a vote in this chamber at the earliest possible occasion to that effect so Steven Flynn today in Westminster explaining why he no longer has confidence in in Mr Hy in response Hil said that he had made a judgment call that turned out to be wrong and he
Apologized to the SNP he justified his decision on what he called the absolutely frightening material he has been shown about the threat to MPS and he stressed his commitment to keeping people safe sakir starmer has defended his decision to Lobby the speaker over the Gaza debate yesterday starmer met
Hil in person hours before the vote arguing that the speaker should ignore president and allow a vote on the labor motion but starmer denies threatening the speaker dozens of Labor MPS had been preparing to rebel against their party Whip and vote for the SNP motion calling for an immediate ceasefire hil’s
Decision to allow a vote on the labor Amendment which called for a ceasefire with caveats averted a rebellion and took the pressure of Sir starmer speaker’s actions went against the advice of his Clark who had warned that it was a a departure from the long the long established convention the allegation that starmer
May have threatened Hil with the prospect of Labor not voting to reappoint him after the election if he did not back them yesterday was prompted by tweets posted by news Knights Nicholas wat yesterday by this morning at least 59 MPS had put their names to a motion expressing no confidence in the
Speaker um William I believe that list um of MPS joining the to say that they have no confidence in the speakers now standing at 67 and you might be interested to know that the only MPS that are on that list are either SNP or uh conservative there’s no other parties
On there at all as far as I can make out um with this L Motion in o um of no confidence in Hil do do you think he will be still in place or or is he going to have to step down it’s difficult to be sure that
There are some signs today particularly in some of the statements that some of the Tories have made that maybe the heat is being taken off a little bit and um the the sort of um way in which he’s described a circumstance as as as looking after the safety of MPS may have
Rung a few Bells there I don’t know how much validity it’s got and why in fact it resulted in the decision that he made I don’t see how it factors into it but nevertheless um he’s he’s claiming to have been looking after the Safety and Security of MPS and that may have have
Rung a wee Bell so um it’s difficult to be sure what thing what will happen next um it’s quite a number of um people having signed the no confidence motion if you compare it with for example Michael Martin in 2009 I I think he resigned in in anticipation of a no
Confidence vote after 23 MPS had signed a motion so it certainly has a precedent for being very very dangerous for Lindsay hoil uh but I do get the impression that um with what do some of the Tores are saying uh and indeed the non-committal uh nature of of some of
The other parties that perhaps he might survive vote the question is whether he wants to subject himself to it thank you will I think it it’s we should probably say that that a lot of what we’re going to be talking about this evening is going to sound a bit
Trivial compared to the um the fact that there’s civilian deaths in Gaza and we should note that there that there has been a motion which has been passed calling for a ceasefire in Gaza um but uh just um Rishi sunak um today said that it was very concerning that hil’s
Decision to change the common rules um and gave credit to the speaker for his an apology but and kind of implied that he’s willing to draw a line under the Gaz of ceasefire vote chaos first Minister HS and USF added his name to the list of those who say hoil should go
And David Lindon snpm predicted Hil will have resigned by the weekend and we can check on whether that’s happened on the Phil Scottish which I’m going to be hosting this Sunday um do you think that people that um are saying that the S SMP shouldn’t really be so concerned about that their motion
Being stolen by the by labor and should really just be happy with the fact that there is no a a a ceasefire motion has been passed well it is very very important that some sort of ceasefire motion has been passed and that at least we’re recognizing that at the end of the day
This is about Gaza and the suffering there uh and a lot of that got lost in all the fireworks last night of course it’s not something that commits the UK to anything but it’s at least a step along the way to actually working for a ceasefire so having said that it’s
Actually quite an important principle that that needs to be emphasized that the SNP gets as second biggest opposition party three opposition days when they can introduce um a vote during the year the Parliamentary year and one of these has been taken away from them by effectively um handing it to a party
Labor which itself has 17 during the year as the main opposition party and if parliamentary if you like fairness in the parliamentary system and I struggled to think of this in terms of the UK but it’s you know it’s it’s theoretically there if that’s to mean anything I think
Um you need to treat opposition days as they should be and give the party who’s whose day it is the opportunity to have their vote on their terms and Lindsay Hoy ignored president and did not do that yesterday and now it may well be that he um invokes something else to
Give um the SNP a debate on Gaza um I think there is a check’s note standing order 24 which would allow him to do so and maybe that would be one way around it but certainly the principle of opposition days needs to be observed even if um all the fireworks are well
Well overshadowed by the actual tragedy that’s going on in Gaza that we mustn’t forget H did seem to be genuinely affronted when he came back into the the chamber to to give an account for himself which Steven Flynn had called for where is um the speaker but um so do
You think there is a difference between um opinion north and south of the board there um Talking Heads in Westminster London Centric Talking Heads are saying that the s SMP should just accept the outcome whereas maybe people north of the Border are feeling that the S SMP
The party that they voted for in Westminster is being sidelined and that’s going to make people angry I think it’s very likely that people in Scotland will feel that and I can see why with the way the SNP and Scotland in general is regarded by the Metropolitan Elites that uh maybe in
England that isn’t as much of a problem but I get back to the fact that um the principle that the oppos day party should have its vote because it doesn’t get very many of them is pretty sausy and it didn’t need to happen in this way um that you know labor could have
Introduced a vote on this any time it liked with one of its opposition days so principles are important um we don’t always see them maintained in Westminster who all too often seem to make up the rules to suit the occasion and this is just another example of that
So yeah I I I wouldn’t say the SNP should just be satisfied they should be careful what what they do to object about it and I thought by the way that Steven Flynn looked very very measured as opposed he he’s extremely annoyed last night and you could see that but
That was a very measured response and I think that’s the right way to go and that does uphold the principle still thank you William I mean we’re kind of pushing the time here but just very quickly um there’s two theories that seem to be getting quite a bit of
Traction one is that um Hils ACS saved kir starmer from a a huge defeat the biggest since the vote on the Iraq War um but I’ve also seen people are heard people saying that um the only reason that the conservative party withdrew their motion was because they knew that
This would be the outcome for the SNP and so they did that on purpose do you think there’s any truth in either of those um theories I think it’s possibly truth in the first I think um there was quite likely to be a largish ra labor Rebellion um
Because of course it’s always the principle that labor doesn’t vote for S&P motions that’s the Bain principle that’s there and that was going to be disregarded strange strange to see that convention disregarded as far as the Tores just doing this to to stick it to
The SNP no I don’t think so I think the Tories might have been afraid um of keeping their own motion um because people might be on their party might be more likely to vote for the labor one than they were for the Tory one so I don’t think they were focusing on the
SNP necessarily yeah time time really is against us now but I would say to to viewers at home if you haven’t seen it you should check it out because there were a lot of both labor MPS and conservative MPS saying that were very annoyed have being deprived of the
Opportunity to vote for the SNP motion it really is quite incredible watching but I better move on to the next item if we’re going to finish on time tonight um in the Scottish Parliament today Ivan mck MSP led a debate calling for an immediate ceasefire in Israel and
Palestine the motion said that um forgive me the said that the parliament notes with concern reports of the recent upsurging violence in Palestine and Israel which it understands has seen more than 28,000 people including mostly women and children killed by Israeli forces in Gaza 1,400 people killed by Hamas and other or terrorist
Organizations in Israel and more than 300 Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli armed settlers in the West Bank the motion went on to say that it believes strongly that there is no justification for inflicting Terror or killing innocent civilians or for the taking of Civilian hostages and condemns
Violence in all its forms not it notes with concern what it considers to be the risk of disease and malnutrition in Gaza as a consequence of the Israeli blockade of the strip which it believes may itself constitute a breach of international law it recognized what it saw as the critically important relief
Work of organizations such as the United Nations relief and works Agency for Palestinian refugees that’s unra and Medical Aid for Palestinians and notes that the UK government and others are being urged to continue to financially support this work um the motion added that it believed that this conflict did
Not begin on the 7th of October 2023 and believes that a lasting peace with Justice will only come through a negotiated settlement and calls for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine and Israel to allow diplomatic discussions to take place that will be safeguard that will safeguard innocent civilians the conduct of the debate was
In marked contrast to the scenes in the House of Commons last night um William um I don’t know um this do you think this will um help on the ground in Palestine combined with the the vote in Westminster last night I don’t think it will probably
Have any effect at all I don’t think either of the votes will um I I think it’s it’s kind of out of the hands of both the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament what what happens now and entirely down to whatever negotiations may be going on for a ceasefire and uh
There have been signs from various people including Benny Gant that there there are maybe there’s maybe progress being made although what Benny Gant regards as progress I mean I might not regard as as progress but I think it is nevertheless this if it does nothing on
The ground in in in in Palestine and Gaza um I think it’s important that the the parliament has its say and uh I thought that was a very measured uh motion by Ivan mcke and it takes all of the boxes and it mentions the the Gaza
Uh sufferers uh and also the um hostages and it mentions the West Bank and and that that is a measured thing it also mentions the work of unra and that’s very important because that’s going to be struggling in a month if funding isn’t restored by those Nations that
Have have withdrawn it so um I’m no expert in drafting emotions but that looked a pretty good one to me thank you Willman and it’s probably worth mentioning that it’s not the first debate in Hollywood that’s called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza there was one back in November
2023 and of course that hasn’t happened yet either um and just related um there was a row between msps erupted after a protest outside Hollywood L to block people from from entering the building to attend a win reception held by weapons manufacturers um Steven K MSP criticized Ros Greer MSP for speaking at
The rally which I think shows a big difference between um conservative msps and um green msps but yeah as I said times against us so the next item is a US intelligence assessment of Israel’s claims that the United Aid agency staff members participated in the hamus attack
On the 7th of October said some of the ACC accusations were credible but that the claims of wider links to militant groups could not be independently verified earlier this year Israel accused 12 employees of the United Nations reliefs and works agency or unra of participating in the 7th of October
Attacks alongside Hamas it also said 10% of all unra workers were affiliated with Hamas the bombshell accusations LED several countries including the United states to cut off funding for the agency which was a crucial vehicle for getting Aid to Gaza in what has widely been described as a humanitarian
Crisis according to the Wall Street Journal the intelligence report released last week declared it had low confidence in the basic claim that a handful of staff had participated in the attack indicating that it considered the accusations to be credible though it could not independently confirm their veracity the report cast out on um
Accusations that the United Nations agency was collaborating with Hamas the journal said the report mentioned that although unrra does coordinate with Hamas in order to deliver Aid and operate in the region there was no evidence to suggest it partnered with the group it added that Israel has not
Shared the raw intelligence behind its assessments with the US um William I’m just checking my notes um so unra which by the way was founded in 1948 1949 after the um 1948 Palestinian war and it’s it’s it provides relief to Jewish and Arab Palestinian refugees inside the state of Israel following the
Conflict of 1948 until the Israeli government took over responsibility for them in 1952 um I’m just searching for my question here actually um um does I me the fact is that it said that the the United States government withdrew funding to inra when the claims were made I think I’m right in saying
That the British government withdrew the funding also but the Scottish government did not does that show you a difference between how Scotland and England’s governments um react um well probably not as much as we think because I think the Scottish government had sent um given them as much assistance financially as they were
Going give them for the year because of course the Scottish government is limited in what it can do so the Scottish government was never going to send them any more money at this year uh but I think did speak in support of them uh at the time that not just the UK and
The us but several other countries I think up to was it nine or maybe 10 countries withdrew funding at the same time very much as I think an e reaction to the the claims that were made that are now seen to be perhaps not as credible as we thought they were uh so
But but in answer to your question um no I don’t think it I think there is a difference between how the the UK government looks at things and the Scottish government does in this regard but this isn’t an example of it okay fair enough thank you William um the UK government Ministers
Of sorry UK government V ministers have vowed to press ahead with legislation to automatically overturn convictions related to the post office Horizon Scandal by the end of July Kevin Hollen rck the post office Minister said in a written ministerial statement on Thursday that the legislation would immediately quash the convictions of
Hundreds of post office operators in England and Wales Hollen R’s statement said ministers aimed to pass the bill into law as soon as possible before summer recess responding to the announcement the Scottish government’s Justice secretary Angela Constance said the Scottish government made it clear to the
UK government that we want to see UK wide legislation to ensure there is a quick fair and equal solution for all affected sub poost Masters she went on to say we will introduce Scottish legislation if necessary but it is likely that would need to be after a UK
Bill has passed to ensure full compatibility with UK legislation and the UK compensation scheme in which the Scottish government has no Locus she continued due to the reserved nature of some of the issues involved there may be areas the Scottish Parliament cannot legislate on and we will be relying on
This further UK legislation this will introduce additional time and complexity in addition the Scottish Parliament has no powers to compel UK ministers or the post office to provide evidence to Parliament our priority is to ensure full parity for everyone affected by this miscarriage of Justice which is why
We will continue to strongly Express that our preferred option is to use use a legislative consent motion to extend any UK Bill to cover Scotland um William so because the post office is reserved to Westminster it turns out now that Hollywood is going to have to wait for Westminster to finalize
And pass a bill and then Hollywood will have to match that bill which will lengthen and complicate the whole process in Scotland and this is all for a problem which was solely caused by Westminster um would you agree with that summary and well I’ll just leave it there would you agree with that
Summary um potentially that that’s correct I think it’s within the powers of of of the UK I mean the powers in general of the UK to introduce legislation that can quite easily be extended to cover Scotland and the legislative consent motion should in those circumstances be um just just just
You know the natural course of events so it didn’t create too much of a delay I think but the drafting of whatever ever um way out of this there is is important because if it for example focuses on the post office as the prosecutor which wasn’t the case in Scotland then there
Would have to be some form of of legislation that paralleled it it wouldn’t be a simple legislative consent motion so like everything between the UK Parliament and the Scottish Parliament um it can be done smoothly if it’s intelligently drafted but if it’s not intelligently or cooperatively drafted
Then there could be an extra little hump on the way but I do believe that both parliaments are pretty well unanimous um in thinking that we need to fix this for the postmasters as soon as possible and I would hope that there wouldn’t be any bumps in the road caused by that and
That through cooperation it could be made as simple as possible so for for those people who are um affected by the Fallout from this as you see the post post office Masters the sub poost Masters who have already waited a long time some of whom have have died without having been getting
Any compensation or being proven innocent you don’t think they should be concerned when they when they hear about this potential delay I think they should be concerned about the length of time this continues to take and all the twists and turns that it continues to take despite the
Fact that there’s near unanimity um certainly in the general public and by a lot of legislators that this is a scandal and it needs to be fixed and it’s incredibly frustrating how slowly the wheels of Justice grind on so I don’t think there’s anything about this particular if you like the two
Parliaments having to work together on this that should make postmasters concerned because they’ve got enough to be concerned about as it is I really do hope that before too many people die without seeing their names cleared which is very important for their families but also adequate compensation and not the
Rubbish that’ been offered I I I really hope we get to that stage before very much longer whatever the route is in Parliament thank you William I’ve got um Marian fellow’s SNP MP’s um voice ringing in my head from what you were just saying there but the next item is
The Deputy first Minister shaa Robison has announced additional funds for local authorities following further discussions with KLA taking the total funding for councils to the highest level on record council’s General review Grant will be increased by a further 17.7 million for 20242 the deputy first Minister wrote in
A letter to council leaders in addition she also committed to pass on and full to local government the 45 million pound consequentials that are expected as a result of the UK government’s recent announcement on ring fenced adult social care funding in England this will be dependent on the funding being confirmed
As a net consequential through the UK government spring budget this funding will be provided alongside any consequentials that are received for increased teacher pension contributions taken together this represents an additional 62.7 million for for Scottish councils to use to best meet their local needs and priorities this will mean that the 147 million
Pounds in funding allocated for the council tax free will be wholly additional funding the letter reiterates that the funding is conditional upon local authorities agreeing to to to freeze council tax the letter also sets out that the islands cost of living fund will be increased by um the figures dropped off
There I’m I’m afraid um but so but it will be increased um despite the Scottish Government funding offer argil and VI Council in setting its budget today has voted to increase council tax by 10% councelor Gary mven policy lead for financial services on our gu and bu Council said the Scottish Government
Funding settlement available to the Council on the basis of a council tax freeze would have meant cuts to Services decisions made today keep Services going for our communities decisions made today keep investment going in our gu and but AR Guin but’s future forgive me um William I’m I’m kind of thinking if I
Was a council member and I I feel that I’ve got to increase my council tax then Along Comes this news from Sha Robinson which says there is money in the pipeline but it’s going to depend on consequentials coming from Jeremy Hunt’s spring budget but if you freeze council
Tax then that money will come to you and it won’t be you know you’ll get it in its entirety um what what do you think councils are going to be thinking up and down Scotland when with this recent news well this latest uh funding settlement from Scottish government has
Been after they’ve been speaking to KLA um who Who oversee all the local authorities uh about it and particularly the the 62.7 million pounds has been identified as the short fall that needed to be fixed and so um it it it appears that this has been done and it is um I
Think likely to be seen as a consequential I don’t see why it wouldn’t be but nevertheless there is still the ENT risk that it might not be seen as a consequential and therefore um that would be a problem so if I were a councelor I would think that things
Would be pretty tight but I would have thought that the statement that the council tax freeze was fully funded would be taken with more than a grain of salt after that because clearly efforts are being made to make sure that this happens needless to say if Scotland had
Full control over its finances we wouldn’t be having this discussion at all and that’s the true truly irritating thing not all counselors who are thinking about that will share that view of course but nevertheless it’s something that um if I happen to be a counselor I would be
Thinking thank you William and um The Voice mayor tells me that the missing figure that dropped off our autoq was so so the letter also sets out that the Island’s cost of living fund will be increased by £4 million um just a little bit more the um
The Scottish government in the past has been criticized for not passing on um um consequentials fully to I think was it to Farmers is that right um that was yeah very sort of nuance times when yes and in a sense they’re they’re leaving it to the councils to do something different with the
Consequential in this case because in England it’s ring fence in Scotland it won’t be it for the councils councils to do what they like so um that’s not quite the same thing as what you were asking about but every case is slightly different I reckon no that’s good I’m
Happy for people to answer a better question than the one that I can formulate so the next item is one of the most active and largest people smuggling gangs operating in Cali has been dismantled with 19 arrests by German French and Belgian police after a year-long investigation europol has
Announced operation task force wave involving 600 police arrested the leader of the Iraqi Kurdish gang and five of the main organizers in Germany where the people smuggling operation was orchestrated police said the swoop on numerous addresses comes less than 2 months after five people drowned in wimo
A resort close to Cali attempting to cross the channel during freezing temperatures in early January among the arrests were five high value targets of or people in controlling roles in the gang details of the investigation also lifted the lid on how people smuggling around Cali has been so successful with almost 30,000
Men women and children crossing the channel last year despite the risk of death cheap thingies were imported from China and trans and transported into Germany through a complex operation involving surveillance by the gangs and rest areas in Belgium where the Smugglers would wait with the boats until given the order to head to
Cali premises in 26 locations were raided in Germany with 24 boats 175 life fests and 81 flotation devices for children seized along with 13 outboard motors 14 engines and almost 60 electronic devices and a number of firearms the suspects were all based in Germany and are being detained under
Belgium and French judicial orders eural said the investigative activities initiated at the end of 2022 identified the structure and Modi operandi of this large criminal Network made up of Iraqi and Syrian Nationals of Kurdish or origin eural said that suspects had set up their own logistical infrastructure with specific branches in charge of
Organizing delivery of large amounts of nautical equipment from China and into the EU via turkey and on into France drivers typically transported eight boats at a time with a 4Runner car scouting the route through the Journey to avoid police detection the drivers were located in rest areas in Belgium
Before they drove to the the equipment to a spot at the time of the departure said europol in a detailed four-page statement europol said small boats struggling activities forgive me europol said small boat smuggling activities had increased on the English route since 2019 and are becoming increasingly violent while adapting activities and Crossing
Points William I’m I’m struck by when I read this item earlier on that uh there was no mention of post brexit UK in this eurol sting but um it does then also make me think um is the the Westminster conservative government correct when they say that it should be um countries
Like France and Germany that that stop the The Gangs rather than the UK have to deal with the people in the small boats well um the people smuggling criminal activity is going on in Europe and therefore it’s for for Europe to look after um I actually agree with you government
When when it says that the small boats need to be stopped I just disagree about um the underlying uh situation because I believe it should be stopped it should be rendered unnecessary um and and certainly not something that um Asylum Seekers would would want to contemplate because I
Would want there to be in collaboration with um a robust Asylum Seeker system where we can determine who comes to to the UK um possibly before they even have to cross the channel and and and have a way of the ones we don’t accept then maybe somebody else can accept it needs
To be a much more integrated overall system of Asylum seeking um in order to stop this sort of nonsense where people are risking their lives and where we are thinking in terms of sending them to Rwanda and ridiculous things like that our Asylum system needs a complete
Overhaul and it’s not just as we need to do it in collaboration with other countries um I’m quite glad to see what’s happened here because um I do think that um people smuggling is an operation that should be caued we just need to do something to make it
Unnecessary to really take it out the game I would say so just to clarify you’re suggesting that that these gangs which have just been busted is is another symptom of the UK’s lack of safe routs for Asylum Seekers and if we if the UK got government restored that then that would
Lessen the need for these gangs and for the Small Boat Crossings I would say so yes okay just just to make sure that I was actually following you there William thank you so the next item is a second Alabama IVF provider has announced that it will pause its invitro fertilization
Treatments today just days after the state Supreme Court ruled in a first ofit kind decision that embryos are extrauterine children they said we have made the impossible the impossibly difficult decision to hold new IVF treatments due to the legal risk to our clinic and our embryologists Alabama fertility said in
A post to its instagr Instagram account this they continued we are contacting patients that will be affected today to find solutions for them and we are working as hard as we can to alert our legislators as to the far-reaching negative impact of this ruling on the
Women of Alabama the clinic said it does not plan to close entirely and urged people to check back U for advocacy opportunities Alabama fertility is at least the second IVF provider to announce that it would suspend its IVF procedures after the University of Alabama at Birmingham Wednesday said it
Would pause treatments in the wake of the Court ruling a spokesperson for the university the largest healthc care provider in the state said the institution is saddened that this will impact our patients attempt to have a B through IVF but we must evaluate the potential that our patients and our physicians could be
Prosecuted criminally or face punitive damages for following the standards of care for IVF treatments the Alabama Supreme Court ruling stemmed from two wrongful death lawsuits brought against an IVF Clinic after several people’s Frozen embryos were accidentally destroyed the clinic pushed back against the lawsuits arguing that Alabama’s
Wrongful death of a minor act did not apply to Frozen embryos but the state Supreme Court ruled that the ACT does indeed apply the central question presented in these Consolidated appeals which involve the death of embryos kept in cryogenic Nursery is whether the ACT contains an Unwritten exception to the
The rule for extra uterine children that is unborn children who are located outside of a biological uterus at the time near are killed Alabama Supreme Court Justice J Mitchell wrote Under existing black letter law the answer to that question is no the wrongful death of a minor act applies to all unborn
Children regardless of their location IVF patients and Advocates have vigorously opposed the ruling which they say did not deal with the vast practical implications of Legally recognizing Frozen embryos as people doctors at Alabama fertility told the guardian earlier this week that the ruling threatened to upend several steps of the IVF process
William I don’t know if you maybe feel the same as me but I kind of felt like I was reading out a passage from some kind of dystopian sci-fi novel there when I was reading out that news item and yet at the end of the day what it’s going to
Mean is just um sadness for people who are struggling to um conceive a family have you been able to um keep up to date with this or or delve into this item I’ve had a look at it it is it is very sad and you use the phrase there black
Letter law I.E everything is in black and white but this these matters are are go beyond black and white that they’re all Newan and they all are complex and you know uh it’s it’s almost like using the law really to destroy people’s happiness which isn’t really what the
Law should be for um so I think this stems from the same line of thinking and a lot of it I I know some of the the sort of case studies around it have been based on sort of biblical principles um people who say an embryo is a person
Also tend to be on the antiabortion side of things the old sort of eyes for them if you like that um that that they’re driving the the the the anti-abortion laws in in various states in the US and this if you like could just be collateral damage uh but I don’t at the
At the moment um that seems to be the way it’s going increasingly in America and that is very sad and it is dystopian and uh who knows what the future holds and that’s really all I can say about it thank you William um a long lost manuscript of a
Classic Scottish novel has been acquired by the University of Strath cl’s archives after it was donated by the author’s family the dear green place by Archie hind was published in 1966 and is W widely regarded as a masterpiece of Scottish literature hind also published numerous plays and short stories as well
As many reviews and articles but had no other novels published in his lifetime a second novel for sedi remained unfinished at the time of his death in 2008 although it was published posthumously in complete form however the dear green play secured his reputation as a writer and won hind
Several Awards including the guardian fiction prize and the Scottish pen federick Frederick Nan award the type written annotated manuscript runs to more than 200 pages and was donated to Strath cly’s archives by hein’s family after one family member was clearing out while preparing to move abroad correspondence with family friends colleagues and Publishers
Photographs and scrapbooks have also been donated they include letters between Hind and the late writer and artist Alistar gray a close friend of his the manuscript and other material will inform a planned series of events and Publications leading up to hind centinary in 2028 the papers will require to be
Processed cataloged and digitized before they are made available to researchers the donation will ensure that the collection is preserved for future research Dr elanar Bell senior lecturer in English in Strath C’s Department of humanities is leading the project she said while the dear green place is widely regarded as one of the most
Important Scottish novels of the 20th century few resources exist on hein’s work the manuscript of his famous novel has often assumed to be lost or perhaps burned so imagine our excitement when we discovered that Not only was the manuscript still in existence but also many other significant papers relating
To his life and work she went on to say as implied by its title the dear green Place demonstrates a deep connection with as well as a deep love for the city of Glasgow however its vision is far from romantic I have been teaching teaching the dear green plays for many
Years as part of my undergraduate module on the Glasgow novel one of the most compelling aspects of the texts for students is that it tells a story excuse me of a writer struggling to write his own Glasgow novel up until now I’ve never been able to tell the students
Very much about hind it has therefore been a real privilege to spend time with Archie’s family over the past year and to find out more about the context of his life and work um so um William this Landmark 20th century novel which was only um the only novel that was published in hein’s
Lifetime um have have you read it by any chance the dear green place I haven’t I should shouldn’t I um because for for an aspiring writer an autobiographic or semi-autobiographical novel about a novelist um struggling to complete his own novel um would really fit the bill um but it’s great to have a
Good news story to to see it found and uh you know archive given to the archive of the University by by the family and it looks from the story as if it were almost just pure chance that they happen to make the connection that they did
With Dr Bell uh and and and make this happen um otherwise probably the papers would have been transferred to another box in another house or indeed as as they thought burned uh and uh you know it it it seems to have influenced quite a few people not just um Archie hein’s
Close friend Alistair gray but also James kelman and William melani and no doubt many others um and so it’s it is indeed a landmark novel and it’s great to see it where it should be and available along with the surrounding correspondence for study and just as you
Say it’s good to see it where it should be because um I was quite pleased to hear that it didn’t go to the National libraries of Scotland and Edinburgh because no no harm to them but it’s about Glasgow but even then I thought if it was going to stay in Glasgow then it
Would have probably been more likely to go to Glasgow University so this this how we heads up as just how well known stat Clyde University is for Scottish literature yeah well you different universities have their strengths and I I believe Scottish literature is one of Strath Clyde University’s strengths and
Uh Dr was already um teaching the the novel as as part of her course so um she is the expert in Archie Hind and it’s in the right place in that sense as well sometimes it’s down to who your academics are as much as what your your
Um departments do I guess yes and and just I should maybe say just for the record that I haven’t read anything by um Mr hind I didn’t know really very anything about him at all either so hopefully this means he going to get the recognition he deserves and becomes um
Better known to aoer readership um but um that’s about all we have time for tonight William thank you did I get your name right all the way through this time you’ve got my name right consistently and I’m sorry for any garbled answers I gave no no no your answers were great so
Um so that’s that’s got to be our first anyway thank you once again um I’ll let you go and um for the rest of the evening so but before I do go I just want to remind you here at broadcasting Scotland we depend on the generosity of
Our support ERS so to everyone who has donated and to everyone who has signed up to make a regular monthly payment we thank you very much our programs will always be free to view however if you could afford at least 5 a month or anything at all please do consider
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Growing our subscriber base and regular funding but once again thank you to William do good um for joining us again and thank you for watching us and we’ll see you on Sunday with the full Scottish Goodbye I