Blethering Skite

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More than £1bn issued since launch of Scottish Child Payment | The National

THE Scottish Government’s flagship family benefit has issued payments worth more than £1 billion since it launched in February 2021.

Figures for the Scottish child payment show £344.7 million was paid out between April and the end of 2024.

Qualifying families in Scotland receive the weekly payment of £26.70 per child.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24962051.1bn-issued-since-launch-scottish-child-payment/

Labour held its Scottish conference in Glasgow over the weekend. Naturally, it featured U-turn Sarwar and the pantomime Dame misrepresenting NHS Scotland, never mind that Labour is making a far worse job of running the NHS in Wales. Anas Sarwar is his own man, he makes his own decisions, and it’s entirely coincidental that he freely and completely of his own accord comes to the exact same decisions as his bosses in London. That’s why he’s decided all by himself that Scotland needs more nuclear energy to match the new nuclear energy plants that Labour is planning for England. It’s also why he decided entirely independently that NHS Scotland needs more private sector involvement just like Wes Streeting is planning for the NHS in England.

Sarwar has also ruled out another independence referendum even if the pro-independence parties win the next Holyrood elections, telling the BBC’s Sunday Show there would be “no independence referendum in the term of the next parliament” and that other issues should take priority

Earl of Moray #OnThisDay

On 23 January 1570, James Stewart, Earl of Moray, became the first head of government to be assassinated by a firearm. James Stewart was the illegitimate son of King of Scots, James V. The half brother of Mary Queen of Scots, and the regent to the child, James VI and eventually the first of England…

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SCOTTISH Labour have been criticised after U-turning on their opposition to post-Brexit laws which have been branded an “unwarranted attack on devolution” by their own colleagues.

Not one MSP from Anas Sarwar’s Scottish Labour group supported calls for the Internal Market Act to be repealed after a debate in Holyrood on Wednesday – despite Sarwar himself having opposed the legislation less than 18 months ago.

The SNP said it showed Labour MSPs had allowed “their principles to be trampled on by their Westminster bosses yet again”.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24949324.scottish-labour-u-turn-opposition-anti-devolution-uk-laws/

A Scottish archaeologist has found the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh in the first discovery since that of Tutankhamun more than a century ago.

The tomb of Thutmose II, the last king’s tomb to be found from the 18th dynasty, has been located in the Western Valleys of the Theban Necropolis in Egypt.

An ancestor of Tutankhamun, whose tomb was found in 1922, Thutmose II died 3,500 years ago and was thought to be buried at the other end of the mountain near the Valley of the Kings.

Reintroducing wolves to the Scottish Highlands could lead to an expansion of native woodland which could take in and store one million metric tons of CO2 annually, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Leeds.

The team modeled the potential impact that wolves could have in four areas classified as Scottish Wild Land, where the eating of tree saplings by growing red deer populations is suppressing natural regeneration of trees and woodland.

They used a predator–prey model to estimate that a reintroduction of wolves to areas in the Cairngorms, South-west Highlands, Central Highlands and North-west Highlands would lead to a total population of around 167 wolves—enough to reduce red deer populations to a level that would allow trees to regenerate naturally.

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Three million records spanning 5,000 years of Scottish history have been made available online in a new national records, collections and archives platform.

The ‘Trove.scot’ platform allows people to search among archives, culturally significant objects and information relating to historic and archaeological sites across Scotland – all in one place.

From standing stones to skate parks, the portal will make the information more accessible than ever before, providing an exciting new resource for hobbyists, educators, historians and heritage professionals alike.

Dun Troddan Broch, one of two unusually well-preserved Iron Age brochs that stand south-east of Glenelg in Lochaber. Like the other 500 or so brochs found mainly in the north and west of Scotland, it was built some 2,000 years ago.

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Scotland's RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) vaccination programme has resulted in a 62% reduction in related hospitalisations among the eligible age group. The findings were published in the Lancet in a Study by Public Health Scotland (PHS), in collaboration with the University of Strathclyde. RSV is a common and highly infectious respiratory virus that affects the breathing system and can be very serious for those who are at the highest risk of serious illness from the infection, including older adults.

Each of the Scottish colourists returned to Scotland bringing new approaches to art with them. Peploe experimented with Cezanne-like geometric forms, whereas Fergusson’s practice was heavily influenced by the fauves. Hunter experimented with simplified post-impressionist blocks of colour to create dynamic shapes, while Cadell often focused on bold shapes and stylish impressionistic compositions.

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The Abbey Church in Dunfermline attracts more than 40,000 visitors a year, according the the Church of Scotland, and has attracted kings, queens and pilgrims from all over the world.

However the kirk, which is more than 950 years old, is facing a repair bill of £4m over the next three to five years in order to ensure it stays wind and watertight.

Link:

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24928227.historic-church-facing-eye-watering-upgrade-bills-kirk-says/

In response to President Donald Trump’s continued musing about the U.S. acquiring Greenland from Denmark, Danish citizens have launched their own effort to purchase America’s most economically prosperous state.

An online petition seeking the “Denmarkification” of California has seemingly garnered nearly 200,000 signatures, with a pitch to Danish citizens that purchasing the Golden State would provide them with more sunshine, dominance in the tech industry, limitless avocado toast and easy access to Disneyland — which organizers say would be renamed to honor fairytale author and poet Hans Christian Andersen.

“Have you ever looked at a map and thought, ‘You know what Denmark needs? More sunshine, palm trees, and roller skates.’ Well, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make that dream a reality,” petition organizers write on the online page.

Danes who sign the petition are encouraged to chip in for the fundraising goal of $1 trillion (give or take), which organizers say would cost every citizen of the Scandinavian nation approximately 200,000 DKK — or roughly $28,000.

Executives from LEGO and the cast of Danish political drama “Borgen” would negotiate the deal on behalf of the Scandinavian nation, and organizers said they would throw in a lifetime supply of Danish pastries to sweeten the deal.

Link:

https://ktla.com/news/california/thousands-of-danes-sign-petition-to-buy-california-from-u-s/

Conclusion

The UK government has been repeatedly warned that the price of maintaining the Union with Scotland is meaningful reform of the House of Lords.

But they can’t do that because the UK’s elected representatives don’t care enough about maintaining the Union with Scotland. They would rather retain the House of Lords. Scotland and Westminster should go their separate ways and develop democratic institutions that reflect the wishes of the people.

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The First Minister said: "Anas Sarwar spent last week pretending that he was an ally of Nigel Farage, this week he is trying to pretend to be the SNP by adopting lots of SNP policies.

"What that demonstrates is that Anas Sarwar is ashamed of being a representative of the Labour Party, and no wonder because they have been a disaster in government."

SNP MSP James Dornan added: “Of course there is another, more sensible, way to keep SNP benefits rather than trusting the word of the guy who said he would save Grangemouth, keep the Winter Fuel Payment, abolish the two child cap, and stand up to [Keir] Starmer.”

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24925778.anas-sarwar-pretending-snp-john-swinney-says/

Scientists in Scotland have developed a new method to understand the heat and intensity of fires that burned out millions of years ago, which could unlock our understanding of wildfires during past and present periods of climate change.

"As charcoal can persist within rocks for hundreds of millions of years, this method can be applied to understand the behavior of any wildfire, from the present day all the way back to the first evidence of wildfire 420 million years ago."

It’s instructive to hear from The National that Farage will front the party’s election campaign in 2026. Of course he will.

This tells us two things: the first is one we knew already, that at the heart of the far-right populists is enormous ego; the second is that the idea that Reform UK might have a Scottish dimension or autonomy is ridiculous. Reform is Farage’s personal plaything, which he owns and controls wholly. It’s not even a political party in any real sense. But we knew that. The announcement is bound to be considered a political gift for the forces for independence, and a dark harbinger for the Scottish Conservatives, who are already seeing their vote being hacked into by Reform.

Elizabeth I ordered the beheading of Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic claimant to the English throne, on this day in 1587

On February 8, 1587, the executioner’s ax struck three times, beheading Mary, Queen of Scots. The monarch’s demise has captivated scholars for more than 400 years—and its cause has made Mary’s story even more compelling to historians and Hollywood filmmakers alike.

Mary ascended to Scotland’s throne when she was just 6 days old. Her father, James V, who likely died of cholera or dysentery after suffering a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss in November 1542, left behind his newborn daughter as his only legitimate heir.

The child queen spent her early years in France, where she eventually married the heir to the throne, the future Francis II. During Francis’ brief reign, which spanned July 1559 to December 1560, Mary also served as queen consort of France.

Across the pond, Mary’s cousin Elizabeth I, who’d ascended to the English throne in November 1558, was watching her closely. The daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, the new English queen had a tenuous claim to the crown. Her mother’s fall from favor and subsequent execution in 1536 caused the public to question Elizabeth’s legitimacy as queen. Her Protestant faith also put her at odds with a large swath of the population.

One of the world's smallest functioning lighthouse boasts an unexpected connection.

Including its islands, the country of Scotland has close to 12,000 miles of seashore, with 200 hundred lighthouses that act as beacons for all types of seafaring watercraft. These pharos come in an assortment of designs, as well as shapes and sizes. The North Queensferry Harbour Light Tower, situated below the northern expanse of the Forth Railway Bridge, measures just 23 feet in height, giving it the distinct honor of being the smallest lighthouse in the world.

It was designed in the early part of the 19th century by Robert Stevenson. Mr. Stevenson came from a long line of lighthouse architects, five generations to be exact. He also happened to be the grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson, author of such nautical adventures as Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves produced a “growth” plan last week which was disappointing to say the least for Scottish business.

There was nothing in it to address the major challenges the UK has laid on Scottish businesses such as the rise in National Insurance contributions she introduced, or the heavy weight of paperwork that has been loaded onto Scottish businesses by a Brexit that Scotland never voted for.

The plan focused on infrastructure spend in the south of England with barely a thought for Scotland.

The Westminster government is selling Scotland short. Here are five ways in which Reeves’ growth plan underlines the fact that Scotland would be better off independent.

Child poverty is on course to increase in the UK by the end of this parliament, with only Scotland bucking the trend, according to analysis by a respected poverty charity.

This is essentially because the Westminster government continues to discriminate against children born into larger families.

The two-child cap means that only the oldest two siblings get help if their parents fall into poverty - that is pushing many families into misery. In contrast, the Scottish government pays the Scottish Child Payment to every child in the family.

St Andrews Castle in St Andrews, Fife, which stands on a site fortified since the 1100s. From around 1200 it was the main residence of the bishops and archbishops of St Andrews and it witnessed many grim events over the centuries.

The researchers compared vitamin D levels in the hair of volunteers who have been living in the Aberdeen area for at least two and a half years to those analyzed in a rare specimen of preserved hair from a burial previously excavated from St Nicholas Kirk, estimated to have lived in the city in the 16th or 17th century.

Vitamin D is essential for healthy skeletal growth and is increasingly recognized for its role in chronic disease development, inflammation and immunity. But in Scotland the sunshine is only strong enough to allow our bodies to produce our own vitamin D between April and September......

"In recent years there have been wide-spread health promotions around the benefits of supplementing with vitamin D during winter.

"Similarly, we could reasonably expect that a medieval population is likely to have spent a greater proportion outside and that those living in coastal areas like Aberdeen in the past may have consumed a greater proportion of their diet from local sources such as fish.

"But what this unique study has shown is that levels in many of our modern participants were similar to those of our archaeological sample, and that levels were consistently higher in summer and lower in winter in people who lived in the same city 400 years apart."

CLAIM:

The SNP are “to consider banning cats”. The Telegraph. Picked up by other media outlets, including the Daily Record which reported: "Cats could be banned in Scotland as SNP ministers set to review new report."

DOORSTEP ANSWER:

No, they’re not. In fact, the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission report which the newspaper article was based on does not even contain the word “ban”.

A ban on owning cats is not proposed in the recommendations from the report, which instead calls for Scottish Ministers to “introduce a coordinated campaign for responsible cat ownership and care”.

WHY THE HYSTERIA?

The claims that the SNP are set to consider banning cats first appeared in a Daily Mail article on Saturday. It was more widely picked up, with The Telegraph reporting: “SNP to consider banning cats.”

Most people, it would seem, did not read beyond the misleading headline.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24905239.snp-really-considering-banning-cats-scotland/

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ANAS Sarwar has ruled out working with Reform UK in the next Scottish parliament – but did not rule out accepting their votes in order to become first minister.

The Scottish Labour leader did however say that he would support any “good ideas” which came forward from Nigel Farage’s party – including joking that one such good idea would be to give him the top role.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24908889.anas-sarwar-not-rule-taking-reform-votes-first-minister/

This cannonball embedded in the side of an Edinburgh house once served a surprisingly pedestrian purpose.

There is an axiom that goes something like this: "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." This could be applied to a circular metal orb embedded into the wall of a restaurant next to Edinburgh Castle Esplanade. Many tour guides will point out the cannonball to visiting tourists, and inform them that it was fired from the fortress during one of its many sieges.

Because of the aforementioned battles, Edinburgh, like many other medieval townships, erected a series of stone barricades that served as defensive impediments. Though these walls provided protection, they prevented access to an open source of potable water. City engineers had to figure out a way to allow this vital resource to continue to flow, even during times of enemy engagement.

It was decided that a reservoir was needed and that water could be pumped in using a series of pipes. The chosen location of this water supply is currently occupied by the business of the Edinburgh Woolen Mill. The "cannonball" served as a marker for the gravitational height of Comiston Hill, much like a ballcock or float valve does in a toilet. When the water went below the "cannonball," it was a sign that more water was needed to replenish the supply.