AT least 28,000 new apprentices will be trained next year, with increased support for rural areas. The target for 2018/19 was announced by Jamie Hepburn, minister for employability and training yesterday in a Holyrood debate on the Scottish Government
THERE is massive pressure on the NHS at the moment, exacerbated by the winter flu, particularly obvious for A&E departments. It is damaging morale among staff, and very misleading for the public, that the BBC and newspapers are reporting repeatedly
AS a chartered quantity surveyor, albeit long since retired, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Martin Hannan’s uplifting and very positive report (Trump can learn from Queensferry Crossing, The National, January 11). Hannan highlights the fact that
THE number of people missing since mudslides engulfed a Californian town surged to 48 today as hundreds of rescue workers slogged through knee-deep ooze and used long poles to probe for bodies. The number of confirmed dead in Montecito stood at
AGRICULTURE in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland faces an uncertain future after Brexit, according to a study. The research, from the Centre on Constitutional Change, investigated the challenges presented by UK policymaking being heavily influenced
MARKS and Spencer sales fell over the festive period, while Tesco reported record trade.M&S said like-for-like revenues fell 1.4 per cent in the 13 weeks to December 30 while Tesco’s UK sales rose 2.3 per cent in the 19 weeks to January 6.Though Tesco
SCOTLAND’s two biggest airports have recorded their busiest year, with the latest passenger figures showing that more than 13 million travellers passed through Edinburgh Airport in 2017, while around 9.9 million passengers used Glasgow. Aberdeen
TECH giant Huawei has won a patent infringement lawsuit against South Korea smartphone rival Samsung, according to information released by a Chinese court. The court ruled in the Chinese company’s favour over two patents involving fourth-generation
POLICE in Thailand have arrested a 74-year-old fugitive Japanese gang member who was recognised when photos of his full-body tattoos were circulated online.A police statement said Shigeharu Shirai was arrested yesterday in a province north of Bangkok
PARIS police have recovered some jewels stolen from the Ritz Hotel in a multimillion-euro robbery but are still searching for two thieves and the rest of the missing jewels.The dramatic heist on Wednesday evening raised questions about security in one
CHANCELLOR Angela Merkel has expressed confidence her conservative Union bloc would be able to find enough common ground with the centre-left Social Democrats to move toward formal coalition talks.Heading in to final-day negotiations, Merkel told reporters
SATURDAY JANUARY 20 SNP Kinross-shire is having a Burns Supper with live music and entertainment at Milnathort Town Hall, Kinross. Tickets priced £25 can be reserved via Eventbrite. THURSDAY JANUARY 25 SNP Arbroath is having a Burns Supper
Big Cats, BBC 1, 8pm OF all the rare and fascinating creatures that have been caught on camera of late, there is still one group of animals that enthral us more than any other – the big cats. They are the planet’s top predators, yet even in this
I’M absolutely sick of all the negative press on our NHS recently, and the attempt to portray the Scottish Government as been wholly culpable for pushing this vital service into a state of crisis. Anyone paying any attention at all would see that in
DOWNING coffee and making endless to-do lists getting you nowhere? Admit it, being around the most productive person you know can be pretty exhausting... Watching them scroll through an inbox of categorised mail, show off a new skill they've mastered
SCOTLAND is set to be the first part of the UK to ban the sale and manufacture of cotton buds as part of moves to tackle marine litter. Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham announced plans to bring in legislation to outlaw the items which
NICOLA Sturgeon has criticised the UK Government for a lack of urgency on tackling the scourge of plastic pollution. The First Minister hit out at the 2042 deadline set by Prime Minister Theresa May for the eradication of all avoidable plastic
LAST year wis a turbulant year in the North-East. The general election saa Eilidh Whiteford an Alex Salmond loss their seats in Banff an Buchan, an Gordon, tae the Tories. This has gien the rest o Scotland the impression that aa owre the North-East the
IT has already been a busy time back in Brussels but I was able to read Tuesday’s National column by the excellent Dr Kirsty Hughes, director of the much-needed Scottish Centre on European Relations (SCER), our newest independent think tank. Her piece
KEVIN McKenna’s recent column about BBC Academy’s Expert Women Scotland media familiarisation day application process at least recognised that BBC Scotland is seeking “smart and articulate women from all backgrounds to contribute to their multifarious
A NO-DEAL hard Brexit could cost the UK half a million jobs and £50 billion less investment, according to a study. Research for the mayor of London Sadiq Khan warned of a "lost decade" of significantly lower growth. The country could have 500,000
SCOTTISH brand Appin & Third aspires to be the go-to jeweller for those with a passion for great design. The brand was founded in 2017 by Rae Brown, a graduate in silversmithing and jewellery from Glasgow School of Art. After her degree
AN incredible video of a full circle rainbow on the Queensferry Crossing, outside of Edinburgh, has ben shared online. Reddit user 'interestingasfuck' posted the video of the rare weather phenomenon which quickly caught the internet's attention
NIGEL Farage has suggested that a second EU referendum should be held after all - to silence "moaning" Remainers. Speaking on the Wright Stuff, he said that "Maybe, just maybe, I'm reaching the point of thinking that we should have a second referendum
SNP MP Pete Wishart earned a rebuke from the Speaker of the House of Commons yesterday after he heckled Theresa May with a piece of paper. The Perthshire politician asked May during Prime Minister's Questions to rate “on a scale between one and
WHEN US President Donald Trump attends the 48th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this month, he will be looking for answers to the problems he faces with his oft-repeated pledge to rebuild the infrastructure of the
SCOTLAND’S new Tory MPs have now experienced the broken promises of Theresa May’s Government first hand, as the Prime Minister attempted to defend her failure to amend the Brexit repeal bill’s “power grab” clause. Ministers were due to publish
DENYING that “orchestrated” abuse took place in child care homes across Scotland should be a crime in the same way Holocaust denial is a crime in Germany, an inquiry has been told.A former resident of Smyllum Park orphanage in Lanark, who lived in the
JUSTICE Secretary Michael Matheson has said he could not back the return to duty of Police Scotland Chief Constable Phil Gormley because there were “clear deficiencies” in the process followed by the Scottish Police Authority when it gave the go-ahead
WHAT’S THE STORY?A CYCLONE has struck the island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean off the south-east coast of Africa.The death toll had reached 33 at the time The National went to press and, with 22 people officially classed as missing, that number is
THE UK has not “betrayed” the Iraqi Kurds over its opposition to last year’s independence referendum, a Foreign Office minister told MPs. In December a senior diplomat from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq claimed his people had
A COUNCILLOR has urged two sides of a family embroiled in a demolition row to find “common ground”.Yesterday The National revealed how Nick Charlton and Claire de Mortimer, left, have launched a campaign to save their home in Argyll and Bute.The Josephine
FORMER Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has said he regrets saying that gay sex is not a sin. The committed Christian made the statement during the General Election campaign last year. He came under extreme pressure to clarify his position on
A LEADING industry figure has branded as “ludicrous” an academic’s suggestion that oil platforms should be left in the North Sea when they reach the end of their working life. Tom Baxter, a senior lecturer in chemical engineering at Aberdeen University
GOVERNMENT workers told a Paisley woman to give her address and bank details to the abusive partner she was trying to flee, MPs heard yesterday. The case of the woman, who has not been named, was raised at Prime Minister’s Questions by the SNP’
SCOTLAND’ S leading lawyers are on collision course with the Scottish Government after the Faculty of Advocates yesterday claimed that the country’s civil courts system could be operating illegally.In an extraordinary development, the faculty stated that
NEW Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey has been urged to make the reversal of the UK Government’s two-child policy and rape clause a priority.Glasgow SNP MP Alison Thewliss has written to McVey and Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley about
DEPOSED Catalan president Carles Puigdemont is set to be nominated for the position again next week after Catalonia’s main independence-supporting parties yesterday reached agreement.Only one thing could stand in their way – how to make the appointment
A REPRESENTATIVE from one of the Big Six energy providers will meet MSP Christina McKelvie next week following her call for the country’s biggest power companies to help tackle fuel poverty.She wrote to the companies following the success of a pilot in
TWO of Scotland’s most senior female politicians have expressed opposition to the appointment of Kezia Dugdale to a plum Holyrood role – just weeks after she was accused of abandoning her parliamentary duties by appearing on a reality TV show.
FAMILIES of a man who died in police custody and a couple who died after a crash on the M9 are still waiting for dates to be set for fatal accident inquiries because a decision has yet to be taken on whether there will be criminal proceedings.Sheku Bayoh
WHISPER it. Scotland’s political parties actually agree that Westminster’s power grab over farming and fishing is not on. Yip – even the Scottish Tories believe that bringing powers back to Westminster for a wee touch of standardisation before sending
IN my last few columns I have been making the case for a new pluralistic approach to economics and politics, and suggested a Government of National Unity following independence. This, I hope, would unite the nation in the creation of a positive vision
MORE than 700 refugees and asylum seekers have helped to create Scotland’s new support strategy. Wearing a t-shirt in support of the Refuweegee charity, which helps new arrivals integrate in Glasgow, Communities Secretary Angela Constance launched
A £1.6 million campaign aimed at boosting the number of armed forces personnel will not solve the “recruiting crisis”, it is claimed.Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said the new ad drive is the result of “political
