Michael Blackley
@Mike_Blackley
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Political Editor, Scottish Daily Mail
Joined March 2012
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Notable that, since Thursday, the SNP Government seems to have rejected all media requests for ministers/officials to discuss the NHS and ambulance crisis.
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Kirsty Blackman goes completely unchallenged on the BBC when she asserts that Scotland has had a 19 per cent rate of income tax for some time.
It does, but only on earnings between £12,571 and £14,732.
The rest of the UK will get a basic rate of 19 per cent up to £50,270.
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Will never apologise for asking questions that a lot of business owners are asking. It's up to the First Minister to assess whether the way she responded is what they want to hear.
I see Nicola Sturgeon has gone back to her old routine of using TV briefings to attack the Press. The way she responded to a polite question from
@Mike_Blackley
there was disgraceful. I realise this will bring her fans to my door but I don't care.
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The Foreign Secretary has launched a new crackdown on the SNP promoting independence abroad.
James Cleverly has ordered the UK’s Ambassadors to tell foreign governments to go through them to arrange SNP meetings, to feed back to ministers on proposals, and to sit in on talks.
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Nicola Sturgeon seemed to try to rewrite history on the Salmond inquiry during her appearance on Loose Women today. She said that 'the independent inquiry found that I didn't mislead parliament' and had it decided that she had then she would have offered her resignation.
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Humza Yousaf in hypocrisy storm as the minister who took same-sex marriage bill through parliament claims he asked for an excuse to skip vote on it because he was “under so much pressure from the mosque”.
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Penny Mordaunt has become the fourth Tory leadership candidate to rule out an independence referendum. She pledged she would not let the SNP ‘distract and divide us all over again’.
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The SNP Government delegation ran up a £14,000 hotel bill during its doomed Supreme Court independence referendum case.
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The most extraordinary point about Leslie Evans’ refusal to appear before finance committee is the explanation: she is on 3 months leave until she retires at the end of this month. Nice work if you can get it.
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Humza Yousaf announces an "additional" £3m for tackling Long Covid.
Jackie Baillie says is this "additional" money actually part of the £10m announced in 2021.
Humza Yousaf: "Yes it is part of that fund".
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BBC Scotland embroiled in new SNP bias row as presenter of flagship radio news bulletin refers to Nicola Sturgeon as ‘our leader’ during interview with Rishi Sunak.
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Seems to be a real tidal wave of opposition to Nicola Sturgeon’s rhetoric following the Supreme Court case and her “de facto referendum” plan from pro-independence voices in recent days.
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A complaint has been lodged with police by a former SNP deputy leader about missing documents relating to the ferries fiasco.
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A series of prominent Scottish businessmen are planning to launch legal action if the SNP Government presses ahead with an independence referendum without UK Government consent.
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A legal challenge is to be launched to stop SNP ministers using taxpayers’ money and civil servants’ time on independence.
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As Nicola Sturgeon delivered her big pre-Cop26 speech this morning, at the Scottish Affairs Committee the leader of Glasgow City Council was trying to downplay bins staff being taken to hospital because of contact with rats.
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After Humza Yousaf’s humiliating courtroom defeat, Alister Jack plans to pursue the Scottish Government for the UK Government’s legal costs.
via
@mailplus
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Exclusive: Lisa Cameron has quit the SNP and joined the Tories because of 'toxic and bullying' treatment from colleagues.
via
@MailOnline
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Ian Blackford has earned more than £270,000 in outside earnings since becoming an MP.
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Scottish Government appears to be backtracking on its plans to chop the bottom off classroom doors. It now says this will apply to "non-fire doors".
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Sir Iain Duncan Smith says Liz Truss will ‘take apart’ the SNP on its record and ‘let the world know just why Scotland is suffering so much under this incompetent regime’.
+ Former Scottish Secretary David Mundell reveals he is backing Liz Truss.
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Support for an independence referendum next year has slumped since Nicola Sturgeon stepped up her push for it, a new poll has revealed.
Just 29 per cent of Scots now want another vote next autumn.
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Humza Yousaf has confirmed that he arranged a meeting in the Scottish Parliament with a former Hamas commander.
He says he didn’t know about Mohammad Sawalha’s Hamas links and claims he is only being asked about the issue because he is a Muslim.
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Nicola Sturgeon, Keith Brown and Derek Mackay all face being dragged in front of a Holyrood committee which is set to launch a new probe into the ferries fiasco.
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Former bosses at Ferguson shipyard were prevented from contributing to Audit Scotland’s investigation because the Scottish Government refused to release them from ‘gagging orders’.
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I would have liked to have asked Nicola Sturgeon about some of these comments by her candidates at the SNP’s local election campaign launch yesterday but the press weren’t invited.
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The Scottish Conservatives have announced a manifesto commitment that its councils will provide single-sex toilets and changing rooms in swimming pools, schools and other public services following landmark EHRC guidance.
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When Humza Yousaf asked if I would ask anyone of any other faith whether they had meetings with Hamas, I said yes and pointed out that Jeremy Corbyn faced similar questions.
He then walked off and said: “I have made my position clear on these allegations.”
Humza Yousaf has confirmed that he arranged a meeting in the Scottish Parliament with a former Hamas commander.
He says he didn’t know about Mohammad Sawalha’s Hamas links and claims he is only being asked about the issue because he is a Muslim.
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Pretty atrocious that Scottish Parliament officials assisted with helping Derek Mackay avoid scrutiny for claiming 15 months of salary and two resettlement grants but not setting foot in parliament once after resigning as Finance Secretary in shame.
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Andy Burnham pretty furious with Nicola Sturgeon over her Manchester/Salford travel ban. Accuses her of treating the north of England ‘with contempt’ and demands compensation for families who can’t go on booked holidays to Scotland.
#marr
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The SNP Government has been accused of a cover up after it refused to release a report by a global shipping consultancy into the management of its Ferguson shipyard.
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New Scottish Government adviser to receive ‘eye-watering’ £192,000 a year for working eight days a month.
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A blistering attack on the SNP/Green coalition by Fergus Ewing:
‘Fringe extremists that want to dismantle our economy, put hundreds of thousand on the dole and basically close down rural Scotland’
‘wine bar pseudo intellectuals whose finger nails have never encountered dirt’
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As Ian Blackford calls for an inquiry into Tory sleaze, opponents and SNP staff members call for him to ‘clean up his own house’ by tackling problems in his own party.
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Bosses at the Ferguson shipyard admitted that a report which is being hidden from the public provides ‘a very negative assessment’ of performance.
Jim McColl claims it is being ‘suppressed’ as it would prove the yard was mismanaged when the Scottish Government took control.
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Scottish Chambers of Commerce first out the blocks to condemn decision to keep face masks in Scotland for longer. Warns it will put Scotland's economic recovery into reverse gear again.
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As businesses battle staffing shortages, official figures show that 150,000 people over the age of 16 in Scotland have never done a day’s work in their lives.
(The figures exclude those aged 16-24 in full time education)
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The cost of ‘foreign junkets’ by SNP ministers and SG overseas offices is set to soar to £35 million next year.
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Anger as BBC gives Nicola Sturgeon prime-time TV slot but refuses to allow opposition parties the same platform.
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The team of civil servants tasked with writing the SNP’s new prospectus for independence has swelled to 22 - and it is costing well over £1 million a year.
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Nicola Sturgeon must be ‘held to account’ for spending on foreign aid and overseas embassies, the UK Development Minister has said.
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More than 27,000 companies in Scotland stopped fully trading after Nicola Sturgeon introduced ‘knee-jerk’ coronavirus curbs in the run-up to Christmas.
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I’m her first interview since quitting the SNP for the Tories, Lisa Cameron says the SNP is run like a cult, doesn’t have the competence to lead an independent Scotland, and is in denial about its toxic and bullying culture.
via
@MailOnline
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Scotland has become ‘the most restrictive country in Europe’ because of the SNP Government’s decision to diverge from the rest of the UK on travel testing, says Edinburgh Airport.
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A key point from the HMRC research on income tax rates, which has been completely ignored by the Scottish Government, is that the introduction of a 5-band system led to a net loss of 1,030 higher or top rate taxpayers from Scotland and £60.6 million of lost tax revenue.
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Nicola Sturgeon admits her gender reforms may be abused by predatory men looking to attack women.
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The SNP is “rotten to the core” and an independent probe is needed to address serious failings, according to a member of its national executive committee.
Says no financial info has been shared with the NEC for two years and members only found out auditors had quit on TV news
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The backlash against the SNP’s Covid power grab has grown, with legal groups, teachers and a former SNP minister among those raising concerns about the threat to personal liberty.
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Boris Johnson caught taking a long theatrical look at his watch 17 minutes into Ian Blackford’s
#Budget2021
response.
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The final bill for Scotland’s Census is set to be £140 million, following decision by SNP ministers to go it alone at different time to the rest of the UK.
Costs are 120% higher than the last census in 2011.
via
@mailplus
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Scotrail's reduced timetable for next week is astonishing. Last Edinburgh-Fife/Dundee train is 8pm. Last Edinburgh-Glasgow 10.15pm.
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Boris Johnson’s former top adviser on the Union says Westminster legislation should be introduced stating referendum reruns cannot happen until at least 20 years have passed.
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Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of stoking division on the Ukraine crisis and threatening western security by Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Westminster foreign affairs select committee.
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Calum Steele of the Scottish Police Federation accuses SNP of breaking manifesto pledge to protect police resource budget:
“We are used to people being economic with the truth with us, we just don’t expect it from our government.”
#bbcgms
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The British Soft Drinks Association, which represents firms including Coca-Cola, Red Bull, Britvic and AG Barr, is to demand compensation from the Scottish Government for the deposit return scheme delay.
via
@mailplus
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Scotland is now the UK's Covid hotspot and the proportion of the population with the virus is double the rate in England and four times higher than Wales.
Yet Scotland is the only part of the UK to currently have travel restrictions on another part.
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The SNP councillor who has failed to pay her council tax bill previously lectured people about paying more tax.
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Pretty astonishing exchanges here:
Joanna Cherry claims those on the SNP NEC raising concerns about finances were ‘shouted down and hounded out of office’
SNP insider responds by claiming she bullied NEC members
Ms Cherry condemns “petty smears and nonsensical accusations”
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Fergus Ewing is demanding a new ballot of SNP members on the coalition with the Greens, and says Robin Harper’s resignation should send a message to Humza Yousaf.
via
@mailplus
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Jenny Gilruth accused of breaking the ministerial code after intervening to delay rail work impacting on her own constituents at a cost of £1 million to taxpayers
(By
@TomEden11
and
@conradlandin
)
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Stephen Flynn reveals he was not told about auditors quitting until Feb 10, despite Ian Blackford finding out late last year and insisting he gave a full briefing on finances to Flynn when he took over.
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I’ve rarely seen a Scottish Government consultation with quite as much opposition as the plan to permanently hand ministers lockdown and school closure powers.
85% opposed to school closure powers, 86% opposed to wider lockdown powers.
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Businesses are having second thoughts about investing in Scotland because of the SNP’s push for another independence referendum, according to the boss of defence giant Babcock International.
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Patrick Grady’s victim accuses Nicola Sturgeon of ‘empty words’ on improving SNP complaints process - and says it is unfair that he has lost his career while the MP remains in post.
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A growing financial crisis is engulfing the SNP as:
- It suffered a £750k deficit last year
- It has already spent a third of its independence referendum campaign fund
- Money in reserves fell to £610,765
- Member numbers declined by 1509 last year and have continued to fall
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Fergus Ewing has demanded an independent probe into how £80 million was wasted on the deposit return scheme fiasco, including whether ministers encouraged a state-owned bank to lend Circularity Scotland £9 million.
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Jim McColl on GMS says Audit Scotland revelations are ‘the tip of the iceberg’ on ferries fiasco
+ says he wouldn’t have taken contract if he knew CMAL was opposed
+ says Keith Brown signed it off
+ Defends claim SNP rushed through for ‘political capital’.
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The total taxpayer investment in the ferries fiasco is set to soar to up to £338 million.
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Children as young as 14 are being given a survey at school which asks them to give details of what experience they have of explicit sexual acts.
One council was so outraged by the questions that it told the Scottish Government it would not allow it to go ahead.
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One of Nicola Sturgeon’s Green ministers has sparked outrage after claiming that taking drugs is ‘not inherently dangerous’.
A drug recovery group branded the comments ‘dangerous, naive and stupid’.
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Three SNP MPs have been accused of ignoring Foreign Office travel advice to go on a ‘grandstanding’ trip to Ukraine.
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Nicola Sturgeon accused of being ‘asleep at the wheel’ as she travels to Denmark to officially open new Scottish Government ‘embassy’ while rubbish piles up in the streets of Scotland amid strike chaos.
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Jim McColl has accused SNP ministers of lying over the ferries fiasco and misrepresenting independent advice - and says he is prepared to repeat his claims under oath.
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A majority of Scots do not trust the SNP/Green Government to act in Scotland’s best interests on the cost of living crisis, NHS pressures or climate change, and figures are getting worse.
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116 new green buses funded by the SNP Government are being built in China.
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Some people with lapsed SNP memberships have been handed a vote in the leadership contest - as fresh fears were raised that the ballot could be ‘rigged’.
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And the Holyrood committee inquiry found that she may have misled parliament.
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New ‘conspiracy’ allegations which Alex Salmond is preparing to publish in a new book will have a ‘volcanic effect’ on the SNP, according to Jim Sillars.
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His future in the SNP hangs in the balance but Fergus Ewing has vowed to continue to speak out on “pie in the sky” boiler plans - and has called for Humza Yousaf to sack Patrick Harvie for coming up with the “unaffordable” proposals.
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Another ferries fiasco: Turkish shipyard which will build two CalMac ferries signs contract to build a larger vessel for Norway at half the cost.
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Deputy First Minister Shona Robison has been accused of disrespecting the Royal Family after showing up 40 minutes late for an event with Princess Anne - and then failed to acknowledge her in her speech.
via
@mailplus
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If this is a scene setter, it indicates that the SNP is going to draw out its case for independence over many, many months, use spurious statistics, launch negative attacks on the UK, and hope nobody asks any questions about the detail of its proposals.
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UK Government ministers have launched a counter-offensive in response to Angus Robertson promoting independence to overseas governments.
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SNP ministers failed to do any work assessing other train services before they nationalised Scotrail.
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The Scottish Government rules didn’t mention only wearing a face mask in a hairdresser if it is crowded.
Jason Leitch tells
#BBCGMS
the First Minister was without a mask for a "matter of seconds."
He adds: "She realises the place is crowded, puts a face covering on, which is actually what we're asking people to do."
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Half of Scots don’t trust the SNP Government to act in Scotland’s interests on the cost of living crisis - according to its own research.
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Spending on road upgrades, major transport projects and ferry services was secretly slashed by £62m by the SNP/Green government, new figures have revealed.
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As well as Peter Murrell's arrest, Police Scotland say they are 'carrying out a number of searches as part of the ongoing investigation'.
This is the scene outside SNP HQ in Edinburgh.
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Quite a claim from Ian Blackford when asked about tackling the cost of living crisis on The Sunday Show: “Most of the economic levers are controlled by Westminster.”
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The independent report, of course, said nothing of the sort. It just said that it was up to the Scottish Parliament to decide if it had been misled.
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What a farce! Vaccine passport app chaos, experts warn scheme could ‘backfire’ and Scottish Government can’t even say how much it will cost businesses.
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The UK’s network of Ambassadors are to be ordered to shadow SNP ministers when they meet ministers in foreign governments in order to ensure they don’t talk about independence.
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As Nicola Sturgeon admits she didn’t try to stop award of ferries contract to the Ferguson shipyard, a businessman who tried to buy the yard in 2014 says it has been mismanaged from day one and accuses SNP of ‘PR stunt’.
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Workers could flee Scotland unless the SNP Government matches tax cuts in the rest of the UK or substantially improves public services, economic experts have warned.
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Patrick Harvie ran up a £1,766 bill on travel and subsistence for a two-day conference in Copenhagen after he opted to travel by train, which involved four days of travel and two overnight stays in Belgium.
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Nicola Sturgeon and her former health secretary have been urged to explain the ‘catastrophic’ decision to send hospital patients to care homes without testing them for Covid - and to ‘tell the truth’ when they appear at the UK Covid-19 inquiry.
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The UK Government sent multiple letters to SNP ministers about its XL bully dog crackdown and warned Scotland would become a “dumping ground”.
(Yet Humza Yousaf claimed he wasn’t consulted by UKG when he eventually agreed to act)
via
@MailOnline
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A millionaire Highlands businessman has announced he will challenge the SNP’s Ian Blackford at the next general election - and will focus on the SNP’s economic record.
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A new cross-party alliance has been set up to stop the SNP spending money on independence, foreign embassies and international aid.
It features a former Deputy FM, ex Scotland Minister and a former Scottish Tory leader.
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Liz Truss has branded Nicola Sturgeon ‘increasingly out of touch’ as she vowed to go ‘toe to toe’ with the SNP if she becomes PM.
Writing in today’s Scottish Daily Mail, she vowed to vowed to address Scotland’s challenges if the SNP fails to do so.
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