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-The UK government will introduce legislation banning new North Sea oil and gas exploration licences as part of its Energy Independence Bill. -Critics argue the policy will increase Britain’s reliance on imported fossil fuels while damaging Scotland’s oil and gas industry. -Rising oil prices and disruptions tied to the Iran conflict have intensified political pressure on Labour to reconsider the ban. The government will make it illegal to grant new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, the King said at the state opening of Parliament, in a sign ministers are refusing to buckle in the face of a...

According to a statement released by the University of Southampton, a crannog in shallow waters in Loch Bhorgastail on Scotland's Isle of Lewis has been evaluated by researchers from the University of Southampton and the University of Reading with a technique called stereophotogrammetry, which involves stitching together photographs taken at different angles to create a high-resolution 3D model. The study determined that the structure began as a circular wooden platform, measuring about 75 feet in diameter, that was topped with brushwood. Neolithic pottery was also discovered in the area surrounding the crannog, enabling archaeologists to date this first construction of...

According to a Herald Scotland report, National Trust for Scotland archaeologists, assisted by volunteers, recovered a piece of copper alloy from a stone structure in Highland Scotland's Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve that may have been used to distill whisky in secret to avoid paying taxes that had been levied beginning in the 1780s. The researchers suggest that the copper part is a piece known in Gaelic as An Gearradan, or the collar connecting a still to its lyne arm, which controlled how much vapor returned to the pot and therefore controlled the flavor of the finished product. The team...

I want to tell you the story of a young woman who you have probably never heard of. Her name is Mary Anne. She was born on a remote island in Scotland, where life was harsh and unforgiving. On May 2, 1930, when she was 18 years old, she got on a boat headed for Ellis Island to start a new life. She arrived here 11 days later. She wasn't chasing fame, riches, or power. She came for the unique opportunity that America offered. Her sister was already here and had found a job as a maid. So, Mary Anne...

And now time for some good news. The ruling Labour Party in the United Kingdom got absolutely destroyed in Thursday's local council elections. While the votes are still being tallied, they could see a net loss of over 1,500 seats. In short, it was bad for Prime Minister Keir Starmer and company. Really, really bad. Keep in mind, the first post is of declared seats (as of this writing) while the second post is a projection of where things will end up when all the votes are counted. ============================================================== GB Politics @GBPolitcs 🚨NEW: State of the Parties at 2PM: Seats...

Polls opened Thursday for millions of Britons in a series of races set to heap more pressure on beleaguered Prime Minister Keir Starmer and showcase the rise of hard-right and left-wing populist parties, both of which face accusations of antisemitism and bigotry at a time when Jews in the UK are under increasing threat. Voters across Scotland, England and Wales head to the ballot box in Starmer’s biggest electoral test since his July 2024 general election landslide victory ended 14 years of Conservative rule. Opinion polls predict grim results for Labour, which could amplify calls for Starmer, 63, to resign...

MOST Scots would vote for independence if a referendum were held tomorrow, a fresh poll carried out in the middle of the Holyrood election campaign has found. A poll of just over 1000 Scots commissioned by James Kelly of the pro-independence Scot Goes Pop blog found 53% would vote Yes, excluding don't knows. When don't knows are left in, 50% would vote Yes while 44% would vote to remain in the Union. The survey was carried out between April 15 and 20 for Scot Goes Pop. According to Kelly, there have been nine polls this year that suggest Scots would...

Labour is on track for its worst local election performance, data analysed by the Guardian shows, in a blow that will pile further pressure on Keir Starmer’s leadership. Barring a drastic change in fortunes, Labour’s vote-share could fall to historic lows across elections for councils in England and devolved parliaments in Wales and Scotland on 7 May, with big gains for Reform, the Greens and nationalist parties, according to recent polling. The collapse in support is particularly existential in the race for the Welsh parliament, the Senedd, which Labour has dominated since its creation in 1999. Polling shows Labour’s vote...

Labour could lose nearly 1,600 council seats at the local elections even on a good night, new research suggests. In a best-case scenario, Labour could still lose 1,597 council seats across England and nearly 2,000 seats in the worst-case – in a set of local election results that could seal Keir Starmer’s fate as PM. Labour currently has 2,196 councillors across the seats up for election, meaning a good result for the party would still leave the party’s number of locally elected representatives dwindling in the hundreds. Labour is also on track to come third in both the Scottish and...

An intact mortar shell has been discovered at Scotland's Culloden Battlefield by a team of researchers led by Derek Alexander of the National Trust for Scotland and Tony Pollard of the University of Glasgow, according to a Scottish Field report. Fought on April 16, 1746, the battle marked the English government's defeat of Jacobite forces, who supported the return of the exiled Stuart king to the English throne after the Glorious Revolution in 1688. The undetonated shell is thought to have been fired by government troops from a Coehorn mortar and then to have landed on boggy ground, where its...

Ethnic humour has become one of those things we don't do well anymore, or simply won't do because nobody wants to lose their job. Back when it was still tolerated – about fifteen or twenty years ago – what was left of ethnic humour (as practiced by comics like Dave Chappelle or Chris Rock) was gatekept by a single, unbreakable rule: you can only make an ethnic joke if you're a member of the ethnicity that's the butt of the joke. Now, of course, this is largely off the table because nobody thinks the risk is worth it anymore. I...

THEY were the words that launched one of the darkest episodes in Scottish history, remembered and resented to this day.• Clan Campbell murdered Clan MacDonald in Glencoe in 1692 Now the original handwritten order for the massacre at Glencoe "to fall upon the rebels ... and put all to the sword under seventy" goes on show in Edinburgh this week. Sent to Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, in 1692, the simple 20-line letter triggered the murder of 38 members of the MacDonald clan and is the centrepiece of an exhibition of cultural "treasures" at the National Library of Scotland. It is...

The Wife of Usher’s Well. Scots Wha Hae Wi Wallace Bled. In the Gloaming. Annie Laurie.

Below is the transcript of a speech I gave at a Net Zero Watch event in Edinburgh on 9 March 2026: . Good evening, and thank you for inviting me to speak today. Scotland is often described as an electricity superpower. Not only is that not true, the Scottish grid is actually extremely vulnerable, being held together by just two power stations: Peterhead and Torness. So critical is this dependence that the National Energy System Operator, NESO, will not allow both to go on maintenance at the same time. Yet within the next 5-6 years both could close. Today I’m...

A spate of fires and disasters has befallen the city's historic architecture over the years, raising questions about whether these are freak accidents or a symptom of wider issues. "Each time these collapses or fires happen, the same conversations happen and everyone agrees it's terrible and we should do something about it," says Matt Loader, co-founder of architecture firm Loader Monteith. "Then 18 months later it happens again somewhere. "Our Victorian city is disappearing, a piece at a time." Demolition of the remains of the Union Street building began on Friday. Niall Murphy, director of Glasgow City Heritage Trust, told...

MP George Galloway has congratulated Hizbollah on its "victory" in Israel. At a news conference in a Beirut hotel, the controversial politician said: "I came here to extend my congratulations to the Lebanese people on a great and historic victory against this aggression. "I want to congratulate the Lebanese resistance and their leading edge, Hizbollah, whose martyrs and her s have achieved this great victory. "And in particular to their leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whose name now rings in joy around the world." Galloway is in Beirut to present a phone-in radio show for a British radio station. He also...

Police Scotland has refused to release the number of call-outs to asylum hotels over fears the data could spark violence and "heighten community tensions". The national force was slammed for dodging a "reasonable request" from the Scottish Daily Express to reveal the true scale of crime at migrant hotels in Scotland. Police bosses admitted they are concerned that releasing the data will result in more angry scenes outside the hotels, after a number of high-profile protests and counter-protests across Scotland last year. Our Freedom of Information request asked for the number of incidents, including crimes recorded, police call-outs and arrests...

During a boil in the bag funeral, the body is wrapped in a biodegradable shroud, often made of silk or wool, and placed in a pressurised steel chamber. The tank is then filled with a liquid made up of 95 per cent water and five per cent of an alkaline chemical such as potassium hydroxide. The body is heated to 150°C (302°F) under pressure, which ensures that it does not actually 'boil'. Over three to four hours, this replicates the natural processes of decomposition that would normally take decades to occur inside a coffin. Finally, the resulting liquid is cooled,...

Young Scottish actress Mandipa Kabana has been cast to play Joan of Arc in a 2026 Scottish theatrical production that explores the “power of youth-led change”. 'Classic tale of war, duplicity, power and wealth gets a fresh new treatment' writes The Herald about the upcoming theatre adaption of Joan of Arc. Stewart Laing, the theatre director who cast Mandipa, had compared the French Patron Saint to Greta Thunberg: "Look at someone like Greta Thunberg. There are young people with loud voices protesting against those in power."

Oh, gosh. How they don't work an angle so hard to spin and bury an inconvenient story in Sir Keir Starmer's United Kingdom. Astonishing the levers a police state can pull. You'll all remember this horrifying scene this past August. (Watch video at link) David and I both wrote about it when it first happened, because the video was so shocking and so sad... "...What reportedly happened was that a fourteen-year-old and her younger sister were walking home. They were followed and harassed by one of the 'migrants' at the heart of all these complaints and clashes, which the government...