Thanks everyone for the well wishes, thats me officially off on holiday/maternity leave 👼🏻
Best believe I’ll be back for the election (unless it’s in May) even temporarily 🤓
Until then ta the noo👋🏻
(I’ll probs still lurk about I am addicted to this hell sites memes)
Been turned away from Boris Johnson’s press conference and told to “watch it online” after journos on Number 10 list allowed in. Can see empty seats through the window. At it.
NEW:
@NicolaSturgeon
has hit back at criticism she has 'abandoned' Holyrood to spend time at COP26, adding that she is "showcasing Scotland" and it's "not every day" the world comes to Glasgow 👇
The whole of Southside is out to support Deanston Bakery’s fundraiser for Ukraine, an approximation of the queue size, which is slowly getting bigger ❤️
@RMcElhenney
Rob, I (a creep) know like whisky so you’ll love Scotland, and don’t listen to the other Scottish people on this site telling you to go to Edinburgh, Glasgow is the one, the vibe is more Philly 😂
@RMcElhenney
And if you brought Danny I’d lose my fucking shit, we’re the same height, and for some weird reason, I see cardboard cut outs of him all over Glasgow, like he’s my spirit animal? I don’t understand it either
BREAKING: Kemi Badenoch has declined the invitation to appear at Holyrood's equalities committee, following Scottish Secretary Alister Jack's snub last week.
Neither UK Gov minister is willing to explain their decision to use S35 to MSPs in the Scottish Parliament.
📸PA
The phrasing on this headline makes it sound like ScotGov is going to start handing out heroin.
Decriminalisation is a slightly different thing than legalising...but why let that get in the way of a good headline
Christmas Eve eve, the Glasgow Fort, heaving. Inside a packed perfume shop a staff member asks a man what he’s looking for. “Perfume, heehee”.
“Right,” she sighs.
Merry Xmas to all retail staff you absolute troopers.
Excl: Kemi Badenoch has missed the deadline to accept or refuse to appear at Holyrood's equalities committee - after Alister Jack refused to attend yday. Have approached UK Gov for confirmation, will update if they respond.
EXCL: The Scotland Office has spent a whopping £75k on hospitality - food, drinks and staffing - for 26 events in the past 16 months.
The most spent was +£11k on hosting guests for Trooping the Colour.
They spent +£6k on a Burns Supper...
EXCL - Hate crimes with a trans, sexual orientation and disability aggravator have risen again in Scotland showing a year-on-year growth. Trans hate crimes rose by 76.7%.
Scottish Labour so insistent on refusing to work with SNP they've just let a Tory budget pass in D&G - after previously being in an SNP-Lab-Ind deal, which they pulled out of, cos Anas Sarwar didn't like it.
BREAKING: Labour councillors in Dumfries and Galloway have been accused of causing the 'collapse' of the SNP-Independent administration by acting 'irresponsibly' during budget negotiations
Story to follow
EXCL: More than a third of MSPs who signed a letter calling for a pause to the short-terms let’s licensing scheme have links to the sector
Oh yes, I’ve been all over their registers of interests once again, let’s break it down 🧵👇🏻
EXCL: European prof dismisses claims Scotland’s self-ID a ‘global issue’.
“The cases haven't occurred in Belgium.
“It's my understanding that they haven't occurred in any country where there has been this framework of gender recognition.” 👇🏻
Here we are again - reports of hate crimes with a transgender aggravator have TRIPLED in Scotland. Greens have slammed this as a result of a "cynical campaign" of smears against the LGBT community
Full report 👇
📸AGC (me)
"Climate change is a feminist issue" - First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is charing a panel on the main stage at
#COP26
after being introduced by Speaker of the House
@SpeakerPelosi
(First pic: Press Association)
Earlier, SNP Cabinet Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville gave an emotional tribute to Winnie Ewing in Holyrood.
"I still have the card she sent me when I was first elected in my office, and I looked at it before I came down the stairs, hence why I think I'm so emotional..."
EXCL: Hate crimes against LGBT Scots are sharply rising new police figures show - with a 102% increase in hate crimes recorded with a transgender aggravator in a SINGLE year. 👇
FM
@NicolaSturgeon
tells delegates rich countries have “no excuse” not to deliver on $100bn commitment for poor and developing countries. The pledge was made 12 years ago and has not yet been fulfilled.
While everyone else was at the Sturgeon huddle, Lorna Slater told MSPs Circularity Scotland had appointed administrators.
Tory MSP asks where £9m from Scottish National Investment bank has gone, and the mic picked up Shona Robison's spicy reply...👀
BREAKING: Douglas Ross has refused to call on Boris Johnson to quit as PM over partygate fines - comes after Ross sent letter to 1922, then withdrew it, so no U-turn on the U-turn from the Scottish Tories 👇
Interesting that Anas Sarwar stopped taking press questions once I put my hand up and we made eye contact, I wonder why that could be 🤷🏼♀️
Here even Douglas Ross let me ask a q, not that he answered it 😂
NEW: Nicola Sturgeon has criticised coverage of the credit card row and her VIP airport travel.
She says the £10k over three years is “probably less than on private jet trip of Rishi Sunak’s”
I’m Bute House this morning as Nicola Sturgeon and Patrick Harvie launch the first in a series of white papers setting out ScotGov’s vision for an independent Scotland. Coverage on
@ScotNational
Any LGBT activists kicking about Holyrood/Edinburgh tomorrow drop me a DM if you are up for chatting about UK Gov blocking Scotland’s gender reforms, keen to include as many trans voices in our coverage as we can. My DM’s are open 🙌🏻
Rishi Sunak can't help himself and laughs while saying "of course our party follows all laws".
This from the PM who was given a fixed penalty notice for breaking pandemic rules?
#PMQs
NEW: Scotland could ditch King Charles as head of state within five years of a Yes vote, the FM has said.
I asked the FM for the timeline for a full written constitution following independence, and he said ScotGov working to 3-5 years 👇
The figures come from Police Scotland’s quarterly report - shown below - but the report says it can’t pinpoint the reason but adds all 3 with the most growth had “increased political and media coverage.”
So to claim that Scotland adopting the policy, which removes the medical requirement when applying for a GRC, is disingenuous. It already exists, and there is no data that proves predatory men are abusing the system elsewhere 👇🏻
I spoke to
@ScottishTrans
and
@StonewallScot
about the stats - both say the “intense spotlight” on trans lives in both the media, politics and online has undoubtedly had an effect. Read the full report below 👇🏻
Ran into Douglas Ross in a hoody and jeans in parly, asked if he thought he’s any chance of winning vote to be next FM…
“We’ll I hope I get 31 votes” 😂
DFM Shona Robison is leading her first FMQs with Humza Yousaf is in New York.
In exchange with Douglas Ross she says the Scottish Tory leader should be "ashamed" to stand side by side with Rishi Sunak after his net zero U-turn after he goes on oil and gas this week
A Scottish Tory MP not giving the full context to claims he made during an attack on the SNP over council tax?
Surely no...
Andrew Bowie has been fact checked 👇❌
Nicola Sturgeon has given her final speech as FM to Holyrood, I didn’t get to join her last huddle today but here’s a clip from a few weeks ago.
“Right, what?” 😂
👋🏻 Ta the noo
@NicolaSturgeon
guna be strange chasing another FM around
Nicola Sturgeon's last huddle as FM was...awfy male dominated.
Journo gallery stats for FMQs/speech: M20/F8
(I wasn't at huddle below cos I am on for
@SunScotNational
this week and was doing an interview)
📸 PA
Good morning, it’s Wednesday, and the SNP WM group are trying to get the S35 order annulled in the HoC like a Las Vegas wedding gone wrong.
But what’s a prayer motion 🙏🏻 and will it work?
Nicola Sturgeon and Jeane Freeman have been accused of buying “burner” phones at the start of the pandemic…but not all is what it seems.
It took me under 90 mins to compile this list from looking at Holyrood expenses 👀
Story here 👇🏻
@JudDuffy
So heated in fact that Sarwar took a pop at our newspaper. I was told this was the "most tense" moment of the trip by a colleague.
I got told to stop by a press officer, and asked another question anyway 😂
Former MEP Struan Stevenson has called for President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi to be banned from COP26 or arrested if he comes the Scotland.
@HoAbedini
called for action from the international community if Raisi enters their country. 👇
Wow there are a serious amount of accounts with Union Jack flags that hate the Baby Box huh, fancy that.
Shouting into the ether lads I loved it and the universalism of it is what's so good about it, every little one deserves an equal start in life 👼
Around 232,000 baby boxes have been delivered in Scotland to support new parents 🏴🍼
Take a look as our political reporter
@agc_reports
shows you everything she got in hers!
This is the spiciest Budget announcement I've ever seen in Holyrood. High drama over leaks, heckling from the FM, the £20m indyref allocation cut, and Swinney not holding back. Indyref2 story here 👇
I’m Dundee this morning for the independence white paper on migration;
*sets out a number of new visa schemes
*says population decline in Scotland being “ignored and made worse” by Westminster migration policies
*ensure robust protection of migrant rights
The Labour folk attacking me personally on here should grow a thicker skin, just like their boss anaw.
I’m a journalist, I’m entitled to ask questions whether you like the publication I work for or not.
Today is Transgender Remembrance Day 🏳️⚧️ so for this week’s
@SunScotNational
we explored the issues with accessing basic healthcare in Scotland, patients can be left on waiting lists for years with no hope of an appointment in sight 👇🏻
There are 18 countries that already have self-ID for transgender people, many in Europe. Argentina has had it since 2012.
Belgium, Denmark, Malta, Ireland, Norway, Luxembourg, Portugal, Iceland and Switzerland all have self ID.
THREAD: What's been happening in Scottish politics today? With Keir Starmer and Boris Johnson both up visiting this week, it's quite hard to keep on top of. Here are the top stories from
@ScotNational
you need to read to catch up 👇 (1/?)
Disability related hate crimes are also covered - which the report adds is related to “mask wearing exemptions” during the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.
NEW: The Proclaimers have been removed from a UK government King's coronation playlist after sharing republican views in an interview with The National
Price cap August 2021 - £1277
Price cap October 2022 (predicted) - £3549
UK Gov 'Energy price guarantee' - £2500.
That's £54 short of doubling the August cap rate.
Tories spinning this as a £1000 saving for consumers...it is not.
Even with £400 discount, that's an extra £823.
NEW: The Buffer Zones Bill has been given the greenlight for formal introduction at Holyrood, with Gillian Mackay set to bring it forward after recess 👇
NEW: Alister Jack has been accused of making a "totally inaccurate" claim on the BBC regarding Scotland's deposit return scheme behind the firm set to run it - who say Jack has risked £10m worth of investment...
John Swinney closes his ministerial statement on the Supreme Court ruling that two Holyrood bills were not within the "legislative competence" of the Scottish Parliament. Full report to follow.
🧵It’s day one of the Supreme Court hearing and I’ll be live tweeting in this thread during proceedings from court room one. My colleague
@HMorrison97
is outside getting all the goss. Case due to kick off at 10.30, only four members of the press in here so far…
Douglas Ross has withdrawn his letter to the 1922 committee calling for Johnson's resignation - comes not long after news PM is due to visit Scots Tory conference in person 🤔
RIP Fred. We almost had 10 years with you, but you didn’t quite make it. My heart is broken. Gave the vets one last go though, my feisty boy. I didn’t realise how much he was my shadow until he was gone ❤️our best pal, the grumple, rest easy big man x
Gillian Mackay’s buffer zones proposal has secured the backing of more than 18 MSPs less than 30 mins after the end of FMQs, here’s her reaction 👇🏻
@GillianMacMSP
Scottish Labour tho are ofc more than happy to cooperate with Tories across Scotland - but not happy if you press them on it 👇
Still howling at Sarwar trying to pretend D&G was not a coalition last year.
Sir, you are talking to a Galloway gal.
Was there some sort of chat today about a poll or something? 🤔
EXCL: Scottish independence poll gives Yes a HUGE lead amid gender bill row
Via
@HMorrison97
/
@ScotNational
NEW: The top Tory donors with links to fossil fuel interests and climate denial 👀
Folks, there are a lot of them, these are just the main ones. Coincidence eh?
Spending my Friday night in Fife at a Q&A with Stephen Flynn, Mhairi Black and Stewart Hosie.
Currently hiding up the back with a bottle of irn bru, lots of interesting points so far on the MPs role at WM, the campaign etc
EXCL:
@jamiehepburn
has hit back at Alister Jack’s bid to stop government officials working under him
“I’m not going anywhere,” the independence minister told the Holyrood Weekly podcast,
More to follow and full episode Friday 👇🏻
BREAKING: Jeremy Hunt has announced that two Scottish projects will be given funding through the levelling up scheme - one in a Tory-controlled council area
Good morning! It's Court of Session Section 35 day!
(I know I'm one of few people who is keen for a constitutional court case row, canny help it)
And instead of bombarding all your timelines with tweets like I did during GRR, I'm liveblogging instead 👇
BREAKING: SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes has revealed she wouldn't have voted for the Scottish Parliament's equal marriage bill 'as a matter of conscience'.
@ChrisMcEleny
Chris, if you read the story it clearly states that hate crime reports with a trans aggravator are the fastest growing, at the same time as those with sexual orientation accounting for over a quarter (27%).
It's an important story and dismissing it helps no one.
In full: STV News political editor Colin Mackay quizzes Rish Sunak on issues including the UK's first drug consumption room in Glasgow and approving the £24bn Rosebank oil field.