Publication

Food production and holidays under threat

SCOTLAND’S farmers have warned of an “immediate and severe” crisis in food production due to events in the Middle East, while summer holidays could face widespread cancellations due to European shortages of aviation fuel. The Iran conflict has seen...

SYP ‘did not take my sex claim case seriously’

A FORMER member of the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) has accused the organisation of failing to take allegations of sexual harassment seriously and claimed they were never interviewed as part of an independent review. The whistleblower, a former...

Starmer heads to Gulf

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer arrives at Taif Airbase in Saudi Arabia as part of a two-day visit to the Gulf region, to meet leaders of countries who have been in the front line and discuss diplomatic efforts to support the ceasefire for a lasting...

Iran rejects ceasefire and calls for ‘war’s end’

IRAN has rejected the latest ceasefire proposal and instead said it wants a permanent end to the conflict in the Middle East. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said Tehran had conveyed its response through Pakistan, a key mediator. Mojtaba Ferdousi...

PM to chair Cobra meeting amid human cost of Middle East war

PRIME Minister Sir Keir Starmer is due to chair a Cobra meeting today where senior ministers will discuss the ongoing economic hit caused by the war in the Middle East. The impact of the ongoing Strait of Hormuz blockade was compounded by Iran-backed...

Rare Bronze Age shield comes home

Dr Matthew Knight with the ‘incredibly rare’ Bronze Age shield discovered in Beith, centre left, and five other shields, found in the Borders and Aberdeenshire in the 19th century. The Beith shield has returned to Scotland for the first time in more...

‘I think this is the time’

ACCLAIMED actor Brian Cox joined the First Minister and thousands of independence supporters in Edinburgh yesterday for a Believe In Scotland rally. He told The Herald he was there as it was an “important day” for supporters of independence. He said:...

Supermarket boss fires fuel shortage warning

PETROL pumps are suffering “temporary shortages” due to tight supply linked to the conflict in the Middle East, the boss of Asda warned yesterday. The UK’S second-largest fuel retailer also rejected accusations that petrol sellers might be...

Flagship homes fund ‘will send prices up’

THE SNP’S flagship plans to help first-time buyers onto the property ladder could push house prices even higher, a leading Scottish think tank has warned. The £100 million First Homes Fund, announced by John Swinney at the SNP conference earlier this...

Watchdog calls for crucial intervention on water bills

SCOTTISH Water’s plans to hike charges annually above inflation for the next six years will “substantially” hit household budgets, the consumer watchdog has warned. The company, which is publicly owned, last month published a final business plan for...

Food inflation ‘to top 8%’ if conflict in Iran persists

HOUSEHOLDS face food inflation above 8% within months if disruption caused by the Iran war persists, grocery industry experts have warned. The Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) said the conflict in the Middle East could result in food inflation...

No update for current MSPS on rape trials ruling impact

MSPS will not receive an update on the impact of a landmark Supreme Court ruling on how rape trials are conducted, despite warnings current cases face delays while a surge of appeals against convictions is expected as a result of the judgment. Angela...

Netanyahu at Israel blast site

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanied by Dimona mayor Benny Biton, speaks to media yesterday while visiting an area destroyed by an Iranian ballistic missile, leaving more than 50 residents wounded

‘Critics should not mock Sturgeon’s farewell speech’

Did ex-fm’s enemies miss the point of ‘tribalism’ remarks? DANI GARAVELLI ‘Iran may now become a perilous sequel to invasion of Iraq’ DAVID PRATT

Prayers at end of Ramadan

People gather at Glasgow Central Mosque yesterday for Eid al-fitr prayers, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. These worshippers had to sit outside as the main hall was at full capacity

‘It’s time to move on, but it’s a wrench’

NICOLA Sturgeon reflected on her legacy as she delivered an emotional final speech in Holyrood. The former first minister is stepping down as Glasgow Southside MSP in May after 27 years as an elected politician. Ms Sturgeon admitted the “time is...

Warning over trans policy in Scots jails

SCOTLAND’S human rights watchdog has urged ministers to “prioritise” talks on rewriting the prison service’s transgender policy, warning it fails to properly consider the rights of women. In a letter to Justice Secretary Angela Constance, the Scottish...

Delays on turbine decision ‘could cost country £1.5bn’

SCOTLAND could miss out on £1.5 billion of investment and 4,000 new jobs at a Highlands turbine factory due to ministers delaying a decision on giving the scheme the go-ahead. Former SNP energy minister Fergus Ewing said that Chinese company Ming...

St Pancras-style development? Post-fire ambition and reality for Glasgow

IS it too early to begin dreaming of a new future for fire-struck Union Corner in Glasgow? Glasgow is still reeling from the aftermath of the blaze that has destroyed a celebrated piece of Victorian architecture on Union Street, next to Central...

One in five Scots ‘unable to access NHS dentistry care’

ONE in five adults in Scotland say they have been unable to access NHS dental care, according to a new poll. The survey, commissioned by the British Dental Association (BDA) and seen by The Herald, suggests unmet need for NHS dentistry now affects...

No luck of the Irish

IRELAND claimed their fourth Triple Crown in five years by crushing Scotland’s quest to make history with a gripping 43-21 win in Dublin yesterday. While France went on to take the Six Nations title, Gregor Townsend’s side began ‘Super Saturday’...

Police called in over Holyrood misconduct

SERIOUS concerns have been raised about workplace culture at the Scottish Parliament after a review uncovered more than 80 previously undisclosed allegations of bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct. Police have been informed of the allegations...

City ‘may move to acquire blaze site’

GLASGOW City Council is likely to pursue a compulsory purchase order (CPO) for the site of the Union Street fire and would be interested in a luxury hotel being built on it, the leader has said. Susan Aitken suggested that it could eventually house a...

Damage revealed to glass roof at city’s Central Station after blaze

DAMAGE to Glasgow Central Station caused by the huge fire which consumed the adjacent Union Corner building has been spotted as an inspection gets under way. Cracks in the glass panelling above the station manager’s office were apparent as workers...

Union calls for universities to get emergency funding

SCOTLAND’S universities are seeking more than £200 million in savings, with at least 1,000 jobs recently lost and potentially thousands more at risk, a survey has revealed. The survey of universities with live or recent strike mandates has found that...

‘It feels like this city is disappearing’

THE acrid smoke billowing out of the carcass of Sexy Coffee is trapped between the buildings of St Vincent Place. It hangs low in the air as a busker belts out Frank Sinatra, each drawl of That’s Life more passionate than the last, the young man...

Massive blaze in city centre

ONE of Scotland’s busiest train stations has been forced to close as 60 firefighters battled a serious blaze nearby. Central Station in Glasgow was forced to shut yesterday afternoon – and remains shut this morning – after a serious fire broke out in...

French toast

SCOTLAND put themselves in contention for a first-ever Guinness Six Nations title with a sensational seven-try 50-40 victory over France at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh yesterday.

Union demands seat on water utility board

SCOTLAND’S largest trade union has said the government’s stance on Scottish Water is “deeply concerning” amid “eye-watering” executive pay and proposals by the publicly-owned company to increase customer bills for the next six years. Unison wants...

UK fighter jets for Qatar

FOUR extra British Typhoon fighter jets are being deployed to Qatar amid the conflict in the Middle East, Sir Keir Starmer has said. Speaking at a press conference in Downing Street, the Prime Minister acknowledged that people across the UK are...

Royal Navy warship readies for mission in Middle East conflict

A ROYAL Navy warship is in Portsmouth being readied and is expected to set sail in the coming days to protect a UK military base in Cyprus, as conflict spirals in the Middle East. Clyde-built HMS Dragon is being loaded with ammunition, having just...

Defiant Reeves shrugs off downgrade in Tory attack

CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves seemed in defiant form yesterday as she shrugged off another major downgrade to this year’s growth forecast, while launching a concerted and arguably justified attack on the 14-year economic record of the Conservatives. The...

ALL THIS AND MORE IN TODAY’S PAPER

Wait for new £2m housing quango ‘will last for years’

SCOTLAND’S latest quango created to tackle the housing emergency will cost taxpayers a seven-figure sum to set up despite not being operational for years. The new agency, More Homes Scotland, was announced by First Minister John Swinney in January in...

Call for Scottish Water probe as salaries soar

CALLS are being made for an independent inquiry into Scottish Water amid soaring customer charges and eye-watering levels of executive pay and bonuses. Scotland’s largest trade union Unison is behind the demand after it commissioned an investigation...

University chief wants rethink on tuition fees

THE principal of one of Scotland’s universities has suggested it is time for a national conversation on reintroducing tuition fees amid a growing financial crisis for the sector. Professor Peter Edwards, of the University of Aberdeen, said that given...

Families of children who suffered complications from treatment lobby Holyrood

THE mother of a boy left with lifelong health complications after treatment at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital has said her family has “waited seven years for answers” about why he was prescribed powerful antiinfection drugs. Karen...

Big freeze in the Big Apple

A worker with the Times Square Alliance sanitation crew shovels snow in New York yesterday as a spell of freezing weather hit parts of the USA Picture: Seth Wenig/ap

£100m paid out on maternity negligence

NEARLY £100 million has been paid out by NHS Scotland in maternity negligence claims over the past five years – even as the country records the lowest birth rate since records began, a Herald investigation has revealed. Freedom of Information data...

Dragon slayers

EAGER to prove themselves following a poor first half, Scotland came out fighting at half-time in their Six Nations match against Wales yesterday – stunning the crowd in Cardiff with a 26-23 victory.

£843,000: The cost of scrapped digital ID scheme

THE UK Government’s scrapped mandatory digital ID scheme cost taxpayers £843,743 before ministers were forced into a U-turn, The Herald can reveal. The scheme, originally pitched as a new app to prove people’s right to work and access services, was...

King Charles: ‘Let me state clearly, the law must take its course’

THE King has said “the law must take its course” after expressing his “deepest concern” over the arrest of his brother Andrew Mountbatten-windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Andrew was taken into custody on his 66th birthday...

Double honour for caring couple

Garreth and Nicola Wood, Scots co-founders of Kids Operating Room, after both being made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle yesterday for services to health and charity

‘No-one could justify spending £120 for dinner on a Monday night in Glasgow, and so I left with my tail between my legs’

Being Gordon Ramsay, Netflix, available now *** GORDON Ramsay has spoken of the “painful” decision to close his first restaurant in Scotland, adding that he left Glasgow “with my tail between my legs”. The chef opened Amaryllis inside the luxury One...

Scottish civil servants rarely at the office despite target

CIVIL servants are rarely working in person in Scottish Government buildings despite being set a 40% hybrid working target, The Herald can reveal. More than 9,000 core staff working for the Scottish Government were told to return to the office for at...

Warning of ‘corridor care dangers’ at Scots hospitals

HOSPITAL corridor care has been described as “dangerous” as new figures reveal a Scots A&E department was 225% over-capacity. Anger has been growing within the health service over the number of patients being treated in corridors across the...

Mauled enemy

SCOTLAND soared to the top of the Six Nations table yesterday with a triumphant and convincing 31-20 victory over the Auld Enemy at Murrayfield. The match was a humbling experience for the English side, with their Grand Slam hopes scuppered and Six...

Ministers urged to ban social media for under-16s

SOCIAL media should be banned for under-16s in Scotland and schools should lock away phones amid warnings that dangerous online habits among children amounts to a “public health emergency”, a report warns. A hard-hitting report from think tank Common...

Helmet tribute athlete banned

THE biggest controversy of the Milancortina 2026 Winter Olympics came to a head yesterday morning, as Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych was banned from competing. Heraskevych, who was his country’s flagbearer at the opening ceremony, wished to compete...

Sarwar stands firm over call for PM to step aside

ANAS Sarwar has doubled down on his call for Sir Keir Starmer to quit as Prime Minister, insisting he stands by his intervention despite a fierce backlash from colleagues. In his first public appearance since his attempted putsch fell flat, the...

Starmer all smiles amid pressure to quit

SCOTTISH Labour MPS have rallied behind Sir Keir Starmer despite Anas Sarwar calling for the Prime Minister to resign. Sir Keir dismissed claims of a feud with the Scottish Labour leader as he tried to bring his party back under a united front. The...

Inside story: Why Sarwar took the nuclear option on Starmer

ANAS Sarwar’s decision to call on Sir Keir Starmer to quit was, a senior Scottish Labour source insists, something the Holyrood leader had been “wrestling with” for some time. Yes, this was about the growing scandal around Lord Mandelson’s appointment...

Our pledge was to keep Highland issues in the spotlight – now we are back

TODAY, The Herald launches a new series revisiting an issue experts argue has serious implications for Scotland’s future economic prosperity. It has been two years since we published The New Highland Clearances, investigating the factors that are...

How to avoid the scam epidemic hitting Scotland

A COLLECTION of experts from education and business have called on Scotland’s political parties to commit to an urgent review of language learning in their manifestos for the 2026 Holyrood election. The University of Stirling has launched a new...

Anger as tourist tax plans snub the Fringe

ORGANISERS of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe have criticised council leaders for snubbing the world-famous event in its spending plans for the city’s new tourist tax. The Fringe Society has expressed dismay that the event did not get a single mention...

‘It was a mistake to consider him capable of being US ambassador’ – Anas Sarwar

ANAS Sarwar has questioned Sir Keir Starmer’s judgment over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the United States, despite knowing of his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. The Scottish Labour leader said...

Starmer faces growing Labour unrest over Mandelson

SIR Keir Starmer knew about Lord Peter Mandelson’s ongoing friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein when he appointed him ambassador to the US, but claimed the peer “lied repeatedly” about the extent of the relationship. In a sign of...

Trans jail inmates are ‘serious risk’ to women, says ex-chief

A FORMER prison governor has warned placing transgender prisoners in the female estate poses a “serious risk” to vulnerable women. Rhona Hotchkiss, the former prison governor of HMP Cornton Vale, a female-only jail which has been closed, provided an...

Mandelson reported to police in Epstein storm

LORD Mandelson has been reported to the police over allegations he shared marketsensitive information with financier Jeffrey Epstein. The latest tranche of documents released by the US Department of Justice, known commonly as the Epstein files,...

Charity trek from the heart

Glasgow man Fraser Wilson, who received a heart transplant at Clydebank’s NHS Golden Jubilee, has raised more than £11,000 for homelessness charity Crisis, following his 110km trek across the Sahara in November

New folk in town

FIVE finalists took to the Drygate Brewery stage yesterday to compete in Celtic Connections’ Battle of the Folk Bands 2026 final, presented by Hands Up for Trad. The competition showcases the very best emerging bands on Scotland’s traditional music...

Complaint is lodged against Archbishop

CATHOLIC parishioners have lodged an official complaint with the Church’s leaders over the conduct of the Archbishop of Glasgow, William Nolan. The move, believed to be unprecedented in recent times, follows a bitter dispute between members of St...

‘Scotland is a better country because of Jim Wallace’

FORMER deputy first minister Jim Wallace has died after suffering complications as a result of surgery, his family has said. Lord Wallace, who served as Holyrood’s first ever deputy first minister, was undergoing a procedure at the Royal Infirmary of...

Outdated GP IT systems are ‘putting patients at risk’

SCOTLAND’S frustrated GPS have condemned “stagnant” IT systems that take 20 minutes to switch on and cannot communicate safely across the NHS, which they say is putting patient safety at risk. The Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland (RCGP)...

ART ATTACK

DOZENS of leading Scottish cultural figures are throwing their weight behind a new campaign to secure more support for the arts in the next term of the Scottish Parliament. Stars of stage, screen, comedy, visual arts and live music are demanding a...

Hathaway in tears as she mourns designer Valentino

Actress Anne Hathaway and husband Adam Schulman, left, attend the funeral of fashion designer Valentino in Rome, Italy. Hathaway, who was in tears at the event, wore a black Valentino coat with a ruffled trim at the collar and hem. Actress and model...