
The Daily Thistle — News From Scotland
Thursday 27th July 2017
“Madainn Mhath” .…Fellow Scot, I hope the day brings joy to you…. where ever you are on this little blue planet we call Earth… as we spin endlessly around the small star we call the Sun… and as I walked this morning with Bella under the clear night sky’s .. with stars and planets alike twinkling, I watched as the International Space Station passed slowly overhead… We are such small particles in the grand scheme of things.. some of the light emitting from stars has taken millions of light years to reach us… and in some cases light from some stars has not arrived to be seen yet as they are so far, far away… for millions, read billions… I walked back down the hill, the thought of coffee and rice cookies and The Daily Thistle on my mind … so walk done, philosophical moment over let’s take a look at what the world had in store for us….
LATEST SCOTS SCHOOL ATTAINMENT GAP FUNDING SET OUT…. The Scottish government has set out where £45m of funding to tackle the attainment gap in schools will be allocated over the coming year. The latest round of funding will go to the nine councils with the highest concentrations of deprivation, along with 72 schools in other poorer areas. Education Secretary John Swinney said boosting schools was the Scottish government’s “defining mission”. Opposition parties said the funding did not go far enough to tackle problems. The Scottish Attainment Challenge fund will distribute £750m to primary and secondary schools over the course of the current parliament, aimed at cutting the poverty-related divide in attainment. Funding packages ranging from £1.5m to £7.7m will go to local authorities in Clackmannanshire, Dundee, East Ayrshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire. Funding is also being sent directly to 72 schools in other local authority areas, with more than £2m being distributed in South Lanarkshire and almost £1m in the Highland council area.
REGIONAL AIRPORT OPERATOR HIAL REPORTS PASSENGER INCREASE…. Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (Hial) has reported a 13.3% overall rise in passenger numbers compared to the same quarter in 2016. The regional airports operator said it handled 477,612 customers between April and June 2017 — an increase of 55,934 passengers. The strongest performing of its 11 airports included Inverness, Barra and Islay. However, Dundee handled 2,690 fewer passengers. Hial said this was a result of the withdrawal of the Flybe Amsterdam service by the operator in December 2016. Numbers also declined at Wick John O’Groats. This was due in part to reduced demand from energy sector services to and from Aberdeen. Hial operates airports in the Highlands, Western Isles, Orkney, Shetland, Argyll and Dundee Airport.
NEW GLENTRESS FOREST DEVELOPMENT ‘WORTH £1M’ ANNUALLY…. The backers of a new plan for luxury eco-cabins have claimed they will boost the Borders tourism economy by £1m each year. The 56 cabins are to be built at Glentress Forest near Peebles.
They will be part of a £11.3m investment as part of a partnership between Forest Enterprise Scotland and Forest Holidays.
The plan also includes new biking trails and a walking route through the area. Scottish Borders Council backed a masterplan for the area in 2015. Glentress Forest attracts more than 300,000 visitors a year.
TRIO JAILED AFTER £100,000 DUNDEE DRUGS RAID…. Three men caught during a police raid that recovered £100,000 of heroin and cocaine in Dundee have been jailed. Scott Curtis, William Malkin and Rogan Millar were held following the Operation Sylvan probe in the city last October. Malkin, 25, was jailed for five-and-a-half years at the High Court in Glasgow. Curtis, 26, and Millar, 28, were jailed for four-and-a-half years and four years respectively. Malkin, of Dundee, was convicted of being concerned in the supply of the class A drugs between April and October last year. Curtis, of Dundee, and Millar, of Tayport, Fife, admitted the same charge committed between September and October last year. A previous court hearing was told Curtis and Malkin were seen entering a tenement close carrying a cardboard box and bags. Drugs were discovered inside the box and bags during a raid at a flat in the building
The court was told Curtis had a knife, a baseball bat and a knuckle duster in his car. The court heard Millar’s home was also searched and what appeared to be the remains of a drugs “tick list” were discovered. Lady Scott told the men: “This was a significant operation in respect of class A drugs.”
‘GIANT OF SCOTS LAW’ LORD MCCLUSKEY DIES AGED 88…. Former High Court judge Lord McCluskey has been remembered as a “giant” of Scots law following his death at the age of 88. John Herbert McCluskey, who lived in Edinburgh, held roles as a defence counsel, a former Solicitor General and a Labour and crossbench peer. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon expressed her sadness at the news. She describing him as “one of the outstanding Scots lawyers of his generation”. The Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, Gordon Jackson QC, said: “Lord McCluskey was a giant of Scots law. He had an outstanding career as counsel, law officer and judge.
“Although often outspoken, his views were always challenging and merited the most careful consideration.”
Born on 12 June, 1929, McCluskey went to Edinburgh University and was Solicitor General for Scotland from 1974 to 1979. During that time, he worked on the then Labour government’s proposals for devolution. He became a member of the judiciary in 1984 and presided for 16 years as a High Court judge over some of the country’s most high-profile criminal cases. He became a Labour peer in the mid-1970s and was later a crossbench peer. He retired from the House of Lords earlier this year due to declining health.
In 2011, he chaired a panel of legal experts tasked with investigating the functions of the UK Supreme Court following a number of high-profile and controversial rulings affecting Scotland. He later chaired a Scottish government-appointed group to review the Leveson Report. It concluded that the Scottish press should be subject to mandatory regulation underpinned by law, but the Scottish government rejected the proposal. Lord McCluskey was given a lifetime achievement award at the Scottish Legal Awards earlier this year. The death was announced by his nephew, Niall McCluskey, also an advocate, who said on Twitter: “He was a great man and a fantastic lawyer. He will be missed.”
On that note I will say that I hope you have enjoyed the news from Scotland today,
Our look at Scotland today is of a Flybe Dash 8 Q400 number G-JECY plane setting up to land at John O’Groats…
A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it’s always good fun, As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of “Colombian” Coffee and wish you a safe Thursday 27th July 2017 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming Jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00 am…on the streets of Estepona…
All good stuff….But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in
Be safe out there…
Robert McAngus
