SNP accused of falling short on walking and cycling
THE SNP has been accused of failing to back up its warm words with investment after it was revealed Nicola Sturgeon is proposing the lowest increase to funding for walking and cycling infrastructure of any party.
The Sottish Government Budget, agreed in March, stresses the party will be “maintaining our record-high commitment of £100.5 million for active travel” and has committed to “investing over £500m in active travel over the next five years”.
The SNP manifesto points to a “huge increase in cycling and walking” during the pandemic.
The document adds: “We will lock in that change by spending – by the end of the Parliament – 10 per cent of the transport capital budget on walking, cycling and wheeling.
“We will create, repair and improve a Scotland-wide active travel network to ensure that every town has access to a high-quality and separated walking and cycling network, allowing safe daily commutes and reducing dependence on private motor vehicles.”
Most pro-Indyref2 Scots put recovery before referendum
THE majority of Scots who support holding another referendum want it to be held after the coronavirus pandemic is over, according to a new poll.
The exclusive data, obtained by BMG Research for The Herald, also shows that, even among independence supporters, the majority would favour waiting for the pandemic to subside (53 per cent) than hold a vote immediately (39%).
Of the 1,023 Scots surveyed between April 27 and 30, researchers found that 38% of all voters would rather have a vote on the constitution once the country has recovered from the pandemic, compared to just 17% who say they want to hold one now.
Voters were asked what their views were on the timings of a referendum provided a majority of pro-independence MSPs are elected to Holyrood tomorrow.
FILMING has begun on a new Channel 4 prison drama in Glasgow. city centre
The six-part series, entitled Screw, which stars Nina Sosanya, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Stephen Wight, Faraz Ayub, Ron Donachie and Laura Checkley, focuses on an all-male prison and the personalities and bureaucracy operating within it.
The show is being made by STV for Channel 4, with cameras now rolling in the city.
Described as “prison as never seen before”, it has been created by writer Rob Williams, who had a huge hit with The Victim, a previous STV Productions drama which was made for BBC One.
The new drama, which is set in the all-male Long Marsh Prison, is partly inspired by Mr Williams’s previous experience of working behind bars.
It is billed as “the uncensored, terrifying and often darkly funny reality of life as a prison officer in an all-male prison in 21st-century Britain”.
Mr Williams said: “There is so much more to prison and those who live and work there than misery and violence – and I’m incredibly proud to be working with STV and Channel 4 to show this in Screw, alongside the authenticity inspired by my experiences as a civilian worker in various prisons.”
Deaths and hospital admissions for Covid continuing to decline
DEATHS from Covid have fallen to their lowest level since late September, with hospitalisations for the disease also declining twice as fast among over-65s compared to younger age groups.
In the week to May 2, a total of 19 deaths were registered in Scotland where Covid was a confirmed or suspected cause, according to the National Records of Scotland.
The vast majority – 15 – occurred in people aged 75 or older, who still remain the most likely to die from the infection despite the vaccine rollout.
Seven of the deaths occurred in care homes.
Pete Whitehouse, director of statistical services, said: “We continue to see a progressive decline in the number of deaths involving Covid-19 since January and while that trend is very welcome, I am mindful that each represents a painful loss for a family in Scotland.
“There were 1,035 deaths in total from all causes this week, five per cent lower than the five-year average.”
Dementia sufferer put at risk as carers faked visits
A PRIVATE home care provider has apologised to a family for a catalogue of adult protection failures that put a 77-year-old woman with dementia at risk.
Nine complaints were upheld against Ayrshire-based firm Constance Care, which describes itself as a “market leader” in home and live-in care services.
The family of Eileen Martin moved her to sheltered housing complex in Giffnock in August last year to be closer to family. While initial tests suggested dementia, she was waiting for a formal diagnosis and was experiencing acute periods of mental confusion.
Four daily visits were arranged by the East Renfrewshire Council with the Kilmarnock-based firm. Within a month, her family say they became concerned that checks and crucial medication prompts were being missed. It later transpired that care workers were falsifying records to say that visits had taken place.
The situation came to a head in November when the family were unable to contact their mother and she was found outside that complex, cold and confused, with a bag of odd items packed.
A carer – who had previously visited – found her outside but did not raise the alarm and the family don’t know how long she was outside. All nine complaints lodged by the family were upheld by the Care Inspectorate involving adult protection, record keeping, care and treatment, privacy and dignity, and healthcare.
Scotland’s leaders wait for results after final push
VOTERS were yesterday faced with struggling through snow and torrential rain in many parts of Scotland to cast their ballots in the Holyrood election, making turnout an all- important factor.
With traditional campaigning curtailed by the pandemic, the parties threw all their final efforts into getting their supporters out to the polling stations.
High turnout is seen as favouring the SNP.
After casting their ballots and visiting their seats and target seats, most party leaders dashed across the country to key seats to spur on activists and grab the attention of electors.
The results of around 10 marginals held by Unionist parties are likely to determine if the SNP can win an overall majority and demand an independence referendum.
The party, which fell two short of a majority at the last election, is expected to pick up the Edinburgh Central seat won unexpectedly by Ruth Davidson in 2016, and is also looking to gain Tory-held Ayr and Eastwood.
However, the SNP is also felt to be vulnerable in some seats where its MSPs are stepping down, with the Liberal Democrats eyeing up Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, and the Tories hopeful of taking Perthshire South.
A YouGov poll for The Times also put support for independence down, at 47 per cent among decided voters, suggesting there may be a hardening of the anti-SNP vote.
Saturday, May 8 Under-40s ‘should be offered vaccine alternative’
PEOPLE aged 30 to 39 in the UK are to be offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precaution due to a very small risk of rare blood clots.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is not banning the use of the vaccine in this age group, but said where the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines were available they should be used preferentially as long as this does not cause any substantial delays to the vaccination programme.
It follow reports of 242 cases of blood clots accompanied by low blood platelet count in the UK, all in people who had the AstraZeneca vaccine, out of around 28.5 million doses given.
SNP on course for comfortable electorial win
SNP hopes of winning another Holyrood majority were fading last night, although the outcome of the most consequential election of devolution remains in the balance.
After yesterday’s first wave of constituency results, Nicola Sturgeon remained on course for a comfortable SNP win and the party’s fourth consecutive term in office. However, while the SNP’s national vote share was fractionally up on the 2016 election, tactical voting against it in key marginal seats meant it failed to make all the net gains needed for a majority.
In seat after seat, Unionist voters backed the candidate best placed to keep out the Nationalists in the hope of thwarting a second independence referendum.
The country’s leading pollster, Professor Sir John Curtice, of Strathclyde University, predicted the SNP would fall one or two MSPs shy of the 65 majority mark. Ms Sturgeon, who lost the SNP’s majority in 2016 as her party fell from 69 to 63 MSPs, played down the prospect of recovering it, calling a majority a “very, very long shot”.
She said: “That has always been on a knife-edge; a small number of votes in a small number of seats.” Ms Sturgeon campaigned on the basis of her experience and leading the country through the pandemic, and giving people the chance to vote in Indyref2 by 2024, Covid permitting, followed by independence in 2026.
Her Unionist opponents said the economic recovery should take priority over the constitution, while her critics within the Yes movement said she should inject more urgency into the campaign.