SNP-Greens coalition at risk after MSP bids to sway talks
A COALITION deal between the Greens and the SNP could be in jeopardy after an MSP tried to influence the talks before they had even begun.
Ross Greer, Green Party MSP for West Scotland, has been attempting to direct fellow party members to support key priorities such as transport and housing in a bid to get an agreement with the nationalists.
This is despite promises by Green leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater that the talks would be led by members’ priorities and opinions.
Green members were sent a survey on Monday asking them for their views on what the priorities should be.
‘Every adult in Scotland to have first jab by July 18’
Whisky firms toast sales as US suspends import tariffs
WHISKY firms are set for a multimillion-pound sales boost after the US agreed to suspend its tariffs on imports for five years.
It comes after the UK agreed a trade deal with Australia on Tuesday, which will see the five per cent tax on imports of the spirit lifted.
The agreement also comes after the EU and US agreed to suspend their own retaliatory tariffs against one another for five years.
Joe Biden’s government yesterday agreed to remove the 25% import taxes on singe malt being imported into the US, after they were imposed by former president Donald Trump as part of retaliation in an ongoing dispute over aircraft manufacturer subsidies with Europe.
Liz Truss, UK Government Trade Secretary, met with her US counterpart Katherine Tai at the Department for International Trade’s headquarters in London to reach the agreement to suspend retaliatory tariffs.
Saturday, June 19 Fears over £63m plan to exploit medical records
A PLAN worth £63 million to exploit NHS records has been criticised for failing to offer patients a choice over whether their personal health data is shared with researchers.
More than 1.1 million people in the Lothians, Borders and Fife could see their medical records analysed by researchers for the benefit of private firms as part of a project dubbed the “Data Loch”.
Although the project, which is managed by the University of Edinburgh and NHS Lothian and funded as part of the South East Scotland City Region Deal, is not set to become fully operational until late 2022, The Ferret, an investigation team, has established the Data Loch already combines a number of different data sets about patients.
The stored information includes data on visits to hospitals and primary care facilities, as well as records from some local GP surgeries in the area. NHS Scotland data on prescriptions, mental health treatment and Covid-19 shielding status are also available through the project.
Critics have demanded more transparency on data usage.
ALL first doses of the coronavirus vaccine should be completed in Scotland by July 18, Nicola Sturgeon has said, adding everyone should be fully vaccinated by mid-September.
The Scottish Government initially planned to offer first doses to all adults by the end of July, but the First Minister said “rapid progress” had been made. Speaking at a coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh yesterday, the First Minister set July 18 as the new date for the first round of vaccinations to be complete.
She added: “Vaccines are the way back to normality – I think we are increasingly confident of that.
“Every single one of us who gets these jabs is representing a step back towards normal life.”
Nicola Sturgeon said all adults in the youngest age group, 18-29, should expect to have received a first vaccine appointment letter by next week.
There were 950 positive cases reported on Thursday, bringing the total number of current cases to 251,911.
Of those, 128 people are being treated in hospital, 12 fewer than the previous day with no change to the number (12) in intensive care. There were two further deaths. Scotland is said to be experiencing around 1,000 new cases every day. It comes as Public Health England warned there has been a 79% rise in one week in cases of the Delta variant.