Just in time for the weekend, here’s a look at the top 10 political must-reads from the last seven days:
1. Green co-leaders join Scottish Government as part of partnership deal
The co-leaders of the Scottish Greens Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater will serve with the First Minister in the SNP-led government as part of a powersharing agreement. As The Press & Journal’s Political Editor Andy Philip reports, the deal was negotiated over the summer but still needs approval from party members. Read more here.
2. Scottish covid inquiry gets the go-ahead
The Scottish Government committed this week to launching a judge-led public inquiry into its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The First Minister made the announcement shortly after after families met her deputy, John Swinney, to push the case for answers. Read the full story here.
3. Aberdeen North among worst hit by Universal Credit cut
More than four in 10 families with children in Aberdeen North will be hit by planned cuts to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit. As Adele Merson reports, analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) reveals 4,130 families in the constituency (42%) receive the benefit payments, making the constituency one of the worst-affected in Scotland, if the policy goes ahead. Read Adele’s full story here.
Extra: ‘We’ve got to start to pay back’: Douglas Ross defends plan to cut Universal Credit
4. ‘The thin blue line is at times very thin’: North and north-east police divisions shrink
Local police divisions in the north and north-east lost dozens of officers last year as resources were diverted to national teams. As Calum Ross and Joely Santa Cruz report, new figures show the north-east division was reduced in size by 34 officers between March 2020 and the same month this year, while in the Highlands and Islands there was a decrease of 11. Read more here.
5. SNP releases its annual accounts
The SNP released their annual accounts on Thursday against the backdrop of an ongoing police investigation into alleged “fraud.” Reporter Paul Malik looks at five important new pieces of information we learned from the SNP’s finances. Read more here.
6. ‘Worrying gaps’: Doctors and nurses raise concern over £1bn Scottish NHS recovery plan
The Scottish Government unveiled it’s post-covid plans to get the NHS back in rude health again. However both the British Medical Association and Royal College of Nursing sounded the alarm over the plans, warning Nicola Sturgeon will have to go further as the claim the NHS is “close to failing” in places. Read the full story here.
7. Oil workers ‘effectively banned from Norway’ due to Scotland Covid-app delay
The Scottish Government’s digital vaccine passport delay is jeopardising the livelihoods of oil and gas workers, according to MSP Liam Kerr. The north-east politician has been contacted by sector workers who have to quarantine in hotels at a cost of £1,000 before they can enter Norway because Scotland still does not have an app-based system for proving vaccination status. Read more here.
8. ‘Postcode penalty’: Delivery charges cost north and north-east adults more than £38 million a year
Households and businesses across the north and north-east are bearing the brunt of parcel delivery surcharges at a cost of more than £38 million a year. New research by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Spice) has revealed the additional cost to Scottish adults in areas commonly impacted by parcel delivery surcharges relative to the rest of Scotland is £44.8m. Read the full story here.
9. Scottish Government in new drive to move civil service jobs out of Central Belt
The Scottish Government is drawing up plans to resurrect a policy of moving civil service jobs from the central belt – and has been urged to start with CalMac and the new National Care Service. Officials have been “considering dispersing government workforce more widely across Scotland”, with the Highlands and Islands to be “prioritised as a location”. Read more here.
Extra: Lord McConnell urges SNP ministers to move civil service jobs north
10. Aberdeenshire councillor quits SNP after deal with Greens
An SNP councillor has resigned from the party claiming “government policy is being made with little or no understanding of the challenges remote rural communities face”. Geva Blackett, who represents Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside, said “many rural jobs are under threat” as a result of the co-operation agreement struck between the SNP and Greens last week. Read the full story here.
