"The scale of divergence in income tax bills between Scotland and the rest of the UK for high income earners has increased significantly over the last two years."
"I hear journalists are wondering if I’ve put my name in for the Scottish Parliament. Big news re 2026 coming in the next hour…watch this space."
"Kate Forbes still has her own leadership ambitions, setting them aside this Spring in the interest of party unity to accept Mr Swinney's offer to become Deputy First Minister."
"I look forward to any contest, where of course it will be for branch members to select those they wish to represent them in Holyrood in the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections.”
The university representative organisation Universities Scotland warn the additional costs will put the institutions under "serious pressure".
"The changes to employers’ national insurance contributions is estimated to introduce a direct cost of at least £265m for local government, before additional costs for commissioned services in the third and independent sector are taken into account."
“Ministers like to claim they are world-leading on this issue, but the reality is that the SNP have missed crucial targets in nine out of the last 13 years. Now they have had to ditch them altogether after typically over promising and under delivering."
Riot police were pelted with bricks and fireworks in the Niddrie area of Edinburgh with a female officer hurt when the window of her vehicle was shattered. An open-top bus carrying young people with disabilities was also targeted with fireworks outside the city’s Dynamic Earth attraction.
'People smuggling should be viewed as a global security threat similar to terrorism. We’ve got to combine resources, share intelligence and tactics, and tackle the problem upstream, working together to shut down the smuggling routes.'
'Being an MSP is a full-time job and should be seen as such'
