Scottish house prices up by 5.8%

In the latest four week period available the Scottish average house price has increased by 5.8% to £164,213 and the volume of sales in Scotland has increased by 12.2%.
The map below lets you find out what’s happening to house prices in your area.

You can get the 52 week version of this map at ros.gov.uk. You [...]

Fear of Scotland’s pantomime horse in Liechtenstein

By Stewart Weir
To end a week when most of our clubs found the transfer window boarded up, Scotland’s national team will on Friday evening begin trying to unlock a door that might lead to Poland and Ukraine.
I know, it sounds a bit like an episode of Mr Benn. And there is even an element [...]

Scottish house prices up by 5.9%

In the latest four week period available the Scottish average house price has increased by 5.9% to £161,980 and the volume of sales in Scotland has increased by 12.1%.
The map below lets you find out what’s happening to house prices in your area.

You can get the 52 week version of this map at ros.gov.uk. You [...]

Edinburgh win bodes well for Magners League

The Blairs are back and this time there’s three of them.
Out-of-favour Scotland scrum half Mike Blair played a sizeable contribution to Edinburgh’s impressive 19-17 victory over London Irish at Murrayfield last night.
But his two brothers, David and Alex, also played important roles in this last friendly before the start of the Magners League season – [...]

Scottish house prices up by 5.5%

In the latest four week period available the Scottish average house price has increased by 5.5% to £160,751 and the volume of sales in Scotland has increased by 11.4%.
The map below lets you find out what’s happening to house prices in your area.

You can get the 52 week version of this map at ros.gov.uk. You [...]

Scottish house prices up by 4.6%

In the latest four week period available the Scottish average house price has increased by 4.6% to £157,435 and the volume of sales in Scotland has increased by 8.1%
The map below lets you find out what’s happening to house prices in your area.

You can get the 52 week version of this map at ros.gov.uk. You [...]

Scottish house prices up by 2.9%

In the latest four week period available the Scottish average house price has increased by 2.9% to £155.261 and the volume of sales in Scotland has increased by 7.6%.
The map below lets you find out what’s happening to house prices in your area.

You can get the 52 week version of this map at ros.gov.uk. You [...]

Edinburgh Fringe pick

Like a kind of cultural tsunami, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is now upon us – like you won’t have noticed, what with it being the world’s biggest-ever biggest arts festival and everything, not to mention the only time of year Scotland gets this much concerted media attention. So as you gird yourself for the onslaught, [...]

Scottish house prices up by 1.1%

In the latest four week period available the Scottish average house price has increased by 1.1% to £152,403 and the volume of sales in Scotland has increased by 9.3%.
The map below lets you find out what’s happening to house prices in your area.

You can get the 52 week version of this map at ros.gov.uk. You [...]

Useful Scots word: trauchled

by Betty Kirkpatrick
Trauchled is one of my favourite Scots words. This is not because it means something particularly pleasant because it certainly does not. I like it partly because of its sound, but mostly because it conveys its meaning so well that it is virtually untranslatable into English.
In order to translate trauchled into English satisfactorily [...]

Scots get short straw in Magners League – again

NYONE who followed the Magners League last year will remember how tight the finish was. It is likely to be the same again this year, probably going down to the last game of the season to decide who goes into the play-offs.
With that as the background, it is then obvious that home advantage could [...]

Nine reasons why Mr MacAskill should go to Washington

FOR the past three years, the SNP administration has been desperate for status and standing on the world stage. Alex Salmond has done everything he can to elevate the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament to a position where it can be seen on its own, outside the umbrella of the UK Government.
Then along comes [...]

MacAskill won’t attend Senate committee hearing

ENNY MacAskill, Scotland’s Justice Secretary, made it clear last night he would refuse to go to the United States to give evidence on his decision to free the Lockerbie bomber last year.
Senators on the US Foreign Relations Committee asked Mr MacAskill and Dr Andrew Fraser, the prison health director in Scotland, to appear before a [...]

Alex Salmond’s letter to Senator Kerry

In response to recent accusations that oil-giant BP somehow had a hand in the decision by the Scottish Government to release the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Ali Mohamed Al-Megrahi, on compassionate grounds last year, the First Minister has written to US Senator John Kerry, chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations:
Dear Senator Kerry,
I am [...]

Opinion: The true cost of Calman

No one can expect to escape the effect of the huge cuts in UK Government spending set in train by last week’s emergency Budget. But in Scotland, if the much-vaunted Calman proposals are adopted, the impact is bound to be even more severe.
The cuts will certainly result in a significant reduction in the block grant [...]

Interview with Iain MacMillan on CBI industry survey

CBI Scotland has just published its quarterly Industrial Trends Survey. It shows that output has continued to grow slowly but steadily over the past 12 months. That’s expected to continue for the rest of the year. Exports in particular were up on the previous quarter but demand at home was fairly static. Employment went [...]

Useful Scots word – Fushionless

by Betty Kirkpatrick
he Scots word shilpit, which I have just written about, is used to refer to someone who lacks a strong physique, but what of those who lack strength of character or purpose? In Scots, they can be described as fushionless, pronounced so that the first element of the word rhymes with cushion.
Fushionless people [...]

Scottish house prices down by 0.5%

In the latest four week period available the Scottish average house price has decreased by -0.5% to £150,487 and the volume of sales in Scotland has increased by 11.3%.
The map below lets you find out what’s happening to house prices in your area.

You can get the 52 week version of this map at ros.gov.uk. You [...]

Much for Andy Robinson to think about as All Blacks show their cutting edge

SCOTLAND coach Andy Robinson should be enjoying a holiday away from rugby at the moment but it is difficult to see him being too far away from a television.
The Tri Nations is taking place on the other side of the world and while it usually matters little to Northern Hemisphere fans, there is the small [...]

Higher risk to babies born out of office hours

Babies born outside normal “office hours” are at greater risk of dying because of a lack of oxygen (intrapartum anoxia), according to a study of more than a million births in Scotland.
Researchers used detailed data from Scottish national registers to determine that babies have a better chance of survival if they are born between 9am [...]

Rise of the OAP – Older, Active Protestor

he Scots have long had a reputation for being a slightly awkward bunch. A new survey claims that older Scots in particular deserve that reputation. The over-50s here (along with their counterparts in Wales) are the most avid campaigners for a range of causes.
The research was commissioned by the insurance provider, RIAS. It found that [...]

Useful Scots word: peelie-wally

by Betty Kirkpatrick
any of us who have a Celtic genetic inheritance have very fair skins. Usually this creates no problems and a fair skin can be a decided beauty asset. Pale skin looks fine against a background of its native heath, but transfer it to a sun-baked foreign beach and things change dramatically. Pale skin [...]

Are Scots slow on the uptake of technology?

report from networking giant Cisco suggests that people in Scotland have lower expectations of what technology can achieve than those living in the rest of the UK. On almost every question asking their predictions on when activities such as videoconferencing, online voting and watching more television on the internet will be available, the Scots [...]

Do England’s health reforms matter in Scotland?

This afternoon, Andrew Lansley, the UK health secretary, is due to publish a white paper describing how he wants to shake up the NHS in England.
But do the plans – expected to include proposals to devolve billions of pounds to consortia of GPs – have any relevance for Scotland?
At first glance, the answer looks like [...]

Vuvuzelas to video tech – World Cup 2010

It’s nearly time to Write The Past of the 2010 World Cup. Nike tried to Write the Future but that involved Sir Wayne Rooney inspiring a thousand newborn “Waynes”, the first ever light-entertainment trapeze act to commemorate a loss to Slovakia and draw against New Zealand (in honour of Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro), and Ronaldinho’s [...]

Opinion: We don’t need a new Forth bridge

This opinion piece was provided by Lawrence Marshall, chair of the ForthRight Alliance (FRA) in response to Hamish Macdonell’s article on these pages last month. The FRA are campaigning against the planned additional road crossing of the Forth at Queensferry. Mr Marshall was chair of Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) from 2005 – 2007.
Whilst the [...]

Scottish entrepreneurs pitch in nationwide competition

The Pitch 2010 is a nationwide business competition. Today, the Scottish heat took place at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh. They were pitching for the chance to go to the London Finals in November and a £50,000 prize. David Calder went along to find out more from one of the organisaters, Dan Martin [...]

Clegg’s referendum plan undermines ‘respect’ agenda

T takes a particularly inept form of political manoeuvring to unite the sworn enemies of the SNP and Scottish Labour but that is exactly what the coalition government at Westminster has managed to achieve.
It is very rare indeed for the Nationalists and Scottish Labour Party to share the same view on anything, let alone anything [...]

Scotland’s average house prices continue to decrease

In the latest four week period available the Scottish average house price has decreased by -0.3% to £151,560 however the volume of sales in Scotland has increased by 6.4%.
The map below lets you find out what’s happening to house prices in your area.

You can get the 52 week version of this map at ros.gov.uk. You [...]

Caledonian Mercury team up with Scotland on Facebook

The Caledonian Mercury has teamed up with the creators of Scotland’s largest Facebook page, called simply Scotland.
As a result selected Caley Merc headlines will appear on their wall.
The page was created to bring together Scots everywhere and those interested in Scotland. The team also created scotlandspub.com as a place to publicise community events.
We are delighted [...]

Scottish house prices down by 0.6%

In the latest four week period available the Scottish average house price has decreased by -0.6% to £150,727 however the volume of sales in Scotland has increased by 11.3%.
The map below lets you find out what’s happening to house prices in your area.

You can get the 52 week version of this map at ros.gov.uk. You [...]

‘66 An Aw That

by Anither Rab
Wi the Warld Cup weel unner wey in Sooth Africa the noo, nae doot ye’ll hiv lost coont o the nummer o times the “British” media haes makit reference tae “England ‘66″. The jersey makars e’en haes it on some o thair England fitba jerseys an A’m sayin naethin aboot chocolate bars an [...]

London BBC turns back on Scottish tests

By the time Matt Giteau sliced his final conversion attempt wide, sending a roar of victory out from Murrayfield, some 2.5 million viewers from all over the UK were watching the BBC live broadcast of Scotland versus the Wallabies last November.
That is a substantial figure for any event but for a Scotland international which did [...]

Three tips as the three lions slouch from ‘66 to ‘78

By James Browne
This is England’s 1978. And, for the mental health of our southern neighbours, it’s about time.
Let’s get the disclaimer out of the way first. I completely accept that England are a much better football team than Scotland. I don’t like having to admit that but England participate in major competitions, something we seem [...]

Number of Scottish house sales up 13.8%

In the latest four week period available the Scottish average house price has increased by 0.5% to £151,298 as the volume of sales in Scotland also increased by 13.8 %.
The map below lets you find out what’s happening to house prices in your area.

You can get the 52 week version of this map at ros.gov.uk. [...]

Mary of Guise – the Widowed Queen

She was a beautiful, witty, clever single mother. French born, she rose to become the regent of Scotland, and mother of Mary Queen of Scots. The life of the ‘other’ Mary – Mary of Guise – had as much drama and intrigue as her more famous daughter. Yet much less is known about the Queen [...]

Echoes of ’78 for Scottish-South Africans

by Andrew Macdonell
Scottish ex-pats living in South Africa could be forgiven for feeling an eerie sense of “déjà vu” given the performance of the ‘Bafana Bafana’ national team in the first two games of this World Cup. For Scots of a certain age, the scars from the 1978 World Cup in Argentina are still there [...]

Opinion: The patheticness of Gauguingate

By James Browne

Something is missing from the Frank McAveety “Gauguingate” yarn.
Interest.
When I heard that he’d quit as convener of the public petitions committee, I imagined that the chain of events was something like this:
McAveety ripped off his clothing, revealing a wince-inducing “three lions” tattoo in a most unusual location. Committee Room One cleared in seconds [...]

Scotland’s average house prices continue to rise

In the latest four week period available the Scottish average house price has increased by 1.4% to £150,341 as the volume of sales in Scotland also increased by 1.9%.
The map below lets you find out what’s happening to house prices in your area.

You can get the 52 week version of this map at ros.gov.uk. You [...]

Ssshhh, Scotland’s win in Argentina might signal something good

Whisper it quietly, but Andy Robinson may just be building something pretty decent in this Scotland team.
Saturday night’s victory over Argentina in Tucuman was important for several reasons: it was away, in a hostile environment where the hosts had never been beaten before, it was achieved over a full-strength Argentina side who are above Scotland [...]

Why I joined the Algeria-Slovenia-USA 2010 Supporters’ Club

Living in London is, for the most part, a joy. The choice of restaurants, galleries, theatres, parks, museums on offer is tremendous. For all its landmarks, there are some times when life in the capital doesn’t seem that attractive. Those times can normally be pinned down, biennially, to when England are in the finals of [...]

First time buyers still locked out

A report from the housing charity, Shelter Scotland, suggests that would-be first time buyers are still locked out of home ownership. Its annual Affordability Index shows that, despite the impact of the recession on house prices and record low interest rates, becoming a home-owner in Scotland is 75% harder than it was 15 years ago.
The [...]

Glasgow Warrior Richie Vernon on Heineken Cup draw 2010/11.

Listen to an interview with Richie Vernon on the Heineken Cup draw for next season which sees the Glasgow Warriors in a tough group with Toulouse, Wasps and Newport Dragons.

BBC ALBA to broadcast Magners League next season

BBC ALBA, Scotland’s gaelic television channel, has signed a deal to show live Magners League rugby in Scotland for the next four years, it was announced today.
In what the SRU described today as a “massive boost” for the game north of the border, BBC ALBA will show eight live matches involving the Scottish professional sides [...]

No Scottish honeymoon for Lib-Con marriage

The smiles were real yesterday – on both sides. Alex Salmond had what he wanted: £182 million for renewable energy with the likely addition of another £190 million in London Olympic consequentials. For David Cameron, it was another step in his journey to make himself, if not loved, then at least appreciated, north of the [...]

‘We need to stop unsustainable cost-cutting measures in NHS’

Theresa Fyffe, director of RCN Scotland, sets out what she wants from the new “scrutiny group” which will review proposed job cuts in the NHS – and says the government must act on any problems it identifies.
After weeks of speculation and leaks we finally have the workforce projections for every health board in Scotland. And [...]

Munro-round record hits new heights as 40-day barrier is breached

Well, that didn’t take long. At 3:06pm on June 3, a mere 39 days, nine hours and six minutes after having started on Mull on April 25, the Staffordshire-based runner Stephen Pyke – Spyke to pretty much everyone who knows him – reached the top of Ben Hope, Scotland’s most northerly 3,000ft hill.
He thus completed [...]

Working out what Scotland means for Malawi

By John Knox
Even after 150 years of “partnership” we are still puzzled by Malawi, Scotland’s adopted country in Africa. A few days ago I dropped into a church meeting in Edinburgh to hear Rev MacDonald Kadawati, General Secretary of the Presbyterian Synod of Blantyre, speak about the issues facing his country.
“ The big question we [...]

Two-thirds of Scots SMEs miss out on exports

A report today from Bank of Scotland Commercial suggests that many Scottish businesses are losing out on international opportunities by not exporting. It says that only a third of Scots SMEs export their products or services. Concerns about doing business in a foreign language worry some, while 41% described fearing a lack of demand as [...]

Number of house sales up 15%

In the latest four week period available the Scottish average house price has increased by 6.9% to £151,627 as the volume of sales in Scotland also increased by 15.2%.
The map below lets you find out what’s happening to house prices in your area.

You can get the 52 week version of this map at ros.gov.uk. You [...]

Next Page »