Eric Clive

Are Labour really going to try and tie current economic damage (and hence the need for further tax rises) to Farage and to Brexit, whilst at the same time insisting that persevering with Brexit is the right thing to do?

That feels like gaslighting of the very highest order.

Just watched John Swinney acquitting himself with dignity, restraint and good sense in two interviews. The one by Laura Kuensberg was predominantly petty and nasty. It did her reputation no good at all. The one by Martin Geissler was tough but fair. It addressed serious policy issues.

Aye 😡

Read the Executive summary here 👇

UK passports set for change from December – here's how THE King’s coat of arms will be on the front of all new passports from December, the Home Office has announced.

Scotland didn't vote for this kind of passport - and neither (Kemi Badenoch please note) did Northern Ireland.

www.thenational.scot/news/2553511...

I may do that, Scott. It was excellent. The question of the "audience" in statutory drafting is interesting and important. So glad you're teaching statutory drafting and interpretation in the way you are.

Was amused to be given the option of having a toilet seat delivered in a brown paper wrapping rather than the manufacturer's box. Offer declined. Delivery driver thereby subjected to the awful knowledge that this house probably has a toilet.
Seriously though, where does this prudishness come from?

Pubs to stay open until early hours in push for UK growth Exclusive: Plans for England and Wales would help the ailing hospitality sector but have attracted criticism from health experts

So people in England and Wales are now to drink their way to prosperity. Nothing could illustrate better the absurdity of going for growth of any kind at any cost.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...

In Scotland we only have the choice of a British media. When it comes to politics its opinion is entirely gauged through the lense of England where its based. Scotland is quite different - as this latest YouGov poll neatly illustrates.

Only independence will address this.

#OnafhankelijkheidNu

Scots warned they'll 'see a lot more' of Keir Starmer ahead of Holyrood election ARE Labour trying to throw the Holyrood election next year?

Maybe the Tories will send up Brit Ian to counter the appeal of Brit Keir.
www.thenational.scot/news/2552519...

So, Starmer is going to be visiting Scotland more often in the months leading up to GE2026. Maybe the media could get off their arses and ask him these questions.

It seems quite possible that the whole America-harming Trumpist agenda will collapse in revulsion before the next UK general election. With it will go the political prospects of its authoritarian imitators in the UK. I cling to this hope.

It's a pretty big deal that the NYC Bar Association--one of the most prominent and respected bar associations in the country--is accusing the President of ordering the "unlawful summary execution," i.e. murder--of civilians in violation of US and international law. www.nycbar.org/press-releas...

I don't subscribe to a stitch-up theory but I think there is a huge reluctance to admit openly that the FWS case has made some legislation more rather than less necessary. Understandable political caution, with elections coming up, is one thing. A devious lack of openness is another.

So we don't know how the judge might have interpreted the weird drafting of reg 15 of the School Premises (Scotland) Regs 1967. That reg must pose a problem for schools. It's astonishing that the Scottish government said virtually nothing about it in its recent guidance on supporting trans pupils.

I asked the Scottish Council of Law Reporting whether there were plans to report the case of Hurley v Scottish Borders Council (on gender neutral school toilets). There are not, because "there was no opinion published ... to accompany the decision" and "it doesn't seem to exist elsewhere".

It breaks my mind that two British political parties have seen scenes like this and decided to try and replicate it in Britain. Thuggary, lawlessness, state brutality. Farage and Badenoch decided they liked the look of it.

Predictable stuff from Home Sec on Laura Kuensberg show just now - clamp down further on pro-Palestine protests. Very little, if any, recognition that Israel's atrocities in Gaza ara at the root of the deplorable and horrible rise in anti-semitism.

But then they go on to say . "Depending on the particular circumstances of individual pupils, schools may require to take legal advice on any approach or proposed approach, including where this means changing an existing arrangement."
No mention of the need to update the 1967 Regs!

This is the road to perdition.

Enjoyed the piece, headed "Scots once sought better lives. Now we burn hotels for housing others".

The suggestion that it should be "the some people's party" is a nice one but is maybe really saying that her party has the wrong nickname. I'd go along with that.

Some fine oyster mushrooms on a poplar log.

True - esp as the new guidance mentions gender neutral facilities with approval. "Education authorities and schools should consider the toilet provision necessary for transgender pupils. This may include the use of gender neutral provision."

Written answer 26/6/24.

"The Scottish Government intends to update the
[Regs].

Given the time elapsed between the previous consultation exercise that took place in 2017-18, we must now consider the updated context that the regulations will exist in. We are now taking this work forward."

I've been (belatedly) looking at reg 15 of the School Premises (Scotland) Regs 1967. Strange. Half of the toilets are to be for boys. Nothing about the other half. So could gender neutral toilets be taken out of that half? Surely not - too discriminatory against girls. What a mess! Updating needed.

Kemi Badenoch mistakenly says NI voted in favour of Brexit In a BBC NI interview, the Tory leader said the

Kemi Badenoch saying “the last time I checked, Northern Ireland did vote to leave” is so on-brand it hurts. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Rachel Reeves says she will 'always be a friend of Israel' Rachel Reeves has said she will "always be a friend of Israel".

Has she any idea of how this otp declaration of undying friendship for a country ruled by a genocidal regime goes down in the country at large?

"https://www.thenational.scot/news/25510910.rachel-reeves-says-will-always-friend-israel/

Pheasant In north Edinburgh garden . First time I’ve seen this in over 50 years,

Para 32 of the 2017 Consultation suggested "except
where they are provided for use by one pupil at a time. Urinals in these circumstances may no longer be necessary ..." Of course this might now be reconsidered but I hope not.
I cannot see any good objection to single user gender neutral toilets.

Updating the School Premises Regulations 1967: consultation Scottish Government consultation seeking views on the updating of the School Premises (General Requirements and Standards) Regulations 1967.

Thanks, Scott. Reg 15 does indeed require half the toilets to be for boys and half for girls (with urinals for the boys). The Scottish Gov has for years been considering updating these regs. The sooner the better. www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-...