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SNP plans to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes could lead to a rise in counterfeiting – say critics.
The party hopes to introduce plain packaging for all tobacco companies and force them to display bigger health warnings.
But critics and the tobacco lobby have warned that standardised packaging could also have damaging effects.
They say that it could lead to a price war resulting in increased smoking rates thanks to cheap cigarettes and also to a rise in counterfeiting. Continue reading
By Oliver Farrimond
A SCOTS explorer and reality TV star has invited budding adventurers to join him on an epic 2000-mile cycle trek across Australia.
Mike Laird, who was born in Edinburgh, hopes to retrace the footsteps of the doomed 1860 expedition by Robert O’Hara Burke and William Wills, in which all but one member of the expedition perished.
And now, having already completed the trans-Australia ride solo, the 41-year-old former Castaway star has spread the word for amateur cyclists to join him on his next journey.
He said: “I wanted to open this amazing trip up to other people and thought other cyclists would appreciate the amazing landscape and wildlife. Continue reading
By Andrea McCallum
SUSAN Boyle has revealed that she almost gave up her dream of stardom before auditioning for Britain’s Got Talent.
The Scottish singing sensation spoke of her appearance on the talent show almost a year since she became an overnight star.
And the 49-year-old said the only reason she went on the show – paneled by Simon Cowell – is because of a pledge she made to her late mother.
A SCOT has been officially recorded as neither male nor female in what is believed to be a world first.
Paisley-born Norrie May-Welby has won the right to have a birth certificate that specifies “Sex Not Specified.”
The 48 year-old – who was born a man and had a sex change operation 20 years ago – now lives in Australia and last week convinced authorities to create a genderless option on all official documents.
Doctors recently declared they were unable to determine whether Norrie’s body was a man or a woman, according to the ex-pat.
Continue reading
By Cara Sulieman
A CLAN chief is plotting to take back land that he claims once used to belong to his family.
Ranald MacDonald, chief of the MacDonald’s of Keppoch branch, is hoping to use an ancient law to regain ownership of the entire area of Lochaber.
And he claims that the law stands in his favour – with the government failing to abolish an Anglo-Saxon system of ownership.
The chief wants to use Ur Duthchas – Gaelic for clan territory – to achieve his aims and has now submitted a petition to the Scottish Parliament in the hope that they will agree with him.
Mr MacDonald became the chief of the clan after a legal battle that he took all the way to the Court of Session in 2004 where the judges decided that he was the rightful successor.
By Shaun Milne
A WOMAN who fears she came face to face with Polish sex attacker Tomasz Kryczyk while his victim was still being raped described him as “evil” yesterday – and spoke of her regret at not calling police when she had the chance.
The 39-year-old from Dalry in Edinburgh – who does not want to be identified – said she stumbled across the sadist as he scrambled up an embankment and started adjusting his clothing.
It was thought his co-accused – Michal Marchlewski – may still have been raping their 24-year-old Australian victim during an eight hour ordeal.
Sinister
Today the woman told how she will always regret failing to call police despite admitting being spooked by their “sinister” behaviour.
And while Kryczyk hanged himself in prison and Marchlewski faces life in jail, she knows the life of their victim has been ruined forever.
She said: “They say the eyes are a way to see to the soul and his were evil.” Continue reading
David Hempleman-Adams
By Cara Sulieman
AN EXHIBITION celebrating the 100th anniversary of Captain Scott’s journey to the South Pole opens tomorrow (Fri).
Photographs on display include those taken by Herbert George Ponting during the tragic expedition in 1910-13 and Frank Hurley’s snaps from Ernest Shackleton’s expedition in 1914-16.
Also on display are the flag given to Scott by Queen Alexandra in 1910, the Union Jack given to Shackleton by King George V and books from the Royal Library, including a copy of ‘Aurora Australis’, the first book to be printed in the Antarctic.
The show, being held at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, was opened by explorer David Hempleman-Adams who was the first man to reach the four geographical and magnetic poles.
Bruce Kirkcaldy
By Cara Sulieman
STRANGERS from across the UK are meeting at a small town in Fife this weekend after an on-line campaign brought them together – because of their surname.
A group of people will gather in Kirkcaldy for the first meeting of ‘Clan Kirkcaldy’ after finding each other on Facebook.
It has been organised by Londoner Bruce Kirkcaldy, 23, who set up the group on the social networking site after Googling himself and realising others shared his unusual surname.
Bruce said: “Events like this aren’t common but I’m really looking forward to meeting the others.”
By Cara Sulieman
SCOTTISH women are getting through the credit crunch by selling their jewellery through ‘gold parties.’
The parties are similar to the Tupperware gatherings of the 1970s and give women the chance to part with their gold for a wad of much needed cash.
After starting in America at the end of last year, the craze has swept across the ocean and is beginning to take hold in Scotland.
A sales rep sets up shop in the party host’s home and uses gold-testing equipment to calculate the value based on the carat, weight and market price.
A NURSE celebrating her birthday has been hailed a heroine after pulling her elderly father from his car after it plunged 15 feet into stormy seas.
Robert Wilson, 79, from Accrington, near Manchester, was visiting relatives when he took daughter Philippa Fielden and her two Australian friends for a Forth Bridge sightseeing trip.
But the visit almost turned to tragedy as Mr Wilson tried to negotiate a tricky three-point turn at Long Craig Pier in South Queensferry on Tuesday at around 6pm.
The automatic silver Ford Mondeo suddenly careered forward off the pier and dropped head first into the water with all four still inside.
