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By Shaun Milne
ANIMAL welfare supporters are stepping up their call for a ban on snares by launching a new campaign at the Scottish Parliament later this week.
Edinburgh based Advocates for Animals will unveil an 8ft sign reading ‘Welcome To Scotland, A Snare Free Country’ outside Holyrood at 10am on Thursday.
The snares being targeted include wire nooses used by some estates and farmers to catch what they commonly regard as pests such as rabbits and foxes. Continue reading
By Shaun Milne
POLICE have arrested a man over an assault on a Paramedic who was trying to help him after a crash.
The 52-year-old had been involved in a collision in South Queensferry and turned on the medic who was tending his injuries.
Officers found he was over the legal drink drive limit and charged him.
No further details have been released.
But the incident came on the first day of a national police summer anti drink/drug drive campaign. Continue reading
Deadline reporter PAUL THORNTON joined SNP leader Alex Salmond for an interview on the campaign trail during his journey between Edinburgh and Glasgow as the countdown to polling continues.
THE SNP has warned that Scotland is on track to be dragged back into a Thatcher like era even if the Tories fail to win any seats north of the Border.
During a coast to coast rail journey between Edinburgh and Glasgow, Nats leader Alex Salmond said only the prospect of a hung Parliament through voting for his party could stop that from happening.
Mr Salmond said: “We are now certain that there are only two possible outcomes to this election.
“One is a balanced Parliament.
“But we also have to look at the possibility that there is a Tory government.
“We are hoping for a balanced Parliament because that would allow for a strong block of SNP and Plaid Cymru, a Celtic block to get success for Scotland.
“David Cameron has refused to answer the question whether he is going to tear up the funding formula and have a special Scottish cut in addition to all the other spending cuts.
“It is an incredible claim by the Conservatives that even if they get no MPs at all in Scotland they will rule the country on the back of anyone who votes Liberal or Labour.
“That is what Margaret Thatcher used to do in the 80s and David Cameron seems to want to take us back to the 1980s.
“What we have got from Labour now, it looks like the last desperate throw of the dice, if they had said this at the start of the campaign then there might have been some logic to it but now in the last few days it looks like ‘oh dear, we are getting beat what can we think of to try to prop up our position?’. Continue reading
LABOUR “dinosaur” MP John Prescott has come under fire from eco-campaigners for shunning his own “battle bus.”
The 71 year-old – once dubbed “two Jags” for having two cars – brought his “Prescott Express” campaign to Edinburgh today (Friday) – but arrived in the Scottish by a train from Wolverhampton.
Quizzed over the bizarre transport arrangements he insisted he couldn’t “just nip up” on the bus because politics was “about going everywhere.”
One Labour supporter at the campaign event at an Edinburgh Tesco said: “What’s the point in him having a battle bus if he doesn’t even travel about in it?”
Continue reading
SCOTLAND’S top footballers have backed a campaign to show the red card to a £300million taxpayer handout to the tobacco trade.
Euro MP Alyn Smith has signed up the skippers from Rangers, Hearts and Aberdeen in a battle against public money supporting tobacco farmers.
David Weir, Michael Stewart and Mark Kerr have all joined the SNP MEP’s campaign, it is hoped could tackle cancer death levels.
Around one third of the population of Europe smokes, and the habit is estimated to be behind one million fatalities.
Continue reading
CHOCOLATE giants Mars have scored an own goal with Scots football fans for “treating the UK as if it’s England” in their latest branding drive.
Angry Tartan Army followers have spotted England’s Three Lions logo on the famous sweet bar three months before the 2010 World Cup kicks off.
The Britain-wide campaign is proving hard to swallow for Scotland fans who say they are “fed up” of hearing about their rivals playing in the South Africa tournament before it has even started.
Continue reading
Elaine McGonigle (left) with Jack McConnell and George Foulkes at a New Pyjama event at the Parliament last November
By Cara Sulieman
THE director of a fundraising campaign has been suspended while the chairman has resigned amid concerns about how much money the initiative has raised.
Elaine McGonigle has been suspended from the New Pyjamas Campaign for the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh ahead of crisis talks with NHS Lothian due to take place tomorrow (Wednesday).
Chairman Graeme Millar has also stepped down from his position.
NHS Lothian Chairman, Dr Charles Winstanley, said the health board called an emergency summit after expressing their “deep concern” when brought up to date on how much had been raised.
The Sick Kids Friends Foundation said they were beginning an “urgent review” of the fundraising campaign.
By Rory Reynolds
THE BRITISH National Party’s Scottish leader aims to contest Jim Murphy’s seat in the May election as part of PR drive to win a seat at Holyrood next year.
The far-right party will use the Westminster election campaign to gain publicity for the next Scottish Parliament election in 2011, where they believe they can win a regional list seat.
Murphy’s East Renfrewshire constituency will be one of the key battlegrounds north of the border, with the BNP even claiming that they could cost Labour enough votes to allow the Tories to take the seat.
The BNP admits they will lose in May, but hope to boost their support and will be fielding candidates against Gordon Brown, Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling as well.
However, Murphy has said he will unite Christian, Muslim and Jewish groups to battle the party, which he described as “abhorrent”. Continue reading
by Rory Reynolds
STRICTLY Come Dancing judge Alesha Dixon is backing a major new Scottish campaign to promote the well-being of pets and animals.
Former Mis-Teeq star and Strictly winner Alesha will be featured on billboards and adverts around the country, with her face pictured next to a cat’s.
MESSAGE: HumanKind. AnimalKind. OneKind.
She is joined by ITV chat show host Paul O’Grady and comedian Johnny Vegas for the ad campaign by Edinburgh based charity Advocates for Animals to promote the idea that animals have similar feelings to humans.
“I love all animals”
The 31-year-old beauty: “I am delighted to support Advocates for Animals’ new OneKind campaign – I love all animals.
“Anyone who, like me has dogs or other pets, knows without question that animals have thoughts and feelings.”
The ad campaign, which will appears in newspapers over October and November, is to promote the well-being of wild animals and pets. Continue reading
By Cara Sulieman
A GORDON Brown lookalike dressed as a life-guard hit a beach in the PM’s own back yard today (thurs) to send an SOS on climate change.
The giant headed doppelganger urged the real prime minister to become a ‘lifesaver’ ahead of the forthcoming climate conference in Copenhagen.
With 100 days until the talks – which aim to create a new deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol – campaigners from Oxfam gathered in Gordon Brown’s constituency to raise awareness of the issues at stake.
Deadline Press & Picture Agency 