Latest from The National
The National
an hour ago
- Business
- The National
Hamilton Accies confirm move to Broadwood Stadium
The embattled Lanarkshire club – relegated from the Scottish Premiership in 2021 – have been mired in financial and ownership difficulties, and were demoted from the Championship last month after incurring a 15-point deduction for breaching multiple Scottish Professional Football League rules. Amid the turbulence, Accies opted to leave New Douglas Park – their home since 2001 – due to a dispute over stadium ownership. Their request to play their home games at Broadwood in Cumbernauld was passed by the SPFL on Thursday, with a two-year lease – and the option of a third year if necessary – agreed with North Lanarkshire Council. Hamilton stated that their 'long-term ambition remains to return to the Hamilton area at the earliest opportunity' once they are 'stronger, more stable, and better equipped to serve the club and its community'. 'This relocation has not been undertaken lightly,' read a statement confirming the move. 'As part of our agreement, the club was required to commit to paying a full year of rental, operational, and security costs upfront, a significant financial obligation that has had immediate consequences for our liquidity. 'Compounding this challenge, since May we have been unable to sell season tickets, generate commercial income, or secure a shirt sponsor while awaiting formal confirmation of our league participation for the upcoming campaign. 'Despite these clear disadvantages, we remain undeterred. This move marks a turning point. A rebirth for Hamilton Academical Football Club. Our time away will be used strategically: to rebuild the club's financial strength, establish proper governance, and put in place a modern, accountable Board of Directors that will uphold the highest standards of compliance, professionalism, and ambition. 'We are committed to becoming a club of integrity, purpose, and innovation. 'We understand the emotional impact this temporary move may have. We apologise to our loyal supporters for the inconvenience, but we promise this: we will fight for our future, and when we return to Hamilton, it will be with a club that is revitalised and stronger in every sense. 'This is not the end of our story, it is the beginning of a bold new chapter.' Accies previously played outside of Hamilton – at Firhill and Cliftonhill – for seven years after selling former ground Douglas Park to a supermarket in 1994.
The National
an hour ago
- Sport
- The National
Ex-Rangers coach Alex Rae appointed as Partick Thistle No.2
The 55-year-old joins Mark Wilson's backroom team, becoming his assistant manager. Rae's most recent stint in coaching ended earlier this year when he departed his first team duties when Philippe Clement was sacked. 'I am really pleased to have this position at Partick Thistle," Rae said. "I watched a few of the club's games last season so I have a very good idea of what the team are capable of. "I actually know my way around The Wyre Stadium at Firhill already as I trained here for a while back in 1996/ 97 when I was a Sunderland player. Murdo MacLeod was in charge at that time and my friend David Farrell, who played for Thistle back then, helped organise that.' Read more: 'I have known Mark a long time and I am excited to be working with him. He was always a good opponent to play against and knowledgeable about the game.' Wilson added: 'Alex is not only an experienced coach, but he is also a first-class coach that has worked in football for a long time. I have known him for years and he is someone that has learned at different styles of clubs and clubs with different cultures. 'It is good news for Partick Thistle that we have that experience and education in our coaching team.'
The National
2 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
Will a group form to take forward constitutional convention plans?
READ MORE: John Swinney to host independence debate at SNP National Council in Perth However, with the petition for decolonisation now with the United Nations, it is up to every person who has the interests of an independent Scotland at heart to meet the challenges that face us. We need to prove beyond all reasonable doubt to the UN that we want independence and above all, that we are able and willing to form a new Scotland and its institutions in our own image. To do so, we need to call for and form a Scottish constitutional convention now and not at some distant time when it is suitable to some faceless civil servants who are doing it because they have been pushed into it by their English masters. We need answers to a great number of questions before independence and not after it, and above all we need to know what sort of country are we going to be setting up so that everybody is singing from the same sheet. With such a convention we can answer fully the question about currency, fiscal needs, the institutions et al of our country. Then the English Unionists won't be able to trip us up when it comes to a referendum, which is bound to happen when the UN agrees that we are a colony of England. READ MORE: SNP now seem content to manage Scotland's decline within the Union When the convention has been called we will be one more step along the way towards independence and it will make it harder for a prime minister of England to stand in our way. It is important to have representatives from all walks of life involved with the convention. Until then we are at the mercy of Downing Street and the English establishment. As there have been a reasonable number of letters here on the topic of calling for a convention, I say it is time we put that rhetoric into action. Effectively, I would say that we need to form a group of competent people who have the acumen to take the notion of a convention to the next step and get things up and running. Until then, nothing is going to happen and we are liable to remain just another colony of England. Who amongst the readers are capable of writing reports, asking important questions and knowing how to arrange meetings with groups and associations? Alexander Potts Kilmarnock GOD knows how much 'zooming' and 'teaming' has been done in the name of the independence struggle in recent years in lieu of face-to-face, cheek-by-jowl forums. If you add to that emails, texting, twittering and blogging then is not difficult to discern the principal reason that both esprit de corps, cohesion and solidarity remain sub-optimal in the movement and in society in general, much to the satisfaction of those who are rightly frightened of 'gatherings' of enthusiasts. I had the privilege to attend the summer conference of the Independence Forum Scotland (IFS) in Perth on Saturday and the way it was convened and conducted greatly advanced my grasp of several topics, from the cultural to nuances of energy policy, mainly rendered to me by folks sitting in close proximity to me. I could ask them about matters that have perplexed me and vice-versa. READ MORE: 'Scottish cringe' persists despite evidence of our distinctive culture I received tuition augmented by a three-dimensional 'model' involving non-verbal gesturing and the vast array of the facial expressions that evolution has come up with to facilitate both communication but also bonding among homo sapiens. The whole day was 'value for time t hat the vast majority of Zoom and Teams encounters fail to provide. The promised but not-now-to-be-delivered independence convention is yet another strategic failure by the SNP leadership to engage with the wider body of the kirk despite entreaties by their own rank-and-file and nearly everyone else and their auntie. It was suggested that two brief, cheap residential independence 'academy' weekend events for activists and prospective candidates could define the core curriculum and perhaps advance the principle reconciliation between friends who collaborated for several decades. This initiative received an enthusiastic response among among many quarters but a very tepid response from the celebrated, but as yet ineffective, party 'strategists'. In short, what we need is the microcosm of the IFS transformed to the macrocosm of a convention embedded in a cultural nationwide movement open to the man in the street, young and old. I fear it is too late for that now, so blundering on will be the tactics. A patriotic SNP leadership could have made such a big difference. There may be yet time! Dr Andrew Docherty Selkirk MICHAEL Shanks thinks that Scotland will lose out on jobs if we do not support nuclear reactors (Shanks 'won't apologise' for GB Energy funding raid, Jun 16). We are better served with renewables, as nuclear requires small numbers of engineers at a single site whereas renewables can be very small and spread out, along with maintenance staff all over the place. Thus enabling rural and island communities have well-paid jobs and not having the young people of these places leaving. In the same edition of the paper, North Yell screams out at what small island and rural folk can do if the impetus is nurtured and admired (Islanders borrowed £8.3m to build own wind farm – and it's paying off big time). M Ross Aviemore
The National
2 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
Scottish Labour is a fiction, nothing more than a branding
The SNP have urged Anas Sarwar to whip Labour's Scottish MPs to vote against the Government's planned benefits cuts, which the British Government's own analysis estimates will push 250,000 disabled and chronically ill people into poverty, including 50,000 children. However, disability rights campaign group Disability Rights UK, anti-poverty charity and think tank Trussel, and economics think tank WPI Economics all calculate that the Government's analysis significantly underestimates the number of disabled people who will be pushed into poverty as a consequence of these cuts. They believe that the true number is in excess of 400,000. Thousands of disabled people are expected to lose their entitlement to Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the main benefit for disabled people in England and Wales, under Labour's plan to change the eligibility criteria for the benefit. The plan will introduce a new eligibility requirement which will mean that only those who score a minimum of four points in at least one activity will be eligible for the daily living component of PIP. To be eligible for PIP, claimants must score a minimum of eight points assessed on the help they need across a range of daily living activities such as food preparation, bathing and showering, toileting, dressing, eating, and taking medication. Many people make up the eight points by scoring one or two across different categories, but under the new plans only those scoring four in one category will be eligible. If a claimant does not score four in a single category, the points they score in other categories will be discounted. Note that this change does nothing to help disabled people into work, the stated aim of the Government's cuts; it merely reclassifies disabled people as no longer being disabled for the purposes of eligibility for PIP. The needs of disabled people remain the same. (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA) One of the more pernicious effects of this change follows from the fact that PIP is a so-called passport benefit – eligibility for other benefits depends on eligibility for PIP. Carers Allowance is paid to those who care for a disabled person in receipt of PIP, or Attendance Allowance, its equivalent for retired people. If the disabled person loses their eligibility for PIP, eligibility for Carer's Allowance is lost too. Far from providing an incentive to the disabled person to find work, this will make it far more difficult for them to cope with daily living and far more difficult to get into work. Disability campaigners have warned that the cuts will not save the Government money as they will simply force disabled people, whose very real needs remain unchanged, to turn to other services such as the already over-stretched NHS and adult social services. Any politician with a social conscience or a basic understanding of disability should vigorously oppose these harmful and damaging cuts, but with the honourable exception of Alloa and Grangemouth MP Brian Leishman, Labour's Scottish contingent in Westminster are a supine bunch of careerists whose contribution to Commons debates consists of attacking the Scottish Government on devolved issues. Of course Anas Sarwar, the nominal leader of the Labour party in Scotland, should instruct Labour's Scottish MPs to vote against these cruel and counterproductive cuts, but he won't, because he too is a supine careerist, installed in his current job by the right wing of the Labour party precisely because he'd do Keir Starmer's bidding. Sarwar defends the cuts, because he believes what Starmer tells him to believe. But even if Sarwar finds a backbone and opposes the cuts, he has no authority over Labour's Scottish MPs in Westminster and no means of enforcing how they vote in the Commons. "Scottish Labour" is a political fiction, nothing more than a branding exercise. Labour MPs elected in Scotland are subject to the UK Labour whip. They do not constitute a cohesive voting bloc in the Commons. They are part and parcel of the UK Parliamentary Labour Party. Anas Sarwar couldn't whip up a cream cake, never mind Labour's Scottish MPs. At First Minister's Questions today, John Swinney tore into Sarwar's attacks on him as "the performance of a weak man" after asking two rather desultory questions about Alexander Dennis moving bus production to England and suggesting that Swinney's leadership was under threat. Sarwar accused Swinney of pressing the "big panic independence button" to "save his skin", after the First Minister made a speech on his desire for self-determination this week. (Image: Andrew Milligan) Swinney retorted: "Isn't it interesting that Mr Sarwar's interest in the workers of Alexander Dennis lasted two questions and then he gets on to his usual posturing in this Parliament of little substance that is before us. Israel discovers war crimes Meanwhile, Israel has suddenly discovered that launching missiles into hospitals is a war crime after an Iranian missile struck a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Be'er Sheva. Iranian state media has claimed that the missile targeted a military site next to the hospital and not the medical facility itself. Israel's deputy foreign affairs minister Sharren Haskel has called Iran's strike on the hospital "deliberate" and "criminal", while the Israeli health minister Uriel Buso said it was a war crime. But apparently, it's perfectly fine for Israel to bomb hospitals in Gaza on the supposed grounds that they are targeting Hamas operations in or near the hospital.
The National
3 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
JK Rowling called The National 'anti-woman' – here's my response
She made this claim because we ran an article, and have run many articles previously, describing groups like Sex Matters as "anti-trans". I would like to take the opportunity to defend this newspaper against Rowling's frankly ridiculous description, and explain why "anti-trans" is indeed suitable language for these activists. What did JK Rowling say and what was the context? On Wednesday, our reporter Laura Pollock published a story headlined "Sex Matters considers new legal action against Scottish Government". In the social copy for the article, we stated: "An anti-trans campaign group is threatening further legal action against the Scottish Government, saying ministers are failing to implement the recent Supreme Court judgment on biological sex in equalities law." On Wednesday night, Rowling tweeted: "For Women Scotland is a feminist campaigning group. You appear to be an anti-woman newspaper." It is important to note that we weren't referring to For Women Scotland, but the group Sex Matters, which suggests Rowling didn't actually read the story before trying to smear our publication. Sex Matters and "anti-trans" First of all, let's take on the argument that describing Sex Matters as "anti-trans" is unfair, pejorative language. Rowling says it is simply a "feminist campaigning group". Is that the case? Sex Matters is an organisation which spends most of its time trying to keep trans women out of all women's spaces. Its recent campaigning includes attacking Westminster Council for displaying Pride flags during Pride Month, and arguing that schools should not teach children that people can transition. In its advice for parents on sex and gender in schools, it also states clearly: "Schools should not celebrate festivals such as Transgender Day of Remembrance." It is very difficult to find examples of Sex Matters campaigning on issues which do not relate to gender identity or matters related to the so-called trans "debate". To describe Sex Matters as simply a "feminist campaigning group" would be misleading, and fail to take into account its primary function. The National – an "anti-woman newspaper"? Myself and the reporters on staff at The National would have once been horrified to learn that JK Rowling had described us as "anti-woman". Today, it reads simply as another Twitter insult dispensed without any grounding in reality. So, here are the facts. The National is led by a woman, with a female assistant editor. On staff, we have more women working as reporters than men. An equal number of men and women write columns for us. We are part of the Pass the Mic programme, mentoring a number of women of colour in Scotland every year and helping them break into the media. We have campaigned on issues like buffer zones, pushing the Scottish Government to bring in legislation to protect women from abuse. For the 2024 International Women's Day, an all-women team produced the newspaper. Everything from the front page to the sports section was written and edited by women. It was the first time this had been done in the Scottish media in my own lifetime. Some of the team in the office for the International Women's Day edition in 2024 (Image: Colin Mearns) That edition looked at a range of issues affecting women in Scotland and around the world. Those challenges included women in Gaza being forced to have C-sections without anaesthetic, thanks to Israel's systematic destruction of the health service. This is an extremely urgent feminist campaigning issue which I have not heard Rowling or her friends at Sex Matters raise concerns over. Rowling has chosen to respond to language she did not like (due to its perceived sympathy towards trans people) by launching an intellectually lazy attack on a newspaper, primarily staffed by women, with a strong track record on reporting on feminist issues. Ultimately, I question the feminist credentials of those who brand the women working at The National "handmaidens" or accuse us of internalised misogyny because the coverage doesn't align neatly with their specific views. It is also not for JK Rowling to determine what all women think or feel. Nobody, no matter how wealthy or influential, can speak for all of us. Thankfully, arguments like Rowling's will not convince many people who are not already deep down the anti-trans rabbit hole. But her attempts to control our language are not welcome and should be called out by those who claim to value free speech. At The National we deal in truth, and will not be cowed by a billionaire trying to control media output to fit her own worldview.
