Axel Piper

As Scotland gears up for Child Safety Week 2025, Clare Adamson MSP is calling on families, carers, and communities to share safety advice and take proactive steps to reduce avoidable harm — especially to the most vulnerable children. Running from 2–9 June, this year’s campaign theme is “Safety is for Sharing”, and it comes at a critical time, with growing concerns over online consumer goods, summer water safety, and a major upcoming electricity meter change that could affect thousands across the country. “Safety is for Sharing”: A National Effort Child Safety Week is the flagship awareness campaign of the Child…

Scotland is facing a growing crisis as 100,000 households risk being left without heating, hot water, or hit with soaring energy bills due to delays in switching old meters to smart meters. With island areas suffering the most, energy consumers are now caught in a tense stand-off between energy suppliers, regulators, and the UK government. The Crisis Unfolds A significant shift is happening in the UK energy market: the transition from old electricity meters, which use the Radio Teleswitching Service (RTS), to modern smart meters. This change, however, has sparked a major crisis in Scotland, where some 160,000 households are…

EDINBURGH — Scotland has recorded its hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures soaring to 25.5°C in Auchincruvie, South Ayrshire, and Tyndrum, Stirlingshire, amid an intensifying spring dry spell that has placed half the country under water scarcity alert. The heat, which edged past Monday’s previous high by just 0.1°C, arrives during what meteorologists say could become the UK’s driest spring on record, triggering concern among regulators, businesses, and environmental groups as river levels drop across major catchments. “We’ve had below average rainfall throughout the winter and last autumn as well,” said Eilidh Johnson, senior water industry manager…

EDINBURGH — The Scottish Parliament has taken a major step toward legalising assisted dying after MSPs voted 70 to 56 in favour of advancing the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill in its first parliamentary hurdle on Tuesday. The outcome followed five hours of impassioned debate across party lines, with emotions running high in a chamber historically divided on the matter. The bill, introduced by Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur, seeks to allow terminally ill adults in Scotland to seek medical assistance to end their lives — a seismic shift in end-of-life policy for the country. One lawmaker…

Edinburgh — As MSPs prepare for a pivotal vote on legalising assisted dying in Scotland, public sentiment is being shaped not just by ethics and ideology, but by deeply personal experiences of death, suffering, and care. The proposed legislation — tabled by Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur — would allow terminally ill adults to seek medical assistance to end their lives, provided they are deemed mentally fit by two doctors. The bill is expected to be one of the most emotionally charged debates in the Scottish Parliament in years. Supporters like Tricia Donoghue, a retired nurse from Glasgow, say the…

Scotland’s salmon industry is calling for renewed trade negotiations following the UK’s recently announced trade deal with the United States — a deal that, crucially, does not remove the 10% tariff levied on Scottish salmon exports to the American market. Tavish Scott, chief executive of trade body Salmon Scotland, has urged the UK Government to seek further discussions aimed at eliminating the tariff, warning that the current arrangement falls short of delivering the competitive edge needed by exporters in one of their most important markets. “Today’s US-UK deal should be seen as a staging post – not the destination –…

DUBAI — Scotland's national cricket team has come under scrutiny after two of its senior players, Matthew Cross and Mark Watt, were fined 10 percent of their match fees for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during their recent ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 match against the Netherlands. The breaches occurred during the highly competitive fixture held in Dubai as part of the ongoing tri-nation series also involving Namibia. The International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed the sanctions in a statement late Monday, citing separate incidents of misconduct by the two players. What Happened on the…

In the remote Highland village of Duror, one of the UK’s smallest schools continues to defy the odds. With just two pupils, Duror Primary stands as a symbol of both rural charm and the challenges faced by rural education in the modern era. A century-old Victorian-era building, it has seen decades of history, but its future was recently uncertain due to dwindling pupil numbers. However, after a passionate campaign led by locals, the school will remain open, as a wave of new young children is expected to bolster its enrollment. The decision comes as a relief to the village and…

Strange stone circles discovered on the Isle of Skye may hold the key to understanding one of early humanity’s most remarkable feats—pushing the boundaries of survival to the frigid northwest of Scotland. Early Humans Push North: A Bold Move New research into these mysterious stone circles reveals the ambitious nature of early humans who ventured far beyond their known habitats, settling in an area that was thought to be too harsh for human life at the time. The circles, ranging from 3 to 5 meters (10 to 16 feet) in diameter, are believed to have been built during the Late…

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's former first minister, has expressed grave concerns over the implications of the recent Supreme Court ruling on the legal definition of a woman, which she argues could make life "almost unliveable" for transgender people. Speaking publicly for the first time since the landmark decision, Sturgeon voiced her unease not only with the ruling itself but also with interim guidance released by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) that would restrict trans women’s access to single-sex spaces like hospitals, shops, and restaurants. A Landmark Judgment The Supreme Court’s ruling last month concluded that “sex” under the Equality…