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coronavirus in Scotland in the last 24 hours.The latest figures were announced by John Swinney this afternoon.The Deputy First Minister revealed that 501 new cases of the virus were recorded overnight.654 people are being treated in hospital while 59 are currently in ICU.The latest figures mean that since the start of the pandemic, 7422 people have lost their lives to coronavirus in Scotland.It comes as 28 people were arrested in connection with lockdown flouting celebrations of Rangers fans

John Swinney said the release "utterly" disproved a conspiracy theory by Salmond around the Government's handling of the case.A Holyrood committee is investigating the Government’s mis-handling of sexual misconduct complaints against Salmond when he was First Minister.Salmond took the government to court and it was agreed the internal probe, which destroyed his friendship with Sturgeon, had been unlawful.The flaw in the botched investigation, which cost the taxpayer over £600,000, was that the

James Wolffe has been under fire after the Parliament redacted some of Salmond’s evidence following a warning by the Crown Office.However, he said he is “satisfied” he can be head of the Crown Office while at the same time serving as the Government’s legal adviser.Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.

signing up to our Politics newsletter.We cover Holyrood, Westminster and local councils, with a current focus on how our governments are handling the coronavirus pandemic.To sign up, simply enter your email address into the pink box near the top of this article.Alternatively, you can visit our newsletter sign up-centre.

Anas Sarwar has said his party would not have "no choice" but to back a no confidence vote in Deputy First Minister John Swinney over the publication of legal advice.On two occasions, MSPs have voted to compel the Scottish Government to produce legal advice taken as part of the legal challenge brought by Alex Salmond over its harassment complaints procedure, but ministers have so far not handed the advice over.The Scottish Government went on to concede the judicial review into the investigation

Scottish Conservatives are threatening to lodge a week lodge a motion of no confidence in Nicola Sturgeon's second in command at Holyrood on Tuesday.The Tories are giving Swinney 24 hours to agree to release the legal advice or face a vote to remove him from office.The Deputy First Minister has previously ignored two cross-party motions in the Scottish Parliament attempting to force the government to comply with a parliamentary majority telling it to publish the advice.The committee

coronavirus in the last 24 hours.The First Minister also announced a further 885 positive cases have been detected overnight, bringing the total to 185,839.The Scottish death toll now stands at 6,916 since the start of the pandemic last March.A total of 1,222 patients are currently being treated in hospital for the deadly virus with 98 in intensive care.The new figures come as the vaccination programme continues amid threats of new variants of coronavirus.Scots comedy legend Billy Connolly has

Perthshire clan chief, landowner, retired high court judge, soldier and golfer.Sir William Alan Macpherson of Cluny and Blairgowrie, famously the author of the Macpherson Report into the Metropolitan Police after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, died on Sunday aged 94.Sir William was a retired high court judge with a long and distinguished career at the Bar.Perthshire North MSP John Swinney described the landmark Macpherson Report as “seminal” and was also keen to pay tribute to the “great

Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), which was slammed over a pupil grading scandal, should have a majority of teachers and lectures on its governing body.MSP Ross Greer said: “The current board just don’t have the educational expertise needed for this important role, so I have asked the Education Secretary to request their resignations.”The SQA was the focus of pupil and parental fury last year over the way the body was calculating final grades.The pandemic resulted in exams being cancelled

Full story and LIVE updates. A mother and daughter have died after a double stabbing in Kilmarnock.

coronavirus in Scotland in the last 24 hours. John Swinney announced the latest figures and confirmed new 895 positive tests were also recorded.

pandemic continued to grow with record numbers of infections and deaths approaching 100,000 in the UK since the first outbreak. Most of Scotland is in the top tier of restrictions and schools are closed to the majority of children until at least the middle of February.

mum has hit out at the Government's 'phased return' to school plans saying children with additional needs are being 'forgotten'.Deputy First Minister, John Swinney said a return to school was 'unlikely to be a binary choice' and said a phased return of pupils was likely.The move would mean a cohort of pupils would return to school, while the majority would remain learning from home.While Mr Swinney said only the youngest pupils and those with additional support needs would return to classrooms

school first.

percentage of doses being wasted and why some GP surgeries were still waiting for supplies. But the SNP leader said today the programme was "gathering pace" and the number of vaccinations being given had risen by 50% in the last week.The Scottish Government had earlier rejected claims that it was sitting on 400,000 shots of the vaccine instead of rushing them out to patients.John Swinney said that while the doses had been allocated, they had not yet been delivered in full.

East Kilbride and Strathaven won't return to the classroom at the beginning of February.

Perthshire North MSP John Swinney has admitted reopening schools in early February would be a “tall order”.

reviewed in mid-January with the aim of getting all pupils back in class at the start of next month.Swinney said today that ministers would meet on Tuesday to discuss the issue before making a statement in parliament.But the education secretary signalled that schools could remain shut for the majority of pupils for a while longer.Speaking on BBC Good Morning Scotland, he was asked if schools would resume full-time early next month.He said: “I think that’s a tall order, to be honest.

Perth city centre on Sunday.

Perth.Six fire engines raced to the scene after the blaze started on the ground floor of a commercial building on the city’s Scott Street just after 4pm on Sunday January 10. Occupants have been evacuated and Scottish Fire and Rescue teams remain at the scene to tackle the flames.

Keir Starmer said there should not be another “divisive” vote, although he conceded the current system is not working.The UK Labour leader has previously said there should be a “constitutional convention” to revamp devolution, rather than an independence referendum.Polling on independence has seen a shift in attitudes in the last six months, with support for the policy in the lead.Sir Keir told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday: “I don’t think there should be another referendum, I don’t think

A MOTION calling for more than 200 additional teachers in North Lanarkshire schools has been passed.The plan, proposed by the Conservative group, would see 208 extra teachers in schools across the local authority area and was passed by 37 councillors with an SNP amendment being defeated.The motion also called on councillors to agree that a letter would be sent from the local authority to the SNP Education Secretary John Swinney to state North Lanarkshire Council’s support for this policy and

Perthshire North MSP John Swinney spoke following the announcement that Boxing Day will see all non-essential shops and hospitality businesses in Perth and Kinross close for three weeks.

Scottish Government as part of a study of the school system. The sudden changes brought on by the coronavirus pandemic forced the experts to look at how schools adapted.

coronavirus pandemic. Pupils at St Matthew's Academy in Saltcoats, North Ayrshire will take part in remote learning from Monday until the festive break officially begins on December 23.

Students will return to university in staggered phases after the Christmas holiday, it was announced. Education Secretary John Swinney said most students would start the new term at home and only return to campus when told to do so by their university.

Highers have been cancelled next year following an announcement by the Scottish Government.John Swinney informed MSPs that a new model will be adopted for pupils based on teacher judgement.National 5 exams due to take place next year have already been cancelled, and Swinney has been under pressure to make the same decision on Higher and Advanced Highers.He previously said the impact of coronavirus-related disruption on school pupils in deprived areas weighed "heavily” on whether Higher exams

Get the stories that interest you straight to your inbox every day with our personalised newsletterHigher exams will be cancelled in Scotland next year, the Government has announced.Education Secretary John Swinney today told MSPs that "teacher judgement" will be used as part of a new model to form grades.National 5 exams due to take place next year have already been cancelled.Mr Swinney said in his statement there will be no Higher or Advanced Higher exams next year.Scottish Greens MSP Ross

pupils from less advantaged backgrounds.An analysis of attendance shows pupils in poorer areas are more likely to have taken time off in the health crisis.Figures at the end of November showed attendance ranged from 85.3% in the most deprived areas to 93.5% in the least deprived.Labour education spokesman Iain Gray said: “This isn’t an easy call, but in the interests of the pupils of Scotland it is time for John Swinney to swallow his pride and cancel the higher and advanced higher

pupils from less advantaged backgrounds.An analysis of attendance shows pupils in poorer areas are more likely to have taken time off in the health crisis.Figures at the end of November showed attendance ranged from 85.3% in the most deprived areas to 93.5% in the least deprived.Labour education spokesman Iain Gray said: "This isn't an easy call, but in the interests of the pupils of Scotland it is time for John Swinney to swallow his pride and cancel the higher and advanced higher exams."Gray

Get the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter.More than 20,000 people in Lanarkshire have now tested positive for coronavirus.At the Scottish Government's daily press briefing in Edinburgh, Deputy First Minister John Swinney today (Friday, December 4) confirmed that a further 166 people in the region tested positive yesterday.In total, 20,104 cases of Covid-19 have now been registered in the region since the first positive cases were confirmed in

coronavirus deaths have been recorded in Scotland over the last 24 hours. The Scottish Government also announced that 966 new cases of COVID-19 were reported overnight, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 98,686.

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John Swinney has said SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford made a “mistake” when he publicly accused a photographer of breaking lockdown rules on Twitter. Blackford appeared to suggest English snapper Ollie Taylor had breached lockdown rules by posting a striking photograph of the north of Scotland.

Deputy First Minister said releasing documents relating to the SNP Government’s botched investigation of sexual misconduct allegations by two female officials against Salmond was under “active consideration”. Opposition parties at Holyrood have twice voted on the move after SNP ministers failed to comply with the first demand.

Education Secretary has said. The Covid-19 pandemic has already meant the cancelling of the National 5 Exams in Scotland.