Powerful coalition calls for 50,000 volunteers to help kids play this summer

disabled children were left in tears after a group of yobs covered a family room in human faeces and urine. Fabb Scotland booked one of their newly refurbished rooms for a 'family' who pretended to have an autistic child and needed a weekend break.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak made the announcement during his summer statement on Wednesday and said the "Eat Out to Help Out" scheme would provide 50 per cent off - up to a maximum of £10 per head - meals at participating businesses across the UK. Restaurants, cafes and pubs have been severely affected by the coronavirus lockdown, with many staff placed on the UK Government's Job Retention Scheme.

Scottish ministers plea for more spending powers. Rishi Sunak will address the House of Commons after Prime Minister's Questions to deliver a statement on how the government will protect and create jobs across the country.

The SNP has called on Rishi Sunak to grant Holyrood greater borrowing powers to help boost Scotland's economic recovery following four long months of lockdown. Ian Blackford, the party's leader at Westminster, wants the UK Government to offer a a "cast-iron commitment" to the devolution of key financial powers at today's mini-Budget.

Livingston last year and turned it into a garden area for their four children.They didn’t think they would need planning ­permission as similar plots had been bought by other homeowners. The couple erected a fence and landscaped the garden and began enjoying extra sunshine at the rear of the property.

Rutherglen, and presents challenges that the government does not currently have the powers to meet.

golf club. Cops made the grim early morning discovery after being called to a club by Perth's Tay Road, understood to be King James VI golf club, at around 3.40am.

next month, according to a leading think tank.The Commission on School Reform says kids need to catch up on lessons missed during the coronavirus lockdown.The think tank is calling for an extra six hours of teaching during the school week, with pupils staying later into the afternoon for two years.A report by the group, made up of current and former headteachers, politicians and education professors and chaired by former director of education in Clackmannanshire Keir Bloomer, argues "there is an

cancer has called on Scots families to sign a petition to fund research she believes could have saved his life. Fiona Donva was left heartbroken when three-year-old Logan Maclean died just months after he was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a rare brain tumour.The toddler, from Largs in Ayrshire, was first taken to the doctor with a sore ankle when medics discovered the incurable mass.

Scottish Labour figure has cautioned his party against embracing “hyper” Unionism.Ex MP Paul Sweeney called for Labour and the SNP to work together on more powers for Holyrood and oppose the “common enemy” of the Tories.He said Labour needed to be the voice for the “reconciliation” of the country.Get all the top Scottish politics news sent straight to your Inbox by signing up to our Politics newsletter.We cover Holyrood, Westminster and local councils, with a current focus on how our governments

Wishaw MP Marion Fellows has this week called for the Scottish Government to include the teaching of Scotland’s colonial past, and historical and present race relations, in the Scottish curriculum to help tackle racism.Mrs Fellows, a former college lecturer, made calls in line with letters from constituents to support the Black Lives Matter movement and for Scotland’s curriculum to be updated.She wants young people to be educated on Scotland’s exploitation and enslavement of Black and Minority

A Paisley councillor has called for major events including the town's fireworks display and Christmas lights switch-on to be cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.Renfrewshire Council previously said an announcement would be made on whether the celebrations would go ahead - along with festive switch-ons in Renfrew and Johnstone - by next Tuesday.But as Scotland continues to gradually move out of lockdown, bosses confirmed this week they were holding their decision to ensure they

Scottish Government has demanded new financial powers from the UK Treasury to help drive the country's economic recovery from Covid-19. Finance secretary Kate Forbes has written to Stephen Barclay, chief secretary of the Treasury, to ask that "critical" temporary changes are made to present funding arrangements.

Holyrood.Nearly 40 groups have signed an open letter to party leaders after an inquiry flagged up Islamophobia in public life.Jawad Khursheed, chair of Muslim Engagement and Development Scotland (MEND), said: “The need for fair representation within the Scottish political system is essential.”A probe by a Scottish Parliament cross-party group found that 83% of Muslims had experienced Islamophobia in Scotland.Nearly 80% of Muslim respondents felt the prejudice is getting worse, while a joint

mobile phones to keep in touch with loved ones sparked chaos after they made a series of bogus 999 calls.The mobiles were handed out to cons at Polmont Young Offenders jail in a £1 million initiative to make up for cancelled family visits after eight weeks of delays due to security systems being put in place.But Scottish Prison Service bosses failed to account for each mobile being enabled to call 999 services and The Samaritans, which led to bored inmates creating mischief.As a result of the

would scrap plans to update the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) to allow transgender and non-binary people to change their birth certificates without medical diagnosis.

Normal People stars Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones are set to appear at the Edinburgh TV Festival.

statues of slave traders to be taken down. Steve West, from Stand Up to Racism, said that putting up plaques explaining the history of the statues did not go far enough.

lockdown trips to his family home near Inverness has been urged to quit after it emerged he also visited relatives in Glasgow. NHS Orkney chief executive Iain Stewart last month apologised for causing any upset when he admitted travelling between the island and his family home on Black Isle, which is 150 miles away.

Civil rights campaigners are calling for one of Scotland’s tallest statues to be removed as it ‘glorifies’ the country’s role in the slave trade.The 150-foot high Melville Monument was erected in 1821 in memory of the First Viscount Melville, Henry Dundas - who is best known for delaying the abolition of slavery in 1792.Dundas, who was Home Secretary at the time, believed that slavery should be abolished gradually in three stages over a decade, which many historians say cost thousands of