The Scotsman back issues from March 2002:
Break the monopoly and save our postal service
Mar 01, 2002; ... CRUNCH time has come at Consignia. What we used to know as thePost Office and would be mightily pleased to call by that name again,is facing assault on two fronts. It has to reply by 16 March to a setof Exocet proposals from Postcomm, the industry regulator, that wouldeffectively end its ...
Amicus adds to calls for dedicated SME minister
Mar 01, 2002; ... AMICUS, one of the UK's largest trade unions, has called on theScottish executive to appoint a minister dedicated to smallbusinesses and the ailing manufacturing sector. National Secretary for Scotland, John Wall, said: "There are twojunior ministers at Health and Community Care ...
Analyse this Russell Crowe
Mar 01, 2002; ... HE WON Britain's highest acting accolade for his role as aschizophrenic academic in A Beautiful Mind, and would like his publicpersona to be that of the sensitive male. But Russell Crowe'soutburst after the BAFTA awards ceremony last Sunday has caused astorm. The Patrick ...
Mixed day for Far East
Mar 01, 2002 ... ASIAN shares struggled for direction with Tokyo's key index edginghigher, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng slumped to a three-week low afterlosses in the property sector. TOKYO: The benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average rose 14.74points, or 0.14 per cent, to 10,587.83. The boost ...
As I see it Think big by thinking small first in Europe
Mar 01, 2002; ... It pays for Britain and Europe to work together to get thedecisions the small business sector really needs SMALL firms make up 99 per cent of all businesses in Europe, andyet I know that owner managers I have met do not have time or theresources to make themselves heard in ...
Down a few billion, but still world's No1
Mar 01, 2002; ... BILL Gates, the founder of Microsoft, is the richest person in theworld for the eighth year running, but, like many of America'sbillionaires, his fortune has been hit by the terrorist attacks onthe US which led to a severe downturn in stock markets. The tycoon still heads Forbes ...
Alcohol abuse costs NHS 3bn pounds
Mar 01, 2002; ... ALCOHOL misuse is the most pressing issue facing the NHS, costingthe service GBP 3 billion a year and causing despondency among healthworkers forced to deal with drink-related injuries and illnesses, itwas claimed yesterday. Dr Chris Luke, of Cork University Hospital, said ...
Smoking is bad, says tobacco chief
Mar 01, 2002; ... THE head of British American Tobacco (BAT), the second biggestcigarette maker in the world, has admitted that smoking is bad foryou and says the public would be "better off" avoiding tobacco. Martin Broughton, BAT's executive chairman, advised his childrennot to smoke, according ...
Clipper
Mar 01, 2002 ... China leaves the rest red-faced THE global economy may be in the doldrums, but China's economypowered ahead 7.3 per cent last year according to the latest figuresfrom Chinese government. But Chinese economists admitted yesterday that 2002 would be a"battle" against a "grim" ...
Business Comment Greenspan can go out on a high
Mar 01, 2002 ... THE most powerful man in the world will be 76 this month. At anage when most of his contemporaries are probably looking forward toanother day on the golf course, US Federal Reserve chairman AlanGreenspan is instead preparing for the next meeting of the FederalReserve, where, as he has ...
BoJ easing hits dollar
Mar 01, 2002 ... THE dollar firmed against the euro after US fourth-quarter growthestimates were revised sharply higher, but barely budged against theyen after the Bank of Japan's decision to ease its ultra-loosepolicy. Markets seized on the revised US gross domestic product growth of1.4 per ...
Royal breeding succeeds at last
Mar 01, 2002; ... THE Queen, well known for her double passion for horses and dogs,has revealed that she has succeeded in rearing a special breed ofcorgi. On a visit to the Adelaide Hills Kennel Club as part of herjubilee year tour, she said that, after many years of trying, she hasbred two ...
Cashmere group's crisis as it spins into the red
Mar 01, 2002; ... DAWSON International, the cashmere group, yesterday revealed acrash in full-year operating profits from GBP 8.2 million to a lossof GBP 900,000, and said it faces a similar performance in 2002. The Kinross-based producer was hit hard last year by anunprecedented decline in raw ...
Don't make a meal of it
Mar 01, 2002; ... It may not yet be the new going out - but staying in is definitelyan increasingly popular option when it comes to entertaining. Wespend GBP 11 billion every year on supermarket cuisine - often tryingto pass off delux takeaways as our own efforts - and throw more than300 million dinner ...
Following the northern star
Mar 01, 2002; ... THE favoured few admitted to the hallowed pages of the Michelinred guide represent restaurants that are a byword for excellence.Scots establishments have fared well, and relative to population sizeand the number of restaurants which reach the standard that make themeligible for ...
Squalid end to a life full of such promise
Mar 01, 2002; ... RACHEL Witear was a pretty 21-year-old with the world at her feet.She had a loving circle of family and friends and was accepted by sixuniversities . Two years earlier, in June 1998, at the age of 19, while she waschoosing a college, she began seeing a boy who had been a ...
Here's the bill ... for starters
Mar 01, 2002; ... IT TAKES more than a dream to create a fine restaurant. It shouldbe accompanied by GBP 1 million; GBP 1.5 million would be better andGBP 4 million would put you in Stefan King's class. Entrepreneurs like King, below, a Glasgow businessman, aresecretive about admitting the costs of ...
A gamble on the gourmet nation
Mar 01, 2002; ... In a broad Glasgow accent, the wine waiter, assured as a Frenchsommelier, suggested Chablis was the perfect accompaniment to guineafowl with dal puree. Anyone could have told him that, but you cannotdeny him a bit of showing off. We all have our part to play in theculinary revolution ....
Eddie George sparks fall in sterling after bullish testimony to Commons
Mar 01, 2002; ... BANK of England governor Sir Eddie George bullishly predictedBritain's economic slowdown bottomed out last quarter. In testimony to the Commons Treasury Select Committee yesterday,Sir Eddie insisted stagnant growth in the fourth quarter was"probably the low point" in the current ...
Safety campaign backfires
Mar 01, 2002; ... A CAMPAIGN aimed at making the elderly feel safer has backfiredafter councillors were accused of simply fuelling their anxieties. A leaflet distributed to pensioners in south Edinburgh warns themnot to walk to the shops, not to venture out after dark, or opentheir front doors. It ...
Irish rugby puts boot into Euro 2008 plan
Mar 01, 2002; ... EUROPEAN football's governing body, UEFA, received formalnotification of the Scottish-Irish bid for the Euro 2008championships yesterday, ending weeks of uncertainty and confusion. But the announcement that a joint Celtic bid would definitely bemade was overshadowed yesterday ...
Corporate woes overshadow better data
Mar 01, 2002 ... SICKLY UK financial stocks hindered the week's rally in Europeanshares, despite a leap in Dutch firm ING and more US data pointing toeconomic recovery. The Eurotop 300 index was off 0.26 per cent at 1,225 points withdeclining issues barely edged ahead of advancers. The ...
Executive looks to France for new ideas
Mar 01, 2002; ... REPLACING the present mix of farm subsidy schemes, from arable aidto less favoured areas, with land management contracts is one of themain proposals in the forward strategy document for Scottishagriculture. These contracts will pay farmers for delivering environmental,social and ...
So what was all the slaughtering for?
Mar 01, 2002; ... NOTING anniversaries is an over-rated pastime, but it is one yearago today since foot-and-mouth hit Scotland for the first time in 40years, in the middle of a blizzard. Until the last case was found on 30 May, there were 187 confirmedcases and more than 1,000 other farms drawn in ....
Company tax cuts vital to lift Scottish economy
Mar 01, 2002; ... DOUGLAS McWilliams, the chief executive of the Centre forEconomics and Business Research has renewed his claims that Scotlandwill become a "cheap holiday destination" unless the economy picksup. Speaking at The Scotsman and Policy Institute debate, MrMcWilliams said that the ...
Frenchman who beat son cites racism
Mar 01, 2002; ... A FRENCH tourist has written to his country's president, JacquesChirac, to protest at his treatment by the Scottish legal systemafter he was found guilty of punching and kicking his son during afamily holiday in Edinburgh. The 33-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, ...
Who let the dogs out?
Mar 01, 2002; ... Novelist Michael Chabon, author of Wonder Boys and the more recentThe Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, recently wrote of acertain city that "nowhere are people encumbered with a greaterburden of shame and communal disapproval. Passersby feel empowered -indeed, they feel duty bound ...
Brown: EU must cut red tape
Mar 01, 2002; ... CHANCELLOR Gordon Brown reiterated his call for greaterliberalisation of European Union capital and labour markets ahead ofnext month's Barcelona summit. Brown insisted yesterday that Europe must adopt US-style levels ofmarket freedom, warning it needed to become "less ...
Alicia's key to Grammy glory
Mar 01, 2002; ... THE Irish group U2 were confirmed as one of the most successfulbands of all time yesterday after collecting four Grammy awards. In a career spanning more than two decades, the group has won atotal of 14 awards at the US record industry's equivalent of theOscars, more than any ...
Prince Harry in the clear
Mar 01, 2002 ... PRINCE Harry will not face police action over allegations ofcannabis smoking and under-age drinking . Police said investigationsinto events at the Rattlebone Inn in Sherston, Wiltshire, were nowfinished. A spokesman for the Wiltshire force said: "None of the inquiriesmade ...
St James shares hit 5-month low
Mar 01, 2002; ... SHARES in St James's Place Capital, owned by Edinburgh-based HBOS,crashed to a five-month low yesterday after the financial servicesgroup for the well-heeled said volatile markets had caused a slump innew business levels this year. The firm's troubles had led to growing ...
Optimism from Hilton as hotels aim for recovery
Mar 01, 2002; ... HILTON group, owner of the Ladbrokes betting chain and operator of384 hotels including Edinburgh's Caledonian, said it was optimisticthat occupancy levels were returning to pre-11 September levels. The company reported pre-tax profit before exceptional items andgoodwill ...
Foster mother plea for foal
Mar 01, 2002; ... A PLEA for a mother for an orphaned Clydesdale foal has come fromher owner, who has to bottle feed the youngster every 90 minutes. Since Blossom's Gift's mother died, Jules Anderson, of Monikie,Angus, has been feeding her a mixture of goat's milk and ...
Glossy star wars hot up
Mar 01, 2002; ... WHEN IPC chief executive Sly Bailey talked last August of Hello!and OK! trying to kill each other, she might have been hoping thatthe cut-throat sales tactics of the two celebrity magazines woulddraw to a truce. As if! Last month the war which has waged betweenHello! and OK! since the ...
Blair paves the way for Iraq strike
Mar 01, 2002; ... TONY Blair yesterday announced his intention to back a US-ledattack on Iraq as he agreed with President George Bush that there isa need to "take action" against Saddam Hussein. Downing Street made clear that the "second phase" of the waragainst terrorism is to focus on the arsenal ...
Bardowie Castle put on the market
Mar 01, 2002; ... THE motivational guru, Jack Black, has put his lavish historiccastle up for sale after being told last year that he could notoperate a business from it. Mr Black, the founder of MindStore, the motivational company, hasput his palatial home, Bardowie Castle, on the market expecting ...
Killer questions take the biscuit
Mar 01, 2002; ... JOB applicants are being thrown off course in interviews withquestions about Pop Idol, Jaffa Cakes and dinner parties. As many as nine out of ten interviewers are now using "the killerquestion" - or KQ - to decide whether to offer someone a job. The KQs range from asking whom ...
Review Monster, Scottish Opera
Mar 01, 2002; ... Theatre Royal, Glasgow NO BORIS Karloff , no Igor. More an annual convention of the greatBritish poets society. Byron, Shelley, Coleridge - they are all partof the sizeable, complex cast which surrounds Mary Shelley in SallyBeamish's first full length opera Monster , which ...
Leader Stepping up pressure on Saddam Hussein
Mar 01, 2002 ... TONY Blair increased the pressure on Iraq yesterday when hisofficial spokesman denounced Saddam Hussein's government forcontinuing to produce weapons of mass destruction. As a generalstatement, this cannot be faulted. However, there are seriouspractical questions to be asked about what ...
Leader Redundant new legislation
Mar 01, 2002 ... LAST year, a French tourist was arrested for allegedly assaultinghis young son, aged eight, in an Edinburgh street. The incidentbecame a cause clbre among those who objected to plans by theScottish executive and the Justice Minister, Jim Wallace, tointroduce controversial legislation ...
Leader This one takes the biscuit
Mar 01, 2002 ... IS a Jaffa Cake a biscuit or a cake? It appears that companies andorganisations are increasingly using off-beat questions such as thisin job interviews in order to choose the best applicants for the job.The aim, presumably, is to test the interviewees' ability to copewith the unexpected ....
Revolt threatens Borders leader
Mar 01, 2002; ... THE leader of Scottish Borders Council was fighting for hispolitical life last night after the region's four Liberal Democratparliamentarians said they were backing efforts to remove him fromoffice. Andrew Tulley was also told yesterday that he faces a mutiny bymost of the ...
Life expectancy of Scots men and women remains lowest in country
Mar 01, 2002; ... SCOTS can live for up to a decade less than the English,government figures showed yesterday. The life expectancy of Glasgow men, on average, is 68.7 years - atleast 10 years lower than that of their counterparts in Dorset,National Statistics show. Inverclyde is the second ...
Patients still wait more than a month
Mar 01, 2002; ... HOSPITAL patients in Scotland are still waiting more than a monthfor treatment. The average waiting time for in-patients and day cases droppedslightly to 33 days, despite the busiest period on the wards for ayear. The figures, which cover the three months to December 2001,were ...
MADONNA WEST END DEBUT
Mar 01, 2002; ... MADONNA is to make her West End stage debut as an ambitious artdealer in the comedy Up for Grabs. The star's publicist told the American magazine People that shewanted a fresh challenge and the chance to remain at home in London. The singer travelled across Europe and the US ...
We're all off on a trip to Malibu
Mar 01, 2002; ... IT SMACKED of sun, sand, sex and sophistication. At least, it didwhen you were 13. And the last time Malibu knowingly passed yourlips, you probably weren't old enough to buy it yourself. But those who believed the sweet coconut rum had sailed off intothe Caribbean sunset would be ...
Review A ragged little thrill
Mar 01, 2002; ... Alanis Morissette: Under Rug Swept ROCK & POP ... And You WillKnow Us By The Trail Of Dead: Source Tags & Codes Clinic: WalkingWith Thee Ikara Colt: Chat And Business Billy Bragg & The Blokes:England, Half English DANCE Timo Maas: Loud Maverick, GBP 13.99 WITH the ...
We'll never sell out
Mar 01, 2002; ... 'I think what I don't like about a lot of music is that it's somundane," reflects Cornershop frontman Tjinder Singh, slowly andcarefully. "We like to come at things from a different angle." Singh and multi-instrumentalist Ben Ayres are closeted in a spareroom of a London studio ....
Killer instincts
Mar 01, 2002; ... For John McVicar, Tuesday was just another day in court, trailingin the tortuous wake of a murderer. Exactly a year to the day after the opening of Barry George'strial for the murder of TV presenter Jill Dando, lawyers for thekiller went to the High Court attempting to halt the ...
Bright lines
Mar 01, 2002; ... 'Ihave a real loathing of self-centred music," declares MarianneFaithfull. "I mean, who cares? Especially girl self-centred music."Is she going to name names? "No, of course not. But what in PollyHarvey's hands turns into a masterpiece, in someone else's hands justturns into self-pitying ...
Gig Guide
Mar 01, 2002; ... Fiona Shepherd highlights some of the best gigs around the countryover the next seven days ... Spiritualized Lloyd Cole Idlewild TheSoundtrack Of Our Lives Travis Corn Exchange, Edinburgh, tomorrow JASON Pierce and however many musicians he has in tow with himthese days can ...
Scandinavian Super Furries
Mar 01, 2002; ... BEING described as "the greatest Swedish band since Abba" mightjust be the greatest compliment possible, even when it's from theNME. But when it comes to music, Ebbot Lundberg, the hirsute hippiewho fronts Swedish eccentrics the Soundtrack Of Our Lives, is farmore of a fan of "magical" ...
Nasdaq report
Mar 01, 2002 ... THE technology-heavy Nasdaq suffered after a dull financialforecast from Genesis Microchip and a warning from computer makerGateway cast a pall over the index. In afternoon trading, it was off7.09 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 1,744.79. The news leaves the index set to post its ...
Traders waiting on Russian talks
Mar 01, 2002 ... OIL prices inched higher but were broadly steady for the secondday in a row as markets waited for next week's meeting between Russiaand top officials of the Organisation of Petroleum ExportingCountries over export cuts in the second quarter. North Sea benchmark Brent Blend crude ...
In the picture Virtual characters add panache to corporate events
Mar 01, 2002; ... CUTTING edge presentations for business can now take a new twist -with the addition of a virtual presenter to get their message across. Aberdeen firm Nexus yesterday unveiled its on-line recruitmentagency for virtual employees who can be hired as temporary members ofsales or ...
Stop press! It's not true
Mar 01, 2002; ... DID you know that the ink on a rival, Glasgow-based broadsheetpaper can cause symptoms similar to syphilis if absorbed by the handsover a certain length of time? Or that the headlines in one well-known tabloid contain hidden messages to the Special Branch abouttrade union activity in the ...
Hinduja review released
Mar 01, 2002 ... THE review of the Hinduja passport applications affair, which costPeter Mandelson his job as Northern Ireland Secretary, will bepublished this morning . Sir Anthony Hammond's inquiry was reopened by Tony Blair earlierthis year after Mr Mandelson produced documents ...
Crackdown on sleaze
Mar 01, 2002 ... THE Scottish parliament last night backed legislation to establishan anti-sleaze watchdog to investigate complaints against MSPs. Members heard that the Scottish Parliamentary StandardsCommissioner Bill would ensure that any ...
Pop Idol beats Europe
Mar 01, 2002 ... AN MSP yesterday voiced concern about public interest in theEuropean Union, saying it was "astonishing and disturbing" thatalmost as many people had voted in the ITV talent show, Pop Idol, asin the last Euro elections. Irene ...
Blair home repair bill
Mar 01, 2002 ... MORE than GBP 130,000 of taxpayers' money has been spent onbuilding and maintenance work on the Prime Minister's flat at No 11Downing Street . Tony Blair said GBP 134,497 had been spent on work at the propertysince 1997. "Payment for routine maintenance and other ...
Hunting vote revived
Mar 01, 2002 ... THE government yesterday denied claims that its move to give MPsanother chance to ban hunting with dogs in England and Wales was atactic to deflect attention away from the row over spin. Robin Cook, the Leader of the House of Commons, brushed ...
Cook defends vote on hunt ban
Mar 01, 2002; ... THE government yesterday strongly denied claims that its decisionto give MPs another chance to ban hunting with dogs in England andWales was a tactic designed to deflect attention from the row overspin. Robin Cook, the Leader of the House of Commons, brushed aside ...
Moore 'a classic bully'
Mar 01, 2002 ... STEPHEN Byers's former spin doctor, Jo Moore, was exposedyesterday as an "aggressive bully" with "no concept" of civil serviceimpartiality. In a damning assessment, Jonathan Baume, the head of the civilservice union, said Ms Moore's treatment of her staff was a ...
SNP raises game on independence
Mar 01, 2002; ... JOHN Swinney yesterday signalled the start of the SNP's campaignfor next year's parliamentary election by announcing what hedescribed as the party's biggest-ever drive for independence. The Nationalist leader promised to set out answers and "slay themyths" of separation in a ...
Stem cell pioneer to leave PPL
Mar 01, 2002; ... PPL Therapeutics has parted company with one of the chiefscientists behind its ground-breaking cloning technology, as itreiterated its determination to spin off its stem cell businesses. The company announced that its research director, Dr Alan Colman,is leaving at the end of this ...