The Scotsman back issues from January 2006:
Borders signal intent by entering top five
Jan 02, 2006; ... Borders 24 Glasgow 13 THE Borders used Hogmanay 2005 to underline their status as one ofthe Celtic League's most improved sides, a rousing derby win overGlasgow taking the perennial basement boys into the new year amongthe top five for the first time. There was not a lot ...
Town halls face pressure over expenses amid council tax rises
Jan 02, 2006; ... LOCAL authorities were coming under increasing pressure last nightto resist huge council tax rises this year following new figureswhich showed that Scotland's town halls are spending millions ofpounds every year on allowances, hospitality and foreign trips. Scotland's 32 councils ...
Spy in the sky could target your home for a rocketing bill
Jan 02, 2006; ... THE row over "astronomical" council tax bills went into orbityesterday with a revelation that satellite photographs could be usedto re-evaluate homes. Fearing a political backlash, ministers have postponed thescheduled re-banding of homes in England, but preparations are ...
Linklater at top in arts and journalism
Jan 02, 2006; ... MAGNUS Linklater, the first salaried chairman of the Scottish ArtsCouncil, from 1996 to 2001, is best known as a journalist andbroadcaster, with a career spanning 40 years. Mr Linklater grew up in Orkney and was educated at Eton. Hestarted his career as a reporter on the Daily ...
Blaze destroys work by famous Scots artists
Jan 02, 2006; ... PAINTINGS by some of Scotland's most revered artists, includingSamuel Peploe and William MacTaggart, have been destroyed in adevastating New Year fire caused by faulty Christmas tree lights. The works of art, along with antiquarian books, were lost at theGBP 1 million home of ...
Analysis: The price of economic success
Jan 02, 2006; ... ST PETERSBURG is a breathtaking city, and its authorities takepains to welcome important guests - even seeding the clouds withsilver chloride to prevent unscheduled rainfall. But when the heads of the other seven G8 governments arrive in thecity later this year for their annual ...
Ukrainian gas crisis sparks fears of soaring bills for British households
Jan 02, 2006; ... RUSSIA'S move to cut off gas supplies to Ukraine could pushBritish households' already soaring energy bills even higher, awatchdog warned yesterday. Gazprom, the Russian government-controlled energy giant, yesterdayswitched off its pipeline to Ukraine as part of an escalating ...
Only 5 arrests out of 100,000 at capital party
Jan 02, 2006; ... POLICE praised the behaviour of thousands of Hogmanay revellersyesterday, after celebrations in Edinburgh and across Scotland passedoff without any widespread problems. Ian Dickinson, Assistant Chief Constable for Lothian and BordersPolice, who was in charge of the Hogmanay police ...
Time to liquidate Scotland and sell off her assets, says expat historian
Jan 02, 2006; ... AN EXPATRIATE Scottish historian provoked fury yesterday bycalling for the land of his birth to be put into "liquidation"because it had become "the Belarus of the West". Professor Niall Ferguson said Scotland's glory days were longover, leaving it a "small, sparsely-populated ...
'It's worth it ... you can't put a price on their health'
Jan 02, 2006; ... JULIE Miller, from Inverness, feeds her five-month-old son, Jack,on organic food. She explained: "I have fed Jack on organic food ever since he camehome. "It's healthier, and because he's so small I want to give him thebest start in life and strengthen his immune system ....
Babies raised on organic food that parents cannot afford themselves
Jan 02, 2006; ... MORE than half of Scottish children under two are now fed anexclusively organic diet - even when their parents are unable toafford to buy organic food for themselves. Organic baby food sales accounted for 43 per cent of the totalmarket in 2004, at a value of GBP 63 million. But ...
Ministers reject call to write in plain English
Jan 02, 2006; ... MINISTERS are resisting demands to write government regulations inplain English, it emerged last night. A Holyrood committee wants to cut down on confusing civil servicelanguage and has asked the Executive to make its legislation easierto understand. But ministers do not ...
Brown admits Cameron has piled pressure on Labour
Jan 02, 2006; ... GORDON Brown has admitted that David Cameron's ascent as Toryleader has put himself and Labour under pressure to prove that theparty deserves another term in office. The Chancellor said that, following Mr Cameron's strong earlyshowing, the onus is now on Labour's leadership to ...
Primary class sizes among Europe's largest
Jan 02, 2006; ... PRIMARY school class sizes in Scotland are among the largest inEurope, according to a new study. A survey by Eurydice, an organisation which monitors educationperformance across the European Union, shows that only England andthe Republic of Ireland have more children in their ...
We can butter oor ain neeps wi' bletherskites and peedie words
Jan 02, 2006; ... FINE words may butter no parsnips, as the old English proverb hasit, but they still fascinate us - and, it seems, TV programme-makers. Tonight sees the start of a new BBC2 series, Balderdash &Piffle, which traces the histories of some choice words and phrasesand investigates those whose ...
Can I kick it? Yes - one step at a time
Jan 02, 2006; ... NEW Year resolutions are a mug's game. Friends warn us not even totry because they rarely ever work. And, when they inevitably crumble,our self-esteem, obsessively contingent on the smallest personalsuccess, is further shot to pieces. Yet each year millions of us continue to make ...
Now even smoking outside could be banned
Jan 02, 2006; ... THE Executive's smoking ban could be extended to some outdoorareas, it emerged yesterday. The initial ban, which will come into force at the end of March,was designed to outlaw smoking in all enclosed public areas. But ministers have suggested to councils and other public ...
TV review: Glut of Hogmanay mystery plays
Jan 02, 2006; ... Only an Excuse, BBC1, Saturday, The Mystery of the Blue Train,ITV1, Sunday Julian Fellowes Investigates: a Most Mysterious Murder,BBC1, Friday Rolf's Royal Portrait Special, BBC1, Sunday HappyBirthday Broons, BBC1, Friday A good New Year to readers hungover from this weekend's ...
Business confidence is on the up
Jan 03, 2006; ... ALMOST nine out of ten UK small business owners believe they willbe at least as well off as at present over the next 12 months.Research from the Bank of Scotland's quarterly small businesseconomic confidence survey showed 88 per cent of company ownersexpect to be better off or remain the ...
Long hours, but stress is all positive as PM puts his life on the net
Jan 03, 2006; ... THE hours may be illegally long and the stress like no other jobin the country, but being Prime Minister can be very rewarding, TonyBlair claimed yesterday. As part of an attempt to be more open with the public, a "day inthe life" film of the current occupant of No10 has been put ...
We neglect the teaching of science at our peril
Jan 03, 2006; ... IT IS an intriguing and heartening fact that despite the plethoraof gadgets, gizmos and goodies on which 21st-century consumers canspend their hard-earned cash (or for that matter easily-gottencredit), we are choosing in increasing numbers to fork out fortechnology which is more than 500 ...
Schools 'should call in police' to deal with bullies
Jan 03, 2006; ... POLICE officers should be called in to deal with bullying inScottish schools, a legal expert has urged. More youngsters also need to come forward to give evidence againsttheir tormentors in court to send out a message that bullying willnot be tolerated, according to Katy ...
'Celtic? The whole thing has become a negative, soggy thing with no centre'
Jan 03, 2006; ... WE'RE all Celts now ... or so it would seem. A generation or twoago, for most of us, "Celtic" - pronounced with a soft "c" - was afootball team. Today it's liberally applied to everything from Irisheconomic tigers to new-age religion and, most widely, to music. With the approaching ...
Put your house in order
Jan 03, 2006; ... YOU KNOW how it goes. Odd socks in the drawer, piles of newspapersthat never get thrown out, that letter to the gas board that's beensitting on the mantelpiece for a fortnight. We all lead lives alittle more cluttered than we'd prefer and - particularly after thefestive season - it's ...
Endless self-regard may impress some galleries, but I'm not a fan
Jan 03, 2006; ... UNFOLDING PICTURES - FANS IN THE ROYAL COLLECTION, QUEEN'SGALLERY, EDINBURGH **** AT THE SAME TIME SOMEWHERE ELSE ..., FRUITMARKET GALLERY, EDINBURGH** BP PORTRAIT AWARDS 2005, SCOTTISH NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY,EDINBURGH **** CELEBRATING THE SCOTSMAN, SCOTTISH ...
Royalty and religion are preaching to the converted
Jan 03, 2006; ... THANK goodness for the annual Oxford farming conference. How muchtime it saves journalists in trying to produce one of those MysticMeg/Old Moore's Almanack forecasts so popular at this time of year. Oxford does it for us, with no apparent sense of collective irony.It starts today, ...
Minister raised fears of Russian power stranglehold
Jan 03, 2006; ... THE Department of Trade and Industry was warned at least fouryears ago that relying on imported gas would render the Britisheconomy vulnerable to disruption from Russia, The Scotsman haslearned. The revelation came as the government admitted yesterday thatRussia's gas dispute ...
Pledge to send extra supplies to Europe
Jan 03, 2006; ... RUSSIA'S state gas company yesterday pledged to send extrasupplies to European countries hit as a result of its dispute withUkraine. Several European countries reported cuts of as much as 40 per centin their supplies yesterday, and Serbia was forced to introducerationing ....
Could Vitamin D actually be a miracle in a bottle?
Jan 03, 2006; ... IT'S KNOWN as the sunshine vitamin and, last week, you could havebeen forgiven for thinking it was the miracle vitamin: Vitamin D, ittranspired, could prevent cancer. It can also, according to a 40-year review of research published in the American Journal of PublicHealth, play a role in ...
Hollywood urged to use internet downloads to counter DVD pirates
Jan 03, 2006; ... HOLLYWOOD is losing the battle against internet piracy and shouldsell big box office films online as a way of fighting the escalatingtrade in bootleg downloads, a British expert on digitalcounterfeiting has argued. David Price, the head of the anti-piracy firm Envisional, ...
Linklaters' insurance fear after fire
Jan 03, 2006; ... FORMER Scottish Arts Council chairman Magnus Linklater fears hemay be significantly under-insured after a devastating fire wiped outhis valuable collection of Scottish art. A total of 14 paintings were destroyed after Christmas tree lightscaught fire during a Hogmanay party at Mr ...
National Lottery fails to find the poor punter who missed GBP 9.4m
Jan 03, 2006; ... THE title of Britain's biggest loser was bestowed on a NationalLottery player who failed to collect a GBP 9.4 million prize jackpotahead of last night's deadline. Instead of being frittered on vintage champagne, fast cars and apalatial home or two, the money will now be ...
Cautionary tale of the couple who missed out
Jan 03, 2006; ... THE news that a lottery ticket worth GBP 9.4 million has goneunclaimed will make Martyn and Kay Tott wince in pain. In 2001, thecouple contacted the National Lottery just before the deadline to saythey had bought a winning ticket worth GBP 3,011,065. There was onlyone problem - they ...
Scrap council tax for local VAT, says MSP
Jan 03, 2006; ... BRIAN Monteith, the former Tory MSP, calls today for the counciltax to be scrapped and replaced by a local form of VAT. Writing in The Scotsman, the independent MSP enters the debateover council tax by calling for a radical alternative. Mr Monteith says he wants to see a ...
Just four families left seeking right knit for Fair Isle
Jan 03, 2006; ... ONLY four families remain in the running to become the next full-time residents of the remote Scottish island of Fair Isle, afterthree others dropped out over the festive period. The families are competing for two houses on the island, midwaybetween Orkney and Shetland, which has ...
Obesity worry as Executive set to miss target for extra PE teachers
Jan 03, 2006; ... FRESH doubt was cast on the Scottish Executive's efforts to tacklechildhood obesity yesterday after it emerged that ministers are setto miss a key target for the recruitment of extra physical educationteachers. The Executive wants to have 400 additional PE teachers in place ...
Horses win race for MoD cash
Jan 03, 2006; ... THE Ministry of Defence paid almost GBP 100,000 in damages to theowners of racehorses startled by low-flying helicopters but only GBP30,000 to a woman of 80 hurt in a similar incident. In one case, the MoD paid out more than GBP 44,000 after the deathof a horse and foal scared by ...
Tributes paid to pub manageress who died after breaking up fight in bar at New Year
Jan 03, 2006; ... POLICE investigating the death of a bar manageress who collapsedwhile trying to stop a fight early on New Year's Day appealed forhelp yesterday from partygoers who were at the pub when shecollapsed. As inquiries continued, shocked family and friends of TracyCampbell paid tribute ...
EU chief voted UK's most powerful person
Jan 03, 2006; ... BRITAIN is run from Brussels, according to those taking part in aradio poll, who voted Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Union'spresident, the most powerful person in the UK. More than a fifth of listeners to the BBC Radio 4 Today programmevoted for the unelected Mr Barroso in its ...
Will soaring costs make 2006 your most expensive year ever?
Jan 03, 2006; ... Luxury goods are getting cheaper, says Gillian Glover, but witheveryday bills rocketing, can you really afford to buy them? IF MOST of your New Year resolutions focused around the midriffarea, it may be time for a rethink. The health aspect of thatrespected trio "healthy, wealthy ...
Passengers hit out at rail fare rises
Jan 03, 2006; ... RAIL passenger groups and unions criticised train companies astravellers were hit with inflation-busting fare increases. Ticket prices across Britain rose by an average of 4.2 per centyesterday - twice the current inflation rate of 2.1 per cent. Peakfares and season tickets ...
Festive hangover for Scottish high street as early rush falters
Jan 03, 2006; ... THE Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) added its voice yesterday tohigh street experts saying that, after a hectic early start to thesales season, the fervour faded. Fiona Moriarty, director of the SRC, said: "The lead-up toChristmas from November was quite slow for retailers, and ...
Scrutineer:Far from the crowd: our pick 'n' mix for 2006
Jan 03, 2006; ... A HAPPY and investment-prosperous New Year to all regular readersof The Scotsman's Scrutineer column. And an especially warm thanks toreaders whose congratulatory letters, phone calls and e-mails on theScrutineer 2005 portfolio performance (up 20 per cent, not includingaverage dividend ...
Put on weight at Christmas? Relax - it may not be bad for your health
Jan 02, 2006; ... GLUTTONS who have eaten too much during the festive period canrelax - they may not be as overweight as they think. Researchers in the United States believe the international measureof obesity - the Body Mass Index (BMI) - is too strict, and labelspeople as overweight even though ...
Leader: Trouble in the pipeline
Jan 02, 2006; ... AS IF a reminder were needed of the destabilising potential ofenergy politics, Russia's President Putin provided it in the earlyhours of the New Year by cutting the gas supply to Ukraine in abitter dispute over prices. It is unclear if the move by Gazprom willaffect supplies across the ...
Hearts' confidence shattered as McManus steals the show
Jan 02, 2006; ... Hearts 2 Celtic 3 BOTH camps had insisted before this match that the seven-pointlead which would result from a Celtic victory could by no means beregarded as conclusive in this league campaign. That may be so, butthe astonishing manner in which this win was achieved might ...
Livingston cast adrift as Motherwell enjoy some rare late fortune
Jan 02, 2006; ... Livingston 1 Motherwell 2 THE match ball really ought to be sponsored by lastminute.comwhenever either of these two are in action. On several occasions already this season, both have had cause torue losing late goals and old habits obviously die hard, because onceagain ...
Weakened Rangers paper over cracks
Jan 02, 2006; ... Rangers 3 Dundee Utd 0 NOBODY would expect a swallow to fly on one wing, but suchconsiderations seem not to apply to football fans. Or, morespecifically, to those for whom triumphalism is a way of life. In this latest demonstration of tunnel vision at its narrowest,Rangers ...
Rix blames referee as Celtic hit back to snatch win from ten-man Hearts
Jan 02, 2006; ... THE new year arrived in perhaps predictably fractious fashion inEdinburgh yesterday as Celtic became the first-footers nobody wouldwish for when they plundered from Tynecastle having initially lookedset to be most generous guests. The echo of the midnight bells had not long died ...
Richards spies hat-trick chance for Bond at Ayr
Jan 02, 2006; ... IT'S Irn Bru day at Ayr this afternoon but anyone looking to makesome money at the Craigie course should stick with the hard stuff, ormore specifically, the gentleman whose favourite tipple was drymartini, of the shaken not stirred variety. The Names Bond has looked a much ...
The club that drove a wedge between my golf and optimism
Jan 02, 2006; ... THE New Year period is an uneasy time, when memories of old woundsare still vivid in the mind and thoughts of wounds to come sendchills speeding to the very marrow of the bones. There was a day whenI leapt into new years with gusto and optimism, but those days arelong gone. Quite apart ...
Tom Lappin's Sporting Week: Foreign policy is no epiphany for Real's supporters
Jan 02, 2006; ... SPANISH children have to wait until 6 January for their Christmaspresents, delivered from the Orient by the Three Wise Kings. RealMadrid fans, spoiled by three years of largesse from theiringratiating president Florentino Perez, are eager for some gifts oftheir own to quieten down the ...
Hearts' confidence shattered as McManus steals the show: Hearts player ratings
Jan 02, 2006; ... Hearts 2 Celtic 3 CRAIG GORDON The goalkeeper conceded three goals for the firsttime this season, but could hardly be faulted for any of them. Had herealised how much time he had in the Celtic box during stoppage timehe might even have grabbed an equaliser. 7/10 ROBBIE ...
Hearts' confidence shattered as McManus steals the show: Celtic player ratings
Jan 02, 2006; ... Hearts 2 Celtic 3 ARTUR BORUC Posted missing for Hearts' second goal but kept Celticin the match with a fine block from Skacel just before half-time.Booked for time-wasting. 7/10 PAUL TELFER Hearts' first goal arrived via the flank he wassupposed to be patrolling from ...
Forget about the movies, Mr Spielberg - just keep on talking
Jan 03, 2006; ... STEVEN Spielberg should give up films. He's had a few successes,sure, and I guess there is still a place for deeply terrifying, yetfamily-friendly, movies. But his talents lie elsewhere. Turns outhe's just as gifted behind a microphone as he is behind a camera. His latest film, ...
Leader:Putin's ominous power play
Jan 03, 2006; ... IF VLADIMIR Putin wished to get his presidency of the G8 off to amemorable start, he has certainly succeeded. Across Europe yesterdaycame anxious reports of reduced supplies of gas from the pipelinethat runs through Ukraine. Poland and Hungary were among the first tosuffer a drop in ...
Meet reggae boys of dog sled racing
Jan 03, 2006; ... JAMAICA may seem an unlikely breeding ground for winter sportsmen,but it has already produced a bobsleigh crew - and now it is set tosend a dog sled team to race in Scotland. The team, formed with the help of Scottish mushers, will beswapping the Caribbean for the Cairngorms when ...
Saints and Dundee fall further behind
Jan 03, 2006; ... St Johnstone 0 Dundee 0 A RESULT which suited neither team was the unwanted consequence ofa hard-fought but rarely engaging derby match. The fixture compilersmight have expected this clash to illuminate the First Division'sfestive schedule with its potential for impacting on the ...
Hearts and Celtic may face trial by video
Jan 03, 2006; ... THE repercussions of Monday's explosive encounter between Heartsand Celtic could be felt by both clubs for some time to come. The home team, who went down by 3-2 to go seven points behind theleague leaders, will miss Steven Pressley and Rudi Skacel throughsuspension, and may also ...
Malkowski errors prove costly but Mowbray will stand by goalkeeper
Jan 03, 2006; ... Kilmarnock 2 Hibernian 2 TONY Mowbray, the Hibernian manager, last night mounted a robustdefence of Zbigniew Malkowski after his giant Polish goalkeeper hadbeen culpable in the late loss of two SPL points in the 2-2 drawagainst Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. An unhappy afternoon ...
Sucker-punch from Wales floors Hibs
Jan 03, 2006; ... Kilmarnock 2 Hibernian 2 GARY Wales plundered a stoppage-time goal for the secondsuccessive match as Kilmarnock proved life after Kris Boyd need notbe a barren experience. Wales, the former Hearts striker, netted alate winner against Dundee United on Boxing Day and yesterday ...
Strachan admits Sutton contract problem
Jan 03, 2006; ... GORDON Strachan has admitted that the break clause in ChrisSutton's contract could see the striker lured away from Celtic. The 32-year-old's deal has another season to run after this one,but only if player and club agree. That means he could either leaveParkhead as a free agent in ...
Lehman eager to build up US into team of winners
Jan 03, 2006; ... ALTHOUGH visits to two of America's most revered courses, Medinahand Winged Foot, for the US PGA and US Open championshipsrespectively, as well as the latest stretching of Augusta for theMasters - not to mention the return of the Open to Hoylake for thefirst time in 39 years - will hold ...
Taaffe rules Kicking King out of Gold Cup
Jan 03, 2006; ... WHO'S next? If bad news really does come in threes, any trainerwith a fancied runner for the Cheltenham Festival will be wrappingthem up in cotton wool following yesterday's shock announcement thatreigning champion Kicking King will miss the Gold Cup. Twenty-four hours after ...
They're simply mad about the boys...
Jan 04, 2006; ... Never slow to pick up on a trend, Kate Moss is the latest femalecelebrity to step out with a much younger man on her arm. Anna Smythinvestigates the new 'toy boy' phenomenon May to December: famouswomen and their younger men IT WAS always going to be as finely choreographed as a ...