The Snippet: 14th March 2025 🗞️
Dundee University cuts, women MSPs speak about abuse, Eric Trump visits Scotland...
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Snippet, your weekly round-up of the top Scottish politics stories written especially for young people.
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🎓 Dundee University to cut more than 600 jobs
More than 600 staff are set to lose their jobs at the University of Dundee as its deficit is set to hit £35 million this year
Plans outlined by university management will see 632 posts go across all schools and directorates, with it understood to be “very unlikely” that compulsory redundancies can be avoided
Parts of the university estate, as well as intellectual property rights, are also likely to be sold off as the university seeks to downsize (Alasdair Clark, The Courier)
First Minister John Swinney said he is concerned by the “very severe” situation facing Dundee (Danyel VanReenen, STV News)
Scottish Labour MSP for North East Scotland Michael Marra said a huge increase in support is needed, as he asked the Scottish Government to increase its current offer of a £15 million loan to £45 million – repayable over 15 to 20 years (Alasdair Clark, The Courier)
During First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, John Swinney was told the looming job losses should be a “wake-up call” for the Scottish Government to take action to support the sector (Neil Pooran, PA, via The Herald)
In other university news, workers at the University of Strathclyde have begun a two-week strike in a dispute over pensions, affecting laboratories and halls of residence (Morgan Carmichael, Glasgow Times)
🗳️ Nicola Sturgeon stepping down in 2026
Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced she will not seek re-election to Holyrood next year
A former SNP leader and the longest serving first minister, Sturgeon has been in the Scottish Parliament since it was reconvened in 1999 (Angus Cochrane, BBC Scotland News)
Speaking to journalists after her announcement, Sturgeon said she felt a “sense of relief” at stepping down and that she had known “for some time” about her plans. Watch the full discussion 👇
She also spoke about gender reforms - she was a staunch champion of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill when it passed in 2022. The former first minister said she believes society will look back and "feel a sense of collective shame" at the vilification of trans people (Alistair Grant, The Scotsman)
🌹 Anas Sarwar supports benefits cuts
The Scottish Labour leader has backed Keir Starmer's plans to cut billions of pounds from the UK Government’s welfare budget, saying the Prime Minister was the “right approach”
It comes as the UK Government’s Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is set to unveil £6 billion in cuts to welfare, primarily through making it harder for people to get disability benefits and cutting the rate of Universal Credit for those deemed unfit to work. The UK Government is also set to freeze PIP payments next year so that they do not rise with inflation (via BBC Scotland News)
✈️ Eric Trump visits Scotland
One of Donald Trump's private planes landed at Edinburgh Airport on Thursday, carrying his son Eric Trump (Alastair Dalton, The Scotsman)
John Swinney met with him, where they focused solely on Trump’s two golf courses in Scotland and did not discuss politics. Journalists were not briefed ahead of the meeting, although it is believed it took place in Bute House (via BBC Scotland News)
It comes after the Trump Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire was vandalised by pro-Palestine activists over the US president’s position on Gaza
In other Trump news, two Edinburgh councillors have filed motions calling on the council to oppose any visit by the “fascist” Donald Trump to the city (Joe Sullivan, LDR, via Edinburgh Live)
🙍♀️ Women MSPs speak out about online abuse
Women MSPs have spoken out about the online abuse they have suffered, with one Labour frontbencher revealing she has been branded a “poisoned dwarf” while a Tory said she was told she would be “set alight”
It comes as Holyrood magazine found almost all the MSPs it questioned had experienced some form of online abuse - including rape threats, death threats and severe misogynistic abuse. It contacted all 59 sitting women MSPs and received responses from 22 of them between January 29 and February 25
(Sofia Villegas, Holyrood magazine)
🗣️ FMQs
The Tories kicked off FMQs on Thursday as Russell Findlay asked John Swinney: “What was Nicola Sturgeon's biggest failure in office?” - The First Minister accused the Tories of being “graceless” (Xander Elliards, The National)
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said that the SNP’s opposition to Trident nuclear weapons will make the country “less safe” (PA, via STV News)
The Greens said the Scottish Government’s retreat from the Heat in Buildings Bill and tenant protections will mean higher costs for people and families across Scotland (via Scottish Greens)
🔷 Kemi Badenoch in Glasgow visit
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch visited Glasgow on Thursday, where she said Reform UK are “counting their chickens” ahead of next year’s Holyrood election (Andrew Learmonth, The Herald)
Badenoch also said there is “serious potential” Scottish public bodies have broken the law on single-sex spaces as she denied the trans debate in Holyrood was “toxic” (Rachel Amery, The Scotsman)
She also accused the Scottish media of trying to paint her and other UK party leaders as “alien” to Scotland (Xander Elliards, The National)
That’s all for this week - thanks for reading the eighth edition of The Snippet! Don’t forget to subscribe to get a weekly-round up sent straight to your inbox every Friday.
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