The Snippet: 17th January 2025
Scottish Secretary visits Holyrood, Gaza ceasefire deal, and Reform strike again
Welcome to the first edition of The Snippet, your weekly round-up of the top Scottish politics stories.
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🏥 First safe consumption room opens
The UK’s first drug consumption room opened in Glasgow on Monday. The Thistle Centre is designed to provide a safe space for drug users to take substances under medical supervision (Morgan Carmichael, Glasgow Times)
👔 MSPs to get pay rise
MSPs are set to be given a 3.2% pay rise, boosting their salaries up to £74,506 - an increase of more than £2000 (STV News)
🔴 Edinburgh Council drama continues
Edinburgh Council first received complaints about council leader Cammy Day in 2018 - four years before he was installed as leader. Day resigned as leader in December after it was alleged he “bombarded” Ukrainian refugees with sexually explicit messages (Donald Turvill, The Herald)
🏴 Scottish Secretary visits Holyrood
Scottish Secretary Ian Murray visited Holyrood on Wednesday, where he told journalists Scots “don’t like honesty after all” after being asked about poor polling results for Labour (Alistair Grant, The Scotsman)
Murray also accused the Scottish Government of “having no policy on the two-child benefit cap scrap” (Hannah Brown, The Herald)
🇵🇸 Scotland responds to potential Gaza ceasefire
Scottish politicians have offered their reaction amid news of a potential ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas (Gregor Young, The National)
It’s important to note that the agreement has not been finalised yet, with Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly delaying a cabinet meeting to vote on the deal (James Walker, The National)
👑 King Charles in Scotland
King Charles visited a food bank in Alloa on Thursday, where he was met by supporters and protesters alike (Chris Faulds, Alloa Advertiser)
A man was arrested and charged with breach of the peace after an incident which happened close to the king’s visit (Scott McCartney, Alloa Advertiser)
🗳️ First Minister’s Questions
FMQs took place on Thursday, as John Swinney was accused of presiding over a “broken” NHS (Paul McLaren, BBC News)
Meanwhile, the first minister accused Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar of “epitomising Labour dishonesty” (Xander Elliards, The National)
🔷 More defections to Reform
Glasgow councillor Thomas Kerr has defected from the Conservatives to Reform. It comes after several councillors in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire defected to Reform in recent months (Stewart Paterson, Glasgow Times)
The Glasgow Greens told Kerr he must face voters following his defection, claiming the move was a “slap in the face” (Drew Sandelands, Glasgow Live)
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