The Snippet: 21st February 2025
Abortion buffer zones, new Holyrood poll and David Tennant on Trump...
Welcome to the fifth edition of The Snippet, your weekly round-up of the top Scottish politics stories written especially for young people.
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🩺 Abortion buffer zones
Scotland’s abortion buffer zones continue to be in the news this week as the first arrest was made under the legislation - which came into effect last year. A 74-year-old woman was arrested and charged on Wednesday in connection with a breach of an exclusion zone outside Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow (Callum Loudon, STV News)
Scottish Greens MSP Gillian Mackay - who spearheaded the campaign for buffer zones in Holyrood - said in a post on Twitter/X that it was “no coincidence” that the arrest happened days after JD Vance falsely claimed that people who pray in their own homes could be prosecuted under the legislation
Mackay also called on the US embassy to correct the “lies” told by Vance, saying: “He either knows nothing about it and chose to speak about it anyway or he knew exactly what he was doing and was happy to lie about it” (Xander Elliards, The National)
And during First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater called on John Swinney to urge Keir Starmer to push for an “urgent apology” from the White House when he meets with Donald Trump next week (Lucy Jackson, The National)
In case you need a reminder, here’s a handy explainer from the Scottish Government on what buffer zones actually mean.
🗳️ Latest Holyrood poll
A new poll has predicted Scottish Labour are set for their worst election result since devolution. The figures from Norstat found that just 18% of voters intend to back the party at the next Holyrood election in 2026 (John Boothman / Mark McLaughlin, Sunday Times)
The seat predictions are: SNP (55), Scottish Labour (18), Scottish Conservatives (18), Reform UK (15), Scottish LibDems (13), Scottish Greens (10)
You can view the breakdown of the polling here. I’ve had a quick look at the results for young people (that is, people aged 16-34) and here’s what I’ve found for the constituency vote:
SNP (men 38%, women 22%), Labour (men 15%, women 29%), Conservative (men 12%, women 12%), Reform (men 12%, women 12%), LibDem (men 11%, women 12%), Green (men 9%, women 16%), Other (men 1%, women 1%)
🗣️ FMQs
First Minister’s Questions was back this week after Holyrood was in recess. Here’s a recap of what happened…
The Scottish Conservatives questioned John Swinney on the ongoing employment tribunal at NHS Fife brought by nurse Sandie Peggie over single-sex spaces (Rachel Amery, The Scotsman)
The First Minister said Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay’s rhetoric was a “parade in front of Nigel Farage” (Laura Pollock, The National)
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour said the SNP need to stop focussing on “disciplining nurses” and instead focus on “fixing the NHS” (Chris McCall, Daily Record)
🛢️ Grangemouth announcement
John Swinney has pledged a further £25 million to secure a “just transition” for Grangemouth, calling on the UK Government to match the Scottish Government’s funding.
The First Minister said the Labour Government must “do what it said it would do before the election” (Callum Loudon, STV News)
Unite is planning a protest on Friday outside the Scottish Labour conference, as the trade union said Labour "will never be forgiven" if the refinery closes (Hannah Brown, The Herald)
🎤 David Tennant brands Donald Trump ‘villain’
David Tennant hosted the Baftas for the second time on Sunday, where he took aim at Donald Trump. The Scottish actor branded the US president a “villain” while referencing The Brutalist - although his comments were cut out in the BBC’s broadcast (Tasha Hall, Daily Record)
Side note: If you need a bit of a pick me up, here is Tennant’s fabulous rendition of The Proclaimers’ 500 miles…
💰 Public sector pay best in the UK
Public sector pay in Scotland is higher than the rest of the UK, according to new research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The think tank found that public pay rose by 5% above inflation in Scotland in the 2019 to 2024 period, while the UK as a whole saw no change (Sophie Adams, Holyrood Magazine)
🌹 Scottish Labour pledges
Ahead of the Scottish Labour party conference - which is taking place in Glasgow from Friday until Sunday - the party has announced several pledges ahead of the 2026 election. Here’s a handy list so you don’t get lost…
Abolish peak rail fares (Paul Hutcheon, Daily Record)
Free swimming lessons for school pupils (Lewis Mckenzie, Scottish Sun)
An end to the ‘8am GP rush’ (David Bol, The Scotsman)
🎓 Edinburgh University ‘snobs’ issue
The principal of Edinburgh University has warned that Scots still face discrimination from English students, despite the institution dropping its guidance reprimanding campus “snobs”.
Peter Mathieson said snobbery remained a problem three months after it was highlighted by the university’s equalities unit.
The principal addressed “stories in the media about ridicule of Scottish students because of their accents by other students” at a meeting of the university’s general council on Saturday (Mark McLaughlin, The Times)
👀 Ian Murray to ‘sell Scotland to the world’
Scottish Secretary Ian Murray is to lead trips promoting Scottish produce to the key markets of Asia and America this year.
Murray said jobs and investment could benefit from trade missions which will “sell Scotland to the world” (PA Media, via STV News)
That’s all for this week! Don’t forget to subscribe to get a weekly-round up sent straight to your inbox every Friday.
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