The Herald

Plans for the Planners Public Input Will Be Cut If Executive Is Given More Powers

IS JACK McConnell the man with the plan? If the first minister and his cabinet colleagues in the Scottish Executive have theirway, the planning system will be radically altered to give the Holyrood government greatly enhanced powers to approve future developments. The Herald reports today that a paper presented to the Scottish cabinet last month by Malcolm Chisholm, the communities minister, proposes giving the executive control over strategic projects and new powers to make local authorities...

The Way to Healthier Eatingministers Should Take Action to Improve Scots Diet

FOOD is big business. Just how big is evident in a report by independent consultants which shows that some pounds-85m of public money is spent each year on food for the education, health, social work and prison sectors. If we are what we eat, the findings, disclosed by The Herald today, help explain why Scots are among the sickest citizens in Europe. More than pounds-37m goes on prepacked and frozen foods. By definition, these will not be as healthy as fresh food. More than pounds-7m is spent...

Jimmy Dickinson

JIMMY Dickinson, who caddied for Jack Nicklaus for all three of his Open Championship victories, has died at the age of 81. Dickinson started caddying for Nicklaus in the 1963 Open Championship and the pair enjoyed success in 1966 at Muirfield and in 1970 and 1978 at St Andrews. When Nicklaus opened Muirfield Village in Ohio, his former caddie took up the post of caddiemaster for a while before returning to England.

Theatre Blue/Orange, Paisley Arts Centre2/5

MENTAL health issues are an attractive proposition for dramatists, the psychiatrist's chair allowing for conf lict and license to fly off the handle. Joe Penhall's 2001 award-winning play sets up such a situation, though by having shrinks from the opposite ends of the ideological spectrum square up to each other, overwrought explorations of sanity and madness are just the starting point. Where Bruce is raw enough to still care about the people he's dealing with, Robert is a cynical bufty pron...

From the Herald Archives

25 YEARS AGO DESPITE the decision to admit women to Glasgow University Union in October there was a repeat of confrontations yesterday when students picketed outside the building. The demonstration, called by the Students' Representative Council at the university, was in protest against a debate held last week on the motion Rape is a Female Fantasy. Male and female students united under the banners of the university's Rape Crisis Group and the Women's Group to picket union members entering th...

Theatre the Emperor's Opera, Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh2/5

CULTURE, as far as politicians on the make are concerned, is there to get the people on your side. This circuses-and-bread approach is all too transparent among our beloved leaders, who, in Benchtours latest physical farce, may be being pastiched in "culture czar" Kuligin. In the foyer of an upmarket hotel, Kuligin, buttoned up with pomp in Sean Hay's fine comic turn, dreams up the discovery of a long- lost opera. Not only will this masterpiece calm the revolting peasants, it will put his tee...

Theatre Big in Falkirk, Callendar Park, Falkirk3/5

THE perils of big-scale outdoor performances in this country are largely dictated by the climate's caprice. After storm-sodden cancellations during previous Big in Falkirks, this year's late- night spectacles remained dryish. Even so, the international Kumulus company chose to perform Les Recontres de Boites (Box Meetings) under canvas. A group of raggle- taggle refugees mill about, battered old shoeboxes clutched to their sides. Pairing off, they sit opposite each other, sharing precious tot...

Briefing:Feral Pigs

THEIR days are numbered on the island where they're wreaking havoc. Q: In what sense?

Glasgow Was First to Honour Nelson

I HAVE followed with interest the recent romantic notions about Culloden and the myths about the navy of Nelson's day. The Nelson monument in Glasgow Green was erected in 1806, a year after his victory and death at Trafalgar. It was the first such memorial honouring Nelson to be built in Britain, the money being raised by public subscription. This is the same Glasgow Green where Charles Edward Stuart bivouacked his army while contemplating the destruction of the city.

University of Scotland

Triptych Candi Staton, Renfrew Ferry, Glasgow4/5

IT'S not often you see a soul diva by daylight, but an early start for Candi Staton means those members of the audience who have tickets to LCD Soundsystem later will get across the river in good time. The eclectic nature of the Triptych patronage and, indeed, the appeal of 60-something Staton, has tonight attracted an audience around half her age. Staton's history and life story is casually entwined around each song, as she introduces them with "When I was a teenager . . .", "In 1973 . . ." ...

Ron Todd Former General Secretary of the Tgwu

RON Todd was for seven eventful years general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union, and, as such, one of the most powerful and influential figures in the labour movement. In its heyday, the union, with its 1.25 million members, was far and away the most influential union in the country. It has since been eclipsed in membership by the giant unions, Unison and Amicus.

David Christie

THE former starter on the world-famous Old Course in St Andrews, David Christie was known to celebrities and golfers around the world. Christie, who retired in 1995 aged 65, was the last in a long line of dedicated starters to be solely involved with the Old Course. Administration changes introduced some years ago by St Andrews Links Trust now mean a system is in operation where the team of starters alternate from course to course.

Triptychlcd Soundsystem, the Arches, Glasgow5/5

LCD Soundsystem, on record, is James Murphy, a great one-man band. Here, backed by a fantastic array of musicians, he is a star. Those prone to quibble over the audibility of LCD's obvious "influences" (and name an artist who is inspired by nobody) should be struck dumb by the sheer power of the band tonight.

Many of the Symptoms of a Failing Democracy

THE United Kingdom shows many of the symptoms of a failing democracy: voter alienation, proven electoral fraud and a breakdown in political accountability. A quasi-presidential executive goes unchecked by a parliament stuffed with apparatchiks and rigorously controlled by party whips. Another symptom of this failure is the barely distinguishable policies offered by the mainstream parties who pursue a politics of the lowest common denominator, crowding the centre ground in pursuit of that poss...

Size Does Matter, but Not in the Way Creation Experts May Think Review

Riddle of the Human Hobbits: an Equinox Special Channel 4, 9.00pm Dr Tatiana's Sex Guide to All Creation Channel 4, 11.05pm

Discrimination Against Unskilled Youths

I HAVE been a member of the Labour Party for 35 years and will probably remain so for the rest of my life. I received my party membership renewal letter last week from Tony Blair and it contained the following pledge: "And we will ensure every 16-year-old is guaranteed a place in sixth form, in training, or an apprenticeship." I would like to focus on the last pledge. No government can guarantee an apprenticeship to every 16-year- old who wishes it - that is the preserve of industry, outwith ...

Seriously, Why Are We so Petty?

THIS has been an unremittingly parochial election campaign. If we discount Iraq, major foreign and defence issues have hardly loomed. The great issue that fuses foreign and defence policy is, of course, our nuclear deterrent. The British people and their politicians used to beat themselves into a frenzy over this question, which morally, politically and pragmatically is infinitely more important than any other. But we seem to have taken a collective decision to become a nation of political ve...

These Phoney Helplines Are Simply No Help at All

STRESSED teachers in Scotland, it seems, will have to do without a dedicated helpline. The Scottish Executive has rejected the idea for a [pounds]250,000 line, despite the fact that a similar service for English and Welsh teachers has doubled the number of calls it received in the past year. This is, without doubt, one of the more sensible decisions the executive has made. Frankly, this country needs another helpline as much as it needs an outbreak of avian f lu. Setting up unnecessary helpli...

The Diary

Crocodile walk SCULPTOR George Wylie turned heads at the Glasgow Art Fair in George Square by trundling in with his portrayal of a 4ft iron crocodile on wheels, which was snapping its jaws down on a tray of bottles and glasses. It is called Crocodile Devouring A Still Life, and is George's wee, gentle nudge at too much of the art at the show being unchallenging.