The Herald

Warning That Swine Flu May Kill 65,000 in the Uk

THE government has warned that 65,000 people could die from swine flu in the UK, after a woman tourist became Scotland's third victim. England's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, predicted the worst-case death toll scenario should 30per cent of the population became infected with the HIN1 virus, which has claimed 29 lives in the UK.

Factory Disaster Could Be Repeated Judge's Warning As Firms Face Huge Safety Bill in Wake of Glasgow Blast

A FACTORY disaster that claimed the lives of nine workers could be repeated unless UK businesses spend millions of pounds on repairs to potentially lethal underground pipes one of Scotland's most senior judges has warned. That was the stark conclusion of Lord Gill's long-awaited review following a public inquiry into the explosion which devastated ICL Plastics in Maryhill, Glasgow, in May 2004.

Flagship Mortgage Scheme Is 'Useless' Exclusive

FLAGSHIP Scottish Government schemes to help people in danger of having their homes repossessed have been branded "useless." The accusation was made by Labour health spokesperson Cathy Jamieson after it emerged yesterday that no-one had received help from one of its trumpeted rescue policies - Mortgage to Shared Equity (MTSE).

Spl Strikes Cut-Price Telev Ision Deal Sky and Espn Pay Gbp65m for Rights to Screen Live Matches

SCOTTISH Premier League clubs have agreed a GBP65m deal over three years with Sky and ESPN to screen a total of 60 live matches each season. The new deal is worth half of what they would have received from a four year deal struck with Setanta before it plunged into administration last month.

Novelist Mccourt 'Gravely Ill and Unlikely to Survive'

NOVELIST Frank McCourt is gravely ill with meningitis and is unlikely to survive, the author's brother said yesterday. Malachy McCourt said that his 78-year-old brother, best known for the best-selling memoir Angela's Ashes, is in a New York hospice with "his faculties shutting down".

A Grand Day As All Roads Lead to Turnberry

CLUB golfers , families and all who revel in a sporting spectacular flocked to Turnberry for the 138th Open Championship. Every reason for 5000 people to hop on a train from Glasgow Central and the shuttle bus to the links. Grown men were as excited as the children heading to the seaside and for Don Crocker, just as impatient.

Third Time Lucky for Presenter in Nomination Race Exclusive

BBC TV presenter David Kerr will fight the Glasgow North East by- election for the SNP after it emerged last night he would be the sole nominee for the candidacy, The Herald can reveal. His selection, which will be formally confirmed tonight, makes him the party's third choice to fight the seat.

Baking Soda 'Helps Kidney Patients'

IT is already used as a household cleaning product, a remedy for acid indigestion and a relief for bee stings. But now research has found that a daily dose of sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda, can also prevent patients with advanced chronic kidney disease from needing dialysis.

How an Ordinary Day at Work Ended in Tragedy Years of Errors and Oversights Led to Explosion Years of Errors and Oversights Led to Explosion Analysis

IT was an ordinary day at work that ended in one of the worst accidents in Scotland's industrial history. The gas explosion at the ICL plastics factory in Glasgow in May 2004 cost nine lives, with dozens more staff buried under tonnes of rubble created by the collapse of the former textile mill in the north of the city. The years that have passed have been marked with the grief and pain of the victims' families and those who survived the disaster.

Poll Suggests Tory Candidates 'Not Uncomfortable' with Independence Nationalists Hail Survey Findings As 'a Fillip to Our Cause'

A POLL showing almost half the Tory candidates thought most likely to become the next generation of Conservative MPs, are "not uncomfortable" with the idea of an independent Scotland was hailed by the SNP last night as a boost for the nationalist cause and an embarrassment for the Tories in Scotland. The snapshot conducted by the Conservativehome.

Brown's Spending Position Branded Dishonest

THE Conservatives last night turned up the heat over the UK Government's positioning on future spending cuts by branding Gordon Brown "dishonest". Just 48 hours after Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, warned there would be less spending in certain parts of government, "pressures" on expenditure and "constraints for the next decade", the Prime Minister failed to admit there would be cuts under a future Labour government and instead talked of "tough choices" and a change of the spending...

Goodwin On Pm's Guest List for Dinner at Chequers

SIR Fred Goodwin, public enemy number one for much of the banking crisis, and Derek Draper, the ex-Labour spin doctor caught up in the "Smeargate" controversy, were among guests specially invited by Gordon Brown to his lavish country retreat at Chequers in the Buckinghamshire countryside, it was revealed. As Westminster heads for the summer recess, Downing Street last night released the Prime Minister's official hospitality guest list for the financial year 2008-09 in among the usual end-ofse...

Ministers Urged to Ensure Rail Route Will Still Run to Glasgow

PRESSURE is mounting on the UK Government to ensure that, whichever company wins the east coast rail franchise, the route continues to run through to Glasgow and does not stop at Edinburgh. Tom Harris, the former transport minister, has raised the issue with ministers.

Coulson Faces Grilling by Mps Over Phone Hacking Allegations

THE Conservative Party's director of communications, Andy Coulson, is to be questioned by MPs over allegations the News of the World, the Sunday tabloid that he formerly edited, paid private investigators to hack into the mobile phones of up to 3000 public figures. Mr Coulson, 41, has been backed by the Tory leader David Cameron after claims by The Guardian newspaper last week that several personalities, including Gordon Taylor, the English Professional Footballers Association chief executive...

Ministers Urged to Force Release of Sunday Ferries Advice Calmac Insists Equality Issue Led to Decision On New Sailings

MINISTERS have been urged to instruct Caledonian MacBrayne to publish the legal advice it claims is forcing the ferry company to introduce the first ever scheduled Sunday service to Lewis this weekend. The publicly-owned ferry company has so far refused to release it, but insists he advice warns that continued failure to provide a Sunday service to and from the island is likely to be in breach of the Equality Act 2006.

Comic's Joy at Highland Hero in His Family Past David Mitchell has Links to Skye Pulpit

HE is one of a long line of middle-class English comedians from a fee-paying school background who go on to Cambridge University where their appetite for the stage and showbiz is whetted in the legendary Footlights. But David Mitchell, star of TV shows ranging from Mitchell and Webb to the Peep Show has roots which go back to a 19th-century Presbyterian pulpit in the Sleat Peninsula on Skye, and to the north of Sutherland after the brutal Highland Clearances.

Future O F Va L E O F Leven Hospital Secured

CARE services at Vale of Leven hospital in Dunbartonshire, which were expected to be downgraded or cut, are to be expanded. Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon announced yesterday that the hospital in Alexandria would continue to provide out-of-hours "unscheduled care" led by consultants, and that routine services previously offered by the hospital in urology, opthamology and renal dialysis would be restored.

Pressure On Brown Over Plea for Troops Report Criticises Lack of Helicopters in Afghanistan

GORDON Brown refused to reveal if Army chiefs had requested 2000 more troops for Afghanistan when he came under pressure from MPs in the wake of a scathing report that claimed British forces were being put at risk due to a lack of helicopters. In testy exchanges in the Commons yesterday with Conservative backbencher James Arbuthnot, chairman of the Defence Committee that produced the critical report on helicopter capacity, Mr Brown four times sidestepped the issue on troop numbers, fuelling s...

Lloyds Faces Backlash Over Plans to Cut 1200 Jobs Bank to Axe 220 Posts in Scotland

LLOYDS Banking Group has been accused of "betraying" the taxpayer after it announced plans to cut another 1200 jobs, almost one-fifth of which will be in Scotland. The banking giant, which is 43per cent owned by the UK Government, yesterday said 220 positions will go north of the border, at Scottish Widows and the group operations division.

Capital Gains Art Fans at Free Venues Exclusive

THE recession has proved to be an unexpected boon for the National Galleries of Scotland. With more people choosing to visit free venues in the capital, and the effect of the weak pound, the Edinburgh galleries have seen a significant rise in visitor figures this year, and are likely to see up to 50,000 more this summer with the launch yesterday of its main exhibition, The Discovery of Spain.