Author Archives: Phyllis Stephen

About Phyllis Stephen

Founding Editor of The Glasgow Reporter. Also edits The Edinburgh Reporter and is working on other digital projects across Scotland.

Boys Brigade go far to increase their membership

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Members of The Boys’ Brigade Scotland (BB) have completed the final stage of a three-month recruitment challenge, which required members from companies across Scotland to travel 1000km by any means necessary.

The young members made a final push to take to their bikes and cycle a 10km route around Glasgow.

Members were pictured stopping off at The Riverside Museum for a well-earned rest, before finishing at the Woodside Mission Halls, the birthplace of The Boys’ Brigade 131 years ago.

Collectively, members covered a distance of 1076km, exceeding the 1000km target set by ‘Growing Bigger, Growing Better’.

The challenge aimed to raise awareness of the organisation and to increase membership by 10 per cent, by showcasing the benefits for young people of being part of a youth organisation.

A range of initiatives were undertaken including 267 laps of the James Hamilton Heritage Loch in East Kilbride by young people and leaders of 4^th East Kilbride, The Boys’ Brigade; whilst 470 BB members from Airdrie & Coatbridge Battalion ran round the loch at Drumpellier Country Park adding 9km to the national total. Members of the 51^st Bonnyrigg Company,

The Boys’ Brigade, completed 28km during a weekend of activities, which included walking, swimming and football. Taking the challenge indoors, the 25^th Stirling (Dunblane) Company, The Boys’ Brigade got on their bikes to complete a combined 750 laps of the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.

David Smith (15) from 135^th Glasgow, The Boys’ Brigade, said:

“Taking part in the finale of a national BB event was brilliant and I particularly enjoyed meeting members from other Companies. It was such a different, fun and interesting way to see areas of Glasgow.”

Bill Stevenson, Director of The Boys’ Brigade, Scotland, said:

“The ‘Growing Bigger, Growing Better’ campaign has been an outstanding success. We’ve exceeded the initial target of 1000km and already our Companies are reporting an increase in membership. During the course of the campaign, we’ve recruited 410 new members and we hope this momentum will continue over the coming weeks.

“I was really encouraged to see so many of our members take part and this has been a great example of the role our young people play in helping to boost membership. By encouraging them into the local community through fun, outdoor events like this, they have helped to raise awareness of The Boys’ Brigade and the benefits membership can bring.”

‘Growing Bigger, Growing Better’ took place between 20 August and 30 November 2014.

The Boys’ Brigade is reaching out to more young people to be part of one of our 450 groups across Scotland. To find the nearest opportunity or to volunteer, visit http://scotland.boys-brigade.org.uk/join.

Photos by Tony Marsh

Team Cowan take the High Road at the National Wheelchair Pairs

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Team Cowan are the Stars at the 2014 National Wheelchair Pairs Curling Championship

There is a new pair of champions following this year’s Star Refrigeration National Wheelchair Pairs Curling Championship, which took place last weekend at Braehead Ice Rink in Glasgow.

The much-loved competition saw 16 pairs of curlers competing for the grand prize this year, with teams hailing from all over Scotland. After making it through the round robin stages, John Doyle from East Kilbride and Daniel Cowan from Lockerbie managed to claim victory in their High Road final against Paul Webster and Angela Higson, taking the crown from two time winners Mo Simpson and Ian Donaldson.

Alan Walkinshaw, Star’s Director of Sales, attended the championships to present the prizes to the lucky winners. Speaking about the event, he said: “It was a pleasure to attend the finals again. The standard of play seems to improve with each year and it was great to see new winners in John and Daniel come to the fore this year.

Star Refrigeration has been proud to sponsor the National Pairs competition for the last 9 years in a period when participation levels and performance levels have increased, as has the profile of wheelchair curling.”

As well as Team Cowan, the curlers were also celebrating another team’s win after the success of Team GB at the Winter Paralympics earlier in the year. The bronze win of the Scottish curling team in Sochi propelled the sport into the spotlight, and tribute was paid to their victorious friends (with skip Aileen Neilson having previously won the Star Championships herself) in the form of a Sochi 2014 banner hung up at the event.

David Morgan, Chairman of the Scottish Wheelchair Curling Association, said: “I would like to thank Star Refrigeration for all the support afforded to the Wheelchair Curling Championship by sponsoring us over the past nine years at Braehead Ice Rink.

Interest levels in our sport have been soaring after Sochi. This has been a landmark year for wheelchair curling, and Star have really been a tremendous contribution to the promotion of wheelchair curling in Scotland.”

PHOTO (L-R: Daniel Cowan, Alan Walkinshaw of Star Refrigeration, John Doyle).

For more information about the weekend’s matches, visit the Royal Caledonian Curling Club.

Eardley painting of Glasgow children to be sold at auction

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SHUGGIE AND JAMESIE TWO OF JOAN EARDLEY’S FAMOUS GLASGOW CHILDREN AT BONHAMS WINTER ART SALE IN EDINBURGH

A charming painting of two Glasgow street children by Joan Eardley is to be offered at Bonhams Scottish Art sale in Edinburgh next week on 4 December 2014. It is estimated at £25,000-35,000.

Shuggie and Jamesie, which has been in the same private hands since 1964, is one of the celebrated series of images of children that Eardley produced in her studio on St James’s Road Townhead in Glasgow during the 1950s. It is on these distinctive works and the later sea and landscapes of the area round Catterline in Aberdeenshire that her reputation as one of Scotland’s finest 20th century artists largely rest.

Joan Eardley was well known in Townhead and children would flock to her studio door looking for sweets in exchange for a few minutes modelling. She worked mostly in pastel, an ideal medium for capturing the image quickly before the children grew bored and started to fidget and run off. Shuggie and Jamesie appears pinned to the top of the easel in Audrey Walter’s photograph of Eardley working in her Townhead studio.

The Townhead of Eardley and her street children is long since gone. The tenement buildings that characterised so much of the area were demolished in the 1960s, the families either re-housed in new tower blocks or moved to estates like Easterhouse on the outskirts of Glasgow.

Bonhams Head of Scottish Art, Chris Brickley, said, “Joan Eardley’s street children became a kind of trademark during the early part of her career. Not only are they highly evocative and accomplished works in their own right they also bear poignant witness to a vanished age.”

Report investigates football’s relationship to domestic abuse

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A report, published today by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR), highlights a correlation between the occurrence of certain football matches and increased reports of domestic abuse.

The report, which was commissioned by the Scottish Government and carried out by academics at the University of Glasgow and Glasgow Caledonian University, found an increase in recorded domestic violence incidents on the day that football matches were played. Researchers stress that the reasons for this correlation are not yet fully understood and call for more work to be done in the area.

Understanding domestic abuse and how to tackle it is a key priority for the Scottish Government and its partners. Domestic abuse continues to be a serious and persistent social problem rooted in gendered inequalities. To tackle domestic abuse, we must understand any factors that may contribute to it.

The report, which reviewed existing research findings gathered over the last 25 years, suggests that the link between domestic violence and football may exist due to their shared association between particular forms of masculinity, violence, sexism, and alcohol consumption. However, caution should be exercised in the interpretations of research findings, in that correlation should not be interpreted as causation. While recent studies demonstrate that reports of domestic abuse do increase when high profile football matches take place, it is too simplistic to then suggest that football causes domestic abuse.

The researchers from the SCCJR identified that there are relatively few studies in the Scottish and wider UK context that specifically address the relationship between football and domestic abuse. They recommend further qualitative research to investigate the experiences of victims and survivors of domestic violence as well as perpetrators and practitioners working in the area.

Dr Oona Brooks said “Domestic abuse is a pattern of controlling behaviour rather than a discreet incident; linking its occurrence to a particular football match or sporting event may simply reinforce the idea that it is an infrequent act, triggered only at these times. Further research on these issues would benefit from locating domestic abuse within an ongoing pattern of abusive behaviour.”

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said: “I welcome the findings of this report which give us a clearer picture of the complex relationship between football and domestic abuse.

“The Scottish Government is absolutely clear that there is no excuse and no place for domestic abuse in Scotland and only this week announced our plans to consult on a specific domestic abuse offence. We know the misery this crime can bring and are determined to end the suffering of victims across Scotland. In the meantime our enforcement agencies will continue to track down offenders and use the full force of the law to bring them to justice.

“Clearly, combatting domestic abuse requires a range of actions to tackle this unacceptable behaviour. The Scottish Government is investing £34.5 million in funding between 2012 and 2015 to support a range of initiatives and services to support those who have experienced or been affected by domestic abuse and other forms of violence.”

First Minister starts tour in Glasgow

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ACTS UNVEILED FOR BIGGEST DATE ON SNP TOUR

LOU HICKEY, RED HOT CHILLI PIPERS AND DOUGIE MACLEAN TO PLAY

The SNP has today announced the line-up for First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s biggest tour event yet.

The First Minister will tomorrow address a crowd at the 12,000 capacity SSE Hydro in Glasgow. Tickets for the event were booked out in record time when they were released last month.

Ahead of the First Minister’s address, there will be performances from samba band Bloco Yes, traditional Scottish band Trybe, Lou Hickey and friends, Scottish hip-hop act Stanley Odd, Eddi Reader, Red Hot Chilli Pipers, Edinburgh indie band Blank Canvas and Dougie MacLean.

The SNP’s new Depute Leader Stewart Hosie MP and former First Minister Alex Salmond will also address the crowd.

Ahead of the event, Stewart Hosie said:

“This has been a week to remember for the SNP and for Scotland, as Nicola Sturgeon became Scotland’s first ever female First Minister and announced a gender balanced Cabinet.

“The SNP has become the national party of Scotland in all senses – leading in the polls as distrust in the Westminster establishment parties has grown and support for the divided Labour party plummets.

“Over the last month, Nicola Sturgeon has been touring the country speaking to new members of the SNP and people who are not yet supporters about our shared hopes for Scotland. Thousands of people have been coming along to booked-out venues from Inverness to Dumfries to hear Nicola and take part in extensive question and answer sessions. And that engagement is set to continue, with Nicola’s pledge to be the most accessible First Minister ever, continuing to hold regular events throughout the country and Facebook Q&As.

“Tomorrow’s event at the Hydro will be the biggest yet. We are delighted that excellent acts including Lou Hickey, Eddi Reader, the Red Hot Chilli Pipers and Dougie MacLean will be joining us to entertain the crowds.

“The referendum reinvigorated Scottish political debate – the fact that so many people are so politically engaged and preparing to come along to hear our new First Minister speak on a Saturday afternoon is further evidence that Scotland is changed as a nation for the better and forever.”

Boys Brigade raise funds for Czech youth project

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The Boys’ Brigade in Scotland presents cheque for £11,000 for Czech Republic Youth Project

Boys’ Brigade members from across Scotland have helped to raise an impressive sum for young people in the Czech Republic, through a year of fundraising efforts for the BB Church of Scotland World Mission Fund.

A cheque was handed over to The Right Reverend John Chalmers, Moderator of the General Assembly of The Church of Scotland at an evening ceremony at Daziel St Andrew’s Parish Church in Motherwell.

The money will go towards raising funds for new equipment for a camp in the Czech Republic mountains. The Comenuis Camp, run by the Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren, is in need of new equipment and furniture so it can continue to run camps and a range of activities for young people.

The money has been raised through a variety of activities by Boys’ Brigade Scotland Companies. For example, the 1^st/2^nd Milngavie Company held a special games day offering members and visitors the chance to take part in tent building sessions and a picnic night. The 1^st East Calder Company put on a fundraising treasure hunt event and 3r^d Perth co-ordinated an overnight games night.

Bill Stevenson, Director, Scotland, The Boys’ Brigade, said:

“What a fantastic achievement by so many BB Companies across Scotland to raise such an impressive amount for this worthwhile project. International work is a significant part of our programme and the BB Church of Scotland World Mission Fund is just one example of that. Over the past 60 years, the money raised is in excess of £1.5 million.

“The Comenius Camp is a really exciting place to go and we hope this money will go some way to helping improve the facilities. We also hope some of our young people will have the opportunity to visit, see the impact of the work first hand and meet other like-minded young people in a fun environment.”

The Right Reverend John Chalmers, Moderator of the General Assembly of The Church of Scotland said:

“It was a particular pleasure to attend The Church of Scotland / Boys’ Brigade World mission fund cheque presentation evening at Daziel St Andrew’s Parish Church in Motherwell.

“The ‘Czech it Out’ appeal’s total of £11,000 represents a marvellous sum and a huge amount of effort from BB members, their leaders and congregations. This hard work will go some way to help improve the outdoor facilities for young people in the Czech Republic.

“This appeal and the dozens before have made a real positive difference to congregations and wider communities around the world. Significantly, they also offer BB members an insight into some the challenges which youngsters overseas face each day.”

Doctor Who was a Glasgow graduate

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New research by archivists supports claims made by Doctor Who that the celebrated Time Lord may at some point have received a Doctorate from the University of Glasgow.

The question of how and when the Doctor was awarded his Doctorate has eluded Whovians for decades. Given his adventures travelling through time and space, keeping the world safe from evil monsters, it is perhaps not surprising that the Doctor’s matriculation record is less than straightforward.

Revelations made in the episode ‘Death in Heaven’, broadcast on Saturday 8 November seemed to answer that question when the Doctor’s companion Clara Oswald referred to the degree he was awarded by the University of Glasgow.

The Doctor has made several inconsistent statements on the subject over the years, at one point claiming to have studied under renowned physician Joseph Lister in 1888. Whilst at the University of Glasgow, Lister pioneered a revolutionary system of antiseptic surgery.

Head of the University of Glasgow’s Archives Services, Lesley Richmond has developed her own theory on the matter, saying: “There are a few problems with the Doctor’s Glasgow claims. Lister wasn’t here in the 1880s. And, when you look at the different dates the Doctor says he was here – it doesn’t add up.

“One of my theories is that he came to consult with some of the greatest scientific minds of the time, because he was developing the sonic screwdriver. Now, who better to assist than renowned physicist and engineer Lord Kelvin?”

The sonic screwdriver is one of the Doctor’s sophisticated gadgets. It allows him to unlock anything and remotely control other devices. Lord Kelvin was Professor of Natural Philosophy from 1846–1899, which means the Doctor could have taken his classes in advanced mathematical physics as well as used his electrical engineering laboratory to develop the screwdriver.

In the episode broadcast on Saturday 8 November, while pretending to be the Doctor in an effort to save herself from an army of Cybermen, one of the planet’s deadliest enemies, Clara Oswald said: “I don’t even really have a doctorate. Well Glasgow University, but then I accidentally graduated in the wrong century.”

Although her statement doesn’t fully solve the mystery of what he studied and when, it confirmed the claim that he is a Glasgow graduate.

In 1967, the Second Doctor (played by Patrick Troughton), in the Moonbase series of Doctor Who, said he had graduated in medicine at Glasgow in ‘1888, I think…Lister’.

Professor of Surgery Joseph Lister developed a revolutionary system of antiseptic surgery while at the University from 1860 to 1869. But this was over 15 years before the Doctor claims to have been here.

The Fourth Doctor (played by Tom Baker) only muddies the water further, including Lister in his CV but dating the degree to 1880.

And the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davidson) told American college student Peri Brown that he could be a medic in the American Civil War because he had a degree from Glasgow.

The current writer and producer behind the series, Steven Moffat (MA 1983), is a Glasgow graduate. An enthusiastic fan of the show since childhood, Steven became head writer and executive producer in 2010 after several years writing for the show. It’s Steven who has been attributed to the recent rise in success of Doctor Who.

Did the Doctor study at Glasgow? While Saturday’s revelations don’t tell us exactly what he studied, it does confirm that the Doctor took a flexible approach to his studies. Being over two thousand years old, spending his life jumping between civilisations to save the world, this makes sense. If he says he got a medical degree at Glasgow, perhaps we have to just take him at his word.

Clydeside Action on Asbestos disappointed by court reforms

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In a debate yesterday at Holyrood new legislation was passed which will bring about the biggest modernisation of Scotland’s courts in a generation.

Opposition to these changes came largely from Clydeside Action on Asbestos a charity which seeks to ensure that damages are paid to asbestos sufferers. They had hoped that an exception could be made for those claiming for such damages to allow those cases to be heard in the higher court, the Court of Session.

Phyllis Craig the chair of the charity who organised for protesters to assemble at Holyrood yesterday said:- “Asbestos victims from all over Scotland are coming to Holyrood today to make a personal plea to Kenny MacAskill. They’re saying please don’t allow your new court reform to stop us and our families getting justice for what’s been done to us.

“That’s a very powerful message and I sincerely hope that Mr MacAskill hears it. Asbestos related Illness is a shameful legacy of Scotland’s industrial past and more victims than ever are coming forward. He may not have intended it but the Justice Secretary’s reform will end up stacking the odds very much in favour of the insurance companies who, to their shame, will use any means they can to avoid admitting liability. The men and women suffering these conditions must be protected by our justice system not forgotten about in the drive for reform.”

The court reforms include recommendations made by Lord Gill as part of the Scottish Civil Courts Review to improve the structure and operation of the courts, which were described as “slow, inefficient and expensive.”

The new powers passed today will ensure that the right cases are heard in the right courts at the right cost.

The reforms will change the procedures and processes in our courts and include:

Raising the exclusive competence of the sheriff court to £100,000
Introducing summary sheriffs to deal with some types of criminal and civil cases in the sheriff courts
Establishing a Sheriff Appeal Court

You can watch the proceedings from Holyrood here:

Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill said:

“I am delighted that this Government’s Court Reform Bill has passed stage 3 and will now become enshrined in law.

“Our courts have remained relatively unchanged for decades but this new legislation will bring about the most important change for Scottish courts for more than a generation.

“This is a hugely important step forward in making Scotland’s civil justice system more accessible, affordable and efficient for those people who need to resolve civil disputes.

“We have listened to and accepted concerns from some stakeholders and made amendments to ensure that people get access to the most appropriate legal representation in their cases.

“I am confident that the reformed courts structure, including the new national specialist personal injury court, will ensure that cases can be raised and dealt with quickly and effectively and there is easier and more affordable access to justice.”

Grahame Smith, General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, said:

“We are delighted that, in his speech today, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice has shown an understanding of the need to protect access to justice for victims of workplace injury and personal injury more generally. We welcome in particular his clear concerns about the implications of Section 69 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act and his personal commitment to supporting its reversal should the Scottish Parliament be empowered to do so.

“In making clear his view that the Specialist Court is the appropriate place for health and safety cases of any financial value to be heard, the Cabinet Secretary has provided enormous comfort for our members. Equally, his recognition that the test for sanction is likely to be met in the majority of work related personal injury cases shows a keen understanding of the complexity that these cases are likely to carry.”

Alan Rogerson, Chairman of The Forum of Scottish Claims Managers, said:

“We welcome the Courts Reform (Scotland) Bill as a progressive, forward thinking piece of legislation. The establishment of a specialist Scotland-wide court to deal with personal injury cases, together with the £100,000 privative jurisdiction of that sheriff court, will improve access to justice and play an important part in the delivery of the reforms envisaged by Lord Gill in the Scottish Civil Courts review.”

The Glasgow Reporter chats with Michael O’Leary

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The CEO of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, was in Edinburgh this morning to speak at the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce breakfast but of course he was keen as always to take up the opportunity of speaking to the press, particularly in light of the announcement by Little Red yesterday that they are pulling out of their Edinburgh to London routes. (“Ah yes – No more virgins in Scotland!”) He was also happy to talk about the recent move by Ryanair to Glasgow Airport and the ongoing use of Prestwick Airport.

Listen here:

listen to ‘The Glasgow Reporter chats with Michael O’Leary ’ on audioBoom

O’Leary confirmed they are stepping into the breach for Little Red customers: “We spoke to Edinburgh Airport last night and we have committed to taking our flight frequency up from three flights a day this winter to five flights a day next winter making up all of the capacity that is being lost with the departure of Little Red.”

Even though the airline boss agreed that the flights are not on exactly the same route (Virgin Atlantic fly to Heathrow till 2015) he explained that it is important to maintain the capacity of running flights between the two capitals thus keeping prices low. “The problem for Little Red was that they were not able to persuade people to fly to Heathrow at their prices. We will bring in more seats at significantly lower prices.”

At a fare of £19.99 one way the airline claims to make only £6 as there is £13 of Air Passenger Duty, but the important thing from O’Leary’s point of view is to grow the market here in Scotland. “I think Scotland is going to grow strongly on the back of things like the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup.

“I think we will still grow strongly in Scotland even though you did not get independence last month. It makes little difference to our business.”

There was a good two way exchange with the businesss leaders at the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce business breakfast where he had been speaking, and he admitted that not all of them were complimentary to his business model, but one senses that he was ready for the naysayers. He has had something of an epiphany in recent months and both he and the business itself are on a bit of a charm offensive. Mr O’Leary told us at our last meeting that he is taking lessons in being nice to people and today he admitted that had he known how easy life would be just by being nicer to others he might have started before now.

He is dismissive of the effect of the independence question but clearly is on top of the political situation here: “One of the things the Westminster government are going to have to do is demonstrate in the next six months more and more devolution in Scotland. I think one of the things they will devolve is Air Passenger Duty (APD) or control over it. And I would hope that the Scottish Government will then keep its word and abolish the taxes. It will have a dramatic impact on growth here in Scotland, certainly in Prestwick. It is the one thing that hinders the development of traffic in Prestwick where the customer base is very price sensitive. Our two biggest routes there five years ago were from Belfast and London both of which suffered badly when APD was introduced. We would restore both of those routes at Prestwick if APD was scrapped.

“We are certainly not turning our backs on smaller airports. If you look around Europe we are operating at two or three airports in each city. For instance in London we serve Stansted, Gatwick and Luton. In Brussels we serve Charleroi and Zavantem. I think that in Glasgow we can easily serve two airports.

O’Leary explains that the introduction of routes out of Glasgow International to Dublin has allowed them to increase the number of flights to three from the one flight out of Prestwick which was offered previously. Part of the reason for this appears to be airport location.

He explained: “Some of our business market will just not use Prestwick, but it will continue to be a leisure airport. I think it has great potential as a leisure airport, but that in turn means it is much more price sensitive traffic and that is where APD has such an impact. I think we would like to continue to grow Prestwick but we are waiting for the new management team to be appointed there.

Asked about the improvements which he had proposed for the business customer and whether these were already paying off, O’Leary was quite frank and said: “I think so! We started this process about twelve months ago in improving a better customer experience. I think we have made mistakes in the past by being too focussed on just being the cheapest and not addressing what were fairly minor elements of our service that caused passengers a lot of grief, the free seating being one of those and of course being overly strict on the rules over one carry-on bag.

“We have addressed a lot of those issues in the last twelve months. We have rolled out a much better website and a new mobile app, a product that offers discounts for families travelling on Ryanair, discounts on checked in bags and allocated seats for the children, and now a new business product that gives business passengers flying with Ryanair flexible tickets, allocated seats, priority boarding and fast track through airport security. We have seen a huge and very favourable response from customers. Load factors are up, traffic growth is up strongly and profits are up as well. It is working!”

Ryanair’s half year results will be out in the first week of November. The results in the last financial year showed a dip in company profits for the first time in five years but the CEO said that this year’s profit guidance has already been increased. Asked about reasons for last year’s dip the former accountant explained: “Last year the reason was softer pricing. A lot of other airlines reported softer pricing too but I think it was the kickstart we needed to begin to address the problems of customer experience and all the things we have done this year. We can’t always be the cheapest just for the sake of being the cheapest. We need to be the cheapest and the best in terms of delivery of customer experience and service too.

“I am a regular traveller and of course I know how the system works. But the business needs to evolve for new passengers coming to Ryanair. Regular users of our flights know how to comply with the system. They know all the rules. But I think we created an unnecessary fear factor against potential customers who haven’t flown with us before, but who might like our prices. They have been put off by the image or the reputation that we will fight with them over baggage size or there will be a scrum at the boarding gate over free seating. There isn’t and now we need to get that message across that we are being nicer to customers and customers are enjoying the experience. Try us you’ll save money, save time and you’ll have a pleasant experience as well.”

Asked about the possibility of taking on any of Richard Branson’s other businesses he dismissed the idea completely and said he is going to stick to airlines, rather than being distracted into running any other types of organisation.

“We will focus on being an airline. We are Europe’s biggest airline and we want to continue to be that and continue to save our passengers money.”

On their green credentials the CEO also claims that Ryanair is doing well. “We are ranked by independent studies as the greenest cleanest airline in Europe. We have the youngest fleet therefore the newest engines. We also do not offer an expensive or wasteful business class product therefore we carry more passengers per flight which equals fewer emissions per passenger than any other airline.”

You have until Thursday to book flights to London with Ryanair at prices from £19.99 upwards.

Government invokes conservation order to protect Firth of Clyde

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An urgent Marine Conservation Order (MCO) is being brought in to protect fragile ecosystems in the South Arran area of the Firth of Clyde.

This is the first time these powers in the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 have been used.

The move comes after a recent breach of the voluntary fisheries management arrangement in place at the South Arran Marine Protected Area, which was designated in July this year. Fishermen had agreed to avoid an area that is home to delicate maerl beds under the water, which are a nursery habitat for young scallops as well as other juvenile fish and shellfish.

Scottish Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said:

“Scotland’s network of Marine Protected Areas has been put in place to safeguard our most iconic marine species and habitats. We take the responsibility for the protection of these 30 sites extremely seriously and that is why I have made this urgent MCO for South Arran.

“Maerl beds are crucial to the biodiversity of the marine environment in this area and scientific evidence shows that dredging can destroy significant proportions of these delicate habitats in just one pass of the gear. Such activity is in breach of the voluntary agreement between Marine Scotland and the fishing industry and so it is disappointing to hear about this incident.

“I’m heartened to hear that the voluntary agreements in operation in other MPA sites around Scotland are working well so far. Our swift action in this case underlines how committed the Scottish Government is to maintain and enhance our marine environment so that is remains a prized assed for future generations.”

The MCO will come into force at one second past midnight on October 1, 2014 and there will be no impact on the vessels that were following the voluntary arrangements for South Arran.