The Church of Scotland has backed proposals to allow unmarried and same-sex couples to adopt.
Its church and society council said some within the Kirk felt the Scottish Executive reform undermined marriage.
In its formal response, the church said the child’s best interests had to be paramount and stressed that marriage provided the most stable environment. [...]

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Scottish Conservative leader David McLetchie has resigned after pressure over his Holyrood taxi expenses.
The Edinburgh Pentlands MSP spent £11,500 during five years - more than any other MSP - but said the claims were made in good faith.
Mr McLetchie said he was standing down with a “heavy heart” but said he recognised that recent [...]

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EUROPE’S largest gay festival will create jobs in Scotland.
The month-long Glasgay event, which kicked off in Glasgow last week, boasts 200 performances across 16 venues.
Festival producer Steven Thomson said: “Glasgay employs 150 people and has a big impact on hotels, restaurants, bars and retailers, with 20 per cent of the audience coming from outside Scotland.
Source

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DAVID BLUNKETT yesterday challenged British Muslims to give women equality.
The cabinet minister said it was time for Islamic communities in the UK to start changing their attitude to women.
In a speech in Glasgow, he admitted his views would be controversial.
But he said more Muslim women needed to go out to work, learn English and escape [...]

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A SCHEME to help refugees integrate into Scottish life was launched in Glasgow today.
The Sunrise project run by the Home Office is designed to help people make the transition from asylum seeker to resident by making sure their basic needs are met.
The launch came on a day when it was revealed that Eric [...]

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The Home Office has refused to stop carrying out dawn raids to remove failed asylum seekers from Scotland.
Immigration Minister Tony McNulty has defended the tactics, despite widespread condemnation - including protests by executive ministers.
There was an outcry when the Vucaj family were taken from their home in Glasgow last month in a dawn [...]

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The Scottish Conservative leader charged the Scottish Parliament for travelling to his party conference in the south of England, it has emerged.
The parliamentary body confirmed that David McLetchie misclaimed for a return flight to Bournemouth in 2002 and another trip to Selkirk in 2003.
The two journeys were unrelated to his parliamentary duties.
But Mr [...]

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DETAILS of David McLetchie’s taxi trips were made public yesterday - but the Tory leader won’t say how he spent £5000 of the cash.
The £5000 worth of fares were to unspecified destinations.
Parliament chiefs were forced to disclose what details they had by freedom of information commissioner Kevin Dunion.
That confirmed McLetchie took at least £900 worth [...]

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Scotland wants to tempt back millions of expatriates to halt population decline
SCOTLAND is to embark on an unprecedented charm offensive to encourage expatriates to return to their homeland.
Jack McConnell, First Minister of the devolved Scottish Executive, will fly the Saltire in Australia, the United States, Canada and South Africa to tempt Scots home.
First stop [...]

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BBC bosses sparked anger yesterday by demanding inflation-busting annual increases that could see the licence fee soar to £180.
The channel’s chiefs want to hike the fee, currently £126.50, by 2.3 per cent above the inflation rate each year between 2007 and 2013.
But MPs attacked the proposed rises as a “poll tax” on the poor.
The [...]

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After their fast start to the season, allied to the stumbling form of the Old Firm, Hearts are now the darlings of the Scottish punter. It may seem a little early in the season but could the duopoly in Scotland be about to end?
William Hill have slashed their odds, on Hearts, from a pre-season [...]

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AN Edinburgh primary school has received a glowing report from inspectors who praised its racial equality and anti-bullying efforts.
Flora Stevenson Primary received top marks following the visit from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education.
In particular they praised the caring attitude of staff, significant improvement in maths and the good behaviour of pupils.
Headteacher Ian [...]

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Biologists at the University of Liverpool in the UK have published new research suggesting that the reason why ten per cent of Europeans are immune to HIV infection is because of the plagues that swept the continent in ancient times.
Scientists have known for some time that these individuals carry a genetic mutation (of the [...]

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Council workers in the the granite city might be on the verge of industrial action but that hasn’t stopped a top of the range BMW being acquired for the Lord Provost.
Over 2000 employees of Aberdeen City Council face pay cuts as part of an overhaul of employee status to harmonise conditions between manual and [...]

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[If that was English workers flying England flag at Hampden the left wing media up here would have kicked up a stink-ed]
THE Saltire flew proudly over the new Wembley yesterday, thanks to two cheeky Scots builders working on the stadium.
Steel erectors Anthony Hutton and Harry Vallance hung their national flag as high behind the goal [...]

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THE BBC were at the centre of a race storm yesterday as listeners bombarded bosses with complaints about the excessive use of the word “nigger” on Radio 4’s Today show.
Listeners to the flagship news programme were stunned to hear the highly offensive racist term used no fewer than seven times in a four-minute interview.
Respected presenter [...]

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GAY rights groups have called for a councillor to resign after he asked why “queers have to parade about in public”.
Independent councillor Duncan Maclean made the comments after trying to stop same-sex marriage ceremonies from going ahead in registry offices and other venues.
Speaking to the Evening News today, he claimed his opinions were [...]

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Three men wanted in connection with the death of Glasgow teenager Kriss Donald have arrived in the UK following extradition from Pakistan.
The 15-year-old was found dead in the east end of the city in March last year after being abducted near his home in Pollokshields.
Full Story…

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IT has always been depressingly easy for a society to ignore the suffering of those with whom it does not identify. When we perceive people only as homogenous, “problematic” groups, our natural instinct is not one of empathy. This is one of the ways in which discrimination, oppression and bigotry are allowed to thrive . [...]

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The implications of making St Andrew’s Day a public holiday will be considered by MSPs at Holyrood.
Two Scottish Parliament committees will hear views on the merits of the plan by independent MSP Dennis Canavan.
The Confederation of British Industry and Scotland’s banks will voice opposition to the idea.
But it is backed by retailers, who [...]

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