An exclusive in the Daily Record claims Scotland’s largest local authority is considering plans to cut more than 800 teaching jobs and close primary schools early on Fridays to help cut £51m from its budget. She calls the Glasgow City Council’s plans “shocking” and quotes Seamus Searson, general secretary of teachers’ union SSTA, as saying: “This could wipe out the current generation of young people.”
The Times opens with a story claiming that charities and civic groups that criticized the Westminster government’s decision to block Scotland’s gender recognition legislation are receiving millions of pounds in funding from the SNP administration.
On the same subject, the Scottish Daily Mail headline “Sturgeon Courts Bet is Doomed” sums up the legal experts’ verdict on the impending legal battle between Holyrood and Westminster. Lord Hope of Craighead tells the newspaper the UK government’s case is “devastating” and Alistair Bonnington claims the fight is “doomed”.
A gender recognition rally will take place in Edinburgh to protest the UK’s blocking of the Scottish gender reform bill, according to the Evening News.
The lead article in The Scotsman reveals that a major oil and gas company has blamed the government’s windfall tax for a series of job cuts and a review of UK operations. Harbor Energy said it was “reassessing its future activity levels” after the tax was increased from 25% to 35%.
Police Scotland may adopt vetting checks on all employees in the wake of the David Carrick case, says the Scottish Daily Express. Carrick’s conviction of 49 violations while he was a serving Met officer has prompted revisions to investigative procedures. The newspaper says the Scottish force could use checks to make sure anyone unfit to serve is removed.
Security consultants have flagged a total of 23 areas of concern for attention at a Perth hotel that caught fire, leading to three deaths, The Courier reports. It says the New County Hotel was also asked by the fire service and local council to make improvements before the tragedy earlier this month.
i’s lead story discusses what it calls the “prepaid meter scandal.” The new data, obtained by the newspaper, suggests that warrants obtained by energy companies to force entry into customers’ homes “are processed in large batches without scrutiny.”
It’s a business story headlined by the Herald, which says a record number of companies are preparing to raise prices in the next three months due to rising wage bills and energy costs. The claims stem from a survey of businesses conducted by the Scottish Chambers of Commerce which found that 82% of respondents had plans to pass costs on to customers.
Following up on the cost of living crisis, the Glasgow Times reports on the closure of a much-loved city cafe due to the state of the economy. Sinclairs Cafe in Battlefield has closed for good.
The Daily Telegraph’s lead report has Sir James Dyson, founder of the Dyson tech empire, calling the government’s economic approach “shortsighted” and “stupid”. Elsewhere, the document advises that teachers in England should be warned against children in “social transition” who question their gender.
The Evening Express headlines with tributes to Jacqueline Kerr, who was found dead at her home in Aberdeen. Ms Kerr has been described as a much loved “ray of sunshine” by friends and family as a man appears in court charged with murder.
The headline story in The National reveals that a pro-Europe rally will be torchlit. The Time to Remain event is to “send a message to Europe about our desire to remain,” she reports.
Thursday’s Metro names Chancellor Jeremy Hunt “Mister Coffee Bean” after he made a video explaining inflation using coffee cups. The MP has been mocked online and compared to the sitcom character Mr Bean.
The P&J reports on the leveling of cash given to the area, but notes that while two cities got the funding boost, the city of Aberdeen missed out. The council had bid £20 million for the beach regeneration project.
“Football Freeze Zone” is the headline in the Evening Telegraph, referring to the last-minute cancellation of Dundee United’s game against Livingston.
An on-air prank involving Gary Lineker leads to The Scottish Sun, which has an exclusive interview with “notorious prankster” Dan Jarvis, who has claimed responsibility. On Tuesday, sexual noises interrupted the BBC’s live coverage of an FA Cup match between Wolves and Liverpool. Jarvis told the newspaper that he broke into Wolves’ Molineux Stadium a day before kickoff and used double-sided tape to tape a mobile phone to a 7-foot wall on set. He then changed the ringtone so that when called, the sexual noises would be heard live on TV.
And “Let’s Have Cake” is the Daily Star’s response to a Times article yesterday, in which Professor Susan Jebb, chairwoman of the Food Standards Agency, said sweets should not be brought into offices. Downing Street says the advice “must be ignored”, the Star writes, and the newspaper has published a photo of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson holding a birthday cake along with the story.
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