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Key ingredient for success as Scottish restaurant and bar group eyes new venues The Scottish restaurant and bar group is eyeing new venues as it aims to double in size

The scale of the ambitions set out by the head of a fast-growing Scottish restaurants and bars group - as he announced he was taking control of the...

yesterday 10

Herald Scotland

Ian Mcconnell

A performer was mean on the Glastonbury stage? Well, cry me a river and the sea If you have had to phone the police recently and felt that they didn’t do enough to help, have you considered that they might have more pressing issues to attend to, like maybe the language used by performers on the Glastonbury stage?

If you have had to phone the police recently and felt that they didn’t do enough to help, have you considered that they might have more pressing...

yesterday 10

Herald Scotland

Derek Mcarthur

We can't afford to risk another 'one we got away with' when Trump comes calling

Twenty years ago this week, all Scotland’s chief constables were checking, double- and triple-checking the multiple plans drawn up to ensure the...

yesterday 9

Herald Scotland

Calum Steele

In this special year, Glasgow should reaffirm commitment to Nelson Mandela's values

Glasgow’s Nelson Mandela Place honours a man as big in history as he was in life. Mandela was a titanic champion of human decency. His struggle for...

yesterday 10

Herald Scotland

Martin Roche

Communities are leading the way in transforming public services

The recent Programme for Government (PfG) places emphasis on tackling child poverty, transforming public services, and building a wellbeing...

yesterday 3

Herald Scotland

Lorraine Sanda

Sturgeon aide and £300k to Edinburgh books festival. Nothing to see here, right?

At first I thought it was a summer cold starting. The symptoms were straightforward enough - a pronounced and uncontrollable twitching of the nose,...

yesterday 2

Herald Scotland

Alison Rowat

If you love Glasgow so much, Lana, maybe you could do more than 14 songs?

Don’t you just hope that when Lana Del Rey next pays for her latte at Starbucks she opens the lid to discover it’s only half full? Or that when the...

yesterday 1

Herald Scotland

Brian Beacom

I’ve listened to families across Scotland — this is what they really need John Swinney sets out his vision for a radical overhaul of Scotland’s public services, centred around ‘whole family support’ — a model already reducing poverty, keeping families together, and turning GP practices into community lifelines.

Since becoming First Minister, I have spent much of my time meeting people and listening to their concerns, hopes and ambitions. It is clear people...

previous day 2

Herald Scotland

John Swinney

Scale of SNP Government climate change failings underlined by experts

The SNP Government has hailed the prospect of a boom in offshore windfarm development that it expects UK householders to subsidise as experts have...

previous day 5

Herald Scotland

Mark Williamson

We are being softened up to dismiss the sanctity of life

At Mass last Sunday, our parish priest delivered a sermon which conveyed the Catholic Church’s belief in the sanctity of all human life. In the...

previous day 1

Herald Scotland

Kevin Mckenna

Why is Scotland so slow on solar? We may not be in heat dome, but we do get sun The UK just produced a Solar Roadmap. But the Scottish Government is dragging its heels on photovoltaics. Where is the vision? We do get sun.

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. It’s been hot lately in parts of Scotland, though not quite the sauna that the...

previous day 4

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Why is the BBC in the dock? Why not call out Glastonbury?

Day or night, rain or shine, yin or yang, there is a universal, untransmutable constant around which we can all coalesce, no matter our political...

previous day 4

Herald Scotland

Carlos Alba

I love the Scottish bookshop that only sells romantic fiction

Niche tastes Independent Bookshop Week has just ended and the buzz even ahead of the tills closing on Saturday was that this year’s UK-wide event...

previous day 4

Herald Scotland

Barry Didcock

'Stupidest' and 'unhinged' seem like measured descriptions amid destruction Words such as 'unhinged' and 'stupidest' seem perfectly measured and proportionate in the scheme of things

It is now more than nine years since the UK electorate voted for Brexit but the issue - most justifiably given the damage it is causing to the...

30.06.2025 3

Herald Scotland

Ian Mcconnell

There is an alternative to massive defence spending: it means a new kind of security

When the Scottish Trade Union Peace Network gathered on June 18  to launch the Alternative Defence Review (ADR), which will be echoed on...

30.06.2025 2

Herald Scotland

Karen Bell

This pernicious legislation is fatally flawed

A good old fashioned parliamentary dust-up seems quite tame compared to the political tsunamis that have engulfed our parliaments in recent years....

30.06.2025 2

Herald Scotland

Roz Foyer

A genuine opportunity to spark growth but risk of stalling

The UK Government’s latest Spending Review offers a genuine opportunity to spark growth, create much-needed jobs, and unlock private investment...

30.06.2025 1

Herald Scotland

Liz Cameron

Do not believe the middle-class moaning about private schools

You’ll remember that when Labour said they were planning to put VAT on private school fees, some people said it would be disastrous, schools would...

30.06.2025 1

Herald Scotland

Mark Smith

History will judge this Labour government for targeting protesters

History will judge this Labour government for targeting protesters

A FEW years ago I interviewed Donna McLean, one of the women lied to and seduced by undercover police officers from a special unit set up to...

29.06.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Dani Garavelli

I have walked amongst Scotland's largest seagulls - and they are a menace AS anyone who has ever had the ill fortune to meander down Aberdeen’s Union Street around 3am on a Sunday morning, seagulls can be a bit of a problem.As they feast on discarded kebabs, burgers, baked potatoes or even the odd buttery, the thousands of birds are quite a sight as seem to move as one like a feathered carpet down the famed thoroughfare.They are big​ too. Very big, probably the biggest in Scotland, and with their size comes with equally large beaks, and that is where the problem lies.Have anything edible about your person at that time of the morning then you really are in trouble.For gulls, like some of us humans, seem to have forgotten all about their traditional diet of healthy fish discarded over the side of a trawler, and now prefer fast food – and more of it the better.And you can see their point in a way. Why would you want a measly fish straight out of the sea, when you can gorge on plump ones wrapped in batter and served with chips. However, it is not a laughing matter really, as there are increasing examples of people getting hurt by the hungry birds up and down the country.Now the problem (again) has been raised at Holyrood with former Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross warning that Scots risk losing their lives over the “growing problem” of “dominating” gulls if action is not taken to stop them. That is quite the claim but at least had evidence to back it up. In the chamber, Mr Ross spoke of gull horror stories including one woman who fell outside her house as a result of a gull attack, broke her leg, went to hospital and then, upon her return, was attacked again. The debate was led by Mr Ross after he submitted a motion stating that the parliament should note concern around the reported changes to the approach taken for granting licences to control gulls in recent years by NatureScot.He argued that this has led to fewer licences being approved.A total of  2,041 licences were granted in 2023, however this figure fell to 505 in 2024.He told the chamber there is a “clear conflict” in the Scottish Government body Nature Scot between conserving and preserving bird numbers and controlling the applications to regulate bird numbers. Mr Ross also criticised NatureScot and the Scottish Government for being on the side of seagulls and not humans during a sometimes heated debate at Holyrood.The Former Scottish Conservative leader said: “Currently they are clearly conflicted between conserving and preserving bird numbers and also being the agency that looks at and deliberates on applications to control birds.“It is not possible any more for Nature Scot to do those dual roles”.Mr Ross pointed that Nature Scot keep a record of bird deaths or injury but not take any record of people injured. He said communities and businesses in his own constituency of Moray, Nairn and Inverness have had significant problems with gulls in recent years, but that many communities across Scotland also experience similar problems.He also said the gulls are causing “mental health issues” as their constant screeching torments the general public. “They are a menace,” he emphasised to parliament. Mr Ross said he is not ignoring that people are encouraging gulls by feeding them and he accepted that was “part of the problem”. Gulls “dominating areas” are also seeing a reduction of other smaller birds, he argued.Mr Ross called on more “robust action” from the Scottish Government and NatureScot to protect humans and businesses from “the menace of dangerous gulls”.It is hard to argue with Mr Ross on this one as we can all probably recall being menaced by seagulls at one point or another in recent times.His point about smaller birds being driven from some areas is also true, as I can vouch from my own garden, which can  suddenly become full of gulls, particularly when people put bread out.Of course, this is always well intentioned as it put out for smaller birds who cannot get a  look in as everything is hoovered up by the aggressive gulls.I live a good 30-odd miles from the coast too, proving that the problem with gulls is not confined to seaside communities.Residents and businesses in the former fishing port of Nairn on the Moray Firth believe gulls have become a serious problem.A survey by Nairn Business Improvement District (Bid) last year received 85 reports of gull attacks.Manager Lucy Harding told the BBC: “That was quite worrying. It is an issue I regularly get reports on, of people being attacked for food particularly.”Gulls, like other birds, are protected by law and Scotland’s nature body, NatureScot, has strict rules around how they are controlled.A licence is needed for the removal of nests and eggs from the roofs of buildings in areas where gulls are deemed to be a nuisance.But Ms Harding said it was now harder to obtain the necessary paperwork.Nairn Bid has put in place other measures to discourage gulls from nesting in the town, including reflective devices designed to scare birds away from rooftops.Gulls are a coastal species, but they have been drawn into towns and cities due to the plentiful places to build nests, a lack of predators - and lots of opportunities to find food.In their natural habitats - the coast and farmland - the birds eat carrion, seeds, fruits, young birds, eggs, small mammals, insects and fish.NatureScot issued 2,633 nest removal licences across Scotland in 2023, and 1,601 in 2024. It said it understood gulls could sometimes cause problems in towns and cities, but at the same time populations of the birds were facing “serious declines”.NatureScot said it would continue to issue licenses where gulls were causing a health and safety issue.RSPB Scotland say that people and gulls could coexist if the right action was takenNumbers of herring gulls, a species people are most likely to encounter in urban areas, have fallen by 48% in Scotland since the 1980s, according to RSPB Scotland.Clearly the answer then is not just mass culling of gulls, but it is fair to say that more robust action needs to be taken before somebody does get seriously hurt. But the answer ultimately lies with all of us and the amount of food that we just casually throw away, which then attracts gulls.We all need to look at our own behaviour and stop blaming the gulls, however menacing they are,  for everything. Ultimately, we are the problem and therefore we are the solution too.

I have walked amongst Scotland's largest seagulls - and they are a menace AS anyone who has ever had the ill fortune to meander down Aberdeen’s Union Street around 3am on a Sunday morning, seagulls can be a bit of a problem.As they feast on discarded kebabs, burgers, baked potatoes or even the odd buttery, the thousands of birds are quite a sight as seem to move as one like a feathered carpet down the famed thoroughfare.They are big​ too. Very big, probably the biggest in Scotland, and with their size comes with equally large beaks, and that is where the problem lies.Have anything edible about your person at that time of the morning then you really are in trouble.For gulls, like some of us humans, seem to have forgotten all about their traditional diet of healthy fish discarded over the side of a trawler, and now prefer fast food – and more of it the better.And you can see their point in a way. Why would you want a measly fish straight out of the sea, when you can gorge on plump ones wrapped in batter and served with chips. However, it is not a laughing matter really, as there are increasing examples of people getting hurt by the hungry birds up and down the country.Now the problem (again) has been raised at Holyrood with former Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross warning that Scots risk losing their lives over the “growing problem” of “dominating” gulls if action is not taken to stop them. That is quite the claim but at least had evidence to back it up. In the chamber, Mr Ross spoke of gull horror stories including one woman who fell outside her house as a result of a gull attack, broke her leg, went to hospital and then, upon her return, was attacked again. The debate was led by Mr Ross after he submitted a motion stating that the parliament should note concern around the reported changes to the approach taken for granting licences to control gulls in recent years by NatureScot.He argued that this has led to fewer licences being approved.A total of  2,041 licences were granted in 2023, however this figure fell to 505 in 2024.He told the chamber there is a “clear conflict” in the Scottish Government body Nature Scot between conserving and preserving bird numbers and controlling the applications to regulate bird numbers. Mr Ross also criticised NatureScot and the Scottish Government for being on the side of seagulls and not humans during a sometimes heated debate at Holyrood.The Former Scottish Conservative leader said: “Currently they are clearly conflicted between conserving and preserving bird numbers and also being the agency that looks at and deliberates on applications to control birds.“It is not possible any more for Nature Scot to do those dual roles”.Mr Ross pointed that Nature Scot keep a record of bird deaths or injury but not take any record of people injured. He said communities and businesses in his own constituency of Moray, Nairn and Inverness have had significant problems with gulls in recent years, but that many communities across Scotland also experience similar problems.He also said the gulls are causing “mental health issues” as their constant screeching torments the general public. “They are a menace,” he emphasised to parliament. Mr Ross said he is not ignoring that people are encouraging gulls by feeding them and he accepted that was “part of the problem”. Gulls “dominating areas” are also seeing a reduction of other smaller birds, he argued.Mr Ross called on more “robust action” from the Scottish Government and NatureScot to protect humans and businesses from “the menace of dangerous gulls”.It is hard to argue with Mr Ross on this one as we can all probably recall being menaced by seagulls at one point or another in recent times.His point about smaller birds being driven from some areas is also true, as I can vouch from my own garden, which can  suddenly become full of gulls, particularly when people put bread out.Of course, this is always well intentioned as it put out for smaller birds who cannot get a  look in as everything is hoovered up by the aggressive gulls.I live a good 30-odd miles from the coast too, proving that the problem with gulls is not confined to seaside communities.Residents and businesses in the former fishing port of Nairn on the Moray Firth believe gulls have become a serious problem.A survey by Nairn Business Improvement District (Bid) last year received 85 reports of gull attacks.Manager Lucy Harding told the BBC: “That was quite worrying. It is an issue I regularly get reports on, of people being attacked for food particularly.”Gulls, like other birds, are protected by law and Scotland’s nature body, NatureScot, has strict rules around how they are controlled.A licence is needed for the removal of nests and eggs from the roofs of buildings in areas where gulls are deemed to be a nuisance.But Ms Harding said it was now harder to obtain the necessary paperwork.Nairn Bid has put in place other measures to discourage gulls from nesting in the town, including reflective devices designed to scare birds away from rooftops.Gulls are a coastal species, but they have been drawn into towns and cities due to the plentiful places to build nests, a lack of predators - and lots of opportunities to find food.In their natural habitats - the coast and farmland - the birds eat carrion, seeds, fruits, young birds, eggs, small mammals, insects and fish.NatureScot issued 2,633 nest removal licences across Scotland in 2023, and 1,601 in 2024. It said it understood gulls could sometimes cause problems in towns and cities, but at the same time populations of the birds were facing “serious declines”.NatureScot said it would continue to issue licenses where gulls were causing a health and safety issue.RSPB Scotland say that people and gulls could coexist if the right action was takenNumbers of herring gulls, a species people are most likely to encounter in urban areas, have fallen by 48% in Scotland since the 1980s, according to RSPB Scotland.Clearly the answer then is not just mass culling of gulls, but it is fair to say that more robust action needs to be taken before somebody does get seriously hurt. But the answer ultimately lies with all of us and the amount of food that we just casually throw away, which then attracts gulls.We all need to look at our own behaviour and stop blaming the gulls, however menacing they are,  for everything. Ultimately, we are the problem and therefore we are the solution too.

As anyone who has ever had the ill fortune to meander down Aberdeen’s Union Street around 3am on a Sunday morning, seagulls can be a bit of a...

29.06.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

How the Highlands is crucial to Star Wars success

How the Highlands is crucial to Star Wars success

Star Wars, it seems, has struck back. The second season of Andor, on streaming service Disney , has been an undoubted critical success. Showrunner...

29.06.2025 5

Herald Scotland

Colin Atkinson

I've got big news to share - life will never be the same again on my Scottish island I found out I was pregnant on a chilly February afternoon. We’d come back from the mainland two days before, and I found myself curled up in bed at 3pm with an exhaustion that felt like I’d been hit by a truck.

I've got big news to share - life will never be the same again on my Scottish island I found out I was pregnant on a chilly February afternoon. We’d come back from the mainland two days before, and I found myself curled up in bed at 3pm with an exhaustion that felt like I’d been hit by a truck.

I’m pregnant. It still feels so strange to say it so plainly, to see it written here in black and white. Almost as though I’m telling you I’ve...

29.06.2025 3

Herald Scotland

Elle Duffy

Scotland is sleepwalking into a dementia care crisis

Scotland is sleepwalking into a dementia care crisis

Hidden inside budget reports for council areas across Scotland are new plans that will have a devastating effect on many of our country’s most...

29.06.2025 1

Herald Scotland

Henry Simmons

Can anyone truly say the Scottish Parliament been a great success? I can't Reform is needed to improve the quality of debate and outcome in the Scottish Parliament.

Can anyone truly say the Scottish Parliament been a great success? I can't Reform is needed to improve the quality of debate and outcome in the Scottish Parliament.

Debate regarding how we are governed in Scotland is dominated by the question of whether Scotland should remain part of the British Union or leave...

29.06.2025 2

Herald Scotland

Guy Stenhouse

So Scots felt they were British centuries before the Union? That's a new one on me

So Scots felt they were British centuries before the Union? That's a new one on me

If history has taught us anything it is that nothing remains the same. Look at a map of Europe after the Second World War and it’s virtually...

29.06.2025 1

Herald Scotland

Isobel Scott

Oh dear, is there even less to Sir Keir than meets the eye? I think so

Oh dear, is there even less to Sir Keir than meets the eye? I think so

I’VE never been able to work out whether being “all things to all men” is a compliment or not. It can be both, I suppose. You might use the...

29.06.2025 2

Herald Scotland

Andrew Tickell

Here's some reasons for cheer in the Scottish business community

Here's some reasons for cheer in the Scottish business community

The world is in a more precarious state than at any point in recent decades and that is taking its toll on the UK economy, yet there are still...

28.06.2025 30

Herald Scotland

Kristy Dorsey

A climate of fear: why students in the US are nervous

A climate of fear: why students in the US are nervous

Amid a crackdown on universities and student visas across the United States, University of Edinburgh students who are studying in the US have...

28.06.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Maryse Botts

Missing this opportunity would be a huge error for Scotland

Missing this opportunity would be a huge error for Scotland

Scotland needs and uses nuclear power. Thanks to Torness, our homes are lit, our dinners are hot, and more and more of our cars and even buses are...

28.06.2025 6

Herald Scotland

Joani Reid

At last – maybe we can start talking about the issue we’ve all been ignoring

At last – maybe we can start talking about the issue we’ve all been ignoring

The new British Social Attitudes Survey, and the public reaction to it, told us quite a few things we knew already: lots of people are struggling...

28.06.2025 8

Herald Scotland

Mark Smith

What row over Edinburgh Tour de France bid shows - and it may not be what you think Edinburgh’s Chief Executive Paul Lawrence apologised for approving the spending to bring the Tour de France to Edinburgh in principle without first seeking formal council committee approval. He has nothing to apologise for, says John McLellan

What row over Edinburgh Tour de France bid shows - and it may not be what you think Edinburgh’s Chief Executive Paul Lawrence apologised for approving the spending to bring the Tour de France to Edinburgh in principle without first seeking formal council committee approval. He has nothing to apologise for, says John McLellan

The Tour de France claims to be the world’s third biggest televised sporting event after the Olympics and the football World Cup, which would make...

28.06.2025 2

Herald Scotland

John Mclellan

The time Trump reviewed his favourite film and revealed a bit too much of himself The last thing Donald Trump ever wants to be seen as is weak or vulnerable. It is a side of Trump that he hopes no one will ever see or notice. Yet he does exactly that in his review of the Orson Welles classic Citizen Kane.

The time Trump reviewed his favourite film and revealed a bit too much of himself The last thing Donald Trump ever wants to be seen as is weak or vulnerable. It is a side of Trump that he hopes no one will ever see or notice. Yet he does exactly that in his review of the Orson Welles classic Citizen Kane.

The last thing Donald Trump ever wants to be seen as is weak or vulnerable. Faced with a bullet grazing his head, he still strikes a defiant pose...

28.06.2025 5

Herald Scotland

Derek Mcarthur

I think Keir Starmer's ineptitude here takes some beating

I think Keir Starmer's ineptitude here takes some beating

Every Prime Minister suffers setbacks from what one holder of the office called “events.”  But this is much worse.  This exposes the fundamental...

28.06.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Brian Taylor