Local Council Taxes Soar

Although around 80% of the expenditure by local authorities is provided from central taxation, the remainder is paid by a local tax based on the value of the property in which taxpayers reside. This is an imperfect system - a widow living on her own in a large house can pay far more than a large family in a smaller house and there is no link to ability to pay or to income. Each year the individual councils set their new rates and this year, despite a huge increase in central funding, the average increase announced this week has been 4.4% at a time when inflation is running at just 1.3%. But some councils have imposed much higher increases - Moray's council tax has soared by 9.8% and Aberdeen by 8.6%. Of course, some increases are at the lower end. Glasgow's 1.9% is the lowest, but it still leaves the local taxpayers with the highest overall rates in Scotland for historical reasons. Residents in the poorest houses in Glasgow pay £790 a year while those in the highest band (in houses valued at over £212,000) pay £2,370 each year to help pay for education, provision of social and leisure services, roads and lighting, refuse collection, libraries, museums and a host of other services. Council tax and charges for water (which are paid in a combined bill) have soared by over 31% since 1999.

Plan to Attract Immigrants to Scotland

The Scottish Executive is working on a plan to attract skilled immigrants from the European Union in an effort to plug the population gap as the number of Scots is heading down due to low birthrate - and emigration from Scotland. These demographic changes are predicted to lead to further decreases in population over the next few decades, which will lead to the working age population in Scotland going below three million by 2027. It is estimated that if Scotland was allocated work permits commensurate with its share of UK population , then that demographic change of declining population in Scotland could be stemmed. The expansion of the European Union following the entry of east European countries is likely to see an influx of economic migrants and the flow may be controlled via work permits.

You Can Prove Anything With Figures...

Economists were startled this week when the Scottish Executive announced that a review of the accuracy of the figures used to calculate the country's Gross Domestic Product had revealed that Scotland's rate of growth had been drastically underestimated. So much so, that the country has been growing faster than the rest of the UK since 2001 - contrary to all previous reports. The new figures have been produced as a result of re-evaluating the relative importance of the manufacturing against the services sector, including financial services - the latter has indeed been growing well. The economy is now said to be expanding at 1.7% a year - previously the figure had been given as 0.6%. But independent experts said they were sceptical and that the data were inconsistent with other evidence. In the past, such figures have frequently been repeatedly revised and should be read with a major "health warning".

Scottish Economy is Growing Fast

The Royal Bank of Scotland's Purchasing Managers' Index, a well regarded barometer of Scotland's economic performance, says that January 2004 was the seventh consecutive month of growth with the strongest rise in the private sector since May 2000. The financial services sector was again particularly buoyant but there had also been a rebound in the manufacturing sector. But the Royal Bank's figures suggest that Scotland is lagging behind most of the UK - only the north-east of England is growing more slowly.

Germany Now Top Scottish Overseas Market

13% of all Scottish exports go to Germany, according to a Global Connections survey, ousting France as the top Scottish export market. The US was the second largest market, accounting for £2 billion while France was in third place with £1.7 billion of the total exports of £19 billion. Of the total, £14 billion was attributable to manufacturing and the rest to the service sector.

Luring Oil Companies Back to North Sea

For some time now, many major oil companies have been selling off the fields they own in the North Sea and investing instead in more lucrative areas overseas. Changes in UK taxation on oil companies have been a major factor in this. While this has meant that smaller companies have been given the opportunity to develop the seabed, the overall level of investment has declined - with a detrimental impact on employment in the rigs and also in the support industries which keep them supplied. Aberdeen and the north of Scotland, as well as Orkney and Shetland, have suffered as a result. Now, the UK government is attempting to lure the larger companies back with financial incentives which will allow them to explore large areas of the North Sea at a 90% discount. They would only pay a larger amount if they actually find oil or gas. BP, one of the major oil companies in the area welcomed the announcement but said that it had maintained its North Sea investment at £700 million this year and would probably spend a similar amount next year, despite the government "carrot" being offered.

Love and Marriage in Scotland

With Valentine's Day on Saturday, some of the media have been looking at the state of love and marriage in Scotland. In particular, how many people tie the knot - and then untie it with a divorce. The 2001 Census showed that there were just over 4 million people in Scotland aged 16 (the minimum age for marriage) or above. Of these, 44.27% were married and 20.55% were single and had never married. 7.02% were divorced. The number of marriages is certainly in decline - there were 41,000 in 1951 but only 29,621 in 2001. But many couples with children do not get married. Of 53,527 registered births in Scotland in 2001 (the lowest number since 1855), 43% were born outside of marriage. For those who do get hitched, the average age for men was 34.8 in 2001 but that figure was 27.6 in 1981. The average age for women getting married has risen from 25.3 in 1981 to 32.3 in 2003. Nearly one marriage in three ends in divorce - in 2001 there were 19,631 divorces.

Romantic Record Broken

For the 97 couples who are getting married on St Valentine's Day at Gretna Green, it's the romance that brings them to the little town which is just over the border from England. For the officials who will be working hard for 12 hours from 8.30am it will be a question of smashing their previous record of 83 marriages on one day. It was the Marriage Act of 1754 which gave Gretna its unique place in the annals of love and marriage. That legislation raised the age at which couples could get married without parental consent in England and Wales to 21 (later lowered to 18). But in Scotland the age remained at 16. So began the trickle - eventually a flood - of young couples eloping to Scotland to marry against their parents wishes. And in those days all they needed to do was "pledge their troth" and declare themselves husband and wife before two witnesses - a ceremony which could be carried out by the local blacksmith over his anvil. It was said that if an angry father was seen approaching after the ceremony, the blacksmith would tell the lovers to jump into bed, ensuring that the marriage could not be annulled. As Gretna's fame spread, couples from abroad began to arrive too - on Saturday there are brides and grooms from as far away as Japan, Bangladesh and America.

Glasgow School of Art to Rebuild

The world-famosu Glasgow School of Art was built between 1896 and 1909 and the main building is regarded as one of the best works by Glasgow-born architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The Governors of the school have been reviewing the options to make the buildings suitable for the 21st century. Although Mackintosh's iconic building will remain, the favoured option is to demolish all the other buildings on the campus as they are now considered to be unsuitable for the college. A new complex, possibly selected from the best in an international design competition, would be created at a cost of around £20 million. The Mackintosh building is generally in a good state of repair but the art school is considering an application to the Lottery Fund for finance to restore the building to pristine condition.

US Presidential Campaign Comes to Scotland

200 delegates from around the world will be coming to Edinburgh next month to hold an "international caucus" of the Democratic Party to choose 22 representatives to attend the Democratic National Convention in Boston. They will have the voting power of a small state on behalf of five million expatriate Americans with the right to vote. The delegates to the Edinburgh convention will be coming from as far afield as Japan, Armenia and the Philippines. A poll of Democrats Abroad, an expat organisation, rejected Toronto and Amsterdam in favour of Edinburgh. They argued that the city's international reputation outweighed the lack of direct international flights.

Recycling Progress

A report by Audit Scotland into the levels of municipal waste being sent to landfill shows progress is being made in increasing recycling. Recycling and composting has increased from 7.4 per cent to 9.6 per cent equivalent to an increase of over 80,000 tonnes. In North Ayrshire Council the recycling and composting rate increased from 5.8 per cent in 2001/02 to 12.3 per cent in 2002/03; South Ayrshire’s rate increased from 5.1 per cent to 10.7 per cent and North Lanarkshire from 7.3 per cent to 13.8 per cent. A number of awareness raising campaigns are being run across the country. These run in tandem with the introduction of new recycling and composting schemes and will ensure that householders throughout Scotland can play their part in recycling and reducing our negative impact on the environment.

Western Isles Seafood Loses Money

One of the biggest employers in the Western Isles has warned of further job cuts after three years of heavy losses. Western Isles Seafood, based in Stornoway, farms and processes salmon but has had a run of serious problems including attacks by jellyfish, low prices and the recent scare about toxic salmon. Even though the report suggesting that consumers should cut back on salmon consumption has been discredited, the negative press reports have depressed the consumption of salmon.

Wheelie Bins Approved

A controversial plan to instal 6ft-long "wheelie bins" for refuse in the World Heritage site of Edinburgh's New Town has been approved by the City Council. Protest groups have mounted a vociferous campaign against the receptacles, including writing to the United Nations. Residents' associations argue that increasing the present twice-weekly plastic bag collection would suffice. Hundreds of these massive containers will be introduced to some of the city's most historic streets. Tourists, attempting to take photos in these areas are either going to have to accept the bins in the foreground or carefully angle their shots to avoid them.

Islands Lead on Sustainable Energy

It is being suggested that schemes harnessing the power of wind and waves on the island of Islay off the west coast of Scotland could shortly make it self-sufficient in power. The island is famous for its distinctive whisky distilleries, so it is not just a farming community but has industries which require substantial amounts of energy.

Reeling in a Bumper Catch

When the river Tweed in the Scottish Borders produced a rod catch of 10,300 salmon in 2002, the best catch for a decade, it was thought by angling experts that it was a one-off season, as many rivers have been in decline for a number of years. But in 2003 the haul was 13,886 rod-caught salmon, the best catch since 1963 and may make the river Tweed the best salmon river in the world. No doubt that claim will be disputed by somewhere else? But the improvement on the Tweed has been achieved without any artificial stocking of the river and is due to positive management practices initiated by the River Tweed Commissioners. During the summer of 2003, water levels were sometimes too low for fish to swim upstream to the headwaters to spawn and additional water had to be released from reservoirs to help them.
The illustration shows the river Tweed at Peebles.

Bumper Crop of Profits

Dobbies, the garden centre chain based in Midlothian outside of Edinburgh, has produced a bumper crop of results with pre-tax profits rising sharply by 13.6% to £4.15 million. The dry summer last year encouraged gardeners to buy more plants and garden furniture. Dobbies tries to make a visit to their garden centres into a day-trip and the in-house restaurants have also contributed to the growth in profits. Dobbies has expanded into the north and centre of England and will shortly be opening a £4.6 million garden centre at Atherston in Warwickshire. This will have a feature of six mazes, each representing different countries. Taken together, they will create the longest maze in the world and the company hopes to get this listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

More Glasgow Hotels

Despite a slump in world-wide tourism, hotels in Glasgow have been doing well. Over the last five years, 21 new hotels have opened in the city, including Juries which claims to be the largest in Scotland. That has meant that the number of beds available in the country's largest city has grown from 7,830 to 10,875. But despite that nearly 40% increase, occupancy rates have remained at around 65% over the last three years as increasing numbers of tourists, convention delegates and others have been attracted to the city.

Canna Believe It

! 200 years ago, the island of Canna, in the Inner Hebrides, had a population of over 400. But the number living on the island is now down to 14. That has not stopped the Scottish Executive in Edinburgh spending £2.8 million on creating a new slipway to boost the island, 25 miles off the west coast mainland at Mallaig. A permanent water supply was installed five years ago at a cost of £100,000, replacing individual wells which often dried up in summer. A continuous electricity supply followed in 2000 at a cost of £500,000, replacing ageing and unreliable generators. The island has been owned by the National Trust for Scotland since 1981 and there are plans to restore some of the ruined homes on the island. Hundreds of visitors arrive in the summer but in the winter time the three-times-a-week ferry is often cancelled because of bad weather.

Big Storm Blowing Up About Sma' Glen Windfarm

An action group has been formed to fight a proposed windfarm in the scenic Sma' Glen in Perthshire. An environmental impact assessment has claimed that the turbines planned for the project would have minimal effects on the local environment. But residents in the Strathearn villages of Monzie and Fowlis Wester and from the Sma' Glen itself, dispute the findings. There would be 24 turbines in three clusters on both sides of the A822 road, a popular tourist route north of Crieff. The protest group say that the 104-metre (340 feet) high turbines would be highly visible from a wide area and there is a risk to migratory birds from the turbine blades. The protestors say that they are not against wind-farms in principle, but believe that the wrong location has been selected. During construction, ten heavy goods vehicles a day will have to pass along the A85 at Crieff or Methven.

AA Going Slow on Superfast

The Automobile Association was being accused of "insulting Scotland" by being so slow to add the Superfast Ferry service from Rosyth to Zeebrugge in Belgium in its Web site. The service started over 18 months ago. The Website is used by the AA's 12 million members to plan vacation routes in the UK and abroad. The omission of Rosyth as a ferry port could mean thousands of Scottish travellers missing out on a shorter car journey and special ticket deals. In its first year of operation, the ferry carried 100,000 passengers, twice the predicted number. But the ferry service needs to move into profit if it is to survive - and more customers would obviously help. An AA spokesman said that the omission was not a personal vendetta against Superfast or Scotland - the site just had not been updated for two years. They are happy to add it at the next update - but no date for that happening could be given by the AA.
The illustration shows the Superfast Ferry on the river Forth with Edinburgh behind.

January's Weather Statistics

The Scottish Meteorological Office has published the aggregate weather data for January and the figures show that the month was mild and wet. Temperatures over much of the country were a full degree warmer than average and central areas were 1.5C above the long term norm. But sunshine was in short supply as moisture-laden winds from the Atlantic dumped an above average amount of rain on many parts of the country during the month. Leuchars in Fife recorded the highest temperature in the month of 13.7C (56.6F) on 19 January while Kinbrace in Sutherland reached -12C (10.4F) on 31 January, the lowest temperature for the month. Strong winds were also a feature - a gust of 94mph was recorded on Fair Isle in Shetland.

Weather in Scotland This Week

After the fall of snow and low temperatures last weekend (Lerwick only reached a maximum daytime temperature of 1C (34F) on Sunday), temperatures soon bounced back, with Aberdeen reaching 13C (55F) on Tuesday and Wednesday and St Andrews peaking at 14C (57F) on Wednesday. Aberdeen also fared best for sunshine, with over five hours on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. But weather stations across Scotland failed to record even a few minutes sunshine on Tuesday. The thermometer fell slightly as the week progressed but was still hovering around 10C (50F) in most parts of the country.
Spring flowers are continuing to make themselves visible and these crocus bulbs were growing in an open space in Milngavie, just outside Glasgow.

Search for Wallace Bridge Abandoned

As everyone who has seen the film "Braveheart" will know, the greatest victory achieved by William Wallace over the English was at Stirling Bridge on September 11, 1297. But historians do not know the precise site of the bridge over which the English army crossed the river Forth. The Stirling Ancient Bridge Trust located four masonry piers upstream from the existing Old Brig' (pictured here) some years ago, but lack of funds has meant that they have been unable to research the find further. An old common seal of Stirling shows a bridge with eight piers and the trust believes that they have found four of them and possibly six. But they have been unable to obtain a timber core to establish by carbon dating whether they have the right location. The Trust has now decided to wind up the project, after publishing all the work which has been carried out. The documentation will be archived in case someone else wants to revive the project.

Rare Postmarks Increase Value of Shetland Postage Stamps

Letters were so rare in Shetland in 1842 that the local post office had not yet been supplied with a stamp to frank the mail. So the staff cancelled the stamps by hand by writing where they had been posted across the face of the stamps. Now three stamps marked in this way have fetched over £4,000 at auction. Because the envelopes did not have a printed date on them, the date had to be established by matching the issue date of the style of stamps - and the handwriting of the postmaster based on records from the 1840s.

Victorian Station Revamp Wins European Award

The influential architectural group Europa Nostra has presented an award this week to the railway authorities for their £33 million project which saw Central Station in Glasgow brought back to its Victorian splendour. The work took ten years to complete and focused on the roof, windows and the famous Heilanman's Umbrella - a bridge which straddles Argyle Street and was reputedly used as a gathering place for Highlanders who had moved to the city to find work. The Central Station is the largest rail terminus in Glasgow and was opened in 1879. It serves trains to the south and west of the city and as far as London and other stations in England.

Scottish King in UK Top 100 Black Figures

A recent BBC poll of the UK's 100 most significant historical figures did not have a single non-white person included. So a Web site was set up by a black heritage organisation which conducted a poll to reflect the role of the black community in the UK over the last 1,000 years. Personalities such as Daley Thompson, 1980 and 1984 Olympic Gold medal winner came top in the sports category and Lenny Henry, co-founder of Comic Relief won the entertainment section. But at #36 is "Niger Val Dubh" whose biography on the site reveals that he is non other than King Kenneth III, who ruled the north of Scotland from 997 to 1005. The inclusion of King Kenneth in a list of black figures apparently comes from some dubious history books which claim that his dark looks came from Moorish influences introduced by the Romans. Although Kenneth is known as "Dubh" the Gaelic word for black, a historian from Glasgow University has pointed out that this often referred to hair colour or that he had a swarthy complexion. See www.100greatblackbritons.com/ for the full list.
The illustration here of Kenneth III is from a mural in Edinburgh Castle.

Next Week in History

• February 15 1848 - The Caledonian Railway company opened.
• February 15 1971 - Decimal currency introduced, abandoning 12 pennies to a shilling and 20 shillings to a pound.
• February 16 1992 - Journalist and poet George Mann MacBeth ("A War Quartet") died.
• February 17 1540 - King James V passed a law which recognised Scotland's gipsies.
• February 17 1545 - Battle of Ancrum Moor in which Scottish forces, led by Earl of Douglas, defeated an English army twice their size.
• February 17 1688 - James Renwick became the last Covenanter to be executed.
• February 18 1958 - Writer Ian Banks born in Dunfermline, Fife.
• February 20 1437 - King James I murdered in Perth by a group led by Sir Robert Graham.
• February 20 1472 - Orkney and Shetland annexed from Norway.
• February 20 1951 - Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, born.
• February 21 1842 - Intercity railway between Glasgow and Edinburgh opened by Queen Victoria.
• February 21 1945 - Eric Liddell, "Chariots of Fire" athlete, winner of 1924 Olympics 400 metres, died in Japanese internment camp in China.
• February 21 1952 - Identity cards, introduced at a wartime security measure, were abolished in Britain.

Romantic Films for City of Love

As part of Glasgow's City of Love Festival, a selection of romantic films were playing in cinemas across the city this week. They included Hugh Grant in Notting Hill, Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love, Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge, Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, Leonard DiCaprio in Romeo and Juliet and Celia Johsnston and Trevor Howard in Brief Encounter.

Below Stairs on View

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is to provide a rare insight into the lives of servants during the last 400 years with an exhibition of paintings which opened this week. "400 Years of Servants' Portraits" includes rarely-viewed portraits of John Brown, Queen Victoria's gamekeeper and personal servant and a portrait from 1714 of Alastair Mor Grant, champion of the Laird of Grant whose ancestral home is Grant Castle near Granton on Speyside. Traditionally, it was the aristocracy who had their portraits painted, but the exhibition includes images of butlers, maids, cooks, grooms, governesses and ghillies. The exhibition will run until May 31.

The Dreich End Music Festival

The Dreich End Festival showcases the thriving music scene across Perthshire and in the process, acts to blow away the winter blues. Covering all types of music and featuring a mix of internationally acclaimed and local talent, open "session" events and teaching workshops, the festival offers the opportunity to see legendary artists all doing what they do best - playing live music! It runs from 26 February to 1 March 2004. Further details can be found at www.perthshire.co.uk/music

Purr-fect Cats

The hit musical "Cats" is making a welcome return to Glasgow with a production at the Kings Theatre, nine years after it first visited the city. When it first arrived it ran for eleven weeks and this time it is proving to be just as popular. Worldwide, "Cats" by Andrew Lloyd Webber has been seen by 50 million people in over 300 cities.

Sunday and Mid-Week Football Results

Spartans 0 Livingston 4 (Scottish Cup, Round 4)
Kilmarnock 0 Rangers 2 (Scottish Cup, Round 4)
Dundee United 0 Hibernian 0
Dunfermline 1 Celtic 4
Hearts 1 Aberdeen 0
Motherwell 5 Dundee 3
Partick Thistle 5 Livingston 2
Rangers 2 Kilmarnock 0

Bank of Scotland Premier League Results - 14 February 2004

Celtic 2 Dundee United 1
Dundee 0 Dunfermline 1
Kilmarnock 2 Partick Thistle 1
Livingston 3 Motherwell 1
Aberdeen 1 Rangers 1

Scottish First Division Results - 14 February 2004

Brechin City 2 Queen of the South 1
Clyde 1 Ross County 0
Inverness 3 Raith Rovers 0
St Johnstone 3 Ayr United 0
St Mirren 1 Falkirk 1

League Tables - 14 February 2004

Both Rangers and Celtic struggled on Saturday - Celtic were a goal behind at one stage but eventually won through. Rangers, on the other hand, were a goal behind against Aberdeen (currently second from the foot of the SPL) and could only manage a late equaliser from Frank de Boer. That means that Celtic have increased their lead at the top of the SPL to 13 points. Partick Thistle are now 9 points behind Aberdeen at the foot of the table.

Inverness are marginally ahead of Clyde at the top of the First Division but only because of a better goal average. And Clyde have a game in hand. The recent improvement in St Johnstone's results has moved the Perth side into third place - but 9 points behind the leaders.

Scottish Cup Quarter Finals

The draw for the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup, to be played on 7/8th March, is as follows:

Aberdeen v Livingston
Celtic v Rangers
Partick v Clyde or Dunfermline
Motherwell v Inverness

Fans Must Pay to Watch Scottish Premier League

The present arrangement whereby football in the Scottish Premier League is screened by the BBC is being replaced next season with a deal which will see matches being seen only on a pay-per-view channel. Irish-based Setanta Sport have signed a four-year, £50 million deal which is significantly higher than the £18 million that the BBC paid for a two-year deal. The SPL hope that in addition to providing a higher level of income, the deal will encourage armchair fans to go to matches. Recent falls in attendance have been blamed on BBC Scotland's extended TV coverage.

Wales Trounce Scotland

An impressive Wales rugby team beat Scotland 23-10 after scoring a try in the first three minutes in the opening match of this season's Six Nations tournament on Saturday. Wales led 18-3 at the interval and then had a try disallowed early in the second half. As the game neared its end, Wales eased off and that allowed Scotland to score a try in the dying minutes of the game. making the score look slightly more respectable. This win against Scotland was the first time for seven years that Wales have managed to win their opening game of the season - and ten years since a home victory in the first match. Scotland play England, the current World Champions, on 21 February at Murrayfield in Edinburgh.

Frenchman Backs Scotland to Win Six Nations

An anonymous Frenchman is reported to have bet £30,000 on Scotland to win the Six Nations championship. If his bet comes off, he will win £2.66 million. It is reported that the Frenchman, who works in London, fell in love with Scotland and the national rugby team. Falling in love with Scotland is understandable, but the rugby team? After Saturday's result, his ardour may have waned slightly...

Optimistic Celtic Fans Buying Tickets for UEFA Cup Final

It is guesstimated that around 100,000 Celtic fans travelled to Seville last year to see their team play in the UEFA Cup final. Most of them did not have a ticket for the game as few had the foresight to obtain them well in advance of the game. But this year, there will be a frenzy of buying by Celtic fans who are optimistic that their team will make it to the final in Gothenburg. One Celtic fan even booked a return flight direct to Sweden for £10 the day after Celtic failed to qualify for the final stages of the European Champions League and so had to settle for the UEFA Cup place. There are of course another 31 teams aiming for the same goal.

Hearts Agree Murrayfield Move "In Principle"

Despite reservations by many of their supporters, the directors of Heart of Midlothian Football Club have agreed a ground sharing deal with the Scottish Rugby Union at Murrayfield for season 2004/05 "in principle", sounding the death-knell of Tyncastle, the club's ground for 118 years. The ground could be demolished this summer, paving the way for a sale and a reduction in the club's crippling debts of £18 million. The directors have had to fight a valiant rear-guard action by fans and former players but with a third Scottish Premier League club now in the hands of the accountants, sound finance is overcoming sentiment. The three-year deal will of course assist the SRU who have financial problems of their own. However, later in the week the deal was put into doubt by the suggestion that the Scottish Media Group was on the verge of sanctioning the sale of its 20% shareholding in the club. If the sale went ahead, that could shift the balance of power at the club and block the sale of the ground.

Dunfermline Players Will Take Wage Cuts

Dunfermline Football Club is another club in danger of going into administration and in order to try to avoid that fate the club has asked players to accept a wage cut to save £500,000 by the end of the season. The players have said they are willing to do this - but only if it guarantees that the club will not go bankrupt anyway. So accountants have been called in to look at the books and give their opinion.

Six Players Redundant at Livingston

The administrator appointed to manage the affairs of Livingston Football Club has sacked six players as he tries to get the club back on an even keel and reduce the club debts of £10 million. Other players have been told that they will have to accept cuts of up to 50% in their wages if they are to stay with the club. Further cuts in playing and back office staff are not ruled out. Players who have been made redundant are allowed to sign for any other club in the world, even though the usual "transfer window" is currently closed.

Confident Clyde

Clyde Football Club, currently in the Scottish First Division, have signed a deal with North Lanarkshire Council under which the council have bought £1.6 million in Broadwood Stadium (Cumbernauld) Ltd which will allow the club to build a fourth stand. The extra 2,200 seats will give the stadium a seating capacity of 10,000, even though average gates are only around 1,200. But the expansion will make the ground compliant with Scottish Premier League requirements and, if Clyde were to win the First Division Championship, they would win promotion to Scottish football's top division. Clyde currently lie in second place behind Inverness on goal difference. But Clyde have a game in hand and there are several months of the season still to go. The stadium also houses local community sports groups and is regarded as a community resource, hence the investment by North Lanarkshire Council.

Ski Resorts Slide Downhill

The ski centres at Glenshee and Glencoe have been put up for sale after losing £1 million over the last two years because of the lack of snow. In the 1980s, there were over 600,000 skiers using the main ski slopes in Scotland but that number has declined to under 200,000. Glenshee, the first of Scotland's ski resorts to open (in 1956), covers a large area and has 23 ski lifts leading to 38 runs. Glenshee also has a golf course (which is not being included in the sale) and has quad biking and mountain biking. Glencoe is smaller, with 19 runs but it includes the UK's steepest vertical descent, the famous "fly paper".