Exclusive By Ian McConnell Business Editor

Business activity in Scotland outpaced most other parts of the UK in June but employment growth across the private sector was among the weakest, according to latest figures produced by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Nature abhors a vacuum and so too do businesses, markets, and investors. The rapid assembly of contenders for the post of Prime Minister following Boris Johnson’s grudging resignation five days ago might appear indecorous – the political corpse i...

MORE than 35000 Scots NHS staff, including nurses, are to balloted for strike action as a new study shows that eight in ten people believe there are not enough staff to provide safe and effective care.

MINISTERS have been urged to set a timetable for the return of all services with nationalised ScotRail after train drivers accepted a pay deal which will effectively end the pay dispute which led to major cuts to ScotRail services.

Over one in five children across Scotland still living in poverty, despite a temporary universal credit increase during pandemic.

A senior college figure has written to Nicola Sturgeon to accuse the Education Secretary and key national agencies of failing to intervene over alleged governance breaches.

SCOTGOLD, which is developing Scotland’s only gold mine, has hailed its “strongest quarter yet” amid record gold production which has exceeded its guidance, and sales of £5 million.

ON the other side of the Clyde a chant was cutting across the river, following those of us walking away from Glasgow Green.

THE Tory leadership contest has acquired the early hallmarks of a freak show. Will it be a very rich one, a very dodgy one, a very stupid one or a very cruel one? Or perhaps a star will emerge who embodies all of the above.

Graham Construction of Northern Ireland, whose major Scottish projects include the Buchanan Wharf development in Glasgow, has posted an increase in revenues and profits despite market disruption and rising inflationary pressures.

Omega Diagnostics, which is overhauling operations to focus on its health and nutrition business, has received an undisclosed payment for test kits delivered during the height of the Covid pandemic.

Campaigners have urged the Scottish Government to set up a task force or citizens’ jury to address the “indefensible” costs faced by elderly who fund their own residential care.

THE cost-of-living crisis has turned the nation’s focus to the cost of food, but those tasked with producing it are bearing the brunt of agricultural inflation costs which make general inflation costs pale in comparison.

IF you’re looking for Anglophobia, this isn’t the column for you. In the age of outrage, the fact that an Irishman living in Scotland has the temerity to raise questions about England’s political direction is undoubtedly enough to trigger right...

MARK Smith's article ("Scottish independence has a Glasgow problem", The Herald, July 11) misses out the most important fact about the city: its boundaries. For example, on its status as a Yes city, if Glasgow had the same sort of boundaries as Edinb...

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Our cartoonist Steven Camley’s take on Tory leadership race

Snippy clippie

IT is often hoped to be the beginning of a great career. And while the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has catapulted many actis to fame, for others, it has left them with debt and misery.

Scots women who suffered adverse effects from transvaginal mesh implants will now be able to travel to the US for removal surgery for NHS-funded treatment.

Move over Wordle, you can now shake things up with its music spin-off Heardle.

TORY MPs vying to become the next prime minister have come under fire for uncosted “fantasy tax cuts” in a bid to appeal to Conservative activists.

A HOLYROOD committee has raised concerns to a Conservative minister over the UK Government's response to soaring energy prices.

A HOMES and community hub plan has been unveiled for a former bowling club.

SCOTRAIL train drivers have accepted a pay deal which will effectively end the pay dispute which has led to major cuts to ScotRail services.

SCOTS ministers have forked out £3m of taxpayers money to private consultants for advice on how to run nationalised ScotRail.

BORIS Johnson has refused to back any candidate hoping to replace him as Tory leader - warning his support could be damaging.

SNP ministers have paused their flagship super-sponsor scheme for Ukrainian refugees after being flooded with applications – while a ship will dock in Edinburgh to temporary accommodate hundreds fleeing the conflict.

LIZ Truss has thrown her hat into the ring to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister with a pledge to start cutting taxes “from day one”.

Sour dough pizza restaurant Franco Manca has opened a new restaurant in a former bank in the Scottish capital today.

AROUND 35000 NHS staff are to balloted for strike action as union leaders told ministers that they are being taken for granted.

ONE minute you are cock of the walk, the next a feather duster. It is a favourite saying of Piers Morgan (an expert in such matters) and suited the scene perfectly on the Sunday politics shows yesterday.

Boris Johnson’s departure has poleaxed the independence movement. That, at least, is the received wisdom.

It’s been a good couple of weeks for septuagenarians and octogenarians and it had nothing to do with pensions. The feelgood factor started with 80-year-old Paul McCartney’s astonishing performance at Glastonbury. In hope rather than expectation, ...

A subtle message can be glimpsed as high Tories and their nominees in the right-wing press jostle to tell us just what an all-round rascal Boris Johnson is. The impression they seek to convey is that the Prime Minister is a law unto himself and a man...

IT might not be the biggest, but it has its sights firmly set on being the best-loved, says Brillband founder Duncan Di Biase.

By Ian McConnell

Everyone knows your eyes can lie, that the evidence you see around you can give a false impression of what’s really going on, and it was like that in Glasgow in 2014. I remember walking about the city on the day of the referendum and every second p...

A rare portrait of the Scottish golfer who redesigned the Old Course at St Andrews could fetch more than £500,000 at auction.

A TREE-LINED civic square in the heart of the city with a cafe culture vibe could be the future look for Glasgow's George Square.

Lizzie Reid supported Paolo Nutini in Oban and headlined three nights at the Glad Cafe earlier this year.

A SCOTS sculptor who has helped to fund a school for children with dyslexia in Bali will see first-hand how it can make a difference to their lives when he makes his first visit there.

HALF a million Scots could struggle to access cash due to the unprecedented rate of bank closures, MPs have warned.

Twenty-five years ago, the Bank of England was granted independence from HM Treasury. The first decade of that independence was largely uneventful. Inflation hovered around its target of 2%. Growth was stable, investor confidence high, and the public...

I HAVE read with interest recent letters from a couple of the usual “SNP bad” suspects scraping the bottom of the barrel and seeking to somehow link the conduct of the caretaker Prime Minister and that of our First Minister (Letters, June 7 & 8)....

A SCOTS sculptor who has helped to fund a school for children with dyslexia in Bali will see first-hand how it can make a difference to their lives when he makes his first visit there.

By Aoife Deery