Discount retail chain B&M European Value Retail said it has agreed to buy up to 51 Wilko stores for £13 million, after a bid to purchase the entirety of the collapsed high street retailer fell through last week. Source

‘Jack’s Back’ the Times tells us, with strong accidental Shining vibes … After more than a decade out of government, Jack McConnell is being touted for a return to the corridors of power as Sir Keir Starmer and the team around him start to map the structure of a future Labour administration at Westminster https://t.co/u9XnBKfpC7 […] Source

SCOTS have been warned that they only have weeks left to use some bank notes as a ‘deadline’ approaches … Source

SCOTLAND has been praised for “leading the charge” after reports that Humza Yousaf will bring in a four-day working week for some public sector workers … Source

SCOTLAND is a land of paradoxes. There’s the huge wealth generated by Scotch whisky, enriching multinationals and boosting the Chancellor’s coffers, all while waits for alcohol treatment lengthen and addiction services decline. Source

If you want a snapshot at just how crazy this society is, and just how polluted English political culture is, you’d do no better than to study the new phenomenon of the ‘Blade Runners’. The war on the environment has a new champion, masked vigilantes the so-called “blade runners”, who have been disabling Ulez cameras […] Source

WANT some hard-nosed facts about Scottish success? The only UK export sector in manufactured goods that performed better than Scotch whisky in 2022 – which increased sales by 25% last year – is aircraft parts (27%). Whisky exports swelled from £4.51 billion in 2021 to more than £6bn in 2022. Source

A LOSSIEMOUTH wind turbine technician's actions after crashing a car got him fined and banned from driving. …

Work due to start next week at country park near Fogwatt. …

Only one in eight in paid employment within Moray …

A THIRD of women working in the whisky industry have been touched inappropriately, a survey has revealed. Source

“Once Folk was dangerous – and still is.” ‘Folks Not Dead’ argues Grant McPhee as he opens our new TOP 20 series exploring Scottish Folk’s heyday and radical counter-culture roots and tendrils … At some point in the relatively short history of popular music, Folk became unfathomably unfashionable. This wasn’t proportional to other genres, such […] Source

THE Alba Party have described the planned development of a “millionaires playground” in Scotland as an echo of the Highland Clearances. Source

After being challenged by more than one reader about being overly-negative, I’ve been exploring this issue of the relationship between hope and realism, between despair and leadership. One reader wrote: “This site has descended into a spiral of bitterness and negativity. While I don’t necessarily disagree with anything written, I find the tone the articles […] Source