| Modern Scot - 16/07/2026 · Issue 006 |
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 | | Infrastructure · 15 July 2026 CoreWeave Wanted More Scottish Data Centres Internal papers show the American AI company wanted to expand rapidly after its first Lanarkshire facility. The same documents warn that accommodating a data centre could delay electricity projects needed for Clean Power 2030, while promised jobs, community benefits and… |
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| | Transport · 15 July 2026 Highlands International Journeys to Lose Tax Exemption Domestic connections serving the Highlands and Islands will receive wider protection when Air Departure Tax begins in April 2027, but direct and connecting international journeys will become taxable despite opposition from most respondents who answered that part of the government… |
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| | Policy and Government · 14 July 2026 Amendment Would Criminalise Gaelic Language A proposal submitted at Westminster would allow election publications only in English or Welsh. Gaelic is neither named nor protected. If adopted, the clause would make Gaelic-only regulated campaign material a criminal offence in Scotland. New Clause 107 to the… |
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| | Community · 14 July 2026 Liberton Fire Station Rebuild Begins in £10 Million Project The 50-year-old station has closed and crews have moved to a temporary base while a replacement is built over the next 15 to 18 months. Work has begun to demolish and rebuild Liberton Community Fire Station in Edinburgh as part… |
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| | Heritage and Arts · 14 July 2026 The Quiet Charities Buying and Saving Scotland’s Written History Two newly published annual reports reveal how private charitable funds are helping Scottish libraries, archives and museums buy historic documents before they disappear into private collections, and repair fragile records that may otherwise become impossible to use. A medieval Highland… |
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| | Infrastructure · 14 July 2026 Drilling Milestone Brings Orkney’s First Transmission Link Closer to Shore Horizontal drilling beneath the Caithness coast has been completed at Dounreay, preparing the mainland landing point for a 53-kilometre subsea electricity cable linking Orkney to Britain’s high-voltage transmission network. A long-delayed connection between Orkney and the mainland electricity grid has… |
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| | Policy and Government · 14 July 2026 Data Centres Abroad are Leaving Scotland a Warning Communities living beside the world’s expanding data-centre industry are reporting contaminated reclaimed water, continuous industrial noise, pressure on electricity systems and rising infrastructure costs. Scotland is still deciding how much of the same development it is prepared to accept. The… |
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| | Energy · 14 July 2026 Eight Energy Decisions Scotland Cannot Afford to Ignore From grid connections and pumped storage to North Sea consent and household bills, decisions now approaching will determine whether Scotland builds an energy economy of its own or merely hosts infrastructure controlled elsewhere. Scotland has 1,236 renewable energy and storage… |
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| | Economy · 13 July 2026 No Scottish Boat Won a Tuna Licence. Twenty-Nine English Boats Can Fish Scottish Waters A brief exchange in the House of Commons exposed an awkward fact about one of Britain’s newest commercial fisheries. Torcuil Crichton, the Labour MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, asked why Angus Campbell, a fisherman from Harris who held Scotland’s… |
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| | Community · 13 July 2026 Glasgow’s Anger Did Not Begin With an Online Rumour A 16-year-old girl was seriously sexually assaulted in Springburn Park on the evening of 26 June. Police Scotland later arrested and charged a 36-year-old man in connection with the attack. He appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on 6 July, made… |
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| | Policy and Government · 11 July 2026 Argyll’s Islands May Become Scotland’s Next Short-Term-Let Control Zone Argyll and Bute Council is preparing to consult on planning controls that could change how houses are converted into holiday accommodation across some of Scotland’s most tourism-dependent island and coastal communities. The proposed short-term-let control area would cover four housing… |
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| | Policy and Government · 11 July 2026 The Highlands Are Being Redrawn Before the Public Can Object More than 230 distinct development bids have been placed before Highland Council, including proposals for about 21,600 homes. Modern Scot’s analysis finds extensive farmland conversion, concentrated developer interests and no complete public account of the jobs, schools, health care, water… |
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| | Environment · 10 July 2026 Scotland’s Glens May Become Britain’s Energy Battery Scotland’s environmental regulator is preparing new guidance for large hydropower and pumped-storage schemes at the point when some of the largest proposed changes to the Highland landscape are moving closer to financial support. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency opened a… |
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| | Infrastructure · 10 July 2026 After 25 Years of Private Operation, Daldowie Returns to Scottish Water With a £460m Investment Question When Scotland’s largest sewage-processing facility at Daldowie returned to public control on 1 April 2026, it marked the end of a 25-year private finance contract, leaving taxpayers to inherit an aging, high-emission asset requiring a £460 million modernization. This transition… |
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| | Energy · 10 July 2026 Scotland Put Back on Britain’s Nuclear Map Torness, Dounreay and Hunterston have been placed back on Britain’s prospective nuclear map after a UK Government study found that several parts of Scotland could technically accommodate new reactors. The assessment also identified broad areas around the Firth of Forth… |
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| | Policy and Government · 10 July 2026 Scotland Is Preparing the Rules for Cultivated Meat While Most Scots Say They Would Not Eat It Food Standards Scotland has helped publish four new guidance documents for businesses developing cell-cultivated and other novel foods, bringing products grown from animal cells another step closer to the British regulatory system. The guidance, published jointly with the Food Standards… |
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| | Infrastructure · 10 July 2026 Fifty Rural Mobile Masts Upgraded Across Scotland as Coverage Reaches Further into Remote Areas Fifty publicly funded mobile masts have been activated across rural Scotland, extending access to all four major mobile networks. The latest site is near Branault on the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Other upgrades cover parts of Arran, Islay and Jura, Tarbert on… |
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| | Featured · 12 July 2026 Mrs. Gunn’s Not-So-Secret Garden There comes a point in every Highland garden when the gardener discovers she has mistaken tenancy for ownership. You may have bought the land, paid the solicitor, moved the stones, planted the trees, carried the compost and spent a perfectly… |
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