Modern Scot - 15/10/2026

Infrastructure  ·  10 October 2026

Crime is Rising but Scotland Cannot Say Who is Responsible as Immigration Protests Spread

As protests over immigration and asylum accommodation spread across Scotland, Police Scotland's own disclosures expose a significant gap in the information available to the public. Thousands of accused records lack usable nationality information, immigration status cannot be routinely searched in…

Policy and Government  ·  11 October 2026

Scotland’s Medicine Supply Chain: What NHS Procurement Records Reveal About Overseas Dependence, Fuel Shortages and War

NHS Scotland recorded 83 hospital-medicine procurement supply failures, stock-outs and supplier withdrawals during 2025–26. Its national procurement organisation also disclosed that it does not routinely assess which medicines depend upon a single supplier, manufacturing site or country. The records expose…

Transport  ·  15 October 2026

Thornton Faces Five-Month Bridge Closure as Bus Routes Divert from Monday

Residents of Thornton in Fife face months of changed journeys from Monday, 19 October, when Main Street closes completely to vehicles for the replacement of its railway bridge. Four regular bus services will bypass the village, a free shuttle will…

Energy  ·  15 October 2026

Four Giant Tidal Turbines Planned for Orkney Could Generate Electricity Equivalent to 85% of Island Households

Four enormous floating tidal turbines could soon operate together in the powerful currents surrounding Orkney, generating enough electricity to meet the equivalent annual demand of approximately 9,200 homes under a project that has received approval from the European Commission to…

Economy  ·  15 October 2026

Glasgow Drone Firm Flies 14km Round Trip to Offshore Wind Farm

A Glasgow aviation technology company has completed a series of drone flights from the coastline to an operational offshore wind farm and back, demonstrating how turbines miles out at sea could be inspected without sending a boat to carry the…

Energy  ·  11 October 2026

Scotland Helped Pioneer Nuclear Power. So Why Does it Oppose New Reactors?

Scotland helped establish Britain's nuclear industry, building experimental reactors, electricity-generating stations and an engineering workforce that transformed communities from Caithness to Ayrshire. Seventy years later, the Scottish Government opposes constructing new nuclear power stations. The policy emerged through decades of…

Transport  ·  15 October 2026

From One Minibus to Public Ownership: D&E Coaches Takes Over Stagecoach’s Caithness Operations

A Highland coach company that began nearly 30 years ago with a single minibus is preparing to take over Stagecoach's bus operations in Thurso and Wick, bringing another part of Scotland's commercial transport network into public ownership. D&E Coaches, which…

Environment  ·  15 October 2026

Scottish Water Is Rebuilding the Landscape Around Scotland’s Drinking Water Reservoirs

Excavators have been working across the hills surrounding some of Scotland's most important drinking water reservoirs, filling old drainage channels, reshaping damaged peatland and restoring natural habitats in an effort to protect the water flowing into the country's public supply.…

Environment  ·  15 October 2026

58 Fish Rescued from Airdrie Stream as £8.6 Million Sewer Works Get Underway

Fifty-eight fish were rescued from a stream in Airdrie and moved to safety before construction began on part of an £8.6 million sewer upgrade supporting the development of the new University Hospital Monklands. The operation took place near Craigens Road,…

Orkney Islands  ·  14 October 2026

Scotland’s Neighbours Are Still Trusted, but Fewer People Are Meeting Each Other

People across Scotland continue to express considerable trust in their neighbours, but the proportion meeting socially at least once a week has fallen to its lowest level in the comparisons published in the latest Scottish Household Survey. The findings, released…

Orkney Islands  ·  14 October 2026

Rats Force Historic Stromness Town Hall to Close, With Reopening Delayed Until January

A rat infestation has forced the closure of one of Orkney's historic public buildings, with damaged pipework, suspected damage inside walls and disrupted wedding bookings leaving Stromness Town Hall facing a possible closure until January 2027. Orkney Islands Council confirmed…

Economy  ·  14 October 2026

More Than 300,000 Scottish Premises Have No Gigabit Broadband and No Commercial Rollout Expected

More than 300,000 homes and business premises across Scotland have no existing gigabit-capable broadband infrastructure and no qualifying commercial deployment expected within the next three years, according to newly published Scottish Government records. The figure appears in the outcome of…

Infrastructure  ·  13 October 2026

Smart Scotland: The Digital Web Government is Building Around You

Scotland already operates searchable CCTV, national vehicle-tracking records, identity-matching systems and environmental sensors inside council homes. Private technology companies provide much of the infrastructure, while a new government strategy calls for greater integration of public information. The question is how…

Policy and Government  ·  13 October 2026

Police Scotland Reconsiders Facial Recognition Six Years After Holyrood Committee Found It Unfit for Use

Newly published government minutes confirm that Scotland's Chief Constable is actively considering live facial recognition, including its possible use against football disorder. The technology could allow police to identify individuals automatically through cameras in public places, but would also involve…

Infrastructure  ·  13 October 2026

Scotland’s Great Government Redesign Has a Blind Spot: The Microsoft Bill

The primary purpose of enterprise software like Microsoft 365, Teams, and Power Automate is to streamline administration, break down data silos, and make large organisations more efficient and organised. Yet, the procurement of that very same "organisational" software in Scotland…

Heritage and Arts  ·  15 October 2026

Bread, Broth and Solitary Confinement: Life Inside Scotland’s Victorian Poorhouses

In February 1850, the Scottish Board of Supervision issued a detailed rulebook governing the lives of people who entered Scotland's poorhouses. It specified what they could eat, when they must rise, how they would be dressed, where their children would…

Heritage and Arts  ·  15 October 2026

The Scottish Play That Cost a Minister His Pulpit: The Douglas Affair of 1756

On 14 December 1756, an Edinburgh theatre audience witnessed the first performance of a Scottish tragedy that would provoke one of the most extraordinary religious and cultural disputes of the eighteenth century. The playwright was an ordained minister of the…

Scottish Sites We Love  ·  13 October 2026

A Wee Bit of Cooking

EDITOR'S NOTE: While this website appears inactive since 2018, the recipes, photos and blogging are timeless. We have, therefore, decided to keep A WEE BIT OF COOKING in our directory. A Wee Bit of Cooking is an appealing Scottish food…

Tea With Gunns  ·  15 October 2026

Magazine Day and the Halloween Tree

Once a month, the ladies come to my house for our magazine exchange. It is one of the quieter arrangements we have managed to establish over the years, mostly because everybody is reading and nobody feels obliged to entertain anyone.…