Day: March 19, 2021

Book Now! Live in Leith starts this Saturday

Live in Leith:

March 20th: Connor Fyfe and Retro Video Club

March 27th: Ransom FA and Nova Scotia the Truth

April 3rd: The Ninth Wave and Lucia & The Best Boys

Tickets (£11.50) on sale now at https://bit.ly/LIVEINLEITH  

Picture: Rory Barnes

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Twitter/Facebook: @LeithTheatre

Instagram: @leiththeatre

Hosted by BBC Radio Scotland’s Vic Galloway, Live in Leith streams over three consecutive Saturdays – starting this weekend with Bellshill boy Connor Fyfe and Edinburgh-based Retro Video Club – via the online platform DICE.

At the age of 14, Connor Fyfe is the youngest artist ever to sell out King Tut’s in Glasgow, finding out that he had done so on the day of his 14th birthday. He started playing guitar around the age of 8 and song-writing around the age of 12. He picked up the harmonica aged 11 back when he was a regular on the Scottish open-mic scene, playing it on stage the same day that he had bought it. Connor was due to support Kaiser Chiefs last year.

Edinburgh outfit Retro Video Club have been a band since 2015 but after a year spent refining their sound they took off on the local and then the national scene in 2017, selling out The Liquid Rooms twice, 3 nights at Sneaky Pete’s (a record for the venue) and the Assembly Rooms amongst others.

Their most recently released single ‘Checkmate’ came out this month. They have supported the likes of Bastille, The Vaccines and We Are Scientists.

Quotes:

“We’ve known about this venue for years and obviously it’s derelict (…) so to be able to somewhat play it is good enough the now. To be honest I’ve never actually been in before (…) It just makes you want to play here. It’s like an academy…it’s kind of like the O2 Academy, it has that kind of vibe. We just need to have it.” – Sam McGill, Retro Video Club

“I’ve not been in a venue for a long time, especially one as grand as this…so it feels strange to be honest – but in a good way.”   – Lucia Fairfull, Lucia & The Best Boys

“Un. Real. It’s so nice (Leith Theatre). I can’t believe I’ve never been here before.” – Millie Kidd, The Ninth Wave

“This place is amazing. Obviously, I didn’t know what to expect when I first came in and I’m like ‘woah’. Can’t wait to fill this place up.” – Ransom FA

“I like a bit of reverb on my mics but you don’t even need to ask for it in here. It’s just a nice big hall.” – Connor Fyfe   

British Gas set to hit 38 days of strikes as employer refuses to remove ‘Fire And Rehire’


Over a thousand British Gas workers across Scotland will walk out again tomorrow (Friday 19 March) for strike days thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven and thirty-eight, as the fight continues against their CEO Chris O’Shea’s shameful ‘fire and rehire’ imposition.

Engineers will walk out from 00.01 hours on Friday 19 March until 21.59 hours on Monday 22 March, and again on Friday 26 March to Monday 29 March, taking the total number of strike days in the dispute to forty-two. 

Socially distanced picket lines will be in operation tomorrow morning at British Gas facilities in Edinburgh and Uddingston.

The latest wave of strikes was confirmed after workers across the UK voted by a resounding majority of four-to-one against proposals tabled through ACAS over the future of their terms and conditions, with Centrica refusing to lift the ‘fire and rehire’ imposition.

British Gas are set to issue dismissal notices on Monday 29 March to staff who refuse to accept the ‘fire and rehire’ imposition. 

After thirty-four days of previous strike action, GMB understands that more than 250,000 homes across the UK are in a backlog for repairs and 350,000 planned annual service visits have been axed.

GMB Scotland Senior Organiser Hazel Nolan said: “British Gas is set to sack key workers if they do not accept Chris O’Shea’s ‘fire and rehire’ imposition – it’s a shameful way for any employer to behave let alone a great British industrial institution.

“Left unchallenged it also sets a dangerous precedent, where even the biggest employers can exploit a public health crisis to attack workers’ rights, and their terms and conditions of employment. That’s not modernisation, it’s Dickensian.

“But the message from our determined and dignified members is loud and clear: Stop the fire and rehire in British Gas, and let’s return to proper negotiations over the future of this business and its workers.”

Johnson: Let’s get the jab done!

PM’s statement at coronavirus press conference: 18th March 2021

Our roadmap to freedom depends on the continued success of our vaccination programme, and so it is reasonable for people to want to be continually reassured not only that our vaccines are safe and effective but also that we have the supply that we need.

So I want to address both points today especially in the light of concerns you may have heard in some other countries about the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.

First, the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has reviewed the evidence, as it does every week.

They have confirmed that the benefits of the vaccine in preventing COVID far outweigh any risks and people should continue to get their vaccine when asked to do so and June will say a little bit more about that in a moment.

It’s also very important for our European friends that today the European Medicines Agency has come to a clear scientific conclusion and I quote – “this is a safe and effective vaccine.”

We also saw yesterday the evidence from Public Health England that a single dose of either vaccine provides 60 per cent protection against getting COVID.

and reduces the chances of hospitalisation by 80 per cent and the risk of death by 85 per cent.

So the Oxford jab is safe; and the Pfizer jab is safe – the thing that isn’t safe is catching Covid – which is why it’s so important that we all get our jabs as soon as our turn comes.

And as it happens, I’m getting mine tomorrow. And the centre where I’m getting jabbed is currently using the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine for those receiving their first dose, and that is the one I’ll be having.

And let me also assure you – if you come forwards after receiving your letter, we have the jabs for you.

We’ve always said that in a vaccination programme of this pace and this scale, some interruptions in supply are inevitable and it is true that in the short term we are receiving fewer vaccines than we had planned for a week ago.

That is because of a delay in a shipment from the Serum Institute who are doing a herculean job in producing vaccines in such large quantities – and because of a batch that we currently have in the UK that needs to be retested – as part of our rigorous safety programmes.

So as a result we will receive slightly fewer vaccines in April than in March.

But that is still more than we received in February and the supply we do have will still enable us to hit the targets we have set.

That means that by 15 April we will be able to offer a first dose to all of you who are over 50, as well as those under 50 who are clinically vulnerable.

We will have the second doses that people need within the 12 week window – which means around 12 million people in April.

And we will still offer a first dose to every adult by the end of July.

So there is no change to the next steps of the roadmap.

We’ve now vaccinated over 25 million across our entire United Kingdom – more than the entire population of many countries

and our progress along the road to freedom continues unchecked.

We remain on track to reclaim the things we love, to see our families and friends again, to return to our local pubs, our gyms and sports facilities, and of course our shops, all as long as the data continue to go in the right direction and we meet our four tests.

And the way to ensure this happens is to get that jab when your turn comes.

So let’s get the jab done!

Thank you very much.