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Islamophobia Awareness Month (IAM), observed every November, aims to raise awareness about Islamophobia—fear, prejudice, and discrimination against Muslims—and promote understanding, tolerance, and respect for Muslim communities.
IAM challenges prejudice, fosters social cohesion, and helps ensure Muslims can live free from fear and fully participate in society.
Scottish Labour MSP Foysol Choudhury closed IAM with the Muslim Council of Scotland by hosting a roundtable at Scottish Parliament this week.
This event reflected this year’s IAM theme, ‘Seeds of Change,’ emphasising the importance of small actions to contribute to larger changes and to celebrate the positive contribution of Muslims across the UK.
This meeting aimed to raise awareness of Islamophobia and promote understanding and respect across diverse communities. The roundtable comprised keynote speakers, including the leader of the Scottish Labour Party and first host of the Cross-Party Group on Islamophobia, Anas Sarwar, Dr. Abu Jaffar Moshan, along with voices from the community.
During the roundtable, MSP Choudhury recognised the significant role Scottish Muslims have played in shaping our society, making contributions to education, healthcare, business, the arts, and more.
Mr. Choudhury highlighted the need to involve other Muslim communities in the discussion, like Middle Eastern communities, and to engage with these new Scot communities to work towards tackling root causes of prejudice.
Mr. Choudhury emphasised how current world conflicts are impacting both Muslim and Jewish communities in Scotland and the UK.
The roundtable celebrated community support by awarding a shield of appreciation to Assistant Chief Constable, Shaheen Barber for his work with Police Scotland.
Linsay Taylor was also awarded a shield appreciation recognising her work with Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) and Interfaith.
Linsay’s work was hugely impactful to Mr. Choudhury and his work on tackling Islamophobia, as she spoke on the experiences of Muslim women and her experience living in Scotland while wearing a hijab.
The event also held representatives from Police Scotland, who spoke to their anti-racism training work, and MSPs Monica Lennon and Mercedes Villalba.
During the roundtable, MSP Choudhury emphasised: “One priority I want to highlight this evening is the increasing need to educate against Islamophobia.”
More than 1,200 hectares of degraded rainforest habitat are now on the road to recovery thanks to Scottish Government funding.
Almost £5 million has already been invested in rainforest restoration since 2023 and a further £5 million for ongoing restoration efforts was allocated as part of the draft 2025/26 Budget.
Scotland’s rainforest is a type of coastal temperate rainforest which is incredibly rare and as internationally significant as tropical rainforest.
Scottish Government funding is already supporting the work to protect and enhance the important habitat by:
Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon welcomed the rainforest restoration work being done by a range of partners across the country during a visit to Sallochy Forest, a site managed by Forestry Land Scotland.
Ms Gougeon said: “Scotland is home to its own temperate rainforest boasting a variety of rare species and habitats. We are already delivering work to protect and expand this precious environment and this additional funding of £5 million will help us to go further faster.
“Protecting our rainforests is essential to tackling our biodiversity crisis but is also an important step in helping Scotland on its journey to net zero by 2045.
“Rainforest restoration needs to be done at a landscape scale, in partnership with organisations, landowners and land managers, and this funding will help to develop and deliver a range of collaborative projects.”
Victims of domestic abuse are among those invited to share their views as part of a Scottish Parliament inquiry into the financial implications of leaving an abusive relationship.
The Social Justice and Social Security Committee is running the inquiry to find out what support women leaving abusive relationships can access, how public sector and social security rules and practices take account of financial issues in these circumstances and how much information and advice women have access to.
Since 2018-19, Police Scotland has recorded over 60,000 incidents of domestic abuse each year, however, research from Scottish Women’s Aid suggests that the actual figure is much higher as not all incidents are reported to the police.
Reports of domestic abuse can rise substantially over the Christmas period, a time when family finances can be at their most stretched. Research from charities including Refuge and Women’s Aid has found that this, alongside the pressures caused by the cost-of-living crisis, can effectively trap victims of domestic abuse.
The Committee’s inquiry will explore economic abuse, a form of coercive control where an abuser restricts a person’s ability to get, use and keep money or other economic resources.
It is also likely to cover the Scottish Government’s work on violence against women and girls, including its Fund to Leave pilot project and its Equally Safe strategy. The Fund to Leave offered women up to £1,000 to pay for the essentials they need when leaving a relationship with an abusive partner and was delivered by Women’s Aid groups.
Collette Stevenson, Convener of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee, said: “The Christmas period should be a time where women can get together with their families. But sadly for many women suffering from abuse Christmas can be a lonely and terrible time, with economic abuse trapping them in abusive relationships.
“We know that over 60,000 incidents of domestic abuse are reported to the Police in Scotland each year, and we want to use this inquiry to learn about the support available to women in this awful situation and get an idea of what else can be done.
“If you have any experience of this issue, or work for a charity or public body that supports women in this situation we want to hear from you. Share your views with us by responding to our call for views.”
The call for views opened on Friday 13 December, and will close on Thursday 20 February.
To ensure that people can respond in full, the Committee welcomes receiving anonymous responses, where appropriate.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, and Economic Secretary, Tulip Siddiq, have opened the UK’s 100th banking hub in Darwen, Lancashire, which has been set up in response to bank branch closures in the town.
The newly opened banking hub will give customers of the largest high street banks the ability to get cash out, deposit cheques and ensures that local residents have access to face to face banking services.
Kickstarting economic growth is the number one mission for this Government – something cemented in the Plan for Change launched last week, where the Prime Minister redoubled our commitment to raise living standards in every part of the United Kingdom. The roll out of banking hubs will be a significant boost for local people and businesses, helping to revitalise the local high street and raise living standards across the UK.
The opening of the 100th banking hub is a significant landmark on the road to delivering on the government’s manifesto commitment to work with industry to open 350 banking hubs by the end of this parliament.
Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “Reaching this milestone of 100 banking hubs is a huge step towards making sure that people across the country have access to essential face-to-face banking services.
“High streets are the beating heart of our communities but were neglected for too long under the previous government. We are revitalising our high streets with our target for 350 banking hubs, reforming business rates to make them fairer and clamping down on antisocial behaviour.”
Banking hubs are a collaborative industry initiative, set up in response to bank branch closures onhigh streets across the country.
Instead of one bank owning a branch, the responsibility is shared between the banks. This means that they can share the running costs and all operate in one convenient location.
All customers will benefit from Monday-Friday access to cash and basic banking services via a traditional counter service operated by the Post Office. Community bankers from each of the five banks with the largest number of customers in the area will also come in one day per week to assist their customers with more complex banking issues like debt advice, bereavement services and fraud support.
In the Darwen banking hub, the participating banks are NatWest, Santander, Lloyds, Halifax and Barclays, the banks with the most customers in that location. Opening the banking hub will protect access to cash and banking services for 10,000 local residents and 150 shops within 1 kilometre of Darwen town centre.
The 100th opening is a significant milestone. In September, Economic Secretary secured a historic agreement from industry to deliver on this commitment, with 230 hubs expected to be open by the end of next year, helping to revitalise towns and high streets up and down the country.
Tulip Siddiq, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, added: “We are delighted to see the continued growth of banking hubs, which are playing an essential role in meeting the needs of communities where traditional banking options have declined.
“These hubs are not only vital for residents and businesses, but they also play a key role in revitalising our high streets, bringing footfall back to town centres, and repurposing unused buildings for community benefit.
“The success of these hubs proves that shared banking services can provide a solution that benefits everyone, from residents to local businesses.”
The opening of banking hubs can play an important role in revitalising our high street and repurposing disused buildings in town centres all while providing a vital service to businesses and people in those communities.
Evidence from Brixham in Devon and Rochford in Essex where banking hubs have recently opened has backed this up, research from Cash Access UK the group that run banking hubs shows that almost half of businesses surveyed saying it has increased footfall in the town and 30% of residents saying that they visit the town more regularly and stay for longer because a banking hub has opened in the town.
Gareth Oakley, CEO, Cash Access UK, said: “Access to cash and face-to-face banking services remain vital to millions of people and businesses who rely on it.
“We’re delighted that banking hubs, alongside deposit services are proving to be successful and are making a real difference to communities and high streets up and down the country.”
PARTICIPANTS of Football Memories groups across Scotland will once again get the chance to hear from former referees as their whistle-stop tour of the country, courtesy of Specsavers, kicked off with a special guest in Elgin on Wednesday (11th December).
For the second season in a row, the Official Eye and Ear Care Partner of the Scottish FA has facilitated for retired refs to speak to participants of Football Memories, a project which assists people living with memory loss conditions, including dementia and Alzheimer’s, as well as those experiencing loneliness and social isolation.
The special tour got under way at Borough Briggs, home to Elgin City Football Club, where ex-whistler Bill Machray got proceedings under way, with special guest and former Scotland captain, Colin Hendry in attendance.
With more than 1,000 matches between them, both Colin and Bill regaled attendees with stories from their illustrious careers, as well as showcasing some of the keepsakes and paraphernalia they have collected from games they had been involved in across the country and abroad over their combined 40 years in the sport.
Bill, who was a category two official and now works as a referee observer with the Scottish FA, refereed hundreds of matches in Scotland. He, largely, officiated in the Highland League, around the same time Elgin City were in the division, but also ran the line in a couple of Scottish Cup Finals.
Colin Hendry, who grew up close to Elgin’s stadium in Keith, had an illustrious career for the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Rangers and Scotland, winning the English Premier League, Scottish Cup and 51 caps among many other top honours.
Colin says: ‘It was a privilege to speak to those gathered at the Elgin Football Memories group as Specsavers kicked off its fantastic initiative once again.
‘Schemes like these are brilliant for the older and more isolated community across Moray, raising awareness of memory loss conditions and providing people with a space to have a cup of tea and chat football.
‘My own mother still lives in the area and it’s groups like Football Memories which often keep people of her generation active and purposeful in the community.’
With the Elgin visit a resounding success, the next port of call on the tour is Perth in January, followed by Dumfries in February.
Established in 2009, Football Memories Scotland is a charitable project run by the Scottish Football Museum in partnership with Alzheimer Scotland.
With more than 600 groups around the country, often hosted in football settings, Football Memories uses engaging football-themed resources stored in a memory box, such as reminiscence cards, life-size player cutouts, newspaper clippings and books, to stir memories and discussions led by volunteers.
Specsavers will sponsor the boxes for the referee tour and have helped to provide some exciting new memorabilia for them such as old football boots, photographs of former referees and other essential equipment required to help run the groups.
Long-term memories can be triggered for many through the visual cues of images, videos, artefacts and discussions taking place in a small group or even a one-to-one setting, unlocking precious happy moments from the past. The impact can be enormous.
Robert Craig, Chair of the Scottish Football Museum, says: ‘We are excited to get under way once again with the first referee visit of the season in our renewed partnership with Specsavers.
“Their continued support to the Football Memories project, which impacts the lives of all who touch it, is invaluable and helps us to carry on delivering for those living with memory loss conditions or experiencing isolation.
‘Our Elgin group is a great example of the benefits Football Memories can bring to the people, and I’m sure the attendees will have taken a lot from their morning with Bill Machray and local hero, Colin Hendry.’
Willie Collum, Scottish FA Head of Referee Operations, says: ‘The success of Football Memories is plain to see, and this fantastic initiative – now into its second season – is one that our roster of former referees is proud to support, as an extension to our existing partnership with Specsavers.’
Specsavers’ Jenny Stephenson, Scottish Divisional Chair, says: ‘Specsavers is proud to not only be the Official Eye and Ear Care Partner of the Scottish FA, but to also help raise awareness of the vital work Football Memories does in assisting people living with memory loss conditions within local communities across Scotland.’
Specsavers announced in 2024 that it was renewing its’ sponsorship deal, becoming the Official Eye and Ear Care Partner of the Scottish FA, marking 24 years of support and beyond for the partnership – one of the longest agreements of its kind in sport.
The deal will see the partnership continue into 2025, not only helping with the training and development of referees, but also raising awareness of para and grassroots football in Scotland.
The Scottish Government Budget will prioritise patients and drive improvements to the NHS, Health Secretary Neil Gray has said.
If approved by parliament, the 2025/26 Budget will deliver record health and social care funding of £21 billion to ensure faster, more accessible care by improving capacity and tackling systemic challenges like delayed discharge.
This builds on ongoing efforts to address the NHS’ challenges and improve healthcare for all to create a more responsive, effective health service with earlier intervention, ensuring better outcomes for patients throughout Scotland.
Key measures set out in the draft Budget include:
To address delayed discharge and reduce waiting lists, £200 million has been allocated in the 2025-26 Budget. If approved by parliament, this funding will expand the innovative ‘Hospital at Home’ service, allowing more patients to receive high-quality care at home instead of being admitted to a hospital.
Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “We are determined to drive improvements in our NHS and deliver the best possible service for patients. But I know that some people are waiting too long and finding it difficult to get appointments – we have listened and we are taking action. That is what people can expect from this government.
“The measures we set out in the Budget would mean quicker treatments, more GP appointments, and world-class facilities for people across Scotland.
“By March 2026, no-one will wait longer than 12 months for a new outpatient appointment, inpatient treatment or day case treatment with more than 150,000 extra patients treated as a result.
“The Budget also delivers investment to tackle delayed discharge, one of the biggest challenges facing the NHS, and to expand the Hospital at Home service giving thousands of patients the care they need at home while freeing up hospital beds for those who need them most.
“With initiatives like these, we will build a modern, resilient NHS that delivers for everyone by providing innovative and effective care.
“But we will only be able to deliver these transformational investments and drive further improvements for patients if our Budget is agreed. Our NHS needs this Budget to pass – and I am urging Parliament to unite behind it.”
NEW independent analysis from a respected Scottish consultancy reveals the substantial positive economic impact of Scotland’s self-catering industry which was also shown to have a negligible effect on housing.
BiGGAR Economics calculated that short-term lets (STLs) contribute nearly £1bn gross value added (GVA) to the Scottish economy while supporting approximately 30,000 jobs. By accommodating visitors, STLs generate economic activity across Scotland, with the local impacts exceeding residential use, supporting an additional £32,400 GVA per property.
Guests staying in self-catering accommodation, termed ‘secondary lets’ in Scottish STL legislation, also spend more than the average visitor to Scotland, with knock-on gains for related tourist and hospitality businesses. Alongside this huge economic boost, the researchers also highlight that self-catering accounts for less than 1% of the country’s total housing stock.
This challenges the narrative that STLs are fuelling Scotland’s housing crisis, with self-catering at only 0.8% of the country’s housing stock, too low a proportion to have a meaningful impact on local housing markets. Moreover, according to the report, in every local authority area, economically inactive empty homes account for a larger proportion of total dwellings than from secondary lets.
The key headlines include:
This study comes as the Scottish Government published an implementation update report on STL licensing which the industry maintains did not adequately address their longstanding concerns. At a local level, councils such as Highland and Edinburgh are also assessing their regulations.
BiGGAR’s new analysis is based on the best available evidence on STLs in Scotland. The findings have been shared with Scottish Government Ministers and officials.
Graeme Blackett, Director of BiGGAR Economics, said: “This report shows that secondary lets make an important contribution to Scottish tourism and economy overall, supporting almost 30,000 Scottish jobs.
“Our research also concluded that it was clear that secondary lets are not a driver of the wider Scottish housing market.
“If short-term let regulations leads to a reduction in the supply of secondary lets, that will have a negative impact on the tourism economy, without delivering any solutions to Scotland’s wider housing challenges.”
Fiona Campbell, CEO of the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, said: “This is yet more compelling evidence that short-term lets aren’t the main contributor of the housing crisis but are instead turbocharging local economies with a near £1bn positive impact while supporting 30,000 jobs.
“The current unbalanced regulatory framework does not reflect this reality and changes are needed before irreversible damage is done.
“Local councils should take heed of the report’s findings when considering their approach to planning policies and control areas to ensure the relatively small number of valuable short-term lets are protected.
“For policymakers, the message couldn’t be clearer: you can’t solve a housing crisis by producing a crisis in Scottish tourism by decimating local businesses that underpin local economies. Attention must shift to the real causes of the housing crisis.”
Four Seasons in Faith, a captivating new exhibition that highlights the rich and diverse faith communities within the city has opened at the Museum of Edinburgh.
The exhibition has been shaped by Museums & Galleries Edinburgh’s ‘Keep the Faith’ project, which worked in collaboration with the Edinburgh Interfaith Association and faith groups from across Edinburgh to curate a collection that reflects how communities would like to see their celebrations of faith represented within the museum collection.
The exhibition showcases a wide array of objects donated and loaned by members of some of Edinburgh’s major world faith communities, offering visitors a unique insight into how people embody their faith in the city today.
With the help of a group of community curators from different religious backgrounds, the exhibition tells the stories of these communities and explores how faith is celebrated throughout the year in Edinburgh.
Highlights of the exhibition include:
The exhibition also includes items that highlight the role of faith in the broader Edinburgh community, such as hand-drawn artwork created by members of a parents and toddlers group run by the Baha’i community and St James the Less Episcopal Church, as well as a knitted hat issued by the Mission to Seafarers in Leith, a charity supporting seafarers’ mental health worldwide.
In addition to these more traditional items, the exhibition gives voice to lesser-known religious practices in the city. Visitors will discover objects used by the Heathens of Lothian in their rituals, as well as an exploration of how these practices influence Edinburgh’s vibrant festival calendar, including events like Beltane and Samhain.
As part of its ongoing work with community curators, the Museum of Edinburgh will also be creating a short film documenting the diverse faith practices in the city today. This film will feature oral history interviews and inter-faith conversations recorded at various places of worship across Edinburgh, providing a vital addition to the Museum’s social history collections. The film will be showcased at the exhibition’s closing event and will be made available on the Museum’s online channels.
Culture and Communities Convener Cllr Val Walker said: “Four Seasons in Faith is an important reflection of Edinburgh’s rich, diverse, and evolving cultural landscape, celebrating the faiths that shape the city’s identity and the people who practice them.
“Visitors to the museum can learn all about the traditions, celebrations, and stories that shape Edinburgh’s spiritual landscape throughout the changing seasons.
“The exhibition is also accompanied by a programme of events led by our community curators and their community contacts which will be a vital addition to our social history collections and will give context to the existing faith collections and the new material we have collected throughout this project.”
The UK has today officially joined CPTPP as a fully-fledged member, potentially boosting the UK economy by £2 billion a year in the long run
The UK has today [15 December] officially joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) as a fully-fledged member, potentially boosting the UK economy by £2 billion a year in the long run.
CPTPP is a major trade bloc whose members – Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and now the UK – have a combined GDP of £12 trillion.
The UK’s accession is estimated to benefit all UK nations and regions in the long run, relative to 2019 values, with boosts of £240 million for Scotland, £110 million for Wales, and £70 million for Northern Ireland. All English regions are also estimated to gain, including £450 million for the South East and £310 million for the North West.
From today businesses across the country will face lower tariffs and fewer barriers when selling to economies across three continents, with the financial services, manufacturing and food and drink sectors in particular set to benefit, helping to support the Government’s Plan for Change by boosting household wages by £1 billion every year and delivering on one of the five missions of kickstarting economic growth.
Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “Britain is uniquely placed to take advantage of exciting new markets, while strengthening existing relationships. Today’s news is further proof that the UK is a wonderful place to do business, with an open, outward looking economy driving the growth people can feel in their communities.
“Agreements like this boost trade and create opportunities for UK companies abroad. This is a proven way to support jobs, raise wages, and drive investment across the country which is key to this Government’s mission to deliver economic growth.
“Our Trade Strategy, published next year, will finally put in place a long-term, strategic plan for international trade that helps businesses and consumers and, ultimately, grows the economy.”
CPTPP is designed to expand over time, further growing the economic and strategic benefits of the agreement. Costa Rica was recently announced as the next country to go through the process of joining, and other economies such as Indonesia – the largest economy in Southeast Asia, with a GDP of over £1 trillion and home to around 280 million people in 2023 – have already expressed an eagerness to join the bloc.
CEO of HSBC UK Ian Stuart said: “Being part of the CPTPP signals that the UK is open for business with some of the world’s most exciting growth markets. Since the announcement of the UK’s accession in July 2023, we have seen an increase in payments between the CPTPP markets and the UK, and we expect this growth to continue.
“As the world’s leading trade bank, with deep roots across many CPTPP countries, we are well-positioned to connect UK businesses with growth opportunities in markets such as Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Australia.”
Chairman and CEO of Chivas Brothers Jean-Etienne Gourgues said: “At a time of increasing barriers to trade globally, the UK’s accession to the CPTPP is welcome news for Chivas Brothers Scotch whisky business.
“Improved access to markets in dynamic regions like South East Asia and Latin America in a trading bloc which covers almost a fifth of the total value of Scotch whisky exports should help boost our £1BN annual exports.”
Chief Executive Officer of Scalerr Matthew Borthwick said: “International expansion isn’t just for the big businesses out there. Due to agreements like the CPTPP, UK SMEs will also benefit, making it easier to trade with CPTPP countries.
“As a tech scale-up consultancy with customers across the world, we at Scalerr welcome the support the CPTPP will provide by reducing costs, easing administrative burdens, and facilitating international trade.”
Sectors like automotive and food and drink will be able to benefit from CPTPP membership, including through modern “rules of origin” provisions which allow goods to qualify for lower tariffs when built from parts from CPTPP countries then exported to a CPTPP country. For example, a UK car engine manufacturer using components from other CPTPP countries could more easily qualify for lower tariffs when exporting the final engine within CPTPP.
UK services firms, which employ over 80% of our workforce, could also find it easier to export their services to CPTPP countries, with firms allowed to manage funds across the world from the UK and provide services to CPTPP markets on a level playing field with domestic firms in key sectors.
Prices on consumer goods could also fall if savings are passed on by importers, with tariffs removed on items like fruit juices from Peru and vacuum cleaners from Malaysia.
Through CPTPP, the UK now has free trade deals with Malaysia and Brunei for the first time, economies with a combined GDP of over £330 billion last year.
CPTPP’s entry into force comes as the UK edges closer to securing trade deals with partners such as the Gulf Cooperation Council, India, Switzerland and South Korea. These form one half of this government’s twin-track approach to trade which seeks to reset our relationship with the EU at the same time as striking new trade deals.
