Month: April 2026

Brothers jailed for serious and organised crime offences

Two brothers have been jailed as part of a large-scale investigation into serious and organised crime.

Kieran and Aaron Miller, 31 and 34 respectively, plead guilty on Thursday, 12 March, 2026, at the High Court in Glasgow to offences relating to supplying drugs and using encrypted devices between November 2019 and June 2020.

Yesterday, Wednesday, 22 April, 2026, they were each sentenced at the same court to six years in prison.

Their part in sourcing and distributing illicit drugs worth over £1 million was uncovered as part of Operation Enchanting, closely linked to Operation Venetic – a Europe-wide investigation to identify and dismantle organised crime groups utilising encrypted devices.

The brothers are believed to have been supplying dealers rather than end users and, on a weekly basis, were found to be moving large quantities of cocaine, diamorphine, MDMA, cannabis, amphetamine and diazepam in the Fife and Central Scotland areas.

During the investigation, detectives uncovered that the pair sent over 36,000 messages via EncroChat devices, including images of cash and drugs.

Detective Inspector Craig Davies said: “Drugs cause misery in our communities and we are committed to use every tool and tactic at our disposal to bring those responsible for the sourcing and distribution of illicit drugs to justice.

“This result has taken a significant quantity of Class A and Class B drugs off the streets, and the people behind the deal will now face the consequences of their actions.

“This operation and our other recent successes underline our unwavering commitment to working with partners, including the NCA, Border Force and SOC Taskforce, to disrupt this sort of criminality.

Keep Scotland Beautiful: Get involved in Spring Clean Scotland

We’re down to the final week of #SpringCleanScotland and we want to capture all of your brilliant efforts!

If you register your litter pick before midnight on Friday 24 April you’ll be in with a chance of winning one of four £100 Helping Hand Environmental vouchers!

We have one voucher for uniformed groups, one voucher for sports clubs and/or organisations, and two further vouchers for any group or individual who registers their pick. All previous registrations also count towards the prize draw.

Have you taken part in a litter pick recently?

Enter your event’s details on our website for a chance to win a #SpringCleanScotland prize!

Millions of smiles, countless connections: Celebrating 20 years of Open Farm Sunday

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Open Farm Sunday, the annual initiative which invites families across Britain to visit local farms and learn more about the vital role farming plays in our lives.

With hundreds of farms opening their gates on 7 June 2026, it’s a chance to step beyond the supermarket shelves and meet farming champions in your area.

Organised by LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), Open Farm Sunday is a popular date on kitchen calendars across the UK every year, offering a fun day out and bridging the gap between farmers and the public.

Over the past two decades around 3.5 million people have experienced the joy of visiting a farm and meeting the faces behind their food. A huge 92% of visitors last year said their trust in British farming grew thanks to the experience. The age-old saying “seeing is believing” has never been truer.

More than just a chance to pull on your wellies and explore; it’s an opportunity to make lasting connections with farmers in your community, to ask questions, discover how farming works with nature, and leave you feeling more confident about the food choices you make.

Every host farm has something special to offer, whether it’s farm nature-walks, tractor and trailer rides or close-up animal encounters – there is something for everyone.

Take home a real connection to your food and the countryside. Don’t miss out on this unique experience – visit a farm near you, have a great day outdoors, and leave with a deeper understanding of how we can all contribute to a more sustainable food future.

To find participating farms in your area and plan your day, visit:

https://farmsunday.org/visit-a-farm

South Queensferry graffiti: Police appeal for information

POLICE are appealing for information following reports of offensive graffiti in South Queensferry.

The vandalism is reoccurring and we are aware of six instances between the end of December 2025 and Tuesday, 21 April, 2026.

The graffiti is being removed by the council each time before appearing again. It is mainly happening in the Morison Gardens underpass, and Society Road areas.

Police Constable Euan Sinclair said: “Since this was reported to us, we have been conducting enquiries to trace the person, or persons, responsible. It is wholly unacceptable for this to continue happening.

“I would urge anyone who may have been in these areas and seen anything suspicious, or who has any information to help us identity and trace those responsible, to contact us.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 2772 of 6 April, 2026.

Tonight: Celebrate World Book Night with Drumbrae Library Hub

THURSDAY 23 APRIL at 7pm

Tune in to Facebook tomorrow night at 7pm for a Bedtime Story read by one of our librarians Faye.

She will be reading the beautiful, sensitive story of ‘Astrid and the Sky Calf’ written by Rosie Faragher.

If you miss it, don’t worry it will be staying up on Facebook for some time.

#WorldBookNight

#ReadingHour

#GoAllIn

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XR Scotland and Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign protest at BlackRock

Extinction Rebellion Scotland, Christian Climate Action and Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign held a noisy Earth Day protest outside BlackRock offices in Edinburgh yesterday.

BlackRock is the world’s largest investment asset manager using the immense power of its algorithms and wealth to fund three crimes against life and humanity: AI, fossil fuels, war and genocide. The protest demanded that BlackRock stops using its power to crush humanity, and stops funding death by algorithm.

The protest included drummers from the Rhythms of Resistance network and Discobedience dancers.

Three corpses dressed in shrouds labelled with the words: BlackRock Funds Climate Violence, War and Genocide, AI Terror. Protest in Harmony, a radical activist singing group, sung songs of protest and an original work of art was created for the protest.

Activists held a giant banner saying BlackRock CRUSHING EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE and some held placards drawing attention to the fact that BlackRock’s wealth and algorithms fund climate violence, genocide and  Big Tech. Larry Finkenstein, the alter ego of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, also made an appearance.

Alex Cochrane, website manager, from XR Scotland said: “We are protesting on Earth Day because BlackRock is funding climate breakdown with its investments into fossil fuel companies and major polluters.

“They are a company prepared to lie, greenwash and crush us all under the weight of climate catastrophe just so their shares can get some returns.

“They have captured finance and become too big to fail – we will all suffer from this, including the staff of BlackRock. Climate breakdown will destroy our way of life and their way of business.”

A spokesman from Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign said: “BlackRock uses its financial might directly against the Palestinian people.

“As the UN special report on ‘the economy of genocide’ by Albanese details, BlackRock’s vast investments in Elbit Systems, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon and others add up to a ‘joint criminal enterprise’ where there is a direct line between BlackRock’s profits and  genocide.”

Levi Clark, support worker, from XR Scotland said: “Young families in Scotland like mine are struggling as BlackRock’s AI investment platform Aladdin, the algorithmic engine of the global financial system, drives historically unprecedented inequality.

“There have never been more billionaires, yet ordinary people everywhere are facing hardship. BlackRock funds Palantir which is using AI technology to devastate human rights. We need to wrestle back control of this technology’s future for the benefit of all humanity.”

PICTURES: Mike Spring and Nathaniel Wyvern

Edinburgh MP says websites advertising prostitution “facilitating industrial scale sex-trafficking”

TRACY GILBERT URGES POLICE TO LAUNCH CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

On Tuesday, 21 April 2026, Tracy Gilbert MP, the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh North and Leith, accused websites advertising prostitution of facilitating industrial-scale sex-trafficking in Scotland and revealed she has written to Police Scotland urging them to launch a criminal investigation into the websites, which continue to openly operate in Scotland.

Websites advertising prostitution are commercial online platforms dedicated solely or partly to advertising individuals for prostitution. A report in February by the UK’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner identified nearly 63,000 listings of women across 12 websites advertising prostitution in the UK at a single point in time. In just one month, the same websites received almost 41.7 million visits. 

Frequently referred to as ‘pimping websites’, the UK Government has acknowledged through a written parliamentary question that “adult service websites are now the most significant enabler of trafficking for sexual exploitation”.

Leading a debate in the UK Parliament on sex trafficking in Scotland, Tracy Gilbert MP argued that it is not just third-party criminals using these websites who should be the focus of police attention. Instead, it should be the website operators themselves facing investigation for sex trafficking.

https://twitter.com/i/status/2046563957708558669

In her speech, the Edinburgh North and Leith MP revealed that she had written to the Chief Constable at Police Scotland, urging a criminal investigation into pimping websites.

She stated that websites advertising prostitution knowingly aid prostitution and facilitate the travel of individuals for prostitution – by listing and categorising prostitution adverts according to whether the advertised individual will do so-called ‘outcalls’ – which is where a person travels to the sex buyer for the purpose of prostitution.

These actions, Tracy Gilbert MP stated, mean that the websites themselves constitute human trafficking operations under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015.

Following the debate, Tracy Gilbert MP said: “It is a national scandal that the individuals operating Adultwork and Vivastreet have not only been allowed to operate for years with total impunity, but that they have been publicly presented by Government and the National Crime Agency as partners in tackling sex trafficking.

“Pimping websites openly and explicitly facilitate the transportation or transfer of individuals for prostitution. The operators of these platforms publish prostitution adverts in a standardised format – which includes specifying whether the individual being advertised will do ‘out-calls’. …Facilitating the transportation of individuals for prostitution is built into the architecture of Adultwork and Vivastreet.

“I believe the seriousness and scale of these activities warrant an immediate criminal investigation.”

report_behind-the-profile_sexual-exploitation-and-trafficking-through-adult-services-websitesDownload

Letter: The D’Hondt Disaster

How the Independence Movement is Mathematically Defeating Itself

Dear Editor,

For years, the Scottish independence movement has been shackled by a fundamental misunderstanding of Holyrood’s Additional Member System.

The persistent rallying cry of “SNP 1, SNP 2” has not only failed to maximise our representation, but it has actively handed parliamentary power to unionist MSPs. The electoral facts prove that millions of pro-independence votes are being routinely wasted.

In the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, the SNP dominated the constituency ballot, winning 59 seats. However, the regional list system mathematically penalises parties that win heavily in the constituencies.

Consequently, the SNP’s 953,587 regional list votes yielded a mere 4 list seats.

The D’Hondt formula rendered nearly a million peach ballot votes virtually worthless, allowing the Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour to use their regional votes to sweep 24 and 21 list seats, respectively.

In 2021, this electoral tragedy repeated itself. Pro-independence voters dutifully followed the dual-vote strategy, helping the SNP win a record 62 constituency seats.

Yet, despite securing over a million votes on the regional list, the SNP returned just 2 regional MSPs. Over a million independence votes were essentially torched. This inefficiency directly enabled unionist parties to comfortably fill the regional lists, artificially inflating their influence in parliament.

I argue that some still argue for an “Indy 1, Indy 2” approach, assuming that backing the same dominant independence party on the peach ballot paper will secure victory. It fundamentally does not work for the Scottish Independence movement. Continuing to pile list votes onto a party that has already swept the constituencies is mathematically self-defeating.

To break this deadlock and secure a genuine pro-independence supermajority, our strategy must evolve. We must stop throwing our regional votes into the D’Hondt trap. The formula for success is clear: it has to be Indy 1 on the constituency ballot, and Alliance to Liberate Scotland 2 on the regional vote on the peach ballot paper.

Only by splitting our votes strategically can we capture the regional lists, lock unionist MSPs out of Holyrood, and finally deliver the parliament Scotland needs to secure its independence.

Yours for Scotland,

Dhruva Kumar
Glasgow Region List Candidate
Alliance to Liberate Scotland
Former MP Candidate, Glasgow, ALBA Party

Spring Forage at Leith Community Croft

Join us at Leith Community Croft for a playful gathering rooted in nature, foraging, and connection.

This is a guided, small-group experience designed to help you step out of the noise of daily life and into something a little softer, a little lighter — where curiosity, play, and presence lead the way.

Dates:

• Saturday, 2 May, 1-3pm

• Saturday, 16 May, 1-3pm

• Saturday, 30 May, 1-3pm

What to expect:

• A warm, informal welcome to the space

• Playful time outdoors (slow wandering, noticing, playful exploration of the land)

• Seasonal, nature-based practices (simple, accessible, and lightly guided)

• Building knowledge of seasonal plants and easy preparations

This isn’t a workshop in the traditional sense — there’s nothing to get right. It’s an invitation to slow down, follow your curiosity, and engage with the croft in a way that feels natural, relaxed, and a little bit playful.

Who it’s for:

• Anyone feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, or in need of a reset

• People curious about nature-based practices (no experience needed)

• Those who want a playful, supportive space with a touch of lightness and joy

Please wear comfortable, weather-appropriate clothing — we’ll be outdoors for the duration of the session.

Spaces are limited to keep the group small and personal.

Book your place using the link in our bio!