King Charles III: Thousands on Edinburgh's Royal Mile for Thanksgiving Celebration

Read the article here.

Scottish minister leads protest at King Charles coronation event: Partick Harvie, co-leader of Scottish Greens, addresses protesters as Charles is presented with Scotland’s medieval crown jewels / A ceremony in Edinburgh marking King Charles III’s coronation has been targeted by politically significant republican protests led by a Scottish government minister. »

Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of The Queen

A screenshot taken from this video on YouTube.
Watch the official service, attended by The King and other members of the Royal Family.
This video cannot be embedded; it must be viewed on YouTube itself. To watch it on YouTube, please click here.

Thousands Wave Goodbye to the Queen as Her Coffin Travels from Balmoral to Edinburgh

Sep 11, 2022 The Queen's coffin travelled from Balmoral to Edinburgh on Sunday as King Charles III was proclaimed throughout the UK. Thousands lined to the route of royal cortege as it passed through the Highlands to say their goodbyes. The Queen's coffin will make its way back to London for the funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday 19 September Queen’s coffin travelling from Balmoral to Edinburgh as King Charles III proclaimed throughout UK

Queen's Coffin Is Driven through Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon to Seek Second Scottish Referendum

Speaking at a press conference in Bute House in Edinburgh on Monday, the Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, says she is going to ask the Scottish parliament for its approval to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence at the end of the Brexit process

Read the Guardian article here

Dubious Deals Come with the Territory
TIMES ONLINE: The real scandal is the lost opportunity to uncover the conspirators behind the Lockerbie plot

The accusations would hurt any government, let alone one untested abroad. Alex Salmond’s administration has been accused of a political fix, a squalid commercial deal and a plot to protect its legal system. President Obama called the release of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi “highly objectionable”. The FBI was more devastating: Scotland had made a “mockery” of the Lockerbie families’ grief and given “comfort to terrorists around the world”.

But there is an indictment still more damning. In his cack-handed handling of the case, Kenny MacAskill, Scotland’s Justice Secretary, has now made it impossible to find out what really happened. There will be no judicial appeal. No court will ask the vital questions left unanswered by the trial in The Hague eight years ago. Who masterminded the atrocity? Who financed the bombers? Who else plotted the deaths of innocent passengers on Pan Am 103?

Lockerbie will remain, for ever, an unexplained horror. The answers instead will be supplied by conspiracy theorists and cranks. Lockerbie will become another Kennedy assassination, open to ever more outlandish explanations — except that this atrocity, unlike the killing in Dallas, will never be investigated at the highest judicial level.

The vacuum will be filled not only by bogus historians and those with a political axe to grind; history’s verdict will also, by default, be swayed by the only man convicted of the bombing who now claims new evidence would exonerate him. He has promised to write his memoirs. Even if he lives long enough to complete them, al-Megrahi alone will be unable to relieve the anguish of the victims’ families. Would he dare jeopardise his family by revealing all he knows?

Had his appeal gone ahead, at least his protestations could have been tested. He might have been cleared. Or his supposed innocence — now taking on a public plausibility — might have been definitely disproved. Instead, he will for ever remain in an absurd limbo, not innocent but somehow not wholly guilty.

A scandal is now swirling over the “deal” said to have been made to set al-Megrahi free. Did Muammar Gaddafi promise Gordon Brown lucrative energy contracts for British companies? Did Lord Mandelson discuss Lockerbie in his meetings in Corfu with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the Libyan leader’s son? Was there an understanding that the prisoner would be home in time for Ramadan and, more importantly, to join in the 40th anniversary celebrations of Gaddafi’s seizure of power? >>> Michael Binyon | Monday, August 24, 2009

The Libyan Ultimatum
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Despite denials, talk persists of pressure and plots behind the freeing of the Lockerbie bomber

They are expecting a magnificent party in Tripoli a week on Tuesday when Libya marks the 40th year in power of Muammar Gadaffi and pays tribute to the deft diplomatic footwork of Saif al-Islam, his son.

The only man convicted for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988 is finally home; and the suave, shaven-headed Saif, whose name means “sword of Islam”, is credited with a key role in making it happen.

An agreement struck long ago between Tony Blair and Gadaffi had threatened to fall apart with potentially catastrophic consequences for Britain: it has emerged that Libya threatened to freeze diplomatic relations if Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, said to be suffering from cancer, was not released under a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya.

In the end, he was freed by Scotland on “compassionate” grounds and escorted home to Tripoli by Saif, who thrust Megrahi’s hand into the air as they came down the steps of Gadaffi’s airliner to a hero’s welcome that has outraged the families of Lockerbie’s victims.

Yesterday the protests were undimmed, but the official responses were evasive — unsurprisingly, because behind Megrahi’s release lie weeks of intrigue between Westminster, Tripoli, Edinburgh and Washington.

Apart from the unfortunate Lockerbie families, everyone seems to have got what they wanted. Gadaffi and his son have their man. Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish justice secretary, who signed the release order, has burnished his humanitarian credentials. Gordon Brown has preserved Britain’s politically and economically valuable new relationship with Libya while avoiding any blame for the release. And American politicians have been able to bluster in protest while exercising none of their considerable clout to stop it happening.

The whole exercise reeks of realpolitik and moral evasion.

The reality is that Megrahi’s freedom is a product of the effort to bring Libya out of dangerous isolation. This is as much to America’s advantage as Britain’s, but Washington has too much baggage to be openly involved; it bombed Libya in 1986 in punishment for supporting terrorism, and Gadaffi remains a bogeyman to many Americans. So Britain takes the lead — except when it can devolve the dirty work onto a Scottish politician. >>> Matthew Campbell | Sunday, August 23, 2009

Fat Cats in Terror after Anti-capitalists Attack Fred the Shred's Home
MAIL Online: Security will be stepped up around fat-cat bankers after the home of disgraced former RBS boss Sir Fred Goodwin was targeted by vandals.

A statement claiming to be from the group responsible for damage at his £3million mansion warned of further attacks, saying: 'This is just the beginning.'

The threat sparked fears of a terror campaign against those blamed for the collapse in the financial system.

The concern is that anti-capitalist groups will copy the tactics of animal rights militants by directly targeting individuals they hold responsible for the credit crunch.

Tensions are already high, with anarchists reported to be plotting mayhem at next week's G20 summit in London.

Their intention is to paralyse the Square Mile by staging sit-in protests and storming financial institutions, with the Bank of England and RBS among the top targets.

Effigies of bankers will be hung from lampposts. Security adviser Dai Davies, a former head of Scotland Yard's Royalty Protection squad, said: 'Risk assessments will have to be carried out by the police on individuals who are concerned about their safety. If there is cause for concern then appropriate advice will be given and pre put in place.

'The developments at Sir Fred Goodwin's home will almost certainly make some other high-profile bankers want to review their own private security arrangements.' >>> By Stephen Wright | Thursday, March 26, 2009

THE GUARDIAN: Banks Braced for City Riots During G20 Summit after Attack on Sir Fred Goodwin's Home

Financial sector staff are warned to keep low profile / Former RBS boss 'shaken' after early morning raid

The last time bankers faced angry demonstrations, some responded by pouring champagne or photocopied £50 notes from windows, but it is unlikely that protesters targeting the City next week during the G20 summit will be met by similar shows of bravado.

Many staff are being advised to dress down next Wednesday and Thursday to avoid being marked out as City workers - if they cannot avoid the protests entirely by working from home. Others have been advised to avoid leaving the office to attend meetings.

Concern about possible violence heightened when the home of former Royal Bank of Scotland chairman Sir Fred Goodwin was vandalised early yesterday morning, leaving three windows shattered and the rear window of his black Mercedes smashed. An anonymous email was sent to media organisations shortly after the attack threatening further action against "criminal" bank bosses.

The former RBS boss, who had not been at home and is at the centre of a row over the size of his pension from the taxpayer-owned bank, was said to have been "shaken" by the incident.

Many in the City believe aggressive media coverage of the financial crisis has declared a virtual open season on financial sector workers.

The financial advisory group Bluefin, which employs 500 staff in London, has set up a phone line offering staff updates next week. Staff have been told not to go to its office in Mark Lane in the City unless absolutely necessary. "As a responsible employer, the safety and wellbeing of our staff is always considered of paramount importance," a spokesman said.

A UBS spokesman said the bank would continue to assess the level of threat as it got nearer the time. "We are telling people to be cautious. If you have client meetings, do you need to have them here? Some of the banks have said dress down or try not to move around. It is all pretty obvious. "It is quite co-ordinated among the banks. We all talk to each other. I think it is different if you are in a landmark building, some are more obvious than others."

Another banker complained that we "are in an era of the demonisation of financial services". >>> David Teather | Thursday, March 26, 2009