A new report claims Asos, part owned by Scotland’s richest man, is still harming the environment and not adequately supporting its workers. Asos says it is committed to addressing concerns about the fashion industry.
The UK Government will soon force many company owners to prove their identities. We don’t know when the people behind much-abused Scottish business schemes will face the same measures.
The founder of a Canadian "extremist, militia-like organisation” visited far right allies in Scotland. Critics question why a “dangerous individual" was allowed to enter the country.
Brexit continues to be a point of controversy in Scotland, and MPs regularly question UK Government representatives at Westminster over the impact of leaving the European Union.
In an exchange on 11 January, SNP MP Philippa Whitford asked Alister Jack, the secretary of state for Scotland, about Scotland’s route back into the EU. The Dumfries and Galloway MP responded, claiming that rejoining the EU wasn’t what people in Scotland wanted.
“There’s no desire in Scotland to have membership of the EU”.
Alister Jack MP
Ferret Fact Service looked at this claim and found it False.
The referendum on the UK’s EU membership took place on 23 June 2016, with 51.9 per cent of UK voters choosing to leave.
The voting in the referendum varied in different countries within the UK. In England, 53.4 per cent of voters backed leaving the EU, and 52.5 per cent of those in Wales voted to leave.
However, a majority of voters in Scotland and Northern Ireland wanted to remain in the EU, with 38 per cent voting leave in Scotland and 44.2 per cent in Northern Ireland.
Scotland had the largest proportion of voters wanting to remain, with 62 per cent.
In the six years since the referendum, a number of polls have been conducted looking at the views of Scots on the decision to leave the EU, and whether people in Scotland want to rejoin.
What Scotland Thinks, a non-partisan research centre which collates polling on Scottish attitudes, has tracked the views of Scots since the referendum took place.
A few different questions have been asked in Scottish polling on EU membership.
Scots have been asked how they would vote in a hypothetical second referendum, or if the 2016 referendum took place today.
Polling on this question since 2016 has been consistent in showing support for remain. The latest poll in August 2022 found 65 per cent of Scots supporting remain with only 25 per cent backing leave (with 10 per cent ‘don’t knows’).
Ferret Fact Service could find no reputable polling with a significant sample size that showed majority support for Scotland leaving Europe.
A slightly different question, Should the UK rejoin the EU or stay out of the EU?, has also been asked.
In five polls between 2020 and 2022, support for rejoining was consistently above staying out of the EU.
A third question, If there was a referendum now on whether the UK should or should not join the EU, how would you vote?, has also been asked in multiple polls. This has also shown Scots polled would favour rejoining the EU instead of remaining outside.
There appears to have been no significant reduction in support for EU membership in Scotland since 2016.
Alister Jack’s claim that there’s no desire in Scotland to have membership of the European Union is not correct. Polling since the 2016 referendum, across a series of related questions, has seen support for Scottish membership of the EU. There has not been significant change in the view of Scots polled since the referendum vote itself.
Prospective MSPs are legally required to evidence their election spending and confirm the records are correct. Following an investigation by The Ferret, Police Scotland is examining whether nine Reform UK candidates failed to do so.
The university has continued to argue staff cuts are needed to make ends meet. But a growing cash balance has raised questions about the need for more redundancies, and whether it qualifies for millions in public support.
This summer we revealed that convicted loyalists from Belfast travelled to Glasgow for a far right protest. Further digging has unearthed a rapidly expanding anti-immigration network between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland murdered hundreds of people during The Troubles. But far right activists flew their flag at an anti-immigration rally despite terror laws banning public support for terrorists.
