Sharia law is a contentious issue in the UK. Some question whether it is compatible with so-called British values while claiming it's a separate legal system operating parallel to UK laws. In our latest De-noiser, we look at the facts.
Sir Peter Mathieson appears to have confirmed he is being paid for a board role at a university spin-off at the same time as many staff face uncertainty about their futures.
Scottish ministers have been privately urged to back plans for a golf course on a coastal wildlife site. This has been condemned as “backdoor lobbying that tries to bypass the rules”.
These are the oil drilling ships which have towered over the Clyde at Hunterston Pier near Fairlie.
They’ve been lit up at night with generators and sometimes main engines running – producing a disturbing low-frequency hum, often below the audible range.
Local people such as Rita Holmes say the hum has had impacts on their health and wellbeing. Yachtsman Jackie Pearson says the ships run their engines to keep them in place after one was blown off its moorings – and the combined engines produce disturbing noise.
The Hunterston industrial area nearby was previously used to test giant offshore wind turbines, producing a similar low hum. The same area is slated to be used to make the sub-sea cables needed to bring offshore wind ashore. Local people fear that once the ships are gone the cable works will be another source of noise nuisance.
Peel Ports, which owns the pier and the industrial site, says noise levels from the ships “fall comfortably within the regulations”. The development plans for the site will bring “hundreds of highly-skilled jobs”, it claims.
Meanwhile the cable-making firm, XLCC, says it is making major efforts to ensure its operation is quiet, including noise insulation and electric power for cable-loading ships.
With the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow due in November, our podcast by Richard Baynes will let you hear the hum — and more about the impact of potential energy industries on this slice of the Clyde coast.
Listen to more of The Ferret’s Podcasts here.
Photos thanks to Richard Baynes. Music thanks to Kevin Hartnell.
Scottish ministers have been privately urged to back plans for a golf course on a coastal wildlife site. This has been condemned as “backdoor lobbying that tries to bypass the rules”.
More than 20 wind farms are failing to pay an agreed amount to locals. That could cost Scottish communities over £50m.
A well known salmon farming company was told by Scottish Government inspectors to cut lice numbers at three of its sites in Sutherland. It responded by suggesting that other salmon farmers were failing to report lice numbers accurately.
Scottish authorities had to intervene to keep deer numbers down at a Sutherland estate after the overpopulated animals damaged protected areas. Meanwhile, the landowner has received vast sums of public money.
