Rob Edwards

US bunker busters shipped to British island ‘for use against Iran’

from Sunday Herald, 14 March 2010

Hundreds of powerful US ‘bunker-buster’ bombs are being shipped from California to the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for a possible attack on Iran.

The Sunday Herald can reveal that the US government signed a contract in January this year to transport ten ammunition containers to the island. According to a cargo manifest from the US navy, this included 387 ‘Blu’ bombs used for blasting hardened or underground structures.

Experts say that they may be being put in place for an assault on Iran’s controversial nuclear facilities. There has long been speculation that the US military is preparing for such an attack, should diplomacy fail to persuade Iran not to make nuclear weapons.

Although Diego Garcia is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, it is used by the US as a military base under an agreement made in 1971. The agreement led to 2,000 native islanders being forcibly evicted to the Seychelles and Mauritius.

Highland agency under fire for ‘bad practice’ over mountain railway

from Sunday Herald, 28 February 2010

One of Scotland’s leading enterprise agencies will this week be accused of “unacceptable bad practice” for wasting up to £27 million of public money on the doomed Cairngorm mountain railway.

The Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit Committee will launch a scathing attack on Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) for failing to properly control spending on the controversial funicular railway, which has been repeatedly baled out by taxpayers’ money.

In a report, a copy of which has been leaked to the Sunday Herald, the committee will also criticise HIE for continuing to offer an “open-ended commitment” to funding the funicular. It will demand new controls to ensure that more major cost overruns are not incurred in the future.

The funicular railway, which runs nearly all the way to the summit of Britain’s fifth highest mountain near Aviemore, has been plagued with problems since it was first proposed in the early 1990s (see below). Lack of visitors has meant that it has struggled to make money.

There were many years without enough snow for skiers. But even when there has been plenty of snow, like this winter, the railway has been forced to close because it cannot cope with adverse weather.

The funicular has been shut down for 19 days since the start of this year, frustrating thousands of would-be skiers. This weekend it is closed again, with roads, car parks and buildings submerged under huge piles of drifting snow, after falls of up to two metres.

Thousands of school children at risk from pesticides

from Sunday Herald, 31 January 2010

The health of thousands children is being put at risk by the widespread use of toxic pesticides in Scottish schools, according to a new survey by environmental groups.

Local authorities across the country have admitted spraying chemicals suspected of causing cancers and other health problems on playing fields, paths and playgrounds to control weeds. They have also laid poisonous bait to try and get rid of rats.

Exposing children to such risks is “staggering” and “unacceptable”, say campaigners, who are demanding a ban. Some councils say they would prefer not to use pesticides, but manufacturers insist they are safe if properly used.

Councils across the UK were asked for the first time to identify which pesticides they used in schools. The survey was carried out at the end of last year by the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), which brings together 65 organisations in 26 countries across Europe, along with the UK campaign group, Pesticides Action Network.

Aberdeenshire council accused of tyranny and bullying

from Sunday Herald, 31 January 2010

A major Scottish local authority has been accused of “tyranny”, “bullying” and “Orwellian corporatism” for attempting to close down dissent and silence critics.

In the wake of bitter controversy over plans for a new golf resort by the US tycoon, Donald Trump, Aberdeenshire council has moved to suppress the rights of rebel councillors.

Powers to raise motions for debate at the council have been severely restricted, prompting councillors to question whether Aberdeenshire is still a democracy.

Aberdeenshire council has been badly divided over the Trump plan, with a small minority of councillors strongly opposed to the billionaire’s scheme to build two championship golf courses, 950 holiday homes, 500 luxury homes and a 450-bed hotel on a unique natural system of sand dunes at the Menie estate near Balmedie.

But the council’s ruling Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition, along with Scottish Nationalist councillors, has supported the plan. As a result some councillors have split from the LibDems, and helped form the five-strong Democratic Independent group.

Study prompts new cancer fears from pylons

from Sunday Herald, 29 November 2009

 

A new study suggesting that children living near high voltage power lines suffer an increased risk of cancers has re-ignited fears about the dangers of building a new chain of pylons across Scotland.

 

Health researchers in Japan found that children exposed to high levels of electromagnetic radiation from power lines were 11 times more likely to develop brain tumours.

 

This means, claim campaigners, that the health of hundreds of people will be jeopardised by the proposal to erect a new 400,000 volt electricity transmission line between Beauly, near Inverness, and Denny, near Stirling. The line should be buried underground to make it safe, they say.

 

The Sunday Herald reported last month that the controversial Beauly Denny line would be given the go-ahead by the Scottish government. Ministers, under fierce pressure from the electricity industry, have promised to make an announcement before the end of the year.

 

But now the Japanese study has raised new doubts about the safety of living close to pylons. Scientists from the National Research Institute for Child Health and Development in Tokyo and 14 other health bodies found an 11-fold increase in brain tumours amongst children under 15 exposed to more than 0.4 microteslas of electromagnetic radiation.

BP dropped as good example of safety after complaints

from Sunday Herald, 22 November 2009

The oil giant, BP, has been dropped as a leading example of good safety practice by a government watchdog after fierce complaints from occupational health experts.

In recent years BP has been landed with record fines for major accidents, injuries and deaths at oil refineries in Grangemouth in Scotland and Texas in the US. Despite this, the company has been highlighted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for its inspiring “leadership” on safety at work.

Last week, however, the HSE withdrew its case study lauding BP’s approach just days after demands from critics who accused BP of being a “serial safety offender” and a “disgrace”. HSE, however, claimed that the case study had been removed because it was "old".

In 2002 BP was the first company in Britain to be fined £1 million for safety violations that caused three accidents and a massive fire at the Grangemouth refinery, which it used to run. “Only good fortune prevented workplace and public casualties,” said the HSE at the time.

Then in March 2005, BP’s refinery in Texas City exploded, killing 15 people and injuring 170. Last month the US government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) imposed a record fine of £53 million on BP for allowing 270 potential hazards to persist at the Texas refinery.

Managers of Scotland's green watchdog mistrusted by staff

from Sunday Herald, 23 August 2009

Senior managers at the Scottish government’s green watchdog are not trusted by nearly half their staff, according to an internal survey leaked to the Sunday Herald.

A detailed assessment of staff attitudes at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) also reveals that more than a third regard the behaviour of senior management as inconsistent with the organisation’s values.

The agency’s bosses are strongly criticised for lacking effective leadership, poor communication and failing to manage change. Most staff say that their jobs are “hindered by unnecessary bureaucracy”.

Sepa’s 1,375 staff were surveyed in May by consultants, ORC International, and its final report was circulated to employees earlier this month. It comes after a series of bitter disputes over the introduction of a new pay and grading system.

The report concluded that 44% of staff did not accept that “senior management are open and honest in their communication”. As many as 38% disagreed that “the decisions and behaviours of the senior management team are consistent with the organisation’s values”.

The world on the edge as disasters beckon

from Sunday Herald, 02 August 2009

The world is facing a series of interlinked crises which threaten billions of people and could cause the collapse of civilisation, according to an authoritative international report to be unveiled this week.

Climate pollution, food shortages, diseases, wars, disasters, crime and the recession are all conspiring to ravage the globe and threaten the future of humanity, experts are warning. Democracy, human rights and press freedom are also suffering.

“Half the world appears vulnerable to social instability and violence,” the report says. This is due to rising unemployment and decreasing food, water and energy supplies, coupled with the disruptions caused by global warming and mass migrations.

The report, called ‘2009 State of the Future’, has been compiled by the Millennium Project, a major international think-tank based in Washington DC. It has involved 2,700 experts from 30 countries, and runs to more than 6,700 pages.

The project has been backed by a diverse range of organisations, including United Nations agencies, the Rockefeller Foundation, private companies and governments. It provides “invaluable insights into the future for the United Nations, its member states, and civil society,” according to the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon.

Anger over over the ‘theft’ of people power

from Sunday Herald, 11 July 2009

It’s an unprecedented power grab, that could affect everyone. And it is angering people across Scotland.

Huge industrial plants and other controversial schemes are being bulldozed through by developers, depriving communities of their rights, polluting their environment and threatening their health. This is because the Scottish government has fast-tracked major developments.

The views of residents have been marginalised, ignored or never sought, and they have had enough. So they are forming action groups, arranging public meetings and taking legal action.

Arguments are currently raging over proposals for a coal-fired power station at Hunterston in North Ayrshire, a waste incinerator at Greengairs in Lanarkshire, huge housing developments in Fife and a school at Portobello in Edinburgh.

And this week a new Scottish-wide group, Planning Democracy, is being launched to campaign for reforms to make the planning system fair. People power has been stolen, campaigners say, and it is “an affront to democracy”.

Fears that terrorists could attack water supplies after 9/11

25 May 2009

The Scottish government was worried about terrorists poisoning drinking water supplies in the aftermath of 9/11, according to secret documents released under freedom of information legislation.

In November 2001 water companies were ordered to speed up work to close gaps in the security of reservoirs. Ventilation systems had to be protected, while tamperproof access hatches, alarms and video surveillance had to be installed.

According to a memo from a senior Scottish government official, the work had to be completed “as soon as physically practicable”. Potential problems were also identified with the disposal of large amounts of water contaminated by a “chemical biological, radiological or nuclear attack”.

Governments bungled £48 million grants for the Highlands

from Sunday Herald, 03 May 2009

Successive governments systematically flouted financial aid rules, wrongly claiming millions of pounds for a series of major telephone, transport and industrial developments in the highlands and islands, according to the European Commission.

Amongst the high-profile projects for which the Scottish government now has to pay back nearly £10 million to Brussels are the Cairngorm mountain railway, the Barmac development at Nigg dock, the Highland mobile phone network and the causeway between the islands of Eriskay and South Uist.

Other big projects for which grants have been embarrassingly bungled include the famed Hunters of Brora Woollen Mill in Sutherland, a Harris Tweed marketing scheme, the Berneray causeway, the A890 improvement near Achnasheen, the Kyle of Lochalsh sewage works and a cycleway between Forres and Kinloss.

Scientists warned about risks of swine flu years ago

from Sunday Herald, 03 May 2009

National and international agencies were warned four years ago that cramming millions of pigs into massive industrial farms could trigger a global pandemic of swine flu.

Expert scientists from the Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Iowa, at the heart of US pig-farming country, said in 2005 that intensive hog farms were a “tremendous potential reservoir” for flu viruses.

Viruses could easily spread to swine workers, mutate and end up as new strains “of pandemic potential”, they said. “The potential for a virulent, highly communicable, novel virus to move from swine to man seems to be great.”

In the last few weeks that seems to be exactly what has happened. Although the source of the swine flu that is sweeping the globe hasn’t been confirmed, most suspicions point to the huge pork farms near La Gloria, east of Mexico City, which produce nearly a million pigs a year.

Economic growth is a ‘horrible distortion’, say government advisers

from Sunday Herald, 29 March 2009

The economic system is broken, and attempts by governments to fix it by kick-starting growth and consumerism are “delusional” and “pathological”, ministers will be warned this week.

A ground-breaking new report by the leading environmental advisers to First Minister Alex Salmond and Prime Minister Gordon Brown will deliver a damning verdict on capitalism - and demand a radical shift to a fairer, more sustainable society.

The report has been compiled by the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), a group of 19 experts chaired by Jonathon Porritt which directly advises Salmond and Brown on environmental issues. Entitled ‘Prosperity without Growth?’, it is due to be published tomorrow.

The relentless and unquestioned pursuit of economic growth, founded on the ever-increasing consumption of material goods, has failed to bring social justice, prosperity or happiness, the report says. And it has trashed the planet in the process.

One in four drinking water coolers contaminated

from Sunday Herald, 01 March 2009

Ministers are being urged to tightened up safety rules for office water coolers after a survey revealed that as many as one in four were contaminated.

Tests for the watchdog organisation, Consumer Focus Scotland, found potentially dangerous bacteria in drinking water dispensers used at workplaces, schools and care homes.

The dispensers need to be better cleaned and maintained, the group says. The Scottish government, along with the Food Standards Agency, should also review existing legislation because it is difficult to enforce.

Environmental health officers discovered bacterial contamination in 23 out of 87 water dispensers sampled in Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders. They tested for five types of bacteria known to cause illness, particularly in people who are vulnerable due to frailty or ill health.

Experts excluded from Stockline inquiry

from Sunday Herald, 22 February 2009

The inquiry into the Stockline disaster in Glasgow will fail to learn vital lessons because it has been restricted to the immediate cause of the gas explosion, experts are warning.

The inquiry’s chair, Lord Gill, barred academics who authored a report on the wider causes of the accident from appearing as witnesses because he regarded their evidence as outwith the inquiry’s remit.

The experts from Stirling, Strathclyde and Liverpool universities had concerns about the entire regulatory regime governing the ICL Plastics factory, which was flatten by an explosion on 11 May 2004, killing nine workers and injuring 33 more.

In a report published in September 2007, the experts argued that the root causes of the accident lay in the factory’s long record of breaching safety rules and cutting corners to save money. They also attacked the government’s Health and Safety Executive for failing to crack down on the breaches.

Dead mackerel dumps damage fishing

from Sunday Herald, 22 February 2009

Large amounts of dead mackerel have been dumped in the sea off north west Scotland, contaminating fish catches and damaging sales.

Fishermen from Kinlochbervie in Sutherland are complaining that their recent catches of cod, haddock and monkfish stink of rotting mackerel and so can’t be sold.

The Scottish pelagic fleet denies it is responsible for dumping the fish, and an investigation has been launched by the Scottish government and the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency.

Some reports from fishermen suggest that vast areas of the seabed north west of the Butt of Lewis have been covered with thousands of tonnes of dumped mackerel since the beginning of the year.

Mould-breaking wood business breaks up in acrimony

from Sunday Herald, 11 January 2009

A pioneering Scottish woodwork project famed for its environmentally friendly furniture has been broken up, prompting bitter recriminations, redundancies and regrets.

Borders Woodschool, at Ancrum near Jedburgh, has been restructured and its co-founder and manager, Eoin Cox, sacked, along with six other staff. The associated retail gallery, BuyDesign at the nearby Harestanes visitor centre, has also been shut down.

For Cox, the break-up is a deeply upsetting betrayal of everything that Woodschool stood for. But for its owners, Borders Forestry Trust, the changes are vital to ensure its financial survival.

Renewable power deals condemned as ‘greenwash’

from Sunday Herald, 21 December 2008

Hundreds of thousands of consumers are being misled by the green tariffs offered by power companies to boost renewable energy, says a report due out this week.

The tariffs do virtually nothing to promote new renewable supplies and can be costly and confusing, according to the Carbon Accountability Programme, set up by environmentalists in Edinburgh.

It accuses the six leading power companies of adopting “greenwash” to try and make their products more attractive. But this is denied by the companies, who all claim to be investing heavily in renewable energy sources.

Revealed: the military’s £28m in Scottish universities

from Sunday Herald, 19 October 2008

Scottish universities have received at least £28 million in research funding from international arms companies, nuclear bomb manufacturers and government defence agencies.

An investigation has revealed that five leading universities - Strathclyde, Edinburgh, St Andrews, Glasgow and Heriot-Watt - have all taken multi-million pound handouts from BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, the Atomic Weapons Establishment and other defence firms for military research.

The revelation has prompted accusations that academic research has been “polluted” by an unethical killing industry. But this was denied by the universities, who pointed out that the research was not directly related to weapons, and could have socially useful spin-offs.

The investigation was carried out by the former socialist MSP, Tommy Sheridan, as part of his social research degree at Strathclyde University. Using freedom of information legislation, he requested details of military research projects from ten universities since 2000.

Acrimony as mountain bike plan bites the dust

from Sunday Herald, 05 October 2008

Ambitious plans for a major mountain biking development in the central belt have collapsed, leaving a trail of rescinded grants, mass resignations and bitter recriminations.

The Forestry Commission has been blamed for wrecking a £1.5 million plan to expand bike paths at its Carron Valley Forest, near Stirling. The government body’s behaviour has been manipulative and “disgraceful”, according to local politicians.

The Carron Valley Development Group, a voluntary organisation set up five years ago to promote mountain biking in the area, has given up and decided to disband. It has handed back a £35,000 grant, withdrawn from the development partnership and accused the commission of “fighting dirty”.