UK News
Insights from the UK and beyond
Measuring up the Tartan curtain
Visiting Scotland this week to see Alex Salmond sworn in as first minister, the newspapers were full of talk about “independence lite”. The idea was that an independent Scotland would be free to choose as from a menu, selecting which issues to manage itself and which ones to pool with the rest of Britain.
Listening to Salmond in Holyrood and speaking to him afterwards in his official residence in Bute House, there was little sign of soft-pedalling.
Elected unopposed as first minister by MSPs at the touch of a button in the modern parliament, Salmond stood up and promptly added demands for control of excise duty, digital broadcasting and a say in European affairs to the list of powers he is seeking from Westminster via the Scotland Bill.
In our interview, Salmond stressed that an independent Scotland would have its own forces and foreign policy and expect control of almost all of the oil in the North Sea.
from Olympics Notebook: Vancouver 2010:
Williams wins gold, will Brits stop moaning about the Games now?
Amy Williams became Britain's first Winter Olympics gold medallist in an individual event for 30 years when she scored a commanding victory in the skeleton on Friday.
The 27-year-old with the curly-wurly hairstyle won by over half a second to emulate the gold won by Robin Cousins in the men's skating in 1980.
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The Wall
