Latest updates: reported departure of Elena Narozanski takes the number of Prime Minister's aides to have left Downing Street in the last 24 hours to five.

Latest updates: reported departure of Elena Narozanski takes the number of Prime Minister's aides to have left Downing Street in the last 24 hours to five.

IF the Raith Rovers board thinks it has drawn a curtain on what must be among the four most unedifying days in Scottish football history then they have another think coming.

ISLANDERS have called for an open discussion over the privatisation of the lifeline ferry services - on the day the First Minister ruled it out.

Shares in Omega Diagnostics recovered a bit of lost ground yesterday after the company’s rapid Covid antigen test received approval to be sold for self-use in Europe.

THERE is much which really grates in the Conservative Government’s “levelling up” talk – the volume of which has been ramped up again this week by the Johnson administration to reach an ear-piercing crescendo.

Exclusive

SHELL chief executive Ben van Beurden has rejected calls for a windfall tax on North Sea firms and said the company remains keen to invest in new fields in the area after dropping plans for the controversial Cambo development.

A UK Government minister responsible for drug laws has been criticised for claiming that poverty is not driving Scotland's drug death crisis and taking a “condescending” attitude to MSPs.

ScotRail is set to cut 250 services from its pre-pandemic timetable, despite the biggest public consultation response in its history.

WANDER around Scotland on any given day and it easy to see there are quite a number of very old buildings.

Another senior aide at Downing Street has reportedly quit, a day after four key Number 10 officials resigned.

THE new owner of a historic castle that is home to a five-star hotel and spa, hailed as one of Scotland's finest, is to introduce a new business plan after acquiring the site for an undisclosed sum, agents said.

BEING a new mum is hard enough work but to juggle that commitment with returning to play elite sport takes that challenge to a whole other level.

NORTH Sea-focused EnQuest is on the alert for growth opportunities after nearly doubling the amount of cash it generated last year.

Investing Women Angels (IWA) has appointed a new managing director as it prepares to launch a new fund for female-founded companies in Scotland.

IT seems unimaginable now when you see the impressive performances of Jenny Selman, but it wasn’t that long ago the 30-year-old was overcome by embarrassment when she crossed the finish line, so slow were her times.

By Scott Wright

ALASDAIR Galloway (Letters, February 3), a keen supporter of a fresh referendum on independence, appears to be unaware of the irony of pointing out to Peter Russell (Letters, February 1), in relation to proportional representation, that there had alr...

By Mike Merritt

Maritime moany-face

Our cartoonist Steven Camley’s take on Johnson missing out on a Bafta nomination after his performance in the Commons

LONG regarded as a literary jewel, the tale of orphan Oliver Twist is among a raft of historic works given a ‘trigger warning’ in case students reading it for the first time get upset, while across the Atlantic, book bans rise.

MICHAEL Gove’s been writing love letters. He’s finally published the long-awaited Levelling Up White Paper, a Valentine’s card to Red Wall voters that’s supposed to keep them feeling warm and fuzzy about the Tories.

DIVISIONS exist within all political parties but the virus of disunity that infected Corbyn’s Labour has now transmitted itself to Johnson’s Conservatives and one thing voters don’t like in a political party is disunity.

Nicola Sturgeon will face questions from Douglas Ross and Anas Sarwar at First Minister's Questions as well as being quizzed by other backbench MSPs.

THE BBC has announced who will be taking on the role of Scotland editor after Sarah Smith left the position to work in North America.

NICOLA Sturgeon has insisted that Scotland’s deposit return scheme will still be “the most environmentally ambitious” in Europe – despite fears being raised over the SNP-Greens' “rushed and ill-thought-out" flagship policy.

Covid-19 regulations that allow ministers to close schools are to be extended until September.

THE First Minister has insisted there are no plans to privatise lifeline ferry services to Scotland’s island communities.

DUMBARTON midfielder Paul Paton has called Raith Rovers a 'honking club' following the Kirkcaldy side's decision to refuse to play David Goodwillie.

Greenwood will not train with or play for United until further notice, the Premier League club have confirmed.

COULTERS, the Edinburgh estate agent, has merged with city counterpart Purdie & Co.

THE SNP Government has been accused of “mismanagement” of the NHS after the number of years that Scots can expect to live in good health fell – even before the onslaught of the pandemic.

A SENIOR aide in Downing Street has quit her job over the Prime Minister's comments about Keir Starmer and Jimmy Savile.

Nicola Sturgeon has come under pressure over reports her government is planning to “chop up” classroom doors to boost ventilation and protect against Covid-19.

REPAIR work to an unsafe tower in Glasgow's West End is epected to take up to three months, it was revealed.

A FORMER MSP who campaigned to help the woman raped by David Goodwillie has said he is “sickened” by the political uproar generated from the player’s signing with Raith Rovers.

SIMON JORDAN has revealed his fear Rangers could fall well behind Celtic if they don't regain form in the title race - as he questioned manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst's credentials.

BORIS Johnson has backed down over claims that Sir Keir Starmer "failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile".

TWICE as many civil servants have been instructed by SNP ministers to work on legislation to reform gender recognition than the party's flagship independence referendum bill.

NICOLA Sturgeon has committed to spend “every penny” received from Westminster to mitigate the energy price hike but failed to immediately pledge to match the UK Government's council tax rebate scheme.

MORE Scots will die as a result of the energy price hike, while others will suffer mental and physical health problems.

THE CHANCELLOR has announced a £350 package of measures to mitigate the rise in energy bills.

CLYDE GATEWAY, the regeneration project in the east end of Glasgow, has sold two commercial office buildings in a multi-million-pound deal.

RAITH ROVERS have issued a statement admitting "we got it wrong" over the signing of David Goodwillie.

Around 1.5m Scots households are to see their energy bills soar by up to £693 a year after the regulator hiked the price cap by the biggest increase yet.

ST JOHNSTONE head of recruitment Stevie Grieve has ruled out a move for Leigh Griffiths after reports linked him with the Perth club.