Scots warned as unemployment is to get worse

20 Nov

By Fiona Gardner and Lauren Redpath

Another 40,000  Scots are set to become unemployed next year according to a leading think tank.

Fraser of Allander Institute has predicted that Scotland’s economy won’t grow in 2010, despite the UK’s economic recovery already underway.

While businesses remain optimistic that the recession is coming to an end, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has  warned that Britain’s unemployment figures could rise to nearly 10% of the population by 2011.

With more job losses predicted, the situation will become more difficult for those already looking for work.

Edinburgh Napier News spoke to Zia Jaimson, 24 who was made redundant 5 months ago and is still struggling to find a job.

“I’ve registered with agencies, handed CV’s in and I go to about 3 interviews a month but it’s so hard to get work because there is so much competition and people with more experience than me going for the same job.”

Miss Jaimson worked in IT for the computing company Dell for three years and found out in June this year that her position no longer existed.

“By law Dell had to try to re-locate me within the company but the job they offered me was so far out of my specialism that I couldn’t do it.  Four of my colleagues were also laid off at the same time and none of them have found work yet either.

“I was given two months redundancy money which I have managed to last up until now but I need to find work as soon as possible.”

While job-hunting in central Edinburgh, Miss Jaimson told Edinburgh Napier News that she is doing part-time training to become a make-up consultant, to improve her chances of finding a job.

Speaking to the Daily Express, Scottish Tory Finance Spokesman, Derek Brownlee said, “Scotland has suffered hardest from Labour’s debt mountain, Labour’s jobs crisis and Labour’s recession.

“The fact remains that we were first in and last out of this downturn, and Scottish unemployment has rocketed by 50 per cent over the past year.”

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Retro sweets are quite the treat

6 Nov

Everyone remembers their favourite sweet from their childhood and it was revealed today that retro sweet shops are making a comeback.  With more and more vintage sweet shops springing up on little cobbled streets, it’s becoming easier for people to take a trip down memory lane and let their taste buds take them back to their younger years.

And it seems the economic downturn is causing more people to turn to comfort foods to give them that much-needed lift and retailers have been left shocked at the sudden demand for sugary treats.

Traditional sweets such as soor plooms, chocolate limes, chelsea whoppers and rhubarb and custards are returning and are proving a hit with everyone with a sweet tooth.

Lickety Splits, a vintage confectionary shop on Jeffery Street, has been in business since July and owner Jude Ross says it is surprising how many adults come through the door to feed their sugary addiction.

With business booming, Lickety Splits is hitting the high street, with House of Fraser in talks with them about supplying retro delights to be sold alongside their fashion collections.

Edinburgh Napier News went to see what the all the fuss was about.

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According to TimesOnline, market research analyst, Mintel are predicting a 9% rise in sweets sales within the next five years.

Speaking to these people on the streets of Edinburgh it seems the desire for sweets hasn’t turned sour.

Here’s a trip down memory lane!  Remember these sugary treats?

  • foiled ice cups
  • sweet tobacco
  • cola cubes
  • pear drops
  • floral gums
  • aniseed twists
  • gob-stoppers
  • coltsfoot rock
  • parma violets

Backlash at BBC after Question Time

23 Oct

By Lauren Redpath and Fiona Gardner

The BBC were today criticised for focusing too much on the BNP leader’s appearance on Question Time last night and neglecting other important issues.

The Taxpayers Alliance have condemned the BBC for giving too much coverage to Nick Griffin and have said that not enough attention was paid to the other important issues of the day such as the national postal strike.

Mark Wallace, Campaign Director for The Taxpayers Alliance said: “The last thing the BBC should be is dictated to.  The licence fee payers did not get a say in the matter and if had been aired on a commercial channel then people could have had the choice to watch it or not.  Too much time was focused on Nick Griffin when other matters like the Royal Mail strike should have been discussed.”

Griffin faced tough questions from the audience but that didn’t stop him from voicing his opinion and he caused more controversy by calling homosexuals “creepy” and saying the Ku Klux Klan was “almost totally non-violent.”

The BBC faced huge criticism from protestors saying Griffin didn’t deserve the chance to voice his fascist views.  Security was stepped up outside the BBC studios in London with a police presence on the ground and in the air to control protestors.

People on the streets of Edinburgh had mixed views this morning and were still debating whether the BBC made the right decision.

Peter Hain, the Welsh Secretary told the Telegraph, “The BBC should be ashamed of single-handedly doing a racist, fascist party the biggest favour in its grubby history.”

The BBC defended its decision to invite Mr Griffin on Question Time saying it was “appropriate”.

This entry was posted on October 23, 2009 at 12:40 and is filed under All Politics. Tagged: , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, ortrackback from your own site.

Silly Skunk

14 Oct

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8306488.stm

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Loan delays still causing problems

9 Oct

By:Fiona Gardner & Lauren Redpath

Loan delays still causing problems

 

 

 The Student Loans Company (SLC) is being blamed for 175,000 students in the UK still waiting to receive their student loans.

 Freshers are the hardest hit with just 72% of applications processed, compared with 78% last year, this information was gained by the BBC through the Freedom of Information Act.

 The BBC found that the delay was due to problems with the scanning equipment which led to a delay meaning that the company has had to go back to the manual process of documents.

 At Edinburgh Napier University’s Merchiston campus, many students reported that they are affected by this problem.

Margaret Dalgleish, Student Funding Advisor at Edinburgh Napier University, says they are experiencing more phone calls than usual about delays with the SLC. She says that students are being told a range of varying amounts of time they will have to wait.

 This comes after the NUS Scotland reported that 70% of students work over the 10 hour a week advised time and more than half Scottish students, are having to resort to high cost debt such as credit cards.

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