THE DEMOCRAT

By Lucy Ashton  The new SNP NHS recovery, health and social care secretary Michael Matheson must “rip up” up Humza Yousaf’s flimsy recovery plan, the

Donald Trump has become the first former US President to be charged with a crime By Heather Carrick, Imogen Howse Updated 31st March 2023, 17:13 BST Former

Transport supervisor shares top tips on saving fuel By Bill Heaney A total of 200 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board drivers have now

By Bill Heaney If, like many of us, you keep a blanket handy to keep you warm watching the television in the evening then you

By Bill Heaney Assurances were given this week that everything possible possible has been done to ensure the safety of local people in the event

By Lucy Ashton On the one year anniversary of ScotRail being taken into public hands, Scottish Labour has accused the SNP of having “no vision,

The sewage works at Havoc/Ardoch are sited below the cliff at Westcliff in Dumbarton. By Bill Heaney It used to be the distillery that caused

By Lucy Ashton Humza Yousaf has been urged to ditch “the familiar SNP playbook of deceit and spin” after starting his reign as First Minister

By Bill Heaney Update Friday 14.11 Pope Francis is expected to be discharged on Saturday after what will have been three nights of hospital treatment

By Bill Heaney If the conditions in Scotland’s police stations aren’t good for the officers then what must they be like for people locked up

Humza Yousaf at his first FMQs in the Scottish Parliament. New First Minister described as ‘rambling mess’ by critics and accused of ‘ranting’ and avoiding

By Lucy Ashton Margaret Ferrier could face a by-election after the Commons standards watchdog recommended she should be suspended from Parliament for 30 days for

Ms Robison will be responsible for drawing up the annual Scottish budget in her new role as finance secretary. By Bill Heaney Updated on March

Published 29 March 2023 20:15 Cabinet of 10 will be supported by 18 Junior Ministers. First Minister Humza Yousaf has completed the appointment of his ministerial

Braehead pupils pictured with residents of Crosslet House care home. By Bill Heaney Braehead Primary School in Dumbarton has scooped a national award in recognition

Anas Sarwar, leader of Scottish Labour, pictured right, has offered Humza Yousaf his sincerest congratulations on being nominated as the next First Minister. This is

Opposition parties ripped into the new First Minister’s record in government as he was elected thanks to ‘a backroom deal with the Greens to keep

By Bill Heaney Jackie Baillie was delighted to welcome the Rev Heller Gonzalez of St Augustine’s Church in Dumbarton to deliver Time for Reflection at

By Democrat reporter Scottish Labour has blasted Humza Yousaf’s ‘record of failure’ as A&E performance is at its lowest level since January and amongst the

Declan Gallacher died at Clydebank Police Office By Democrat reporter A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) is to be held into the deaths of two men

Chris Heaton-Harris blames ‘small number’ of individuals determined to use ‘politically motivated violence’ for escalating threat Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris told

Corbyn says he is not going anywhere after a move to formally oust him as a Labour candidate, and neither is his “determination to stand

Lorna Slater says she is ‘confident’ her recycling scheme will go ahead in August. By Bill Heaney Critics of the Scottish Government’s shambolic Deposit Return

Fire crews were called to reports of a fire at a property in Tontine Park, Renton, early on Saturday morning West Dunbartonshire: Body found in

Mountain Rescue workers were called out to a casualty on Ben Cruachan. By Democrat reporter A hillwalker was rushed to hospital by helicopter yesterday after

Who says journalists never take a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror? Fintan O’Toole in The Irish Times In all the reflections this

EIS member tells Labour council that transport decision risks drop in attendance and attainment By Lucy Ashton West Dunbartonshire Council cannot say they weren’t warned

Funding has failed to keep pace with the growing demand on the force Rapes on the rise and more crime remaining unsolved in SNP’s skint

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s Biomedical Science team. By Lucy Ashton NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s Biomedical Science team have been recognised, alongside West of

Save Loch Lomond – Greens lodged record number of objections for a planning application. By Bill Heaney Over 55,000 objections have been lodged against the

By Lucy Ashton Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie, deputy leader of the Labour Party in Scotland, was not for letting First Minister Nicola Sturgeon away lightly

Labour leader Anas Sarwar and now resigned First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. By Bill Heaney We live in serious times, with the cost of living crisis

Good and bad, this chamber will debate her legacy long after her departure Responding to Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation statement in the Scottish Parliament this afternoon,

By Bill Heaney Nicola Sturgeon was told in the Scottish Parliament today that no amount of spin and secrecy could disguise her record of failure

Richard Leonard and members of his committee touring the shipyard where the ferry fiasco is currently taking place. By Bill Heaney The people of Scotland

By Lucy Ashton The SNP leadership candidate was criticised after he admitted he did not regret voting down amendments that would have prevented male rapists

By Tom Chidwick in the Scottish Review In March 1971, the recently created British Tourist Authority (BTA) – established in 1969 to give the industry

By Democrat reporter Emergency services are dealing with an incident at dry dock after a ship listed dramatically at a 45-degree angle in Leith this

Nicola Sturgeon’s dad joins SNP civil war and claims Ash Regan is trying to destroy the party Robin Sturgeon was also unimpressed with Kate Forbes

Ibrox: Shutter doors were filled with expanding foam prior to an Old Firm game. STV News are reporting that two men have admitted filling shutter

Rupert Murdoch and girlfriend Ann Lesley Smith are engaged, just seven months after the News Corp chairman reached a divorce settlement with his now-ex-wife, Jerry

SNP President Mike Russell, back in charge. BBC Scotland is reporting that there is “tremendous mess” in the SNP over the party’s leadership race, the

Patrick Harvie slated after confirming he would be protesting against King Charles during Coronation Scottish Green Party co-leader Patrick Harvie The Scottish Greens have announced that

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Professor Jason Leitch both played huge roles in governing our lives during the pandemic. In a talk at a church

Ferguson Marine finance boss has quit amid backlash at ‘reprehensible’ bonus payments Chief financial officer George Crookston, who picked up £17,500 in ‘performance-related’ bonus cash,

Party President Mike Russell, a resident of Argyll and Bute, has been appointed as SNP chief executive  in the wake of the resignation of Peter

Sturgeon’s husband was told he faced a vote of ‘no confidence’ if he failed to tender his resignation High Noon: SNP chief executive Peter Murrell

March 2023 By Lucy Ashton The attainment of school pupils in West Dunbartonshire has increased with many performing better than the national average, according to

Murray Foote said it had become ‘apparent there are serious issues’ with statements he had issued to the press Membership: Murray Foote said agreed party

“Ringing the Bell is one of those big momentous things you see in the wards. It feels like an achievement. Lizzie’s journey isn’t over yet

Wednesday 15 Mar 2023 A £27 billion tax cut for business through radical ‘full expensing’ policy and capital allowances reform which will drive investment and

The BBC studio audience actually burst out laughing at the health secretary as he tried to defend the controversial deposit return scheme during the latest

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace could hardly believe what he was hearing. The Defence Secretary said the SNP would “reduce the Scottish armed forces to a rubber dinghy

By Bill Heaney  Jackie Baillie has congratulated West Dunbartonshire Community Foodshare after the charity was awarded £27,500 from the National Lottery Community Fund.  The food bank,

The NUJ revealed that Reach, which owns the Daily Record, Sunday Mail and Lennox Herald,  among other titles, would be cutting 192 editorial rolesDaily Record

Audit Scotland expresses concerns over the future viability of the publicly-owned  shipyard   The ferry fiasco has already cost the public purse millions of pounds.

By Tara Fitzpatrick, of STV News A recovery operation has been carried out to lift a tugboat which sank in the Firth of Clyde leading to

The outsider to replace Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister is working with Dr Tim Rideout to come up with a money plan for an independent

Chancellor set to announce new funding package for veterans across the UK at the Spring Budget £33 million package will increase availability of veteran housing

 By Bill Heaney The Scottish Conservatives have today written to SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes asking for her permission to use footage of her “scathing

By Lucy Ashton Jackie Baillie believes that the Scottish Government’s response to the recommendations made in the Cameron House Fatal Accident Inquiry do not go

By Democrat reporter Speaking as voting opens in the SNP leadership race, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has accused all three candidates of being

Dumbarton-educated Marco Biagi, who is supporting Humza Yousaf in the SNP leadership contest, highlighted that an early May Scottish Parliament election could be held if

By Lucy Ashton Households in West Dunbartonshire and Argyllshire expect to see their annual energy bills rise by over £1,000 from next month. And that

By Bill Heaney  BBC Scotland revealed that one in five people had paid for private medical care in the past 12 months, Jackie Baillie MSP

HOLYROOD NOTEBOOK By Bill Heaney Labour leader Anas Sarwar brought the hilarity to a halt at Holyrood on Thursday when he accused First Minister Nicola

Tory leader Douglas Ross and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. By Bill Heaney No one has so far died laughing in the Scottish Parliament, although that

Health centres across West Dunbartonshire are short of General Practitioners. By Bill Heaney Labour’s Paul O’Kane MSP asked the Scottish Government to provide numbers and

10 March 2023 By Lucy Ashton Oban Harbour Master Vicki McKenzie is certainly making her mark as Argyll and Bute Council’s only female in the

By Harry Bell At the Scottish Liberal Democrat conference today, party leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP challenged the next First Minister to appoint a dedicated mental

Humza Yousaf challenged Kate Forbes on whether she supported buffer zone protection zones outside abortion clinics Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan took part

In a setback for all three candidates, a quarter of voters thought none of them would make the best first minister UPDATED at 11:10, 9