Loch Lomond Flamingo Land plan rejected after fierce opposition

Proposal for mega-resort on Lomond Banks turned down over concerns including loss of ancient woodland

Proposals by the theme park operator Flamingo Land to build a mega-resort on one of Scotland’s best-loved shorelines, on Loch Lomond, have been rejected, prompting celebrations among local people at the conclusion of a “David and Goliath” planning battle.

The Lomond Banks development, which would have included two hotels, more than 100 lodges, a waterpark and a monorail, had encountered fierce opposition, first from the village of Balloch, on the south-west shore of the loch, and then across Scotland, since it was first proposed in 2018. Continue reading...


https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/sep/16/flamingo-land-resort-loch-lomond-shore-rejected-scotland?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Junior doctors bring dispute to end by voting to accept Streeting’s pay offer

Almost two-thirds vote in favour of average salary increase of 22.3% over two years after 18 months of strikes

Junior doctors in England have voted to accept the government’s pay offer, bringing to an end one of the longest and bitterest disputes in recent NHS history.

Just under two-thirds (66%) of the 45,830 junior doctors who voted backed the deal, which will see them receiving an average salary increase of 22.3% over two years. Continue reading...


https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/sep/16/junior-doctors-bring-dispute-to-end-by-voting-to-accept-streetings-pay-offer?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

The Guardian view on Starmer, Meloni and migration: Labour must retain its moral clarity | Editorial

The ruthless policies of Italy’s radical-right prime minister should not be seen as a role model for Keir Starmer’s government

During his first prime ministerial visit to Rome on Monday, Sir Keir Starmer repeatedly stressed the “upstream” work undertaken by his host, Giorgia Meloni, which had reduced levels of irregular migration across the Mediterranean. “I want to understand how that came about,” said the prime minister, who visited a border intelligence centre in the capital before having lunch with his radical-right Italian counterpart.

Sir Keir’s technocratic tone was deliberate. On migration, as on other matters, he likes to present himself as a sleeves rolled up, practical politician who is concerned only with what works. At a joint press conference during which the war in Ukraine was also discussed, he described this approach as one of “British pragmatism”. But a Labour government committed to a humane migration policy needs a proper moral compass to guide its thinking. It will not find evidence of that in Ms Meloni’s Rome. Continue reading...


https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/16/the-guardian-view-on-starmer-meloni-and-migration-labour-must-retain-its-moral-clarity?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

The cult of storage: is tidying really the fast track to a happier, healthier life?

Clutter and chaos can have all kinds of effects, from decreased productivity to a compulsion to eat unhealthily. So is it time we became hotel managers of our own homes?

It started innocently enough, with a four-drawer, transparent acrylic box. A cube organiser for my bathroom, it promised to sort out the mountain of clutter once and for all. No more marauding mini shampoo bottles, rogue cotton buds and homeless scrunchies. All of them would now be confined to one sleek drawer. Ditto makeup, nail polish and spare contact lens holders.

I was so pleased with myself that I went online and bought a second bathroom box and a matching tray. A week later, I bought a home office filing system and an acrylic condiments turntable accessorised with random food storage boxes, including a spaghetti holder with a pleasing pop-up lid. Soon, I was binge-streaming YouTube videos hosted by interiors gurus and, at my lowest ebb, seriously considered investing in a rotating sunglasses organiser that holds an impressive 15 pairs. (Fortunately, just in time, I remembered that I own only one pair, and anyway this is my home, not a shop.) Continue reading...


https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/sep/16/the-cult-of-storage-is-tidying-really-the-fast-track-to-a-happier-healthier-life?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Spare a thought for poor Ireland – forced to collect €13bn from Apple against its will | Jack Sheehan

For decades, US corporations have been enticed to funnel profits through the country – will this court decision disrupt our cosy little setup?

For those who may have missed it: last week, the European court of justice ruled that the Irish government will be forced to collect €13bn in tax from Apple. Against its will, Ireland will receive billions in public money after the court ruled it gave the company illegal tax breaks. The money now lies awkwardly in an escrow account, regarded as something of an embarrassment by the government, which was quick to pour cold water on the idea that the money would change its immediate spending plans.

Ireland has only been ruled by governments of the right and centre-right, which are the masters of lowering expectations and periodically insisting the population don sackcloth and ashes. One finance minister from the 1970s, Richie Ryan, cut such a grim figure that he was parodied as “Richie Ruin” and “the minister for hardship”. A few years later, the then taoiseach, Charles Haughey, gave a primetime address to announce that we were “living away beyond our means”. After the 2008 financial crash, another finance minister, Brian Lenihan, neatly shifted blame from his own catastrophic government on to Ireland at large by announcing that, during the boom, “we all partied”.

Jack Sheehan is a writer, historian and editor from Dublin, based in New York Continue reading...


https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/16/ireland-apple-13-billion-tax-forced-against-will?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger