MARK McLAUGHLIN
Edinburgh Evening News
8 March 2010
As motorists face another increase in fuel tax at the end of the month, isn't it time the Government stopped punishing road users, asks Mark McLaughlin
EVERYONE knows that Chancellor Alistair Darling has an enormous problem on his hands. Of course, as he feverishly hunts for ways to pay back Britain's staggering GBP 178 billion debt he will be looking for lots of folk to clobber.
Anything that can be dressed up as a green tax - punishing those terrible pollution creating motorists - is going to look particularly tempting.
It is against this backdrop that petrol taxes are set to go up again by another 3p on 1 April.
That will see the average price for unleaded hit 115p a litre, not quite the levels that saw hauliers take to the roads in convoy to protest two years ago, but not a million miles from them.
While among some there is now an acceptance that motorists are always going to get it in the neck, there is a growing opinion that enough is enough.
The outcry over the latest increase is being led by the AA, whose spokesman Luke Bosdet describes the Government's petrol policy as "bananas".
New research carried out by the AA has found that fuel duty is rising in the UK at twice the rate it is on the Continent and at five times the rate in some EU countries.
"We looked at the figures between 24 November, 2008 and 15 February this year," explains Mr Bosdet, "and found that the average increase in other European countries was 5.07 per cent. In the UK, tax has gone up by 11.46 per cent in that period. This compares to just 2.23 per cent in the lowest country, Austria.
"Scotland is almost a cause célèbre for those complaining about petrol prices as volunteer drivers, who take sick people to hospital in their own vehicles, north of the Border were amongst the first to complain about the increase in their expenses.
"If you're only getting paid 24p a mile, the further you travel the more your expenses go up until it gets to the point where it's no longer cost effective to volunteer any more.
"It costs the NHS four times the amount of money to transfer people to hospital in a taxi than it does to pay a volunteer driver, but they're having to rely on them more and more. It's bananas.
"This is just the starting point of the cracks that will start to appear if drivers are forced off the road by ever-increasing fuel duty, which already accounts for 66 per cent of the price at the pumps."
The AA says consumers are struggling at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to fuel prices.
Oil speculators push up prices, then the Government slaps on tax, before hauliers and forecourt operators take their cut.
The result is higher and higher costs at the till.
And it is not just soaring fuel prices that motorists have to swallow, with the cost of on-street parking, permits and fines all seeing inflation-busting rises in Edinburgh in recent years.
Despite the growing tax burden facing motorists, environmental campaigners say the latest move is justified, as the overall cost of motoring is actually falling.
Richard George, road and climate campaigner at the Campaign for Better Motoring, said: "We support the principle that fuel duty should be gradually increased in line with inflation.
"While fuel prices have gone up, the real cost of motoring has reduced dramatically in the last ten years.
"According to the Department of Environment and Climate Change, the cost of running a car has dropped by 14 per cent since 1997.
"In that time the cost of rail has increased by 13 per cent, and the cost of bus travel has increased by 24 per cent.
"Given that buses are often used by some of the poorest members of society, we think it's time that something was done to redress that balance."
The Taxpayers' Alliance, though, is withering in its criticism, insisting fuel duty is simply being used as a "sin tax" to punish people for using their cars in the age of global warming.
"It's a bigger sin tax than cigarettes or alcohol," says the alliance's research director, Matthew Sinclair.
"Some people want to tax motorists off the road, but the reality is that even if you double the number of people using public transport, which will never happen as the current infrastructure just couldn't cope, you would only take 10 per cent of drivers off the road.
"The irony is the Government is taxing people to get to the very offices and industries that are keeping the UK economy moving."
Mr Darling defends the move as part of his overall plans to balance the budget.
A Treasury spokesman says the fuel duty rise is part of plans to halve the UK's massive deficit over four years, once recovery is secured. "Alongside other tax measures and slower spending growth, fuel duty increases are an important part of this deficit reduction plan, as well as supporting the Government's environmental agenda," the spokesman said.
Showing posts with label ANALYSIS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ANALYSIS. Show all posts
Saturday, 13 March 2010
ANALYSIS: The benefits of coffee, take-aways, booze...and fags?
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Edinburgh Evening News
4 March 2010
IT OFTEN feels like doctors never tire of telling us what we shouldn't be doing. Cut out the booze, ditch the butter, junk the junk food - the list of instructions for healthy living seems endless.
If you feel like the killjoy medical profession is trying to end all your fun, then read on.
A new study has concluded that four cups of coffee a day may actually be good for you - or at least for your heart - after years of warnings about the unpleasant side-effects of all that caffeine.
That research is only the latest to suggest positive results of eating and drinking things often painted as forbidden fruit.
Scientists have recently claimed that everything from chocolate to Chinese takeaways, and from wine to the much-maligned fish supper can be good for you.
It is all, if nothing else, a recipe for confusion.
Nutritionist Sarah Stelling, of the Edinburgh Centre of Nutrition & Therapy in Tollcross, says there is no need to get too hung up about all the dos and don'ts, as long as you remember the rule your mother probably told you - "everything in moderation".
So, if you want any inspiration for a little indulgence, here are a few possibilities.
COFFEE
Cardiologist Dr Arthur Klatsky found those who drank four or more cups of coffee each day had an 18 per cent lower risk of heart rhythm disturbances.
Dr Klatsky told the American Heart Association's 50th annual conference in San Francisco this week: "Coffee drinking is related to lower risk of hospitalisation for rhythm problems, but the association does not prove cause and effect, or that coffee has a protective effect.
"However, these data might be reassuring to people who drink moderate amounts of coffee that their habit is not likely to cause a major rhythm disturbance."
A report from the Univer- sidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain showed that drinking three cups of coffee a day could reduce the risk of women dying from heart disease by a quarter.
Another showed that men who drank five or more cups of coffee were 44 per cent less likely to die from the disease.
Drinking two to three cups of coffee a day was also shown to reduce the risk of a stroke by almost 20 per cent.
Experts at the Tohoku University School of Medicine in Japan concluded certain chemicals found in caffeine protect the body's DNA against damage that can lead to cancer.
CHOCOLATE
A new study has found that a bar of chocolate a week could reduce your chances of a stroke.
The study, conducted by the University of Toronto and set to go before The American Academy of Neurology's 62nd annual meeting next month, found that chocolate-eaters were 22 per cent less likely to suffer a stroke.
Author Sarah Sahib puts the results down to the anti-oxidant flavanoids. She said: "More research is needed to determine whether chocolate truly lowers stroke risk, or whether healthier people are simply more likely to eat chocolate than others."
RED WINE
Red wine holds an almost mythic reputation as an elixir of health and there is some scientific evidence to back up the myth.
A study by Barts, the London School of Medicine and the Queen Mary University in London highlighted a mechanism in red wine that appeared to interfere with a body chemical responsible for clogging up the arteries.
Research by the Institute of Preventive Medicine in Copenhagen showed that a daily glass of red wine increased good cholesterol by up to 16 per cent, and reduced the clotting compound fibrinogen by up to 15 per cent.
WHITE WINE
White wine has also been shown to have some beneficial effects, with a 2008 study by the University of Buffalo suggesting that while both red and white wine can bolster lung function, white wine seems to have a more positive effect.
CHINESE TAKEAWAYS
While a recent study by Edinburgh City Council found that 87 per cent of Chinese restaurant dishes, and 60 per cent of Indian restaurant dishes, served in the city contained over 3g of salt - half the recommended daily intake - its study did throw up some surprising results.
There were a few low-salt options including a lamb pasanda with 1.81g of salt, and a chicken korma with 1.91g.
Oriental food is also packed with health-promoting ingredients.
A 2006 study by the University of Michigan suggested that ginger could kill cancer cells, while a 2007 study by the University of Alabama found that allicin, found in garlic, relaxes the blood vessels and keeps blood flowing (as well as being chiefly responsible for garlic breath).
FISH & CHIPS
The Seafish Authority promotes the benefits of eating two portions of seafood a week and says there is no reason why a fish supper should not be one of them.
"The minerals and vitamins in seafood promote clearer skin, shinier hair, higher energy levels and can even boost your brain power," says a spokesman for the authority.
TOBACCO
OK, we're labouring the point now, but a book by controversial medic Dr William Campbell Douglass entitled The Health Benefits of Tobacco claims it "sharpens mental acuity and maintains optimal weight" while pointing out that "many of the countries that smoke the most, have the longest lifespan".
Dr Douglass also believes that HIV was created by the World Health Organisation to keep the population down, so you can make up your own mind on his theories.
Edinburgh Evening News
4 March 2010
IT OFTEN feels like doctors never tire of telling us what we shouldn't be doing. Cut out the booze, ditch the butter, junk the junk food - the list of instructions for healthy living seems endless.
If you feel like the killjoy medical profession is trying to end all your fun, then read on.
A new study has concluded that four cups of coffee a day may actually be good for you - or at least for your heart - after years of warnings about the unpleasant side-effects of all that caffeine.
That research is only the latest to suggest positive results of eating and drinking things often painted as forbidden fruit.
Scientists have recently claimed that everything from chocolate to Chinese takeaways, and from wine to the much-maligned fish supper can be good for you.
It is all, if nothing else, a recipe for confusion.
Nutritionist Sarah Stelling, of the Edinburgh Centre of Nutrition & Therapy in Tollcross, says there is no need to get too hung up about all the dos and don'ts, as long as you remember the rule your mother probably told you - "everything in moderation".
So, if you want any inspiration for a little indulgence, here are a few possibilities.
COFFEE
Cardiologist Dr Arthur Klatsky found those who drank four or more cups of coffee each day had an 18 per cent lower risk of heart rhythm disturbances.
Dr Klatsky told the American Heart Association's 50th annual conference in San Francisco this week: "Coffee drinking is related to lower risk of hospitalisation for rhythm problems, but the association does not prove cause and effect, or that coffee has a protective effect.
"However, these data might be reassuring to people who drink moderate amounts of coffee that their habit is not likely to cause a major rhythm disturbance."
A report from the Univer- sidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain showed that drinking three cups of coffee a day could reduce the risk of women dying from heart disease by a quarter.
Another showed that men who drank five or more cups of coffee were 44 per cent less likely to die from the disease.
Drinking two to three cups of coffee a day was also shown to reduce the risk of a stroke by almost 20 per cent.
Experts at the Tohoku University School of Medicine in Japan concluded certain chemicals found in caffeine protect the body's DNA against damage that can lead to cancer.
CHOCOLATE
A new study has found that a bar of chocolate a week could reduce your chances of a stroke.
The study, conducted by the University of Toronto and set to go before The American Academy of Neurology's 62nd annual meeting next month, found that chocolate-eaters were 22 per cent less likely to suffer a stroke.
Author Sarah Sahib puts the results down to the anti-oxidant flavanoids. She said: "More research is needed to determine whether chocolate truly lowers stroke risk, or whether healthier people are simply more likely to eat chocolate than others."
RED WINE
Red wine holds an almost mythic reputation as an elixir of health and there is some scientific evidence to back up the myth.
A study by Barts, the London School of Medicine and the Queen Mary University in London highlighted a mechanism in red wine that appeared to interfere with a body chemical responsible for clogging up the arteries.
Research by the Institute of Preventive Medicine in Copenhagen showed that a daily glass of red wine increased good cholesterol by up to 16 per cent, and reduced the clotting compound fibrinogen by up to 15 per cent.
WHITE WINE
White wine has also been shown to have some beneficial effects, with a 2008 study by the University of Buffalo suggesting that while both red and white wine can bolster lung function, white wine seems to have a more positive effect.
CHINESE TAKEAWAYS
While a recent study by Edinburgh City Council found that 87 per cent of Chinese restaurant dishes, and 60 per cent of Indian restaurant dishes, served in the city contained over 3g of salt - half the recommended daily intake - its study did throw up some surprising results.
There were a few low-salt options including a lamb pasanda with 1.81g of salt, and a chicken korma with 1.91g.
Oriental food is also packed with health-promoting ingredients.
A 2006 study by the University of Michigan suggested that ginger could kill cancer cells, while a 2007 study by the University of Alabama found that allicin, found in garlic, relaxes the blood vessels and keeps blood flowing (as well as being chiefly responsible for garlic breath).
FISH & CHIPS
The Seafish Authority promotes the benefits of eating two portions of seafood a week and says there is no reason why a fish supper should not be one of them.
"The minerals and vitamins in seafood promote clearer skin, shinier hair, higher energy levels and can even boost your brain power," says a spokesman for the authority.
TOBACCO
OK, we're labouring the point now, but a book by controversial medic Dr William Campbell Douglass entitled The Health Benefits of Tobacco claims it "sharpens mental acuity and maintains optimal weight" while pointing out that "many of the countries that smoke the most, have the longest lifespan".
Dr Douglass also believes that HIV was created by the World Health Organisation to keep the population down, so you can make up your own mind on his theories.
ANALYSIS: Black Horse Tramples Charities
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Edinburgh Evening News
3 March 2010
IN ANY battle there is always collateral damage and the current row between The Lloyds TSB Foundation and the banking behemoth that shares its name is no different.
While the Foundation goes head-to-head with Lloyds Banking Group over a bid to force the Foundation to accept a 50 per cent cut in its funding stream and greater corporate oversight, hundreds of charities stand to lose vital cash which currently funds jobs and provides support to some of the region's most vulnerable people.
The foundation has provided more than £2 million to Lothians charities in the last five years alone, and while the continuation of existing awards has been assured, all new grant applications have been suspended pending a resolution of the dispute.
At the core of the problem is Lloyds Banking Group's decision to end a legal requirement to pay the foundation 1 per cent of its pre-tax profits - established 25 years ago when TSB demutualised to appease savers for the loss of their bank.
The argument could not have come at a worse time for the region's voluntary sector, which is already facing cuts from all four local authorities dealing with funding crises of their own.
The future of Penicuik YMCA is already uncertain as it waits to find out if it will be one of the victims of Midlothian Council's £3.5m cuts this year. It now stands to lose one of its youth workers, whose salary is funded by a £24,000 foundation grant.
Director Keith McIntosh said: "Midlothian Council is our core funder, providing us with around £45,000, and while the foundation funding is an add-on it doesn't mean we take the loss of this funding stream lightly.
"It could result in the end of one of our projects or the closure of a building."
The Lloyds TSB Foundation specialises in funding individual projects, rather than core funding, so charities do not rely upon foundation money to keep their operations afloat. But in some cases these individual projects have the potential to influence hundreds of lives, such as the £12,500 provided to Carers of East Lothian to pay the salary of a carer support worker.
Centre manager Tony Segall said: "Our support workers offer help and advice to those caring for sick or elderly relatives, and often provide respite when they need some time away. The foundation has been paying for one of our nine support workers.
"The woman who currently occupies this post is understandably very worried about her job, but it's not just about her. Over the course of the year she's provided support for maybe up to 100 carers, who will have to go without that support if we can't find alternative funding to fill this role."
Jobs are also under threat at Loanhead Community Learning Centre - a home for more than a dozen organisations such as disability groups, school groups, mother-and-baby groups and leisure facilities such as dance classes.
Centre manager Irene Hogg said: "We have an award of £32,100 over three years to help pay for our development worker, who helps the organisations that use the centre reach their full potential and brings other organisations to the centre.
"We had hoped to apply to the foundation for more funding to keep this position going.
"The foundation is well known for funding salaries, so there is a worry that losing their money may mean jobs are lost in the voluntary sector, and with them the ability to deliver services people rely on."
Epilepsy Scotland faces the loss of its national epilepsy link officer, who arranges public information events throughout the country, including Edinburgh and the Lothians.
Communications manager Allana Parker said: "Epilepsy Scotland will now have to look at other trust and foundations for a grant for this post. Many are giving reduced amounts or nothing at all to charities this year, so it will be difficult to raise this shortfall in the current economic climate.
"It's hard times when charity fundraising has to subsidise much-needed services to vulnerable people with epilepsy."
Edinburgh Cyrenians was the recipient of the one of the largest single grants in the last five years - £186,000 towards the salaries and running costs of a West Lothian drug outreach project.
Despite the loss of funding, CEO Des Ryan supported the Foundation's stance.
He said: "The foundation is not and should not be allowed to become simply an outlet for the 'corporate social responsibility' of the banking group.
"The immediate loss of income will hurt many small to medium charities in Scotland who had been looking to the foundation - including my own - but I fully support their stand against writing off their independence."
Despite posting a £6.3 billion loss last week, Lloyds Banking Group said potential future profits of the newly merged operation are now too large to allow them to siphon off 1 per cent to charity.
It offered the Foundation 0.5 per cent of the group's profits and demanded a greater say in the foundation's affairs.
Sister foundations in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands accepted the deal, but the Scottish foundation said no.
The bank has now given the foundation nine years' notice of the cancellation of this covenant - effectively cutting all ties between the two - but the foundation's shrewd chief executive, Mary E Craig, maintains it has nothing to lose by going it alone.
Ms Craig said: "At the end of the day we will still receive a full 1 per cent of the profits when Lloyds Banking Group starts making money again, which for an organisation of that size should be well within the nine-year notice period.
"That will be double the amount the other foundations will be receiving in that time.
"In addition, the Foundation also owns 15.7m limited voting shares that will become ordinary shares when the covenant ends. We will be able to sell those shares to give us a large pot of cash at the end of the nine years to keep us going for the foreseeable future.
"But most importantly, we will keep our independence. Even if we accepted the LBG deal there's no guarantee that we would be able to keep funding many of the charities we've helped in the past, as the deal includes a clause which says all donations must fit in with LBG's 'corporate objectives'.
"These objectives will include charities that offer financial literacy or budgeting advice - something we already do through our funding of Citizens Advice Bureaux and Money Advice Centres - but probably won't include a Lothians community centre running a daily lunch club."
Lucy McTernan, deputy chief executive of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, called LBG's severing of ties with the foundation "a shameful decision".
She added: "Voluntary organisations in Edinburgh and the Lothians are facing really tough times at the moment.
"Demand for the services they provide, such as homelessness support and getting people back to work, have been rising rapidly for the last year, yet income has fallen significantly.
"The recession means that grant funding from trusts is drying up and local authorities are looking to the voluntary sector as an easy target for cuts."
WORTHY CAUSES
IN the last five years, the Lloyds TSB Foundation has paid out £2,290,550 to voluntary organisations in the Lothians.
This has ranged from £197,571 awarded to Midlothian Young People's Advice Service in 2005 to support the running costs of the SMART project, working to support young people and their communities in relation to drug and alcohol issues, to £724 to purchase a digital camcorder for the Bonnyrigg & Lasswade Seniors Forum.
Children's charity Children 1st has received the largest share of Foundation grants over the last five years - more than £200,000 in all.
Most of the grants have been awarded to fund the salaries of voluntary workers but they have also gone to fund lunch club meals, adventure holidays for the disabled, trips for at-risk and disadvantaged youths, special needs tricycles, a riding pony for the disabled, IT equipment and church hall refurbishments, among other worthy causes.
CORRECTION: * IN A feature on Wednesday, we reported claims that the Lloyds Banking Group had insisted that "all" future donations from the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland must "fit in with LBG's corporate objectives". We have been asked to make it clear that LBG only asked for a minority of funded projects to be aligned to its broad objectives such as matched giving by staff.
Edinburgh Evening News
3 March 2010
IN ANY battle there is always collateral damage and the current row between The Lloyds TSB Foundation and the banking behemoth that shares its name is no different.
While the Foundation goes head-to-head with Lloyds Banking Group over a bid to force the Foundation to accept a 50 per cent cut in its funding stream and greater corporate oversight, hundreds of charities stand to lose vital cash which currently funds jobs and provides support to some of the region's most vulnerable people.
The foundation has provided more than £2 million to Lothians charities in the last five years alone, and while the continuation of existing awards has been assured, all new grant applications have been suspended pending a resolution of the dispute.
At the core of the problem is Lloyds Banking Group's decision to end a legal requirement to pay the foundation 1 per cent of its pre-tax profits - established 25 years ago when TSB demutualised to appease savers for the loss of their bank.
The argument could not have come at a worse time for the region's voluntary sector, which is already facing cuts from all four local authorities dealing with funding crises of their own.
The future of Penicuik YMCA is already uncertain as it waits to find out if it will be one of the victims of Midlothian Council's £3.5m cuts this year. It now stands to lose one of its youth workers, whose salary is funded by a £24,000 foundation grant.
Director Keith McIntosh said: "Midlothian Council is our core funder, providing us with around £45,000, and while the foundation funding is an add-on it doesn't mean we take the loss of this funding stream lightly.
"It could result in the end of one of our projects or the closure of a building."
The Lloyds TSB Foundation specialises in funding individual projects, rather than core funding, so charities do not rely upon foundation money to keep their operations afloat. But in some cases these individual projects have the potential to influence hundreds of lives, such as the £12,500 provided to Carers of East Lothian to pay the salary of a carer support worker.
Centre manager Tony Segall said: "Our support workers offer help and advice to those caring for sick or elderly relatives, and often provide respite when they need some time away. The foundation has been paying for one of our nine support workers.
"The woman who currently occupies this post is understandably very worried about her job, but it's not just about her. Over the course of the year she's provided support for maybe up to 100 carers, who will have to go without that support if we can't find alternative funding to fill this role."
Jobs are also under threat at Loanhead Community Learning Centre - a home for more than a dozen organisations such as disability groups, school groups, mother-and-baby groups and leisure facilities such as dance classes.
Centre manager Irene Hogg said: "We have an award of £32,100 over three years to help pay for our development worker, who helps the organisations that use the centre reach their full potential and brings other organisations to the centre.
"We had hoped to apply to the foundation for more funding to keep this position going.
"The foundation is well known for funding salaries, so there is a worry that losing their money may mean jobs are lost in the voluntary sector, and with them the ability to deliver services people rely on."
Epilepsy Scotland faces the loss of its national epilepsy link officer, who arranges public information events throughout the country, including Edinburgh and the Lothians.
Communications manager Allana Parker said: "Epilepsy Scotland will now have to look at other trust and foundations for a grant for this post. Many are giving reduced amounts or nothing at all to charities this year, so it will be difficult to raise this shortfall in the current economic climate.
"It's hard times when charity fundraising has to subsidise much-needed services to vulnerable people with epilepsy."
Edinburgh Cyrenians was the recipient of the one of the largest single grants in the last five years - £186,000 towards the salaries and running costs of a West Lothian drug outreach project.
Despite the loss of funding, CEO Des Ryan supported the Foundation's stance.
He said: "The foundation is not and should not be allowed to become simply an outlet for the 'corporate social responsibility' of the banking group.
"The immediate loss of income will hurt many small to medium charities in Scotland who had been looking to the foundation - including my own - but I fully support their stand against writing off their independence."
Despite posting a £6.3 billion loss last week, Lloyds Banking Group said potential future profits of the newly merged operation are now too large to allow them to siphon off 1 per cent to charity.
It offered the Foundation 0.5 per cent of the group's profits and demanded a greater say in the foundation's affairs.
Sister foundations in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands accepted the deal, but the Scottish foundation said no.
The bank has now given the foundation nine years' notice of the cancellation of this covenant - effectively cutting all ties between the two - but the foundation's shrewd chief executive, Mary E Craig, maintains it has nothing to lose by going it alone.
Ms Craig said: "At the end of the day we will still receive a full 1 per cent of the profits when Lloyds Banking Group starts making money again, which for an organisation of that size should be well within the nine-year notice period.
"That will be double the amount the other foundations will be receiving in that time.
"In addition, the Foundation also owns 15.7m limited voting shares that will become ordinary shares when the covenant ends. We will be able to sell those shares to give us a large pot of cash at the end of the nine years to keep us going for the foreseeable future.
"But most importantly, we will keep our independence. Even if we accepted the LBG deal there's no guarantee that we would be able to keep funding many of the charities we've helped in the past, as the deal includes a clause which says all donations must fit in with LBG's 'corporate objectives'.
"These objectives will include charities that offer financial literacy or budgeting advice - something we already do through our funding of Citizens Advice Bureaux and Money Advice Centres - but probably won't include a Lothians community centre running a daily lunch club."
Lucy McTernan, deputy chief executive of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, called LBG's severing of ties with the foundation "a shameful decision".
She added: "Voluntary organisations in Edinburgh and the Lothians are facing really tough times at the moment.
"Demand for the services they provide, such as homelessness support and getting people back to work, have been rising rapidly for the last year, yet income has fallen significantly.
"The recession means that grant funding from trusts is drying up and local authorities are looking to the voluntary sector as an easy target for cuts."
WORTHY CAUSES
IN the last five years, the Lloyds TSB Foundation has paid out £2,290,550 to voluntary organisations in the Lothians.
This has ranged from £197,571 awarded to Midlothian Young People's Advice Service in 2005 to support the running costs of the SMART project, working to support young people and their communities in relation to drug and alcohol issues, to £724 to purchase a digital camcorder for the Bonnyrigg & Lasswade Seniors Forum.
Children's charity Children 1st has received the largest share of Foundation grants over the last five years - more than £200,000 in all.
Most of the grants have been awarded to fund the salaries of voluntary workers but they have also gone to fund lunch club meals, adventure holidays for the disabled, trips for at-risk and disadvantaged youths, special needs tricycles, a riding pony for the disabled, IT equipment and church hall refurbishments, among other worthy causes.
CORRECTION: * IN A feature on Wednesday, we reported claims that the Lloyds Banking Group had insisted that "all" future donations from the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland must "fit in with LBG's corporate objectives". We have been asked to make it clear that LBG only asked for a minority of funded projects to be aligned to its broad objectives such as matched giving by staff.
Sunday, 14 February 2010
ANALYSIS: The Fall and Rise of Independent Winemerchants
By MARK McLAUGHLIN
Edinburgh Evening News
2 February 2010
FOR 200 years, Cockburn's of Leith has kept Edinburgh's dining tables stocked with some of the world's finest wines.
What successive wars and the great depression of the 1930s could not achieve, the recession and supermarkets' competition has done.
The wine merchant, which served Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens and King George IV, has been forced into administration.
It's not the first wine seller to hit the rocks in recent months - and the fear in the industry is that it will not be the last.
At the opposite end of the market, Threshers, Haddows and Wine Rack - which had around 30 stores in the Capital - have been driven to the wall by the same pressures.
While Cockburn's may have been hit by a substantial drop in orders from the major banks, it is our love of the supermarket special offers which are hitting most independent sellers hardest.
The future for many of them looks bleak, according to Steve Mudie, president of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association.
"We have seen the value of alcohol reduced by about two-thirds as multi-retailers (such as supermarkets) are now telling the producers what they're willing to pay for their product," he says.
"When the multi-retailers put the product out at a loss - and are then able to reclaim the VAT on that loss - the small independent retailer just can't compete."
The supermarkets also receive GBP 20 to GBP 30 million a year in "marketing support" from alcohol producers - to guarantee space on the shelves - allowing them to cut prices further.
"The upshot of all of this is consumers have a lower expectation of how much alcohol should cost," says Mr Mudie. "So, if you have a bottle of port that's worth about GBP 8 at market value, consumers will only expect to pay GBP 5 for it.
"The supermarkets claim their offers are all good for consumer choice, but ultimately it will be bad for consumer choice.
"Supermarkets already account for 67 per cent of the alcohol market in the UK and as their dominance increases, the prices will start to rise again with no-one around to challenge them.
"Within two years, the days of cheap supermarket alcohol may be over."
These are tough times for independent traders, says Kenneth Vannan, of Edinburgh-based wine and spirit merchant Villeneuve Wines.
"We have been very lucky in that we had an OK winter. Our only target was to do better than the previous winter and we achieved that, but it's been tough," he says.
"The closure of the First Quench [owner of Threshers, Haddows and Wine Rack] stores led to an increase in sales in two-thirds of our stores.
"All of their old stores are now up for grabs for individuals. Whether they are viable is a different matter, but if they sell interesting products, then there's no reason why they will not prosper."
Newington-based wine merchant WoodWinters' managing director Douglas Wood says it is still possible for independents to prosper. "When someone buys a bottle of wine, we give them more than just a till receipt," he says.
"We e-mail them tasting details, serving suggestions, plus a little bit of information about the region where their wine was produced, so you're adding extra value."
Will Lyons, wine critic for The Reader's Digest and The Wall Street Journal, called the closure of Cockburn's "terribly sad news".
He added: "But it's not surprising. We have seen one of the most difficult trading periods on record for the independent sector. Fortunately, Edinburgh still has a thriving independent wine scene.
"Cockburn's is such a great name, with a rich history, that I would be very surprised if there wasn't significant interest in acquiring the Cockburn's brand."
HEART OF THE WINE TRADE
LEITH was, historically, at the heart of Edinburgh's wine trade, which developed out of the "Auld Alliance".
As well as pledging Scotland and France to support one another militarily against England, the alliance gave Scottish merchants the chance to select the finest of Bordeaux's wines for export.
Cockburn's of Leith was founded by Robert Cockburn in 1796, and before its demise was the oldest surviving wine merchants in Scotland.
The Cockburn's were a well-known family - Robert's brother Henry was the legal and literary figure Lord Cockburn.
The firm shipped orders to customers all over Britain, including Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens - on one occasion Sir Walter Scott ordered 350 dozen bottles of wine and 36 dozen of spirits.
The company was awarded a Royal Warrant after supplying wines to King George IV for a state banquet.
In 1993, Cockburn's merged with Edinburgh's first wine warehouse at Devon Place, and in 1998 merged again with JE Hogg of Cumberland Street. It was a meeting of two of the city's best-known independent wine merchants, although Hogg's, founded in 1948, was a relative whipper-snapper.
At the time, managing director of Cockburn's, Peter Gray, predicted that increasing pressure from off-licence chains and supermarkets would spell trouble for independent merchants. He said: "It has all the makings of a disaster for the independents and if they are to survive, they will have to look at joining forces to fend off such competition."
In 2004, after a buyout, the company moved to Abbey Lane, where it remained until closing.
Edinburgh Evening News
2 February 2010
FOR 200 years, Cockburn's of Leith has kept Edinburgh's dining tables stocked with some of the world's finest wines.
What successive wars and the great depression of the 1930s could not achieve, the recession and supermarkets' competition has done.
The wine merchant, which served Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens and King George IV, has been forced into administration.
It's not the first wine seller to hit the rocks in recent months - and the fear in the industry is that it will not be the last.
At the opposite end of the market, Threshers, Haddows and Wine Rack - which had around 30 stores in the Capital - have been driven to the wall by the same pressures.
While Cockburn's may have been hit by a substantial drop in orders from the major banks, it is our love of the supermarket special offers which are hitting most independent sellers hardest.
The future for many of them looks bleak, according to Steve Mudie, president of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association.
"We have seen the value of alcohol reduced by about two-thirds as multi-retailers (such as supermarkets) are now telling the producers what they're willing to pay for their product," he says.
"When the multi-retailers put the product out at a loss - and are then able to reclaim the VAT on that loss - the small independent retailer just can't compete."
The supermarkets also receive GBP 20 to GBP 30 million a year in "marketing support" from alcohol producers - to guarantee space on the shelves - allowing them to cut prices further.
"The upshot of all of this is consumers have a lower expectation of how much alcohol should cost," says Mr Mudie. "So, if you have a bottle of port that's worth about GBP 8 at market value, consumers will only expect to pay GBP 5 for it.
"The supermarkets claim their offers are all good for consumer choice, but ultimately it will be bad for consumer choice.
"Supermarkets already account for 67 per cent of the alcohol market in the UK and as their dominance increases, the prices will start to rise again with no-one around to challenge them.
"Within two years, the days of cheap supermarket alcohol may be over."
These are tough times for independent traders, says Kenneth Vannan, of Edinburgh-based wine and spirit merchant Villeneuve Wines.
"We have been very lucky in that we had an OK winter. Our only target was to do better than the previous winter and we achieved that, but it's been tough," he says.
"The closure of the First Quench [owner of Threshers, Haddows and Wine Rack] stores led to an increase in sales in two-thirds of our stores.
"All of their old stores are now up for grabs for individuals. Whether they are viable is a different matter, but if they sell interesting products, then there's no reason why they will not prosper."
Newington-based wine merchant WoodWinters' managing director Douglas Wood says it is still possible for independents to prosper. "When someone buys a bottle of wine, we give them more than just a till receipt," he says.
"We e-mail them tasting details, serving suggestions, plus a little bit of information about the region where their wine was produced, so you're adding extra value."
Will Lyons, wine critic for The Reader's Digest and The Wall Street Journal, called the closure of Cockburn's "terribly sad news".
He added: "But it's not surprising. We have seen one of the most difficult trading periods on record for the independent sector. Fortunately, Edinburgh still has a thriving independent wine scene.
"Cockburn's is such a great name, with a rich history, that I would be very surprised if there wasn't significant interest in acquiring the Cockburn's brand."
HEART OF THE WINE TRADE
LEITH was, historically, at the heart of Edinburgh's wine trade, which developed out of the "Auld Alliance".
As well as pledging Scotland and France to support one another militarily against England, the alliance gave Scottish merchants the chance to select the finest of Bordeaux's wines for export.
Cockburn's of Leith was founded by Robert Cockburn in 1796, and before its demise was the oldest surviving wine merchants in Scotland.
The Cockburn's were a well-known family - Robert's brother Henry was the legal and literary figure Lord Cockburn.
The firm shipped orders to customers all over Britain, including Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens - on one occasion Sir Walter Scott ordered 350 dozen bottles of wine and 36 dozen of spirits.
The company was awarded a Royal Warrant after supplying wines to King George IV for a state banquet.
In 1993, Cockburn's merged with Edinburgh's first wine warehouse at Devon Place, and in 1998 merged again with JE Hogg of Cumberland Street. It was a meeting of two of the city's best-known independent wine merchants, although Hogg's, founded in 1948, was a relative whipper-snapper.
At the time, managing director of Cockburn's, Peter Gray, predicted that increasing pressure from off-licence chains and supermarkets would spell trouble for independent merchants. He said: "It has all the makings of a disaster for the independents and if they are to survive, they will have to look at joining forces to fend off such competition."
In 2004, after a buyout, the company moved to Abbey Lane, where it remained until closing.
Monday, 19 October 2009
ANALYSIS: Have you heard of this Internet thingy perchance...?
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
October 19, 2009
IT WAS once regarded as the refuge of those looking for alien conspiracies and somewhere to share their thoughts on the latest Star Wars movie, but today the internet – and social networking sites in particular – have truly broken over into the mainstream.
We are logging on in our millions, with age and gender no barrier.
So-called "silver surfers" are the latest to smash through the digital divide, with a new Ofcom report showing one in four in the 45-54 age group now belong to a social networking site – more than double the number of two years ago.
These figures come on the back of a looming postal strike, but with the population e-mailing in their droves, it has to be asked whether the Post Office is history anyway, destined to be sidelined in the on-going march of technology.
Post Office figures show that the size of its average daily mailbag has decreased by around 10 per cent in the last year, to just over 75 million items a day.
Meanwhile, it is estimated that the UK is currently sending around three billion e-mails every single day.
Dr Alistair Duff, a reader in information and journalism at Edinburgh Napier University and a leading expert on how information systems shape our society, thinks the figures showing the rise of the silver surfers are "significant but not surprising".
He said: "One of the main fears about the rise of the information age was the generation gap, and if that is dissolving it shows that we're moving forward.
"The fact that we now have 45-54-year-olds using the internet more often is not that surprising to me.
"First of all, late 40s to early 50s is not that old, and it has to be remembered that this is the generation that invented the internet. I'd be more interested to find out how many over-70s have social networking sites."
Internet uptake has continued beyond middle age, with figures showing that 8 per cent of over-55s now have a social network page.
While this is great news for social inclusion, it has been welcomed with less enthusiasm in the traditional communication industries, such as the Post Office.
The Communication Workers Union claims that the Royal Mail has rejected its proposals for modernising its workload while maintaining the staff.
The Royal Mail claims that it is the CWU that is resistant to change, and it is driving customers such as Amazon away with its continuing strike action. However, Royal Mail may be right to hold off on buying huge banks of parcel-sorting machines for the moment, as the items currently sent by companies like Amazon, such as music, movies and books, are being increasingly digitised and traded online, without the bulky media of CDs, DVDs and bound volumes.
In the Information Society, the information itself is fast becoming the key tradable commodity.
Some have argued that we are on the verge of an information revolution, a 21st-century communist dream where all information – the new currency – will be equally distributed amongst the masses.
Dr Duff added: "Some have speculated that if Karl Marx were around today, he would be writing "Das Information", rather than Das Kapital.
"Information is a new currency.
Every new technology has been met with resistance from the beginning of history, and has brought a great deal of strife as well as benefits, so you will see strikes of this kind.
"However, I am sympathetic to some of this resistance, because change has to be managed sensitively. It is still possible to have full employment in a high-tech society.
"The future of the Royal Mail has got to be multimedia. New media does not always displace old media. They can co-exist in the same way that radio has continued to co-exist with television.
"As the philosopher Marshall McLuhan said, 'the medium is the message'. A handwritten, hand-delivered letter will always say much more than an e-mail, text or tweet ever could."
Nowhere is this co-existence more in evidence than the humble telephone. The use of phones for texting has rocketed from 22 billion texts in 2003 to over 85 billion texts last year.
Latest Ofcom figures show that, despite this breakthrough in telephone technology, it's still good to talk. UK land-line calls have dropped 17 per cent in the last five years, but they have been replaced by a near doubling of mobile calls, which means that the overall number of calls made in the UK, on both land-line and mobile, has risen by 10 per cent.
Dr Duff added: "It's too early to say where all of these developments are leading. As for the ability of the Information Society to spark a revolution, I'm going to go for the academic cop out – sit on the fence and wait and see which way the wind is blowing. Many Old Testament prophets who were proved false were stoned to death, and I wouldn't want that to happen to me."
Edinburgh Evening News
October 19, 2009
IT WAS once regarded as the refuge of those looking for alien conspiracies and somewhere to share their thoughts on the latest Star Wars movie, but today the internet – and social networking sites in particular – have truly broken over into the mainstream.
We are logging on in our millions, with age and gender no barrier.
So-called "silver surfers" are the latest to smash through the digital divide, with a new Ofcom report showing one in four in the 45-54 age group now belong to a social networking site – more than double the number of two years ago.
These figures come on the back of a looming postal strike, but with the population e-mailing in their droves, it has to be asked whether the Post Office is history anyway, destined to be sidelined in the on-going march of technology.
Post Office figures show that the size of its average daily mailbag has decreased by around 10 per cent in the last year, to just over 75 million items a day.
Meanwhile, it is estimated that the UK is currently sending around three billion e-mails every single day.
Dr Alistair Duff, a reader in information and journalism at Edinburgh Napier University and a leading expert on how information systems shape our society, thinks the figures showing the rise of the silver surfers are "significant but not surprising".
He said: "One of the main fears about the rise of the information age was the generation gap, and if that is dissolving it shows that we're moving forward.
"The fact that we now have 45-54-year-olds using the internet more often is not that surprising to me.
"First of all, late 40s to early 50s is not that old, and it has to be remembered that this is the generation that invented the internet. I'd be more interested to find out how many over-70s have social networking sites."
Internet uptake has continued beyond middle age, with figures showing that 8 per cent of over-55s now have a social network page.
While this is great news for social inclusion, it has been welcomed with less enthusiasm in the traditional communication industries, such as the Post Office.
The Communication Workers Union claims that the Royal Mail has rejected its proposals for modernising its workload while maintaining the staff.
The Royal Mail claims that it is the CWU that is resistant to change, and it is driving customers such as Amazon away with its continuing strike action. However, Royal Mail may be right to hold off on buying huge banks of parcel-sorting machines for the moment, as the items currently sent by companies like Amazon, such as music, movies and books, are being increasingly digitised and traded online, without the bulky media of CDs, DVDs and bound volumes.
In the Information Society, the information itself is fast becoming the key tradable commodity.
Some have argued that we are on the verge of an information revolution, a 21st-century communist dream where all information – the new currency – will be equally distributed amongst the masses.
Dr Duff added: "Some have speculated that if Karl Marx were around today, he would be writing "Das Information", rather than Das Kapital.
"Information is a new currency.
Every new technology has been met with resistance from the beginning of history, and has brought a great deal of strife as well as benefits, so you will see strikes of this kind.
"However, I am sympathetic to some of this resistance, because change has to be managed sensitively. It is still possible to have full employment in a high-tech society.
"The future of the Royal Mail has got to be multimedia. New media does not always displace old media. They can co-exist in the same way that radio has continued to co-exist with television.
"As the philosopher Marshall McLuhan said, 'the medium is the message'. A handwritten, hand-delivered letter will always say much more than an e-mail, text or tweet ever could."
Nowhere is this co-existence more in evidence than the humble telephone. The use of phones for texting has rocketed from 22 billion texts in 2003 to over 85 billion texts last year.
Latest Ofcom figures show that, despite this breakthrough in telephone technology, it's still good to talk. UK land-line calls have dropped 17 per cent in the last five years, but they have been replaced by a near doubling of mobile calls, which means that the overall number of calls made in the UK, on both land-line and mobile, has risen by 10 per cent.
Dr Duff added: "It's too early to say where all of these developments are leading. As for the ability of the Information Society to spark a revolution, I'm going to go for the academic cop out – sit on the fence and wait and see which way the wind is blowing. Many Old Testament prophets who were proved false were stoned to death, and I wouldn't want that to happen to me."
ANALYSIS: Lifestyles of the rich, poor and infamous...14th century style
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
September 15, 2009
Scotland's People Centre situated in the centre of the Capital offers a user-friendly facility for archive hunters Shirley Manson's are Viking, Gavin Esler's are German and Scot-baiting Jeremy Paxman's were famously found north of the Border. Finding your family roots has become a 21st century obsession - and not just among celebrities. In the first of a four-part series on genealogy, MARK McLAUGHLIN finds out about the city's earliest inhabitants and how to trace your own ancestors at the new Scotland's People Centre
THE locked gate swings open and the climb begins up the vast iron staircase to the top of New Register House to visit some of the oldest prisoners in Edinburgh.
With its spiralling, cylindrical cages and layer-upon-layer of locked chambers, the West Register Street rotunda resembles the gaols designed by 19th century sociologists to keep a close eye on their subjects.
But these "prisoners" are not living people. They are the records of every person whose lives have left a paper-trail over the last five centuries, and the cages aren't there to keep the prisoners in but to keep the public out.
But now the guardians of some of Edinburgh's most precious records have staged their own jailbreak, setting loose millions of previously inaccessible records into cyberspace.
The new GBP 7.5 million Scotland's People Centre, which opened earlier this year at the General Register Office and National Archives of Scotland complex near the east end of Princes Street, has given visiting rights to the relatives of anyone whose lives made their mark anywhere in Scotland.
Millions of documents have been digitised and indexed, and are ready to be scrolled through and pored over endless times without damaging the fragile documents themselves.
Dee Williams, head of the new Scotland's People Centre, grabs a set of keys and a pair of white gloves, and heads up to the highest part of the "prison" to take a look at some of the aging documents that have now been digitally preserved for posterity.
Like any valuable prisoner, these documents are kept under tight security.
"The oldest paper record we have of a person living in Edinburgh can be found in the old parish rolls of the Canongate from 1564," Dee explains as she pulls out a nondescript folio from the shelves.
She opens out the folio to reveal dozens of loose-leaf slips of paper, more than five centuries old and in written in an apparently impenetrable scrawl.
"The first name that appears is for a man named Thomas," she says over the rims of her reading spectacles. "Unfortunately the paper is torn so his surname has been lost, but if we move down a line we can see that this document is a record of births from that year.
"The first full record we have is for the birth of a child on 2 September 1564. It reads, 'William Bour: ane [one] child callit [called] Johne. His witness: Lard [Laird] of Brownstoun'.
"The record also contains the oldest remaining death certificate issued in Edinburgh for one Thomas Scot of Saint Johnston on 2 April 1566 - 'hangit at the corse of Edinburgh under ain callar [charge] of treason for the religious cause' - six years after the Scottish Reformation which severed Scotland's links with the Catholic Church.
"The oldest surviving marriage certificate can also be found in the old parish rolls of the City of Edinburgh, where a Robert Murheid married Janet Muir on 13 April 1595."
Other early Edinburgh surnames that can be found in these files include, amongst millions of others, Lawchlane, Adameson, Halyday, Ballentyne, Cambell, Richardson, Ray, Todd, Smyth, Spottiswod and Mowbray.
All of these names are still around today in one form or another, but you won't need a set of keys, a pair of white gloves, the patience of a saint and the research skills of historian to discover if you're related to any of these early Edinburgh-dwellers.
All of these names and more have been digitised and indexed, and a virtual record can now by called up at the touch of a button.
As well as the existing digital searches of statutory registers of births, death and marriages dating back to 1855, which have been available at General Register House for a number of years, the new Scotland's People Centre includes raft of new resources, including a search facility for wills and testaments stretching back to 1513, old parish registers dating back to 1553, and full census records from 1841-1901.
But it's not just those interested in their own family history who find the information useful, explains Dee.
"The police can use the information to search for birth records of current criminals or to research cold cases," she says. "We also have a pair of researchers from NHS Lothian who are down here almost on a daily basis searching through the family records of current patients.
"They see their work as essential to saving lives, as family history can tell you a lot about the current state of health of living people. For example, my mother died of breast cancer and two of my aunts have been diagnosed with it, and I've been told I have a 50-50 chance of developing it myself based on the medical history of my closest relatives.
"But if you were to search further into the past into older death certificates, I might discover that some of my older relatives also died from it which could maybe push the chances up to 80 per cent.
"This kind of information is vital for someone considering early screening and preventative treatment."
The ground floor of General Register House contains three fully refurbished rooms - the Adam Dome, the Reid Room and the Matheson Dome.
The Adam Dome has been set aside for two hour "taster sessions" in the mornings and afternoons, where people can come in and search their family history for free.
If they want to do more in-depth searches they can book a daily session, which costs GBP 10, or even purchase quarterly (GBP 440) or annual (GBP 1,250) passes to do some hardcore family history hunting.
"It can become something of an obsession," explains Alison Lindsay, head of the archives' historical research section. "However, you'll have a better chance of discovering a detailed picture of someone's life if they were very rich or very poor.
"If they had a lot of money there will be records of rents, taxes and wills, while the very poor would maybe show up in hospital or poor-house records, and may have fallen foul of the law and ended up hanged or imprisoned.
"For this reason, the 'respectable poor' - who only earned enough to scrape by and kept their noses clean - are rubbish ancestors to have!"
The Scotland's People Centre is open on weekdays from 9am-4.30pm. Taster sessions in the Adam Dome are available on a first-come-first-served basis from 10am-12pm and again at 2-4pm.
For more information visit www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.
19th CENTURY RECORDS ARE BACK ON LINE
THE opening of the Scotland's People Centre has also plugged a major digital gap that's been bothering family historians for years.
Problems with the digitisation of the 1881 census meant its contents were virtually inaccessible, but earlier this year the Scotland's People technicians ironed out the glitches and revealed a wealth of information about some of Edinburgh's most notable citizens.
It's now possible to see the census record of Peter Pan Author J M Barrie, who was a 20-year-old student at the time living in lodgings on Great King Street with his landlady and a retired Army Officer.
The record also shows a 21-year-old Arthur Conan Doyle, who at the time was listed as a student of medicine, but went on to create the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, living with his mother and four of his ten siblings at 15 Lonsdale Terrace.
At 42 Palmerston Place there lived a 19-year-old Oxford University undergraduate called Douglas Haig, who later went on to become Field Marshall Haig, the 1st Earl Haig, left, and leader of the British Expeditionary Force during World War I.
Edinburgh Evening News
September 15, 2009
Scotland's People Centre situated in the centre of the Capital offers a user-friendly facility for archive hunters Shirley Manson's are Viking, Gavin Esler's are German and Scot-baiting Jeremy Paxman's were famously found north of the Border. Finding your family roots has become a 21st century obsession - and not just among celebrities. In the first of a four-part series on genealogy, MARK McLAUGHLIN finds out about the city's earliest inhabitants and how to trace your own ancestors at the new Scotland's People Centre
THE locked gate swings open and the climb begins up the vast iron staircase to the top of New Register House to visit some of the oldest prisoners in Edinburgh.
With its spiralling, cylindrical cages and layer-upon-layer of locked chambers, the West Register Street rotunda resembles the gaols designed by 19th century sociologists to keep a close eye on their subjects.
But these "prisoners" are not living people. They are the records of every person whose lives have left a paper-trail over the last five centuries, and the cages aren't there to keep the prisoners in but to keep the public out.
But now the guardians of some of Edinburgh's most precious records have staged their own jailbreak, setting loose millions of previously inaccessible records into cyberspace.
The new GBP 7.5 million Scotland's People Centre, which opened earlier this year at the General Register Office and National Archives of Scotland complex near the east end of Princes Street, has given visiting rights to the relatives of anyone whose lives made their mark anywhere in Scotland.
Millions of documents have been digitised and indexed, and are ready to be scrolled through and pored over endless times without damaging the fragile documents themselves.
Dee Williams, head of the new Scotland's People Centre, grabs a set of keys and a pair of white gloves, and heads up to the highest part of the "prison" to take a look at some of the aging documents that have now been digitally preserved for posterity.
Like any valuable prisoner, these documents are kept under tight security.
"The oldest paper record we have of a person living in Edinburgh can be found in the old parish rolls of the Canongate from 1564," Dee explains as she pulls out a nondescript folio from the shelves.
She opens out the folio to reveal dozens of loose-leaf slips of paper, more than five centuries old and in written in an apparently impenetrable scrawl.
"The first name that appears is for a man named Thomas," she says over the rims of her reading spectacles. "Unfortunately the paper is torn so his surname has been lost, but if we move down a line we can see that this document is a record of births from that year.
"The first full record we have is for the birth of a child on 2 September 1564. It reads, 'William Bour: ane [one] child callit [called] Johne. His witness: Lard [Laird] of Brownstoun'.
"The record also contains the oldest remaining death certificate issued in Edinburgh for one Thomas Scot of Saint Johnston on 2 April 1566 - 'hangit at the corse of Edinburgh under ain callar [charge] of treason for the religious cause' - six years after the Scottish Reformation which severed Scotland's links with the Catholic Church.
"The oldest surviving marriage certificate can also be found in the old parish rolls of the City of Edinburgh, where a Robert Murheid married Janet Muir on 13 April 1595."
Other early Edinburgh surnames that can be found in these files include, amongst millions of others, Lawchlane, Adameson, Halyday, Ballentyne, Cambell, Richardson, Ray, Todd, Smyth, Spottiswod and Mowbray.
All of these names are still around today in one form or another, but you won't need a set of keys, a pair of white gloves, the patience of a saint and the research skills of historian to discover if you're related to any of these early Edinburgh-dwellers.
All of these names and more have been digitised and indexed, and a virtual record can now by called up at the touch of a button.
As well as the existing digital searches of statutory registers of births, death and marriages dating back to 1855, which have been available at General Register House for a number of years, the new Scotland's People Centre includes raft of new resources, including a search facility for wills and testaments stretching back to 1513, old parish registers dating back to 1553, and full census records from 1841-1901.
But it's not just those interested in their own family history who find the information useful, explains Dee.
"The police can use the information to search for birth records of current criminals or to research cold cases," she says. "We also have a pair of researchers from NHS Lothian who are down here almost on a daily basis searching through the family records of current patients.
"They see their work as essential to saving lives, as family history can tell you a lot about the current state of health of living people. For example, my mother died of breast cancer and two of my aunts have been diagnosed with it, and I've been told I have a 50-50 chance of developing it myself based on the medical history of my closest relatives.
"But if you were to search further into the past into older death certificates, I might discover that some of my older relatives also died from it which could maybe push the chances up to 80 per cent.
"This kind of information is vital for someone considering early screening and preventative treatment."
The ground floor of General Register House contains three fully refurbished rooms - the Adam Dome, the Reid Room and the Matheson Dome.
The Adam Dome has been set aside for two hour "taster sessions" in the mornings and afternoons, where people can come in and search their family history for free.
If they want to do more in-depth searches they can book a daily session, which costs GBP 10, or even purchase quarterly (GBP 440) or annual (GBP 1,250) passes to do some hardcore family history hunting.
"It can become something of an obsession," explains Alison Lindsay, head of the archives' historical research section. "However, you'll have a better chance of discovering a detailed picture of someone's life if they were very rich or very poor.
"If they had a lot of money there will be records of rents, taxes and wills, while the very poor would maybe show up in hospital or poor-house records, and may have fallen foul of the law and ended up hanged or imprisoned.
"For this reason, the 'respectable poor' - who only earned enough to scrape by and kept their noses clean - are rubbish ancestors to have!"
The Scotland's People Centre is open on weekdays from 9am-4.30pm. Taster sessions in the Adam Dome are available on a first-come-first-served basis from 10am-12pm and again at 2-4pm.
For more information visit www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.
19th CENTURY RECORDS ARE BACK ON LINE
THE opening of the Scotland's People Centre has also plugged a major digital gap that's been bothering family historians for years.
Problems with the digitisation of the 1881 census meant its contents were virtually inaccessible, but earlier this year the Scotland's People technicians ironed out the glitches and revealed a wealth of information about some of Edinburgh's most notable citizens.
It's now possible to see the census record of Peter Pan Author J M Barrie, who was a 20-year-old student at the time living in lodgings on Great King Street with his landlady and a retired Army Officer.
The record also shows a 21-year-old Arthur Conan Doyle, who at the time was listed as a student of medicine, but went on to create the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, living with his mother and four of his ten siblings at 15 Lonsdale Terrace.
At 42 Palmerston Place there lived a 19-year-old Oxford University undergraduate called Douglas Haig, who later went on to become Field Marshall Haig, the 1st Earl Haig, left, and leader of the British Expeditionary Force during World War I.
ANALYSIS: Pirates of Finance
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
September 9, 2009
As the Royal Bank of Scotland breaks from the pack to slash charges for customers who go overdrawn, Mark McLaughlin looks at the possible long-term effects, especially as the banking sector faces the final stage of a court challenge by the Office of Fair Trading over the validity of the fees
IT IS the great consumer rebellion, to use the words of the customers' rights champion Which?.A mass uprising of more than a million banking customers to reclaim billions of pounds' worth of unfair bank charges.
The Royal Bank of Scotland announced this week that it was slashing its charges for customers who go overdrawn.
Although it is not the first British bank to react to mounting pressure ahead of a UK Supreme Court ruling on punitive overdraft charges, its jump has been the biggest to date.
The good news is that experts believe other banks will be already weighing up the need to trim their charges in order to stay competitive.
As well as an attempt to preempt the upcoming court ruling, RBS's move has widely been seen as a direct response to Which? research that placed it at the top of a league of shame for overdraft charges earlier this summer. In other words, it's that customer revolution - and the threat of millions of us taking our money elsewhere - that has prompted action.
"We see this move as just another twist in the consumer rebellion that started around 2006, when well over a million people submitted challenges to reclaim their bank charges," says Which? personal finance campaigner Phil Jones.
"Bank charges are worth GBP 25 billion to the banks every year, so there's a lot of money at stake and the banks are taking this to the highest court in the land because they don't want to pay back the money."
In the two years since the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) launched its test case to prove that charging exorbitant amounts of cash for going over pre-agreed overdraft limits, often by little more than a few pennies, it has cut a swathe through the courts. The OFT won the first two rounds - at the High Court and the Court of Appeal, which both decided in its favour - but the banks then took it to the final court of appeal in the House of Lords.
This responsibility has now been passed on to the new UK Supreme Court and there is an expectation that it may too rule in the OFT's favour.
But regardless of the outcome of that crucial case, the consumer champions are insistent that the only way of making sure you get the most from your money is to be ready to shop around.
"Statistically, you're more likely to change your marriage partner than change your bank," says Phil Jones.
"People sign up to a bank in their youth and never change, often through fears that their standing orders or direct debits will go astray, but this is how people end up getting a raw deal.
"Changing is easier than many people think and most banks will offer to bring your direct debits over without any hassle, and if any do go astray the bank really should be reimbursing you."
While consumer groups have lauded RBS's decision as a step in the right direction, they point out it still only gives the bank a mid-table ranking in the Which? league of shame.
Other banks that appear to be offering a good deal on unauthorised overdrafts, they warn, may be clawing it back from other charges.
Halifax Bank of Scotland, for example, gets a glowing report in the unauthorised overdraft table, with charges of just GBP 15, but were found to be charging huge authorised overdraft charges of GBP 108 a year. HBOS defends its charges, pointing out it has an easy to follow structure.
"The account is based on a simple daily charging structure for using an overdraft -GBP 1 a day for using an arranged overdraft up to GBP 2,500 and GBP 2 a day for arranged overdraft balances above this," said an HBOS spokesman.
The advice for anyone who is unhappy with their bank is simply to shop around, but don't just look at unauthorised overdraft charges, warns price comparison website moneysupermarket.com. These charges are not the only way the banks make their money at your expense.
Some banks pile payment charges - where customers have paid for an item when there wasn't enough money in the account - on top of the unauthorised overdraft charge and they can often be more expensive.
Nationwide, for example, charges GBP 20 for the unauthorised overdraft, and GBP 30 for the unpaid item.
Ian Williams, director of communications at moneysupermarket.com, says: "Some banks have already made a move to reduce their bank charges, so RBS isn't the first. It's a competitive market so other banks will follow suit if appropriate.
"The banks have always argued that their charges reflect the costs associated with managing unauthorised borrowing. If this is the case, I would question how they have been able to reduce their costs so significantly."
UNAUTHORISED overdraft charges (GBP )
You pay heavily for going overdrawn without arranging it with the bank first
HSBC [a] 0
Halifax/Bank of Scotland [b] 15
Barclays [c] 22
Northern Rock 28
Cahoot 30
Nationwide 41.5
Lloyds TSB 42
Natwest/RBS 70
Abbey 65
First Direct 75
Smile/Co-operative Bank [d] 80
Norwich & Peterborough BS 88
Alliance & Leicester 90
Table shows what banks in Britain charge for an unauthorised overdraft of GBP 30 for three days, including charges for a GBP 10 cheque on day one, a GBP 10 direct debit on day two and a GBP 10 standing order on day three that the bank pays. Figures don't include interest. [a] Assumes customer has had an overdraft review in the last six months. HSBC doesn't charge for paid items of GBP 10 or less, but charges would be applied for paid items of more than GBP 10. [b] If account funded with GBP 1000 a month, customer gets GBP 5 credit monthly regardless of unauthorised borrowing. [c] GBP 22 reserve usage fee (one fee per five consecutive working days). [d] Assumes this is not the first informal overdraft during the year, so therefore the service charge of GBP 20 has been included.
AUTHORISED overdraft charges (GBP )
The charges that you pay per month for an arranged overdraft vary widely
First Direct 17
Cahoot 21
Norwich & Peterborough BS 21(Gold Account)
Abbey 28 (Preferred Overdraft current account)
NatWest/RBS 33
Smile 34
Nationwide 40
Lloyds TSB 40
Barclays 41
Co-operative Bank 54
Alliance & Leicester 60(Overdraft cost after 1 yr)
HSBC 67
Halifax/Bank of Scotland 108
Northern Rock 110
Table shows annual cost of a GBP 500 authorised overdraft for 2 weeks a month with British banks, assuming you pay in GBP 1000 a month.
Edinburgh Evening News
September 9, 2009
As the Royal Bank of Scotland breaks from the pack to slash charges for customers who go overdrawn, Mark McLaughlin looks at the possible long-term effects, especially as the banking sector faces the final stage of a court challenge by the Office of Fair Trading over the validity of the fees
IT IS the great consumer rebellion, to use the words of the customers' rights champion Which?.A mass uprising of more than a million banking customers to reclaim billions of pounds' worth of unfair bank charges.
The Royal Bank of Scotland announced this week that it was slashing its charges for customers who go overdrawn.
Although it is not the first British bank to react to mounting pressure ahead of a UK Supreme Court ruling on punitive overdraft charges, its jump has been the biggest to date.
The good news is that experts believe other banks will be already weighing up the need to trim their charges in order to stay competitive.
As well as an attempt to preempt the upcoming court ruling, RBS's move has widely been seen as a direct response to Which? research that placed it at the top of a league of shame for overdraft charges earlier this summer. In other words, it's that customer revolution - and the threat of millions of us taking our money elsewhere - that has prompted action.
"We see this move as just another twist in the consumer rebellion that started around 2006, when well over a million people submitted challenges to reclaim their bank charges," says Which? personal finance campaigner Phil Jones.
"Bank charges are worth GBP 25 billion to the banks every year, so there's a lot of money at stake and the banks are taking this to the highest court in the land because they don't want to pay back the money."
In the two years since the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) launched its test case to prove that charging exorbitant amounts of cash for going over pre-agreed overdraft limits, often by little more than a few pennies, it has cut a swathe through the courts. The OFT won the first two rounds - at the High Court and the Court of Appeal, which both decided in its favour - but the banks then took it to the final court of appeal in the House of Lords.
This responsibility has now been passed on to the new UK Supreme Court and there is an expectation that it may too rule in the OFT's favour.
But regardless of the outcome of that crucial case, the consumer champions are insistent that the only way of making sure you get the most from your money is to be ready to shop around.
"Statistically, you're more likely to change your marriage partner than change your bank," says Phil Jones.
"People sign up to a bank in their youth and never change, often through fears that their standing orders or direct debits will go astray, but this is how people end up getting a raw deal.
"Changing is easier than many people think and most banks will offer to bring your direct debits over without any hassle, and if any do go astray the bank really should be reimbursing you."
While consumer groups have lauded RBS's decision as a step in the right direction, they point out it still only gives the bank a mid-table ranking in the Which? league of shame.
Other banks that appear to be offering a good deal on unauthorised overdrafts, they warn, may be clawing it back from other charges.
Halifax Bank of Scotland, for example, gets a glowing report in the unauthorised overdraft table, with charges of just GBP 15, but were found to be charging huge authorised overdraft charges of GBP 108 a year. HBOS defends its charges, pointing out it has an easy to follow structure.
"The account is based on a simple daily charging structure for using an overdraft -GBP 1 a day for using an arranged overdraft up to GBP 2,500 and GBP 2 a day for arranged overdraft balances above this," said an HBOS spokesman.
The advice for anyone who is unhappy with their bank is simply to shop around, but don't just look at unauthorised overdraft charges, warns price comparison website moneysupermarket.com. These charges are not the only way the banks make their money at your expense.
Some banks pile payment charges - where customers have paid for an item when there wasn't enough money in the account - on top of the unauthorised overdraft charge and they can often be more expensive.
Nationwide, for example, charges GBP 20 for the unauthorised overdraft, and GBP 30 for the unpaid item.
Ian Williams, director of communications at moneysupermarket.com, says: "Some banks have already made a move to reduce their bank charges, so RBS isn't the first. It's a competitive market so other banks will follow suit if appropriate.
"The banks have always argued that their charges reflect the costs associated with managing unauthorised borrowing. If this is the case, I would question how they have been able to reduce their costs so significantly."
UNAUTHORISED overdraft charges (GBP )
You pay heavily for going overdrawn without arranging it with the bank first
HSBC [a] 0
Halifax/Bank of Scotland [b] 15
Barclays [c] 22
Northern Rock 28
Cahoot 30
Nationwide 41.5
Lloyds TSB 42
Natwest/RBS 70
Abbey 65
First Direct 75
Smile/Co-operative Bank [d] 80
Norwich & Peterborough BS 88
Alliance & Leicester 90
Table shows what banks in Britain charge for an unauthorised overdraft of GBP 30 for three days, including charges for a GBP 10 cheque on day one, a GBP 10 direct debit on day two and a GBP 10 standing order on day three that the bank pays. Figures don't include interest. [a] Assumes customer has had an overdraft review in the last six months. HSBC doesn't charge for paid items of GBP 10 or less, but charges would be applied for paid items of more than GBP 10. [b] If account funded with GBP 1000 a month, customer gets GBP 5 credit monthly regardless of unauthorised borrowing. [c] GBP 22 reserve usage fee (one fee per five consecutive working days). [d] Assumes this is not the first informal overdraft during the year, so therefore the service charge of GBP 20 has been included.
AUTHORISED overdraft charges (GBP )
The charges that you pay per month for an arranged overdraft vary widely
First Direct 17
Cahoot 21
Norwich & Peterborough BS 21(Gold Account)
Abbey 28 (Preferred Overdraft current account)
NatWest/RBS 33
Smile 34
Nationwide 40
Lloyds TSB 40
Barclays 41
Co-operative Bank 54
Alliance & Leicester 60(Overdraft cost after 1 yr)
HSBC 67
Halifax/Bank of Scotland 108
Northern Rock 110
Table shows annual cost of a GBP 500 authorised overdraft for 2 weeks a month with British banks, assuming you pay in GBP 1000 a month.
ANALYSIS: Undercover with the fraud squad
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
August 31, 2009
A LABOURER who claimed more than GBP 4,000 worth of disability benefit and a mobility car was filmed carrying heavy girders around a building site - despite insisting he could not walk without a c rutch.
Michael Campbell, 43, of Prestonpans, was caught in a surveillance sting carried out by Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) fraud investigators following a tip-off by a member of the public.
His conviction was revealed during an Evening News investigation into benefit cheats, after a massive rise in convictions in and around Edinburgh over the last three years.
Other cases in recent weeks include a man who claimed nearly GBP 10,000 in disability benefit despite having two jobs - one of which included a contract to clean the Procurator Fiscal's office in Edinburgh, as well as a case where two women claimed more than GBP 30,000 each in single person benefits despite both living with partners on a permanent basis.
The Evening News also accompanied investigators on a number of ongoing surveillance operations in the Lothians, monitoring suspected benefit thieves unaware that they are currently under close scrutiny by the DWP.
Mr Campbell was convicted of benefit fraud at Haddington Sheriff Court earlier this month, and ordered to serve 100 hours community service and repay the GBP 4,465.95 of benefits he had wrongly claimed while working.
The DWP officer who led the investigation, who cannot be identified to safeguard future operations, said: "We set up a surveillance exercise, followed him to a building site in Elphinstone Road, Tranent, and established that he was working as a labourer.
"In his claim he said he couldn't walk without severe discomfort, over a maximum distance of 20 yards in two minutes, and that he always used an elbow crutch or a stick. We filmed Mr Campbell working around the building site, walking over uneven surfaces and carrying heavy objects.
"When we presented him with the evidence he admitted that his condition had improved."
Mr Campbell today put his fraudulent claim down to "stupidity", personal oversight and even poor advice by his disability officer.
He said: "I didn't set out to intentionally defraud anyone.
"I had a knee replacement and I would have preferred to stay off work, but I took some advice from the Job Centre and I got a job at B&Q.
"I was signed off the incapacity benefit, but I didn't get signed off the disability living allowance and I didn't receive much communication from my disability adviser regarding what I was and wasn't entitled to. I then got a job with builders Persimmon and didn't think a great deal about the benefit I was still receiving.
"I was as shocked as anyone when the investigators turned up at the site to question me about the overpayment. In the end it was all down to stupidity."
Investigations carried out by the DWP's Edinburgh team, which also covers parts of East Lothian and the Borders, were responsible for 409 successful convictions, fines and cautions in the year to March 2009 - nearly a third more than in 2006/07.
Benefits cheats in Edinburgh were also caught scamming a combined total of GBP 2.3 million in the same period, with one city resident discovered to have earned almost GBP 50,000 by falsely claiming benefits while working.
The Lothians currently has more than 30 dedicated fraud investigators carrying out multiple investigations every day.
They form part of a 3,000-strong team of fraud investigators who carry out more than 2,000 investigations a week throughout the UK.
Much of the information used in the investigations comes from tip-offs by members of the public who have called the DWP's dedicated hotline.
The phone line, on 0800 854 440 0800 854 440 , receives more than 600 calls a day from across the UK, while the DWP's website also receives an average of 200 online reports each day.
RECENT SUCCESSES FOR THE BENEFIT FRAUD INVESTIGATORS
31 July 2009: Edinburgh Sheriff Court
Gary Weston, 49, The Shore
Fraudulent claim: GBP 9532.20 + GBP 444.08
Sentence: GBP 130 fine + repayment of overspend + criminal record
The investigator said: "This was part of a proactive "fraud drive" we conducted on employees of a company that we suspected of working while claiming benefits.
"His name appeared on a list of cleaners working for Rentokil Initial, so we called up his application form at the company and discovered that he had a reference from a second company called GBM.
"GBM had a contract to clean the Procurator Fiscal's offices, where Mr Weston would regularly work.
"We discovered he was working for both companies at the same time while also claiming benefits totalling GBP 9,532.20.
"We interviewed him about this and continued to investigate. Despite being interviewed by the DWP, and becoming aware that we were on to him, he made a further claim of GBP 444.08 without stating that he was still in work.
"We interviewed him again and he pleaded guilty."
Mr Weston could not be contacted for comment.
6 May 2009: Edinburgh Sheriff Court
Laura Picciti, 34, The Inch
Fraudulent claim: GBP 30,129.84
Sentence: 200 hours of community service + repayment of overspend + criminal record
The investigator said: "This mother-of-three claimed she was separated from her partner, but we received a tip-off with an allegation that he was back in the house.
"She had two children by this man over the period that she was claiming benefits as a person living alone, while her partner had applied for a car loan and other credit at her address, as well as having bank statements addressed there.
"We had a lot of background evidence already, but we set up a surveillance exercise to see if the man was actually living there, and we observed him leaving the house every day over a three-week period.
"When presented with the evidence she pleaded guilty."
6 May 2009: Linlithgow Sheriff Court
Jennifer Collier, 31, East Calder
Fraudulent claim: GBP 30,000
Sentence: Seven months in prison + repayment of overspend + criminal record
The investigator said: "This was part of a joint investigation with West Lothian Council.
"We already had some evidence that she was living with someone while claiming income support, housing benefit and council tax relief as a single person, mainly a joint bank account at her address.
"We discovered that he was working so we contacted his employer and took statements from them that showed us that he recorded Jennifer Collier's house as his home address.
"We conducted surveillance which recorded him leaving for work from her house on a regular basis.
"Once the surveillance footage was presented to her she admitted she'd been making bogus claims dating back to July 1998. The custodial sentence reflected the length of time this woman had allowed the bogus claim to continue."
High-tech operation akin to James Bond
THEY have an array of gadgets that wouldn't look out of place in a James Bond film.
From buttonhole cameras to night-vision goggles and a mobile control room with a bank of screens and video equipment, the operation to catch out benefit cheats in the Lothians is certainly high-tech.
"Our day can start as early as 4.30am and can often go on until 8pm the same day," says Edinburgh fraud investigator Frank, as he makes his way to his first "customer" of the day - a "living together" scam involving a woman who has been living with a partner despite claiming single-person benefits.
"We used to call the subjects of our investigations 'claimants', but the DWP decided that 'customers' sounded more friendly. We get up early and set up our equipment in order to establish a pattern. If we see the same person leaving a house every day or so over, say, a three-week period, we'll have a fair suspicion that the partner is living there full-time.
"While we do a lot of surveillance in the vehicles, some of our work involves sitting in the pub. Sometimes we'll get a call that someone's been bragging loudly in the pub about the amount of money they're cheating out of the benefits system.
"That's where our female surveillance officers come in very handy, as we can often go down in pairs wearing a buttonhole camera, and look like any other couple enjoying a quiet drink together."
The range of technologies available to DWP staff is expanding all the time - and they don't shy away from social networking sites or virtual mapping such as Google Streetview.
Meanwhile, the excuses they hear from "customers" caught in the act are equally diverse.
"The amount of information people put online about themselves these days is just mental," says fellow investigator Jack. "We were investigating a girl for a living-together scam, and she had her whole life on Bebo, including the boyfriend she was living with and the expensive holiday they were about to take together.
"A lot of people do try to deny they've been living with someone, even when there are bank account details, credit trails and DVLA details of their partner, but they usually own up when presented with the surveillance evidence."
However, DWP surveillance is used sparingly and is tightly controlled by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, Frank explains, as he is forced to break off a surveillance when it crosses the path of a school playing field.
"We're very careful to avoid what we term 'collateral surveillance' - filming innocent people going about their day - and we're especially sensitive whenever children are involved."
Edinburgh Evening News
August 31, 2009
A LABOURER who claimed more than GBP 4,000 worth of disability benefit and a mobility car was filmed carrying heavy girders around a building site - despite insisting he could not walk without a c rutch.
Michael Campbell, 43, of Prestonpans, was caught in a surveillance sting carried out by Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) fraud investigators following a tip-off by a member of the public.
His conviction was revealed during an Evening News investigation into benefit cheats, after a massive rise in convictions in and around Edinburgh over the last three years.
Other cases in recent weeks include a man who claimed nearly GBP 10,000 in disability benefit despite having two jobs - one of which included a contract to clean the Procurator Fiscal's office in Edinburgh, as well as a case where two women claimed more than GBP 30,000 each in single person benefits despite both living with partners on a permanent basis.
The Evening News also accompanied investigators on a number of ongoing surveillance operations in the Lothians, monitoring suspected benefit thieves unaware that they are currently under close scrutiny by the DWP.
Mr Campbell was convicted of benefit fraud at Haddington Sheriff Court earlier this month, and ordered to serve 100 hours community service and repay the GBP 4,465.95 of benefits he had wrongly claimed while working.
The DWP officer who led the investigation, who cannot be identified to safeguard future operations, said: "We set up a surveillance exercise, followed him to a building site in Elphinstone Road, Tranent, and established that he was working as a labourer.
"In his claim he said he couldn't walk without severe discomfort, over a maximum distance of 20 yards in two minutes, and that he always used an elbow crutch or a stick. We filmed Mr Campbell working around the building site, walking over uneven surfaces and carrying heavy objects.
"When we presented him with the evidence he admitted that his condition had improved."
Mr Campbell today put his fraudulent claim down to "stupidity", personal oversight and even poor advice by his disability officer.
He said: "I didn't set out to intentionally defraud anyone.
"I had a knee replacement and I would have preferred to stay off work, but I took some advice from the Job Centre and I got a job at B&Q.
"I was signed off the incapacity benefit, but I didn't get signed off the disability living allowance and I didn't receive much communication from my disability adviser regarding what I was and wasn't entitled to. I then got a job with builders Persimmon and didn't think a great deal about the benefit I was still receiving.
"I was as shocked as anyone when the investigators turned up at the site to question me about the overpayment. In the end it was all down to stupidity."
Investigations carried out by the DWP's Edinburgh team, which also covers parts of East Lothian and the Borders, were responsible for 409 successful convictions, fines and cautions in the year to March 2009 - nearly a third more than in 2006/07.
Benefits cheats in Edinburgh were also caught scamming a combined total of GBP 2.3 million in the same period, with one city resident discovered to have earned almost GBP 50,000 by falsely claiming benefits while working.
The Lothians currently has more than 30 dedicated fraud investigators carrying out multiple investigations every day.
They form part of a 3,000-strong team of fraud investigators who carry out more than 2,000 investigations a week throughout the UK.
Much of the information used in the investigations comes from tip-offs by members of the public who have called the DWP's dedicated hotline.
The phone line, on 0800 854 440 0800 854 440 , receives more than 600 calls a day from across the UK, while the DWP's website also receives an average of 200 online reports each day.
RECENT SUCCESSES FOR THE BENEFIT FRAUD INVESTIGATORS
31 July 2009: Edinburgh Sheriff Court
Gary Weston, 49, The Shore
Fraudulent claim: GBP 9532.20 + GBP 444.08
Sentence: GBP 130 fine + repayment of overspend + criminal record
The investigator said: "This was part of a proactive "fraud drive" we conducted on employees of a company that we suspected of working while claiming benefits.
"His name appeared on a list of cleaners working for Rentokil Initial, so we called up his application form at the company and discovered that he had a reference from a second company called GBM.
"GBM had a contract to clean the Procurator Fiscal's offices, where Mr Weston would regularly work.
"We discovered he was working for both companies at the same time while also claiming benefits totalling GBP 9,532.20.
"We interviewed him about this and continued to investigate. Despite being interviewed by the DWP, and becoming aware that we were on to him, he made a further claim of GBP 444.08 without stating that he was still in work.
"We interviewed him again and he pleaded guilty."
Mr Weston could not be contacted for comment.
6 May 2009: Edinburgh Sheriff Court
Laura Picciti, 34, The Inch
Fraudulent claim: GBP 30,129.84
Sentence: 200 hours of community service + repayment of overspend + criminal record
The investigator said: "This mother-of-three claimed she was separated from her partner, but we received a tip-off with an allegation that he was back in the house.
"She had two children by this man over the period that she was claiming benefits as a person living alone, while her partner had applied for a car loan and other credit at her address, as well as having bank statements addressed there.
"We had a lot of background evidence already, but we set up a surveillance exercise to see if the man was actually living there, and we observed him leaving the house every day over a three-week period.
"When presented with the evidence she pleaded guilty."
6 May 2009: Linlithgow Sheriff Court
Jennifer Collier, 31, East Calder
Fraudulent claim: GBP 30,000
Sentence: Seven months in prison + repayment of overspend + criminal record
The investigator said: "This was part of a joint investigation with West Lothian Council.
"We already had some evidence that she was living with someone while claiming income support, housing benefit and council tax relief as a single person, mainly a joint bank account at her address.
"We discovered that he was working so we contacted his employer and took statements from them that showed us that he recorded Jennifer Collier's house as his home address.
"We conducted surveillance which recorded him leaving for work from her house on a regular basis.
"Once the surveillance footage was presented to her she admitted she'd been making bogus claims dating back to July 1998. The custodial sentence reflected the length of time this woman had allowed the bogus claim to continue."
High-tech operation akin to James Bond
THEY have an array of gadgets that wouldn't look out of place in a James Bond film.
From buttonhole cameras to night-vision goggles and a mobile control room with a bank of screens and video equipment, the operation to catch out benefit cheats in the Lothians is certainly high-tech.
"Our day can start as early as 4.30am and can often go on until 8pm the same day," says Edinburgh fraud investigator Frank, as he makes his way to his first "customer" of the day - a "living together" scam involving a woman who has been living with a partner despite claiming single-person benefits.
"We used to call the subjects of our investigations 'claimants', but the DWP decided that 'customers' sounded more friendly. We get up early and set up our equipment in order to establish a pattern. If we see the same person leaving a house every day or so over, say, a three-week period, we'll have a fair suspicion that the partner is living there full-time.
"While we do a lot of surveillance in the vehicles, some of our work involves sitting in the pub. Sometimes we'll get a call that someone's been bragging loudly in the pub about the amount of money they're cheating out of the benefits system.
"That's where our female surveillance officers come in very handy, as we can often go down in pairs wearing a buttonhole camera, and look like any other couple enjoying a quiet drink together."
The range of technologies available to DWP staff is expanding all the time - and they don't shy away from social networking sites or virtual mapping such as Google Streetview.
Meanwhile, the excuses they hear from "customers" caught in the act are equally diverse.
"The amount of information people put online about themselves these days is just mental," says fellow investigator Jack. "We were investigating a girl for a living-together scam, and she had her whole life on Bebo, including the boyfriend she was living with and the expensive holiday they were about to take together.
"A lot of people do try to deny they've been living with someone, even when there are bank account details, credit trails and DVLA details of their partner, but they usually own up when presented with the surveillance evidence."
However, DWP surveillance is used sparingly and is tightly controlled by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, Frank explains, as he is forced to break off a surveillance when it crosses the path of a school playing field.
"We're very careful to avoid what we term 'collateral surveillance' - filming innocent people going about their day - and we're especially sensitive whenever children are involved."
ANALYSIS: Asbestos
By Mark McLaughin
Edinburgh Evening News
November 17, 2008
As the Health and Safety Executive launches an asbestos awareness safety campaign, Mark McLaughlin examines the grim toll exposure to the deadly dust has inflicted on generations
IT hides under our floorboards, in our walls, in our pipes and, if disturbed, it prowls the air we breath. It is currently hiding in over half a million properties, and in the lungs of countless people, nationwide.
Now the hidden killer has been exposed. A high-profile training scheme by the Health and Safety Executive took place in Edinburgh last week to educate the next generation of construction workers on the dangers of exposure to asbestos.
Its message was buoyed by a major award handed to Clydeside Action on Asbestos, a group that grew from a small movement to help asbestos-stricken Clyde shipworkers into a national campaign, at the Scottish Politician of the Year Awards on Thursday.
And yet the killer continues to try to slink back into the shadows - avoiding both detection and retribution - through a combination of legislation, misdirection, negligence and continuing ignorance amongst trade professionals.
Its most effective hiding place for many years was contained in the Damages (Scotland) Act 1979.
This left individuals suffering from cancerous mesothelioma, or other fatal asbestos related illnesses, with the grim choice of claiming a lower rate of compensation to help them through their final years, or waiting until after death so their family could claim a higher amount.
Phyllis Craig, senior project worker with Clydeside Action on Asbestos, named Public Campaign of the Year at Thursday's ceremony in the Prestonfield House Hotel, called this legislation "cruel and unfair".
This iniquity was overturned by the Rights of Relatives to Damages (Mesothelioma) (Scotland) Act, which set into law the principle that a family's right to damages is not extinguished by a person with mesothelioma settling their own claim while still alive.
However, the hidden killer soon found another hiding place under the cloak of the Lords where, with its power to damage the lives of sufferers and their families diminished, it was ruled that those with apparently non-fatal asbestos scarring were no longer eligible for compensation.
This scarring, known as 'pleural plaques', is a clear indicator of asbestos exposure but, some experts argue, does not necessarily indicate an increased risk of developing a more serious asbestos related disease. For this reason, the right to compensation was removed.
However, the Scottish Government has again stepped up to the plate with a second Bill, the Damages Bill, which threatens to overturn the Lords ruling in Scotland.
The hidden killer had already threatened to tear apart the Westminster Government by taking the life of Glenrothes MP John MacDougall, a former Rosyth dockworker who died from asbestos-related cancer in August, forcing a by-election.
Tory MSP Bill Aitken, chair of the Holyrood justice committee, has warned that the Damages Bill could land Scotland with a GBP 6.5 million compensation claim under a Treasury mechanism which allows Westminster to wash its hands of the financial implications of devolved legislation.
However, Clydeside Action on Asbestos said this misdirection only serves to take the focus off the diseases.
Phyllis Craig added: "Asbestos-related illnesses are generally caused by ignorance or negligence on behalf of employers."
This theory has driven Armadale-based campaigner Alex Horne to fight for over 20 years to keep the plight in the public eye.
Mr Horne, who was exposed to asbestos while working as a boilermaker at the Golden Wonder crisp factory in the 1980s, said: "I'm still surprised by the number of people who seek to cover up their liability for asbestos exposure, and the number of people who don't know how dangerous this stuff is."
For this reason, the Health and Safety Executive has launched a campaign entitled Asbestos: The Hidden Killer, and has been taking its message to educational institutions throughout the country.
Mark Lawton, of the HSE asbestos policy group, was at Telford College on Friday speaking to construction apprentices, many of whom had never even heard of asbestos.
He said: "Most of the apprentices I spoke to at Telford told me that they'd probably already been exposed to asbestos and didn't have the necessary protection. It's a shocking state of ignorance when you consider that 25 per cent of people with asbestos related illnesses come from the construction industry.
"Somewhere in the region of 5000 people are killed by asbestos-related illnesses every year. That's more people than are killed in car accidents. However, we hope to confine these kinds of illnesses to a previous generation. Because these illnesses don't develop for many years after exposure, it's often difficult to pin down when and where the exposure occurred.
"But with an increased level of awareness, we hope to arm the next generation with the information they need."
Deaths from asbestos-related mesothelioma 1981-2007
Scotland 2995
City of Edinburgh 220
East Lothian 41
West Lothian 54
Edinburgh Evening News
November 17, 2008
As the Health and Safety Executive launches an asbestos awareness safety campaign, Mark McLaughlin examines the grim toll exposure to the deadly dust has inflicted on generations
IT hides under our floorboards, in our walls, in our pipes and, if disturbed, it prowls the air we breath. It is currently hiding in over half a million properties, and in the lungs of countless people, nationwide.
Now the hidden killer has been exposed. A high-profile training scheme by the Health and Safety Executive took place in Edinburgh last week to educate the next generation of construction workers on the dangers of exposure to asbestos.
Its message was buoyed by a major award handed to Clydeside Action on Asbestos, a group that grew from a small movement to help asbestos-stricken Clyde shipworkers into a national campaign, at the Scottish Politician of the Year Awards on Thursday.
And yet the killer continues to try to slink back into the shadows - avoiding both detection and retribution - through a combination of legislation, misdirection, negligence and continuing ignorance amongst trade professionals.
Its most effective hiding place for many years was contained in the Damages (Scotland) Act 1979.
This left individuals suffering from cancerous mesothelioma, or other fatal asbestos related illnesses, with the grim choice of claiming a lower rate of compensation to help them through their final years, or waiting until after death so their family could claim a higher amount.
Phyllis Craig, senior project worker with Clydeside Action on Asbestos, named Public Campaign of the Year at Thursday's ceremony in the Prestonfield House Hotel, called this legislation "cruel and unfair".
This iniquity was overturned by the Rights of Relatives to Damages (Mesothelioma) (Scotland) Act, which set into law the principle that a family's right to damages is not extinguished by a person with mesothelioma settling their own claim while still alive.
However, the hidden killer soon found another hiding place under the cloak of the Lords where, with its power to damage the lives of sufferers and their families diminished, it was ruled that those with apparently non-fatal asbestos scarring were no longer eligible for compensation.
This scarring, known as 'pleural plaques', is a clear indicator of asbestos exposure but, some experts argue, does not necessarily indicate an increased risk of developing a more serious asbestos related disease. For this reason, the right to compensation was removed.
However, the Scottish Government has again stepped up to the plate with a second Bill, the Damages Bill, which threatens to overturn the Lords ruling in Scotland.
The hidden killer had already threatened to tear apart the Westminster Government by taking the life of Glenrothes MP John MacDougall, a former Rosyth dockworker who died from asbestos-related cancer in August, forcing a by-election.
Tory MSP Bill Aitken, chair of the Holyrood justice committee, has warned that the Damages Bill could land Scotland with a GBP 6.5 million compensation claim under a Treasury mechanism which allows Westminster to wash its hands of the financial implications of devolved legislation.
However, Clydeside Action on Asbestos said this misdirection only serves to take the focus off the diseases.
Phyllis Craig added: "Asbestos-related illnesses are generally caused by ignorance or negligence on behalf of employers."
This theory has driven Armadale-based campaigner Alex Horne to fight for over 20 years to keep the plight in the public eye.
Mr Horne, who was exposed to asbestos while working as a boilermaker at the Golden Wonder crisp factory in the 1980s, said: "I'm still surprised by the number of people who seek to cover up their liability for asbestos exposure, and the number of people who don't know how dangerous this stuff is."
For this reason, the Health and Safety Executive has launched a campaign entitled Asbestos: The Hidden Killer, and has been taking its message to educational institutions throughout the country.
Mark Lawton, of the HSE asbestos policy group, was at Telford College on Friday speaking to construction apprentices, many of whom had never even heard of asbestos.
He said: "Most of the apprentices I spoke to at Telford told me that they'd probably already been exposed to asbestos and didn't have the necessary protection. It's a shocking state of ignorance when you consider that 25 per cent of people with asbestos related illnesses come from the construction industry.
"Somewhere in the region of 5000 people are killed by asbestos-related illnesses every year. That's more people than are killed in car accidents. However, we hope to confine these kinds of illnesses to a previous generation. Because these illnesses don't develop for many years after exposure, it's often difficult to pin down when and where the exposure occurred.
"But with an increased level of awareness, we hope to arm the next generation with the information they need."
Deaths from asbestos-related mesothelioma 1981-2007
Scotland 2995
City of Edinburgh 220
East Lothian 41
West Lothian 54
Sunday, 18 October 2009
ANALYSIS: Google is watching you
By Mark McLaughlin
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 17, 2008
IT looks fairly innocent if a little odd, but Google's unmistakable camera cars have been causing a bit of a stir on the streets of Edinburgh.
The 360-degree camera cars are in the course of filming every street in the Capital preparing a virtual map of the city.
The aim is to provide a walk-through picture of Edinburgh on the internet. Users would be able to guide themselves along any city street, as if they were exploring it in 3D, homing in on anything or anyone who took their interest.
You could, for example, type in "108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh" and be virtually transported to the front door of the Evening News' offices.
Google has promised to blur the faces of anybody it captures during the course of filming images for its Street View service.
In the face of privacy concerns, it has also included an opt-out for anyone who objects to their property appearing on the Google site, although the onus is on the property owner to complain.
The company has also admitted that the technology "isn't perfect" and "will sometime miss a face or licence plate if they are partially covered or at a difficult angle".
"Google spotters" have inundated the News with camera car sightings since we first reported on the project last week, and the car has been seen on streets from Morningside to Leith.
One resident of a quiet cul-de-sac took great exception, trying to obstruct the camera to prevent it filming her property.
Rewa Banks, 62, found the car photographing her front door in Warriston, and challenged the driver.
She said: "I went up to him and asked him what possible interest anyone could have in spying up my street unless they were up to mischief. I stood in front of my garden and held my hands up so he couldn't film any more - and if they want to use my picture they'll have to pay me for it!
"The last thing I want to be doing is advertising my property to thieves and burglars so I told him to stop filming because he was invading my privacy.
"He just shrugged his shoulders and said he was only doing his job. I asked him who I could complain to and he took my details and said Google would get back to me in writing."
Unsatisfied, Mrs Banks immediately contacted her local councillor, Iain Whyte, to see if he could do anything to safeguard her privacy.
Councillor Whyte said: "I'm not sure there's very much we can do about it. People have generally always been allowed to film what they like in the street."
The city council says it has no power to stop the filming unless the vehicle is blocking the road or causing an obstruction.
Mrs Banks has nevertheless contacted the Office of the Information Commissioner (ICO) in Scotland, in Thistle Street, which has already received other complaints.
Among the other objectors is Edinburgh-based civil liberties campaigner John Welford, from the NO2ID campaign.
Mr Welford said that he fears the filming "could be extremely dangerous for a person on a witness protection programme or trying to hide from a violent partner".
The ICO said it is taking up the complaints with Google, and is urging the company to "seriously consider the implications for individuals' privacy before introducing Street View to the UK".
An ICO spokesman added: "Whilst we recognise the benefits of such a service, there is a risk that Street View could identify individuals alongside their place of work or places they are visiting.
"In most instances this will not have a serious impact on people's privacy. However, identifying an individual outside some premises, for instance health clinics and hospitals, could raise serious privacy issues."
Google says it has safeguards in place, with a spokesman saying: "We make it easy within the product for users to report a face or licence plate for extra blurring, or to ask for their image to be removed.
"We think this type of privacy-enabling technology is the best way of meeting the challenge of continuing to respect people's expectation of privacy, while not stifling the development of new products and services that everyone can enjoy and benefit from."
The spokesman added: "We are taking photographs to bring the Street View product to Europe.
"Edinburgh may be one of the cities included when we launch Street View in Europe."
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 17, 2008
IT looks fairly innocent if a little odd, but Google's unmistakable camera cars have been causing a bit of a stir on the streets of Edinburgh.
The 360-degree camera cars are in the course of filming every street in the Capital preparing a virtual map of the city.
The aim is to provide a walk-through picture of Edinburgh on the internet. Users would be able to guide themselves along any city street, as if they were exploring it in 3D, homing in on anything or anyone who took their interest.
You could, for example, type in "108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh" and be virtually transported to the front door of the Evening News' offices.
Google has promised to blur the faces of anybody it captures during the course of filming images for its Street View service.
In the face of privacy concerns, it has also included an opt-out for anyone who objects to their property appearing on the Google site, although the onus is on the property owner to complain.
The company has also admitted that the technology "isn't perfect" and "will sometime miss a face or licence plate if they are partially covered or at a difficult angle".
"Google spotters" have inundated the News with camera car sightings since we first reported on the project last week, and the car has been seen on streets from Morningside to Leith.
One resident of a quiet cul-de-sac took great exception, trying to obstruct the camera to prevent it filming her property.
Rewa Banks, 62, found the car photographing her front door in Warriston, and challenged the driver.
She said: "I went up to him and asked him what possible interest anyone could have in spying up my street unless they were up to mischief. I stood in front of my garden and held my hands up so he couldn't film any more - and if they want to use my picture they'll have to pay me for it!
"The last thing I want to be doing is advertising my property to thieves and burglars so I told him to stop filming because he was invading my privacy.
"He just shrugged his shoulders and said he was only doing his job. I asked him who I could complain to and he took my details and said Google would get back to me in writing."
Unsatisfied, Mrs Banks immediately contacted her local councillor, Iain Whyte, to see if he could do anything to safeguard her privacy.
Councillor Whyte said: "I'm not sure there's very much we can do about it. People have generally always been allowed to film what they like in the street."
The city council says it has no power to stop the filming unless the vehicle is blocking the road or causing an obstruction.
Mrs Banks has nevertheless contacted the Office of the Information Commissioner (ICO) in Scotland, in Thistle Street, which has already received other complaints.
Among the other objectors is Edinburgh-based civil liberties campaigner John Welford, from the NO2ID campaign.
Mr Welford said that he fears the filming "could be extremely dangerous for a person on a witness protection programme or trying to hide from a violent partner".
The ICO said it is taking up the complaints with Google, and is urging the company to "seriously consider the implications for individuals' privacy before introducing Street View to the UK".
An ICO spokesman added: "Whilst we recognise the benefits of such a service, there is a risk that Street View could identify individuals alongside their place of work or places they are visiting.
"In most instances this will not have a serious impact on people's privacy. However, identifying an individual outside some premises, for instance health clinics and hospitals, could raise serious privacy issues."
Google says it has safeguards in place, with a spokesman saying: "We make it easy within the product for users to report a face or licence plate for extra blurring, or to ask for their image to be removed.
"We think this type of privacy-enabling technology is the best way of meeting the challenge of continuing to respect people's expectation of privacy, while not stifling the development of new products and services that everyone can enjoy and benefit from."
The spokesman added: "We are taking photographs to bring the Street View product to Europe.
"Edinburgh may be one of the cities included when we launch Street View in Europe."
ANALYSIS: Carry a knife - go to jail
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
July 16, 2008
For one bereaved city mother, the grim reality of blade culture has cast an eternal shadow over her life
The mother of a 21-year-old brutally stabbed to death today appealed for mandatory jail sentences for carrying a knife.
Caroline Burnside spoke out as it was revealed 600 people have been treated in hospital for stab wounds in the Lothians in the past five years.
Her son Brett died three years after he himself was detained for stabbing a man. She said: "People who get caught with a knife should go straight to jail".
CAROLINE BURNSIDE never used to give a second thought to news about Scotland's growing knife culture.
Like most people, she found it inconceivable that her family would ever be the ones to suffer.
That all changed one day in 2001 when she received a phone call. It began a chain of events in her son's life which would ultimately lead to him becoming yet another statistic.
She was told that troubled teenager Brett had been responsible for the savage stabbing of another youth near the family home in Balerno.
His victim survived, but three years later Brett would not be so lucky - he lost his life when he was stabbed in an unrelated attack.
As knife crime is once again thrust into the political spotlight, 44-year-old Ms Burnside today spoke of how she had seen the devastating effects from both sides - as the mother of an attacker, and as the mother of a victim.
She is convinced there is only one way to tackle the issue - by introducing mandatory jail terms for anyone caught carrying a knife.
"These kids see people getting stabbed in the movies a dozen times and then get up and keep on fighting. They're under the impression knives aren't serious.
"I don't care what the politicians say - nothing has changed in the years since my son died. People who get caught with a knife should go straight to jail."
Her son's attacker, David Reid, is currently detained at Carstairs State Hospital. He was found guilty of culpable homicide in July 2005 on the grounds of diminished responsibility when psychiatrists failed to agree whether he was mentally ill or in a drug-induced psychosis at the time of Brett's killing.
Ironically, Brett, who himself had suffered schizophrenia, was previously detained in the Royal Edinburgh Hospital after his own knife attack.
Unlike Reid, his family say he got the help he needed to change his life.
Ms Burnside recalls: "We were on holiday when we heard that Brett had stabbed someone. He was attacked by three guys a few days before, and instead of going to the police he got drugged up and took the law into his own hands. When we got back we found that he'd gone on the run.
"When he returned to Edinburgh he phoned us and I convinced him to go back to the Royal for treatment - where he had been attending as an outpatient since age 14 - and when he got there the police were waiting for him after I shopped him in."
A court heard how Brett, then aged 18, attacked his victim Craig McCaig with a seven-inch bread knife. He was declared unfit to stand trial, but the judge was satisfied he had carried out the offences and ordered he be detained.
He said: "Brett didn't speak to me for three months, but when he started coming round he thanked me for what I did, and said he understood why I did it.
"The Royal Edinburgh had helped him immensely. When he was released his girlfriend became pregnant and he was looking forward to becoming a dad. He still had a few problems but they turned him into a better person who could understand people's suffering."
At the time of his death, Brett was lodging with a gay couple on Broughton Street. Reid, a known drug user, would regularly torment the couple by turning up at their door trying to sell things.
Ms Burnside said the warning signs in Reid were already there - he had previous convictions for carrying a knife, and for a knife attack outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court on a witness who had given evidence against him in another trial.
She added: "Reid used to torment the guys about being gay, and Brett was standing up for them. They got in an argument and Reid pulled out a knife.
"We didn't used to take much notice of knife crime, but now I have a very strong opinion on people who carry knives.
"My grandson, who was born after Brett died, is growing up in a very sick world. I don't think enough is being done in schools to educate children on the dangers of knife crime."
She said she supported Tory leader David Cameron who called for anyone carrying a knife without a good excuse to be sent to prison. "I'll back anyone who stands up for victims like myself and my family. We are living a life sentence. Life should mean life for crimes like the killing of my son."
CHILLING FIGURES
MORE than 600 people were hospitalised with stabbing injuries in the space of five years in the Lothians, according to latest figures.
It means an average of more than two victims a week are admitted to accident and emergency at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary or St John's suffering injuries from attacks with a "sharp object".
That number has fallen as the decade has gone on, with 141 people being admitted in 2001/02, falling to 110 in 05/06. But recorded possession of knives has soared by 70 per cent in the last three years, with 465 cases in the last year.
A police spokesman said: "In Edinburgh, the number of crimes involving a knife has fallen since 2004 and, over the same period, there has been a rise in the numbers caught in possession of a knife.
"Reducing violent crime is a force priority and we have a key role to play in prevention through enforcement.
"Those people who do carry a knife often use the excuse that they are doing so for their own protection. However, what they don't realise is that by carrying a knife, they increase their chances of becoming involved in a serious incident which could end in serious injury or worse."
Recent police figures also revealed that the number of youngsters charged with bringing a knife to school in the Lothians doubled in the last year from nine to 18. Eight arrests were made in Edinburgh, with six cases believed to have been committed in high schools.
Edinburgh education leader Marilyne MacLaren said extensive work was under way with the police to improve crime prevention in schools. The city was the first in Scotland to launch Keeping Myself Safe, ten animated films based on true stories including one on knife crime.
Challenge to find the answer to tale of tragedy
TACKLING knife crime is set to become a crucial test for the governments on both sides of the Border.
In a week when one man was stabbed 11 times at the T in the Park music festival, and two men were jailed for life for a horrific unprovoked attack on Livingston chef John Jenkins, calls are growing for tougher jail sentences.
The family of 27-year-old Mr Jenkins have said those caught carrying knives should be taken to a morgue to see the damage their weapons can do. Bill Jenkins, 54, said the Government and the courts must take a tougher stance on such offences.
Speaking after John Edgar, 24, and his cousin David McCaig, 18, were jailed for life but sentenced to minimum terms of 15 years and 10 years respectively, Mr Jenkins called the punishments "a joke".
He said: "To me, if you are going to carry a knife it is like you carry a gun. You are going to use it some time or other.
"You should get the same sentence for carrying a knife as carrying a gun.
"I believe in taking them to the morgue and showing them what they have done," added Mr Jenkins, describing how he had to identify his son's body. "It is the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life."
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has already vowed to tackle Scotland's "booze and blades" culture,
promising a new sentencing council would be set up which would issue guidelines to crack down on knife crime.
He said: "I would anticipate that any sentencing council would make it quite clear that the use of a weapon should, except in the most exceptional circumstances, face a custodial sentence."
He said the Government was also looking at allowing those affected by knife crime to have a say on the sentence.
Under Scots law, there is no mandatory jail sentence for carrying a knife in public. But the previous Labour-Liberal Democrat Scottish Executive increased the maximum penalty for carrying a knife from two years to four years' imprisonment.
Two years ago, the Lord Advocate issued guidelines which meant people found carrying knives would be refused police bail and, once they got to court, if they had any previous convictions involving knives, prosecutors would oppose any move to release them on bail.
Nationally, Prime Minister Gordon Brown stressed "it is completely unacceptable to carry a knife".
Edinburgh Evening News
July 16, 2008
For one bereaved city mother, the grim reality of blade culture has cast an eternal shadow over her life
The mother of a 21-year-old brutally stabbed to death today appealed for mandatory jail sentences for carrying a knife.
Caroline Burnside spoke out as it was revealed 600 people have been treated in hospital for stab wounds in the Lothians in the past five years.
Her son Brett died three years after he himself was detained for stabbing a man. She said: "People who get caught with a knife should go straight to jail".
CAROLINE BURNSIDE never used to give a second thought to news about Scotland's growing knife culture.
Like most people, she found it inconceivable that her family would ever be the ones to suffer.
That all changed one day in 2001 when she received a phone call. It began a chain of events in her son's life which would ultimately lead to him becoming yet another statistic.
She was told that troubled teenager Brett had been responsible for the savage stabbing of another youth near the family home in Balerno.
His victim survived, but three years later Brett would not be so lucky - he lost his life when he was stabbed in an unrelated attack.
As knife crime is once again thrust into the political spotlight, 44-year-old Ms Burnside today spoke of how she had seen the devastating effects from both sides - as the mother of an attacker, and as the mother of a victim.
She is convinced there is only one way to tackle the issue - by introducing mandatory jail terms for anyone caught carrying a knife.
"These kids see people getting stabbed in the movies a dozen times and then get up and keep on fighting. They're under the impression knives aren't serious.
"I don't care what the politicians say - nothing has changed in the years since my son died. People who get caught with a knife should go straight to jail."
Her son's attacker, David Reid, is currently detained at Carstairs State Hospital. He was found guilty of culpable homicide in July 2005 on the grounds of diminished responsibility when psychiatrists failed to agree whether he was mentally ill or in a drug-induced psychosis at the time of Brett's killing.
Ironically, Brett, who himself had suffered schizophrenia, was previously detained in the Royal Edinburgh Hospital after his own knife attack.
Unlike Reid, his family say he got the help he needed to change his life.
Ms Burnside recalls: "We were on holiday when we heard that Brett had stabbed someone. He was attacked by three guys a few days before, and instead of going to the police he got drugged up and took the law into his own hands. When we got back we found that he'd gone on the run.
"When he returned to Edinburgh he phoned us and I convinced him to go back to the Royal for treatment - where he had been attending as an outpatient since age 14 - and when he got there the police were waiting for him after I shopped him in."
A court heard how Brett, then aged 18, attacked his victim Craig McCaig with a seven-inch bread knife. He was declared unfit to stand trial, but the judge was satisfied he had carried out the offences and ordered he be detained.
He said: "Brett didn't speak to me for three months, but when he started coming round he thanked me for what I did, and said he understood why I did it.
"The Royal Edinburgh had helped him immensely. When he was released his girlfriend became pregnant and he was looking forward to becoming a dad. He still had a few problems but they turned him into a better person who could understand people's suffering."
At the time of his death, Brett was lodging with a gay couple on Broughton Street. Reid, a known drug user, would regularly torment the couple by turning up at their door trying to sell things.
Ms Burnside said the warning signs in Reid were already there - he had previous convictions for carrying a knife, and for a knife attack outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court on a witness who had given evidence against him in another trial.
She added: "Reid used to torment the guys about being gay, and Brett was standing up for them. They got in an argument and Reid pulled out a knife.
"We didn't used to take much notice of knife crime, but now I have a very strong opinion on people who carry knives.
"My grandson, who was born after Brett died, is growing up in a very sick world. I don't think enough is being done in schools to educate children on the dangers of knife crime."
She said she supported Tory leader David Cameron who called for anyone carrying a knife without a good excuse to be sent to prison. "I'll back anyone who stands up for victims like myself and my family. We are living a life sentence. Life should mean life for crimes like the killing of my son."
CHILLING FIGURES
MORE than 600 people were hospitalised with stabbing injuries in the space of five years in the Lothians, according to latest figures.
It means an average of more than two victims a week are admitted to accident and emergency at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary or St John's suffering injuries from attacks with a "sharp object".
That number has fallen as the decade has gone on, with 141 people being admitted in 2001/02, falling to 110 in 05/06. But recorded possession of knives has soared by 70 per cent in the last three years, with 465 cases in the last year.
A police spokesman said: "In Edinburgh, the number of crimes involving a knife has fallen since 2004 and, over the same period, there has been a rise in the numbers caught in possession of a knife.
"Reducing violent crime is a force priority and we have a key role to play in prevention through enforcement.
"Those people who do carry a knife often use the excuse that they are doing so for their own protection. However, what they don't realise is that by carrying a knife, they increase their chances of becoming involved in a serious incident which could end in serious injury or worse."
Recent police figures also revealed that the number of youngsters charged with bringing a knife to school in the Lothians doubled in the last year from nine to 18. Eight arrests were made in Edinburgh, with six cases believed to have been committed in high schools.
Edinburgh education leader Marilyne MacLaren said extensive work was under way with the police to improve crime prevention in schools. The city was the first in Scotland to launch Keeping Myself Safe, ten animated films based on true stories including one on knife crime.
Challenge to find the answer to tale of tragedy
TACKLING knife crime is set to become a crucial test for the governments on both sides of the Border.
In a week when one man was stabbed 11 times at the T in the Park music festival, and two men were jailed for life for a horrific unprovoked attack on Livingston chef John Jenkins, calls are growing for tougher jail sentences.
The family of 27-year-old Mr Jenkins have said those caught carrying knives should be taken to a morgue to see the damage their weapons can do. Bill Jenkins, 54, said the Government and the courts must take a tougher stance on such offences.
Speaking after John Edgar, 24, and his cousin David McCaig, 18, were jailed for life but sentenced to minimum terms of 15 years and 10 years respectively, Mr Jenkins called the punishments "a joke".
He said: "To me, if you are going to carry a knife it is like you carry a gun. You are going to use it some time or other.
"You should get the same sentence for carrying a knife as carrying a gun.
"I believe in taking them to the morgue and showing them what they have done," added Mr Jenkins, describing how he had to identify his son's body. "It is the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life."
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has already vowed to tackle Scotland's "booze and blades" culture,
promising a new sentencing council would be set up which would issue guidelines to crack down on knife crime.
He said: "I would anticipate that any sentencing council would make it quite clear that the use of a weapon should, except in the most exceptional circumstances, face a custodial sentence."
He said the Government was also looking at allowing those affected by knife crime to have a say on the sentence.
Under Scots law, there is no mandatory jail sentence for carrying a knife in public. But the previous Labour-Liberal Democrat Scottish Executive increased the maximum penalty for carrying a knife from two years to four years' imprisonment.
Two years ago, the Lord Advocate issued guidelines which meant people found carrying knives would be refused police bail and, once they got to court, if they had any previous convictions involving knives, prosecutors would oppose any move to release them on bail.
Nationally, Prime Minister Gordon Brown stressed "it is completely unacceptable to carry a knife".
ANALYSIS: Metal Mania
By Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
June 9, 2008
ON April 29 2008 one of the world's largest non-ferrous metal traders, the London Metal Exchange, sold its first ferrous metal stocks in its 130-year history due to the rocketing demand for steel in fast developing countries such as India and China. And, in anticipation of a growing market, started for the first time tracking the sale of steel.
The growing demand from across the world has sent the price of iron - the core component of ferrous metals such as steel - through the roof, and as a result Edinburgh has been plagued by thieves looking to cash in on the roaring trade in scrap metal.
Police received over 20 reports of scrap metal thefts in May alone, including 40 drain gully covers stolen in Portobello, and last Tuesday two massive spare propellers from the Royal Yacht Britannia made from phosphor bronze.
The problem has become so bad that Lothian and Borders Police have had to draft in a CID officer to co-ordinate the fightback against the metal thieves.
Inspector Steven Gibb, of the divisional intelligence unit, said: "The officer will help implement loss prevention measures, conduct intelligence gathering and implement enforcement measures over and above what we already have in place. This is a growing problem and it's not going to stop with the current price of scrap metal.
"It's a very lucrative business and thieves will go to extreme lengths to get their hands on the metal, with no regard at all for public safety.
"With something like a drain cover, if the theft isn't identified quickly and the area cordoned off, there is a danger a member of the public will injure themselves. Most of these thefts take place at night, so the danger to someone crossing the road in the dark is very high."
Edinburgh City Council environment leader Robert Aldridge said the average cost of replacing a gully cover is GBP 100, but in some cases it may be necessary to replace the entire gully, costing GBP 1000.
He said: "Stealing gully covers is a callous crime which could have serious repercussions in terms of public safety.
"I am very concerned that these selfish acts could seriously endanger pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. In addition, there are substantial cost implications for replacing the stolen covers."
An indication of the lengths that crooks are prepared to go to was given last weekend when thieves broke into two 11,000-volt electricity substations at the Edinburgh International Climbing Centre to steal cable worth less than GBP 20.
In May alone, police were called to investigate the theft of GBP 500 worth of drain covers from Fishwives Causeway; GBP 2650 of aluminium door frames stolen in Ratho Station; GBP 4000 worth of cabling stolen from a building site on West Granton Road; copper piping and lead flashing stolen from Broughton Place; GBP 600 of copper piping stolen from Hawkhill; ten drain covers stolen from South Queensferry; six reels of aircraft quality cabling worth GBP 600 stolen from airport electrical contractor Crown House, as well as various reports of door handles, hinges and locks going missing.
Some local authorities in England have also witnessed gangs of thieves setting up their own roadworks in broad daylight, so they can lift underground BT cables without being disturbed.
A BT spokeswoman has confirmed that this type of crime has not migrated north, but Inspector Gibb believes the reason for this is because the thieves don't have to.
He added: "With the number of building sites in Edinburgh at the moment there are reels of cable just lying around, and there's a valuable lesson there for site managers. The cost to developers of the items getting stolen is massive compared to what the thieves are getting for it. I would be surprised if they're getting any more than ten per cent of the real value.
"We recently arrested two individuals carrying out this activity, and their vehicle's details have been circulated and if it is seen again in suspicious circumstances police have been given authorisation to carry out a stop and search.
"I've even encountered thieves breaking into one scrapyard, to sell scrap on to another."
William Waugh (Edinburgh) Ltd is one of the longest established scrap metal recyclers in Edinburgh.
Its directors have long experience of the variances in scrap metal prices and it has strict procedures in place to make sure all of its scrap is above-board.
A spokesman said: "We keep a record of every item that is brought into our yard, along with the name and address details of the individuals dropping it off and a record of their vehicles.
"Manhole covers are largely made of cast iron and come in all shapes, sizes and weights so it's difficult to put a price on how much such an item is worth. However, the current price for iron is about GBP 150 a tonne.
"Your average wire cable is made up of copper, steel, aluminium and even occasionally lead. It's quite a complex piece of kit so you can get between GBP 500 and GBP 1000 for a ton of cabling.
You can get about GBP 120 a tonne for steel and between GBP 500 and GBP 600 a tonne for aluminium. The prices for iron are at a record high at the moment and still going up.
"These things are cyclical but this is probably the biggest surge we've seen."
Edinburgh Evening News
June 9, 2008
ON April 29 2008 one of the world's largest non-ferrous metal traders, the London Metal Exchange, sold its first ferrous metal stocks in its 130-year history due to the rocketing demand for steel in fast developing countries such as India and China. And, in anticipation of a growing market, started for the first time tracking the sale of steel.
The growing demand from across the world has sent the price of iron - the core component of ferrous metals such as steel - through the roof, and as a result Edinburgh has been plagued by thieves looking to cash in on the roaring trade in scrap metal.
Police received over 20 reports of scrap metal thefts in May alone, including 40 drain gully covers stolen in Portobello, and last Tuesday two massive spare propellers from the Royal Yacht Britannia made from phosphor bronze.
The problem has become so bad that Lothian and Borders Police have had to draft in a CID officer to co-ordinate the fightback against the metal thieves.
Inspector Steven Gibb, of the divisional intelligence unit, said: "The officer will help implement loss prevention measures, conduct intelligence gathering and implement enforcement measures over and above what we already have in place. This is a growing problem and it's not going to stop with the current price of scrap metal.
"It's a very lucrative business and thieves will go to extreme lengths to get their hands on the metal, with no regard at all for public safety.
"With something like a drain cover, if the theft isn't identified quickly and the area cordoned off, there is a danger a member of the public will injure themselves. Most of these thefts take place at night, so the danger to someone crossing the road in the dark is very high."
Edinburgh City Council environment leader Robert Aldridge said the average cost of replacing a gully cover is GBP 100, but in some cases it may be necessary to replace the entire gully, costing GBP 1000.
He said: "Stealing gully covers is a callous crime which could have serious repercussions in terms of public safety.
"I am very concerned that these selfish acts could seriously endanger pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. In addition, there are substantial cost implications for replacing the stolen covers."
An indication of the lengths that crooks are prepared to go to was given last weekend when thieves broke into two 11,000-volt electricity substations at the Edinburgh International Climbing Centre to steal cable worth less than GBP 20.
In May alone, police were called to investigate the theft of GBP 500 worth of drain covers from Fishwives Causeway; GBP 2650 of aluminium door frames stolen in Ratho Station; GBP 4000 worth of cabling stolen from a building site on West Granton Road; copper piping and lead flashing stolen from Broughton Place; GBP 600 of copper piping stolen from Hawkhill; ten drain covers stolen from South Queensferry; six reels of aircraft quality cabling worth GBP 600 stolen from airport electrical contractor Crown House, as well as various reports of door handles, hinges and locks going missing.
Some local authorities in England have also witnessed gangs of thieves setting up their own roadworks in broad daylight, so they can lift underground BT cables without being disturbed.
A BT spokeswoman has confirmed that this type of crime has not migrated north, but Inspector Gibb believes the reason for this is because the thieves don't have to.
He added: "With the number of building sites in Edinburgh at the moment there are reels of cable just lying around, and there's a valuable lesson there for site managers. The cost to developers of the items getting stolen is massive compared to what the thieves are getting for it. I would be surprised if they're getting any more than ten per cent of the real value.
"We recently arrested two individuals carrying out this activity, and their vehicle's details have been circulated and if it is seen again in suspicious circumstances police have been given authorisation to carry out a stop and search.
"I've even encountered thieves breaking into one scrapyard, to sell scrap on to another."
William Waugh (Edinburgh) Ltd is one of the longest established scrap metal recyclers in Edinburgh.
Its directors have long experience of the variances in scrap metal prices and it has strict procedures in place to make sure all of its scrap is above-board.
A spokesman said: "We keep a record of every item that is brought into our yard, along with the name and address details of the individuals dropping it off and a record of their vehicles.
"Manhole covers are largely made of cast iron and come in all shapes, sizes and weights so it's difficult to put a price on how much such an item is worth. However, the current price for iron is about GBP 150 a tonne.
"Your average wire cable is made up of copper, steel, aluminium and even occasionally lead. It's quite a complex piece of kit so you can get between GBP 500 and GBP 1000 for a ton of cabling.
You can get about GBP 120 a tonne for steel and between GBP 500 and GBP 600 a tonne for aluminium. The prices for iron are at a record high at the moment and still going up.
"These things are cyclical but this is probably the biggest surge we've seen."
ANALYSIS: Bourgeois Buckfast
By Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
May 21, 2008
If you believe your favourite wine isn't as potent as the likes of Buckfast, think again. Many of us are unaware of the true strength of the alcohol we consume and the dangers it brings, as Mark McLaughlin reveals
IT is an image which strikes horror into the hearts of most parents - teenagers in the street knocking back bottles of Buckfast. But how many parents realise the wine they drink at home may be every bit as powerful as the drink of choice of young yobs?
While Buckfast contains 15 per cent alcohol, many of the nation's favourite wines are now every bit as strong.
Take Papavero Primitivo 2006 - the best-selling red for one leading internet wine seller, Direct Wines Ltd.
Enhanced Coverage LinkingDirect Wines Ltd. -Search using:
News, Most Recent 60 Days
It contains 14 per cent alcohol. Some popular wines, such as Australian Zinfandel, a particularly robust red at 16 per cent, contain more alcohol than Buckfast.
It highlights a problem which is causing growing concern among health professionals - widespread ignorance about the amount of alcohol we actually drink.
A YouGov poll released this week has found that many who consider themselves moderate drinkers are unaware of the high levels of alcohol in their drinks, because measures are getting larger while beers and wines are getting stronger.
The poll comes after the Scottish Government warned alcohol misuse is costing Scotland GBP 2.25 billion a year - more than double previous estimates - and is hitting business, the NHS, social services, police and courts.
While Zinfandel is at the higher end of the scale most bottles available in any supermarket or wine merchant are around 13 per cent.
David Henderson, a wine merchant of 25 years' experience and owner of Henderson's Wines in Morningside, is finding it increasingly difficult to find bottles of a more moderate strength.
He said: "I regularly get comments from discerning, educated wine drinkers who feel that they can't handle a bottle of 14 per cent.
"Yet I've been on wine-tasting trips to meet growers who say most people are only interested in wine that packs as much alcohol in the bottle as possible.
"In my experience people just have no idea how much alcohol they are drinking, and there are quite a few misconceptions out there. Some people believe white isn't as strong as red, or that a bottle of rosé is less potent than a full-bodied wine."
The confusion is heightened for some shoppers as many of the most popular websites selling wine don't provide information about the alcoholic strength.
Jack Law, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said growing numbers of middle-aged drinkers risk damaging their health by drinking too much at home.
He added: "Older drinkers may drink at home rather than in pubs or clubs, and it's easy to get into the habit of having a few glasses of wine each night to 'relax'. Home measures tend to be far bigger than pub measures so a vodka, whisky or gin at home could be the equivalent of a double or treble in a bar. It's worth remembering that it's adults who are more likely to be hospitalised or attend a counselling service because of their drinking."
Tom Wood, chairman of Action on Alcohol and Drugs in Edinburgh, says many people believe there's only one unit of alcohol in a glass of wine, a pint of beer or a measure of spirits. He says: "There is indeed only one unit of alcohol in a glass of wine - provided it's a 125ml glass of wine with eight per cent alcohol.
"However, glasses of wine are now usually served in 250ml measures of between 12 and 14 per cent, so a glass of wine is now around three units of alcohol.
"It's important to educate people on these points. Some people may be under the impression that it is not that bad to have two or three glasses of wine regularly.
"The health service has now picked up on the fact that a lot of people are sleepwalking into serious health problems.
"These people may not be falling down in the gutter in a pool of vomit, but their health is being eroded in a very quiet and insidious way. They are risking long-term damage to their vital organs - including the liver, heart and cardiovascular system - and may pay the price through premature ageing and failing liver function."
Dalkeith GP Dr Dean Marshall, chairman of the BMA's Scottish General Practitioners Committee, said the problem is made worse by patients who misrepresent their alcohol intake in the patient surveys they take when registering with GPs.
He said: "According to these surveys I've never met anyone who smokes more than 20 a day, but this is quite clearly not the case and these surveys also reveal a similar ignorance about alcohol.
"What some people regard as one unit of alcohol is in fact two or three, so people may not necessarily be lying about their intake but may be unaware of how much they are consuming.
"For this reason the Department of Health in England is going to start paying GPs to carry out in-depth alcohol surveys, and is giving them the resources to compile the information more effectively.
"In Scotland a lot of money is poured into alcohol programmes but because there are so many groups focusing on alcohol, and receiving funds, the Scottish Government believes the message is getting through, whereas I think the money may be better spent by empowering GPs to carry out these kinds of studies."
Costs to the Scottish Economy of Alcohol Misuse
NHS GBP 405 million
Social Services GBP 170 million
Police/Fire GBP 385 million
Wider Economy GBP 820 million
Human/Social Costs GBP 470 million
Edinburgh Evening News
May 21, 2008
If you believe your favourite wine isn't as potent as the likes of Buckfast, think again. Many of us are unaware of the true strength of the alcohol we consume and the dangers it brings, as Mark McLaughlin reveals
IT is an image which strikes horror into the hearts of most parents - teenagers in the street knocking back bottles of Buckfast. But how many parents realise the wine they drink at home may be every bit as powerful as the drink of choice of young yobs?
While Buckfast contains 15 per cent alcohol, many of the nation's favourite wines are now every bit as strong.
Take Papavero Primitivo 2006 - the best-selling red for one leading internet wine seller, Direct Wines Ltd.
Enhanced Coverage LinkingDirect Wines Ltd. -Search using:
News, Most Recent 60 Days
It contains 14 per cent alcohol. Some popular wines, such as Australian Zinfandel, a particularly robust red at 16 per cent, contain more alcohol than Buckfast.
It highlights a problem which is causing growing concern among health professionals - widespread ignorance about the amount of alcohol we actually drink.
A YouGov poll released this week has found that many who consider themselves moderate drinkers are unaware of the high levels of alcohol in their drinks, because measures are getting larger while beers and wines are getting stronger.
The poll comes after the Scottish Government warned alcohol misuse is costing Scotland GBP 2.25 billion a year - more than double previous estimates - and is hitting business, the NHS, social services, police and courts.
While Zinfandel is at the higher end of the scale most bottles available in any supermarket or wine merchant are around 13 per cent.
David Henderson, a wine merchant of 25 years' experience and owner of Henderson's Wines in Morningside, is finding it increasingly difficult to find bottles of a more moderate strength.
He said: "I regularly get comments from discerning, educated wine drinkers who feel that they can't handle a bottle of 14 per cent.
"Yet I've been on wine-tasting trips to meet growers who say most people are only interested in wine that packs as much alcohol in the bottle as possible.
"In my experience people just have no idea how much alcohol they are drinking, and there are quite a few misconceptions out there. Some people believe white isn't as strong as red, or that a bottle of rosé is less potent than a full-bodied wine."
The confusion is heightened for some shoppers as many of the most popular websites selling wine don't provide information about the alcoholic strength.
Jack Law, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said growing numbers of middle-aged drinkers risk damaging their health by drinking too much at home.
He added: "Older drinkers may drink at home rather than in pubs or clubs, and it's easy to get into the habit of having a few glasses of wine each night to 'relax'. Home measures tend to be far bigger than pub measures so a vodka, whisky or gin at home could be the equivalent of a double or treble in a bar. It's worth remembering that it's adults who are more likely to be hospitalised or attend a counselling service because of their drinking."
Tom Wood, chairman of Action on Alcohol and Drugs in Edinburgh, says many people believe there's only one unit of alcohol in a glass of wine, a pint of beer or a measure of spirits. He says: "There is indeed only one unit of alcohol in a glass of wine - provided it's a 125ml glass of wine with eight per cent alcohol.
"However, glasses of wine are now usually served in 250ml measures of between 12 and 14 per cent, so a glass of wine is now around three units of alcohol.
"It's important to educate people on these points. Some people may be under the impression that it is not that bad to have two or three glasses of wine regularly.
"The health service has now picked up on the fact that a lot of people are sleepwalking into serious health problems.
"These people may not be falling down in the gutter in a pool of vomit, but their health is being eroded in a very quiet and insidious way. They are risking long-term damage to their vital organs - including the liver, heart and cardiovascular system - and may pay the price through premature ageing and failing liver function."
Dalkeith GP Dr Dean Marshall, chairman of the BMA's Scottish General Practitioners Committee, said the problem is made worse by patients who misrepresent their alcohol intake in the patient surveys they take when registering with GPs.
He said: "According to these surveys I've never met anyone who smokes more than 20 a day, but this is quite clearly not the case and these surveys also reveal a similar ignorance about alcohol.
"What some people regard as one unit of alcohol is in fact two or three, so people may not necessarily be lying about their intake but may be unaware of how much they are consuming.
"For this reason the Department of Health in England is going to start paying GPs to carry out in-depth alcohol surveys, and is giving them the resources to compile the information more effectively.
"In Scotland a lot of money is poured into alcohol programmes but because there are so many groups focusing on alcohol, and receiving funds, the Scottish Government believes the message is getting through, whereas I think the money may be better spent by empowering GPs to carry out these kinds of studies."
Costs to the Scottish Economy of Alcohol Misuse
NHS GBP 405 million
Social Services GBP 170 million
Police/Fire GBP 385 million
Wider Economy GBP 820 million
Human/Social Costs GBP 470 million
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