Scotsman Bulletin Monday November 6 2023 #Fireworks #Police
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00:08 Hello and welcome to the Scotsman's Daily Bulletin for Monday, November the 6th.
00:13 I'm Alan Young, Deputy Editor of the Scotsman,
00:16 and joined today by our political correspondent, Rachel Emery,
00:19 to take a look back on a fiery bonfire night.
00:22 Hi, Rachel.
00:23 Morning.
00:24 Let's have a look at the front page of the paper first.
00:28 We lead today on the family of Hamza Yousaf arriving back in Scotland at last,
00:37 after their ordeal in Gaza.
00:40 The First Minister tweeted that family reunion picture yesterday,
00:44 but conditions in Gaza continue to deteriorate.
00:49 We've got a lot of coverage in today's paper.
00:52 We also wrap up the best of the weekend sport in the Viya Play Cup as the final is decided,
01:02 and as ever, incisive comment from Brian Monteith there at the top of the page.
01:08 But, Rachel, I want to talk to you about a story that's making the headlines today,
01:14 and that is the disruption in Nidri last night,
01:18 where police and fire crews came under attack.
01:22 Bonfire night, I guess, by now, emergency services expect a certain amount of trouble, depressingly,
01:30 but really it was on a different scale last night.
01:34 Yes, it really was, in quite a few different cities,
01:36 but I think the main one that we were focusing on this morning was what happened in the Nidri area of Edinburgh.
01:42 There was eight police officers who sustained minor injuries,
01:45 with petrol bombs and fireworks being thrown at them.
01:48 We've actually seen there's some clips on Twitter this morning of some of the police
01:53 trying to push the crowds back in their riot gear.
01:56 I think it's quite something to see those videos,
01:59 and especially when you then realise, oh wait, this is actually happening in Edinburgh.
02:02 So, yes, some really quite shocking scenes from last night.
02:05 I think there was also some unrest in Glasgow area as well.
02:08 And of course, this was only days after there was riots in Kirkton area of Dundee over the Halloween period as well.
02:14 So it's not been a great week for the emergency services lately.
02:18 No, indeed. And this is sure to spark quite a strong political response, you would have thought,
02:24 especially around the licensing of fireworks.
02:28 What kind of reaction have we had so far today?
02:30 Well, there has been new legislation brought in on firework control zones that can be introduced if a local authority wants to,
02:36 but it's down to each local authority to bring that licensing zone in.
02:42 And what we've seen is that perhaps isn't as widespread as perhaps the government would have liked to have happened.
02:47 And so there has been a bit of a clampdown on the sale of fireworks and people being encouraged to not have their own displays.
02:53 But because this legislation is not blanketed across the country,
02:57 it does mean that there's a bit of a difference between what's actually happening in different parts.
03:02 As I said, there has been some political reaction.
03:04 Humza Yousaf, the First Minister, has tweeted about it. I'll just read it for you now.
03:07 Saying "Disgraceful scenes of fireworks misuse across the media of Scotland, particularly in Nidgeri."
03:13 Saying that he's paying tribute to the fire service and to Police Scotland for doing their jobs,
03:16 but also added they shouldn't be targeted and attacked just for doing their jobs.
03:20 And those responsible should feel the fulfilled force of the law.
03:24 So it'll be interesting to see what the fallout of this will be, because it's not nice to see those scenes.
03:29 And unfortunately, it does sort of taint the whole experience that people have had of fireworks displays across Scotland.
03:34 I mean, the fireworks display that I went to last night in Perth, there was none of that kind of stuff.
03:38 It was all very civilised. So it's a shame to then hear that other people didn't quite have the same experience.
03:44 Yeah, it really is a sad reflection on today's society when we can't go out and enjoy an occasion like this
03:53 without fearing of what is going to kick off in some communities.
04:00 Thanks very much for that. Rachel will continue to follow this story closely throughout the day,
04:07 as we are sure to get more political reaction.
04:10 And if you are online, please do check Scotsman.com throughout the day for all the very latest updates.
04:18 If you can, please do subscribe, then you will not miss a thing.
04:22 And if you're out and about today, please do also pick up a copy of the paper from me and from Rachel.
04:28 So it's bye for now. Bye.
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