Nicola Sturgeon has poured scorn on allegations that her allies plotted to “bring down” her former mentor Alex Salmond as a “heap of nonsense”. In an interview with Kirsty Wark on Newsnight last night, the first minister said her version of events would be explained in the public inquiry into the Scottish government’s mishandling of complaints against Mr Salmond. The complaints process was later deemed to be unlawful and biased following a legal challenge in the Court of Session, a decision...

Pupils returning to classrooms in Edinburgh and Aberdeen will attend school for one week in three under plans to resume conventional teaching. In the capital lessons will take place from Mondays to Thursdays, with children attending for the whole day. Fridays will be used by staff to support home learning. Nursery and primary schools will ensure that siblings attend on the same day, but secondaries are likely to group pupils by year group. In Aberdeen schools will start the term on August 11...

Missiles were thrown by rival protesters in central Glasgow yesterday afternoon in a skirmish infiltrated by known football gangs, Police Scotland said. No arrests were made after the confrontation, which involved hundreds of people, believed to be linked to a group calling themselves the Loyalist Defence League, who arrived to “guard” statues in George Square. The counter-demonstration appeared to be prompted by plans for a mass rally calling for the removal of the statue of Robert Peel, the...

A former Taliban fighter has won the right to live in Scotland after a judge ruled that he would not receive proper treatment in his home country for the post-traumatic stress he suffered during the conflict. The member of the Islamist group, whose identity has been protected by the courts, was granted asylum after a judge at an immigration tribunal in Glasgow found that returning him to Afghanistan would infringe his human rights. It was also claimed the former fighter, 41, would be at risk...

Police have raided Britain’s nuclear weapons base and two Scottish Marines have been arrested for alleged drug dealing. Living quarters at HM Naval Base Clyde, home to the fleet of Trident nuclear submarines, were searched by officers. The Marines appeared at Glasgow sheriff court on the day of the raid, June 5, and made no plea to charges of supplying illegal substances. A five-figure sum of cash was also seized during a police operation in Baillieston, in east Glasgow. The Royal Navy was...