From the Scottish Government News site today:
‘Young carers going through the immigration process will be able to apply for the Scottish Government’s Young Carer Grant without fear of it risking their immigration status. The change comes following lengthy discussions between the Scottish and UK Governments to amend Home Office regulations. With a payment of £300 the Young Carer Grant helps improve the quality of life for 16, 17 and 18-year-olds who spend an average of 16 hours caring for someone who receives a disability benefit. The Young Carer Grant was introduced in 2019 with an expected investment of £600,000 from the Scottish Government in 2019/20. Current regulations state that due to Home Office restrictions, young carers who are subject to immigration control are not eligible to receive the grant’
https://news.gov.scot/news/young-carer-grant-extended
On its own, this means little, but the differences are growing day by day. How about these 25?
Scotland IS different as it protects unaccompanied children seeking asylum
It is a matter of life in Scotland and death in England
Scotland IS a different place as its universities offer guaranteed places to care leavers
Abuse of women and the disabled far higher in England than in Scotland
Scottish Muslim students far less likely to report abuse or crime?
Terror de-radicalisation referral rate in Scotland less than one third per capita of that in England
Scientific evidence that Scots tend to be different from the other groups in rUK?
Who said Scots were not more left-wing than those in the rest of the UK?
Different Scotland in the UN report on ‘Workhouse Britain’
Scottish values making oil and gas firms a tad different too?
Are Scotland’s employers also different – more willing to pay a decent wage?
Talking-up Scotland 
Hi John, Just imagine the outburst from the BBC and others if the FM did this..
Downing Street ordered senior journalists from some of the UK’s major news organisations to leave before a briefing on Boris Johnson’s Brexit plans – prompting a walkout by colleagues from across the media.
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Don’t know if it was SCER who put this ‘Scottish and European’ letter together and circulated it? – but some really quite interesting (and surprising) signatories amongst the 60+ (a couple well-known lib. dems, a former labour MP, a former tory MEP, financial and legal elites represented, etc) . Small steps but interesting nonetheless. Link and snippets below:
https://www.scer.scot/database/ident-12348
We, the undersigned, today reaffirm and celebrate our Europeanness. We are proud to be Scottish and European and proud that Scotland is, and always will be, a European country.
We profoundly regret, and continue to oppose, the damaging UK process of leaving the EU. We remain citizens of the EU in our hearts.
We hope and believe that Scotland will both keep and strengthen its European networks, links and partnerships from today on – and will stay as close to the EU as possible. We look forward to the day when Scotland will once again be within the European Union; we hope that will be sooner rather than later.
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Classic Ukanian delaying strategies being applied to the Smith Commission agreement on the transfer of further Tribunal powers from Ukanian ministries to Scotland. Scottish Legal site carrying bare-bones story. Doubtless Gordon Brown will be along, any minute now, to ‘personally ensure’ that these Smith Process agreements are finally delivered? Link and snippets below:
https://www.scottishlegal.com/article/plans-to-devolve-tribunals-delayed-for-at-least-two-years
The Scottish government was meant to take over the operation of a number of tribunals but a report now makes clear this will now not take place “before 2022”.
Holyrood officials said it was “disappointing” that their counterparts in Westminster had not published plans for transferring the powers five years after they were agreed.
The Smith agreement provides that “all powers over the management and operation” of reserved tribunals should be devolved to Holyrood.
A Scottish government spokesman said: “It is disappointing that after five years the UK government has not been able to publish its proposals for how this devolution will be delivered and we have written to it seeking progress. We will seek to agree a realistic transfer date as part of our current engagement.”
A spokesman for HM Courts and Tribunals said: “This is a complicated piece of work, with good progress being made.”
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This internationalist story on beeb Scotland site has really cheered me up – well done that Deputy Mayor!: Link and snippet below:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-51363108?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/scotland&link_location=live-reporting-story
A city in the Netherlands is flying the Scottish Saltire in place of the Union Flag after the UK left the EU.
The deputy mayor of Leeuwarden, Sjoerd Feitsma, came up with the idea after visiting Edinburgh for a Robert Burns festival.
The Saltire is now displayed with the flags of the remaining 27 EU nations at the city’s main railway station.
Mr Feitsma alerted BBC Scotland in a tweet saying: “Bye bye Britain (England). Hello Scotland!”
He added: “On Brexit day, the Scottish flag is prominently (and permanently) visible at the Central Station in @leeuwardenstad. We’ll leave a light on.”
Leeuwarden, which is the capital of the Friesland region in the north of the Nertherlands, has a number of cultural ties with Edinburgh.
And Mr Feitsma said he had been moved by the response of Scots to Brexit – with pro-EU demonstrators staging candelit vigils in several Scottish cities on Friday evening.
He told the Dutch daily newspaper Friesch Dagblad: “I was thinking of replacing the Union Jack with an EU flag or a rainbow flag.
“I noticed what a big deal it was for the Scots that they’re no longer in the EU and that they are still flying the European flag in the Scottish Parliament.
“That’s when I thought, we could do something with this too.”
The Saltire will remain on display outside the railway station for an indefinite period of time.
Mr Feitsma said: “This isn’t an official area so we can decide for ourselves which flags we hang here.”
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Interesting stuff Ludo!
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