THE BIG STORIES
Tragedy in Washington as plane and helicopter collide

📣 We wake to a developing story from the USA: dozens of people are feared dead after a regional passenger jet landing at Washington DC’s Reagan Airport collided with an Army helicopter in the air, close to the airport’s runway over the Potomac river. The accident happened at around 9pm EST (2am our time) as the jet was coming in to land after a flight from Wichita, Kansas.

A search continues in the river in what a CNN reporter called “undescribable scenes”. The jet carried 60 passengers and four crew, the helicopter three soldiers. At send time, some networks were reporting 18 bodies had been recovered so far, with no survivors found so far.

There’s a lot of live coverage of what is clearly a terrible tragedy.

• BBC live coverage

• AP’s coverage from Washington

• The Washington Post’s live coverage

📣 The Scottish Government has made minimal progress on its policy of reducing car use, Audit Scotland has said in a report described as “scathing”.

Audit Scotland said there is still no clear plan to deliver a plan to reduce car travel by 20% by 2030, announced in 2020, with “a lack of leadership” meaning minimal progress.

“It is not clear if the Scottish Government remains committed to the target as key documents remain in draft form, there is no costed delivery plan or measurable milestones, and arrangements for monitoring and scrutinising progress are insufficient,” the report says.

It adds that “difficult and potentially unpopular decisions to discourage car use” would be needed if the target, driven by climate ambitions, was to be met and called for a “national conversation” on what should happen next.

• Read the Audit Scotland report

• Minimal progress blamed on “lack of leadership” (Scotsman)

• SNP accused of “government by press release” over emissions (The Times$)

📣 Rachel Reeves delivered her speech on economic growth with few surprises, given how well-flagged most of the contents were. Key points included:

• Expansion of Heathrow Airport to “make Britain the world’s best-connected place to do business”. (See Heathrow’s plan)

• Expansions at Luton and Gatwick airport (Independent: what this means)

• A “growth corridor” between Oxford and Cambridge, which could become “Europe’s Silicon Valley” (Read the report on what this could deliver)

It’s being noted today that the proposals do not include any direct reference to Scotland, although the Chancellor says a third Heathrow runway will deliver benefits to Scottish exporters.

• Chancellor says third Heathrow runway will boost Scottish exports (Scotsman)

• How quickly could Rachel Reeves’ new plans boost growth? (BBC)

IDEAS
Scotland and the Empire | Private healthcare’s role in the NHS | Famed bakery reopens

🗣️ As we report below, the number of people with private health insurance has hit a new record. There are other (more equitable) ways private healthcare could help the NHS, points out Kenny Farquharson in The Times: private care providers could be contracted to help the NHS deliver.

He recounts his mother’s experience with an operation, paid for by the NHS, but carried out by a private company. It went well but, he says, “the incoming SNP government scrapped the scheme, despite its proven success. The decision was down to the new health minister, a woman called Nicola Sturgeon”.

That was a decision which “made Scotland’s health provision slower, less effective and more expensive,” says Farquharson. He makes a compelling case for private support to make the NHS better. (The Times $)

🗣️ It may be cheating to include “pastries” in the “ideas” section of the newsletter… but, then again, is there a better idea at this time in the morning than a pastry? Especially as we’re fortunate enough to have Lannan Bakery just down the road from Early Line Towers.

For the uninitiated, the Lannan only opened in the summer of 2023, but quickly built a devoted following. The secret: it’s beautiful pastries that are both tasty, and entirely Instagram ready. Now, as Vogue - no less - reveals, it has also increased its baking capacity and will - later this year - add a sit-in area too. Those 6am queues will reappear very quickly. (Vogue)

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 Police Scotland has objected to proposals that could allow terminally ill 16 year-olds to end their lives. The bill, put forward by Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur, says an adult is a person aged 16 or over for the purposes of consenting to healthcare. But Police Scotland says the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child says childhood only ends at 18, and “clarity” is required. (The Times £)

📣 The Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray survived a vote demanding his resignation put forward by Conservative MSPs. He’s been under pressure after taking his official car to football matches. (Express)

📣 Lloyds Banking Group is shutting 136 branches across the UK, including 14 Bank of Scotland branches in Scotland. The news comes in the wake of an announcement earlier in January that customers of any of their brands could use the other banks’ branches as their own. STV has a list of the Bank of Scotland branches to go, with dates. (STV)

AROUND THE UK

📣 Almost one in eight Britons has private medical insurance, a new record. While 4.68 million people are directly covered, the number grows to eight million when spouses, partners, and children of policyholders are included. 

NHS care delays have been seen as driving the growing use of private healthcare for some time now: MPs have recently been told of people remortgaging their homes to pay for private cars outside insurance coverage.

Figures last year showed a “two-tier” healthcare system emerging in Scotland as record levels of people here sought private care.

• One in eight Britons now have private healthcare cover (Guardian)

• From March 2024: Paid treatment soars as patients go private (Scotsman)

📣 That recall of fizzy drinks has been extended in the UK: now important tall cans of Coca Cola, Diet Coke and Sprite Zero have been included. (Sky News)

AROUND THE WORLD

🌎 President Trump says he’ll use the notorious Guantánamo Bay base to house tens of thousands of “criminal aliens” as part of his mass deportation of immigrants. AP profiles the base. (AP)

🌎 Rescuers are racing to retrieve a man whose truck fell into a sinkhole near Tokyo two days ago. (Guardian)

🌎 Robert F. Kennedy Jr struggled to answer questions about the major US health programmes, or detail how he’d reduce health care costs, during a feisty confirmation hearing in Washington. AP has the clips. (AP)

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS

💰 A former coal port in North Ayrshire is to become the site of a £2 billion cable factory supporting the renewable energy industry. The FT takes a closer look, reporting: “The regeneration project in one of Scotland’s most deprived areas is a test case for the nation’s ability to foster supply chain manufacturing capacity in a sector that has lured interest from overseas investors and is crucial to the UK’s ambitions to decarbonise power by 2030." (FT £)

💰 Microsoft and Meta bosses have been defending their vast spending on AI after DeepSeek stunned the tech world with its - apparently - cheaper technology. DeepSeek is also facing claims it used others’ technology in its own. (Reuters)

SPORT

⚽️ Celtic and Aston Villa served up a Champions League classic last night - six goals, won by Villa 4-2, but with both teams progressing. Celtic will go into the playoffs to face either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich - a mouth-watering prospect - while Villa made it straight into the final 16. (Scotsman)

⚽️ Manchester City will also face either Real or Bayern after they survived a scare against Brugge, who they had to beat to progress. They went a goal down before battling back: that won’t stop some pundits from suggesting they could win the whole thing, still. (BBC)