This Highland Clearances village could be repopulated once again

Good morning,

Welcome to your daily newsletter from The Scotsman.

Should Scotland follow in England’s footsteps and remove all restrictions as planned on July 19?

That's what some opposition MSPs are calling on the Scottish Government to do. It comes after Boris Johnson said last night, face masks will no longer be legally required and distancing rules will be scrapped at the final stage of England's Covid lockdown roadmap.

North of the border we must wait to see how Nicola Sturgeon's administration will react and if it will go ahead with the proposed removal of all Scottish restrictions on August 9 amid rising Covid cases but low levels of hospitalisations.

We need your support. We've been with for you over 200 years and hope to be with you for a lot longer. If you value the trusted Scottish journalism we bring you every day, consider subscribing to The Scotsman from just £3 a month.

Subscribers get to use our newspaper app (digital+), full website access, a faster website with 70 per cent fewer ads.

Subscribe here under no obligations to try us.

Highland Clearances village could be repopulated once again

A village that suffered the worst excesses of the Highland Clearances could be re-populated once again if a community buyout of the land goes ahead.

The settlement was emptied of its population between 1814 and 1818 as the Countess of Sutherland set about removing tenants from her land to make way for sheep farming.

But now the area could be brought back to life.

Dominic Cummings: Boris Johnson wants to 'shut down' Scottish Parliament

Boris Johnson is an “unthinking Unionist” who wants to reverse devolution and close Holyrood, according to his former close adviser Dominic Cummings.

The revelations come seven months after Mr Johnson was forced to row back on comments made to Tory MPs in a private zoom call, that devolution had been a “disaster”, and will add fuel to SNP claims that he wants to undermine Scottish devolution.

Thanks for reading, more stories below.