ALEX Salmond will struggle to fulfil his ambitious renewable targets as a result of Scottish Government proposals to increase wind farm-free zones around towns, a leading energy expert has claimed.

LEADING figures from the worlds of law, justice, academia and the arts have made a last-minute bid to persuade MSPs to allow thousands of prisoners in Scotland to vote in the independence referendum.

THE G7 group of industrialised nations has agreed that there must be collective action against tax evasion and avoidance, George Osborne has said.

A FORMER adviser to the Scottish Secretary is to stand for the Liberal Democrats in the Aberdeen Donside by-election on 20 June.

NICOLA Sturgeon will warn Scottish voters tomorrow that a “no” to independence next year is a “gamble” that will pave the way to a “bleak” future of poorer children, longer working hours and a broken welfare state, as she turns her fire back on those supporting the UK.

SNP MPs will reject Eurosceptic Tory moves to introduce an early EU referendum that would take place before Scotland had time to achieve independence from the rest of the UK.

GORDON Brown will return to front-line political campaigning tomorrow by spearheading Labour’s bid to keep Scotland within the UK, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.

PREPARATIONS for the by-election in Aberdeen Donside to replace the late Brian Adam are up and running.

AMONG the ragtag-and-bobtail of Jurassic socialists, fading Blair babes and public-teat sucklings that calls itself “Civic Scotland” it has long been an article of faith that Britain’s nuclear deterrent is “immoral” and the fact that it desecrates Scottish soil is “obscene”.

THE noble Lord Lawson of Blaby is entitled to his views on pulling the UK out of Europe.

THE crucial difference between the SNP’s story and those told by many other nationalist movements, is that it’s primarily about ourselves rather than others.

THE European Commission supports Scotland’s legal victory in its fight on minimum pricing.

POWER companies operating wind farms in Scotland were paid more than £1 million to shut down their turbines for a single day last month, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.

THE number of companies failing to pay the minimum wage in Scotland increased by 15 per cent last year, despite a drop in the United Kingdom as a whole, new figures have revealed.

AN ACADEMIC has been issued with security advice by his university and has been in contact with the police after independence supporters subjected him to a barrage of threatening abuse on the internet.

VOTERS want more certainty about how the big issues will be handled by both sides before the independence referendum and want the Scottish and UK governments to hold talks before next year’s poll, according to data published today.

PRIME Minister David Cameron has been urged to ditch his Etonian advisers and honour his pledge to hold a referendum on EU membership to counter the appeal of the UK Independence Party in the aftermath of council elections in England.

THE UK government is planning a “relentless” offensive on the impact that Scottish independence will have on household finances as the marathon campaign marks 500 days to go until the referendum.

IN HER speech to the Scottish Labour conference recently, leader Johann Lamont issued a “challenge” to Alex Salmond to “meet me next week and to bring his budget” so they could discuss ways to boost childcare.

DOUGLAS Alexander, in my estimation, is one of the most talented, thoughtful and capable politicians of his generation. He has a devotion to public service that is proper and deep.