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Campaigners accuse Sepa of “flying blind”, and describe the monitoring regime as “not fit for purpose”. More resources need to be devoted to ensuring the health of Scotland’s seas and encouraging nature recovery, they say https://www.theferret.scot/scandal-sea-lochs-scotland/

🔴NEW: The monitoring of marine pollution by the Scottish Government’s green watchdog has been dubbed a “scandal” following the discovery that it rates 400 of Scotland’s coastal waters as being environmentally fine based on wildlife samples from just 54 of them.

Last year, The Ferret followed a story from Scotland to Hungary, tracing how a think tank backed by Viktor Orbán was feeding into culture war debates here.

🔴NEW: Scotland’s publicly-funded forestry bodies have spent more than £134m controlling deer over the last decade, The Ferret can reveal. Find out more: https://www.theferret.scot/deer-management-cost-public-135m/

Trump’s Menie golf resort was built on a protected sand dune system once considered of “exceptional importance”. It lost its special scientific status in 2020 after the dunes were significantly altered

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Holyrood 2026 will be fought in an AI-driven misinformation era. What does that mean for voters? Join The Ferret’s online AGM followed by our panel with Dr Paul Reilly (University of Glasgow) and Dr Digdem Soyaltin-Colella (University of Aberdeen). More info: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ai-misinfo...

New figures show 66 alleged offences in Scotland involving support for banned loyalist paramilitary groups since the Terrorism Act 2000 came into force

🔴NEW: Scottish prosecutors have received more than 100 reports of alleged terrorism related to Palestine Action in seven months, more than for any other proscribed group in the 26 years since the Terrorism Act was introduced http://theferret.scot/more-palestine-action-supporters-charged-terrorism

In the past the UK Animal and Plant Health Agency kept secret the salmon farms it censured on animal welfare grounds. Now it has changed its mind

We’re delighted to announce that our reporters have been shortlisted for journalists of the year by the Wincott Foundation in the nations and regions category

🔴NEW: A UK government watchdog has named two salmon farms in Scotland which have been reprimanded on animal welfare, following an appeal by The Ferret. Our latest: https://www.theferret.scot/salmon-farms-rapped-over-animal-welfare/

AI-fuelled misinformation is reshaping online debate ahead of the Holyrood elections. Join The Ferret for an online panel on Wed 22 April, plus our 2026 AGM beforehand. Details here 👇

🔴NEW: We asked about the environmental records of Scotland’s top-rated golf courses. Donald Trump’s Aberdeenshire resort was the only one found to have breached its environmental licence in the last three years. Our latest: https://www.theferret.scot/trump-golf-scotland-environmental-rules/

A report @vickyallan.bsky.social on the Scottish Parliament's rural affairs committee criticising ministers for not doing enough to make salmon farming sustainable. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2596965...

FACT CHECK: Campaigners and online posts say new legislation around abortion recently passed by the House of Lords means "abortion up to birth" is now legal in the UK.  This is Mostly False https://www.theferret.scot/claim-abortion-to-birth-is-now-legal-in-the-uk-is-mostly-false/

MSPs have criticised the Scottish Government for making too little progress on salmon farming reform. The Scottish Parliament’s rural affairs committee says key recommendations on fish welfare, transparency and protecting wild salmon have still not been delivered.

MSPs have today lambasted the Scottish Government for failing to make enough progress towards making #salmon farming sustainable. www.parliament.scot/-/media/file...

Briefing here on the forthcoming petition: qrcodelink.wordpress.com/2026/02/06/a... I've thought about this for a while. Did you know the Reform UK Party is a registered company, apparently complying with the UK Companies Act, despite having policy to scrap Net Zero? The Act needs urgent amendment.

A resident in Montrose told The Ferret the dunes he played on as a child are gone and the coast is being carved away by the sea. We looked at how climate change is affecting Scotland’s east coast  www.theferret.scot/scotlands-disappearing-golf-courses/

🔴NEW: More than 100 golf courses in Scotland are at risk from coastal erosion. We visited Montrose, where locals say the sea has advanced dramatically in recent decades. Find out more: www.theferret.scot/scotlands-disappearing-golf-courses/

🔴NEW: The Ferret exposed the extreme views of Reform UK’s Scotland’s candidates before Nigel Farage promised to improve his party’s “poor” vetting processes, but many of them have been re-selected to fight the Holyrood election. Read our latest: www.theferret.scot/reform-uk-kn...

In yesterday's FT anonymous government officials talked of need to 'tighten' to FOI to stop China (!?!) The real story, though, is how much govt spending on legal fees to fight FOI requesters in court Campaigners, citizens, journalists all paying price democracyforsale.substack.com/p/government...

🔴 NEW: Anas Sarwar's party accepted £7,200 from Stonehaven, a lobbying firm which represents the owner of Scotland's last nuclear power station. Scottish Labour has sought to make nuclear power a battleground in the May election https://www.theferret.scot/scottish-labour-astroturf-nuclear/

“Being able to leverage wealth and privilege risks not just promoting private interests, but also damaging trust in our democratic systems”  http://www.theferret.scot/britain-remade-links-industry-lobbyists/

🔴NEW: A group leading the push to overturn Scotland’s opposition to new nuclear power says it is “independent” and “grassroots”. But we found links between campaign and a lobbying firm representing EDF, which owns Torness nuclear station www.theferret.scot/britain-rema...

We're delighted to share that The Ferret has been shortlisted for an Amnesty Media Award for our reporting on the far right in Scotland by co-editor Billy Briggs and journalist director Jamie Mann.

If you value journalism that’s sourced, careful, and Scotland-focused, subscribe to The Ferret newsletter for weekly reporting straight to your inbox. Sign up: https://f.mtr.cool/szwaveubum 

🔴 Posts online claimed Scottish Labour only build six houses between 1999 and 2007. This is false. 

🔴EXCLUSIVE: The vape shop at the centre of the fire on Glasgow's Union Street had not paid business rates and does not appear on a legal register to sell tobacco or vaping products, The Ferret has found. Read the full story 👉 www.theferret.scot/revealed-com...

Campaigners complained to a government animal welfare watchdog, with videos of badly injured salmon at a fish farm. This prompted a review, but should more have been done? Our latest: https://www.theferret.scot/videos-damaged-salmon-bakkafrost/

The post above has the wrong link - you can access the full story here - www.theferret.scot/revealed-com...

🔴EXCLUSIVE: The vape shop at the centre of the fire on Glasgow's Union Street had not paid business rates and does not appear on a legal register to sell tobacco or vaping products, The Ferret has found. Read the full story 👉 https://bit.ly/4d8pXcU

🔴NEW: Videos revealing salmon at a highland fish farm with severely damaged faces, heads and bodies prompted an investigation by the UK government's animal welfare watchdog, The Ferret can reveal. Our latest: https://www.theferret.scot/videos-damaged-salmon-bakkafrost/

Our journalism is powered by readers. The newsletter is the easiest way to keep up. A weekly round-up of our investigations and what we’re reporting next. Join the list: https://f.mtr.cool/ikxwnyodyk 

Some countries, including the Netherlands and Switzerland, have banned sewage sludge spreading on farmland because of contamination risks. In Scotland, it remains common practice

BrewDog sold its Highland estate for knockdown price after abandoning its reforestation plans #Kinrara #carboncredits #greenlairds #Brewdog 🌳🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👇 www.theguardian.com/business/202...

🔴 NEW: More than 640,000 tonnes of sewage sludge have been spread on Scottish farmland in the past five years. Studies show the widely-used fertiliser can contain microplastics, forever chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Our latest: https://www.theferret.scot/tonnes-sewage-sludge-scotland-farmland/

More than four years ago then-first minister Nicola Sturgeon said it would be “fundamentally wrong” to keep extracting fossil fuels indefinitely. Today, ministers’ language on new projects like Rosebank is noticeably more cautious. We looked at what changed www.theferret.scot/has-the-scot...

The Ferret is delighted to share that we’ve received a grant from Changing Ideas and that our co-editor Karin Goodwin will be joining this year’s Tenacious Awards cohort.

Our journalism is powered by readers. The newsletter is the easiest way to keep up. A weekly round-up of our investigations and what we’re reporting next. Join the list: https://f.mtr.cool/ccbvxykxtz 

🔴NEW: Far-right groups are increasingly using coded language and imagery on gaming platforms to bypass content moderators and radicalise young people, experts have warned.  Our latest investigation: www.theferret.scot/far-right-using-gaming-to-recruit/

The organic food company, Soil Association Certification, is seeking leave to appeal a tribunal ruling that it was covered by environmental information rules, and should consider releasing inspection reports on salmon farms.

Investigations into allegations of poor fish welfare at salmon farms by the UK Animal and Plant Health Agency have risen by more than ten times in six years, while site inspections have decreased https://www.theferret.scot/weak-salmon-farm-watchdog-100-investigations-and-just-two-warning-letters/

Our journalism is powered by readers. The newsletter is the easiest way to keep up. A weekly round-up of our investigations and what we’re reporting next. Join the list: https://f.mtr.cool/fxvczoklna 

🔴 NEW: Is regulation of salmon farming "embarrassingly weak"? Ahead of scrutiny of the sector by the rural affairs committee today, we find the UK's animal welfare regulator investigated 100 complaints about fish welfare - but only sent two warning letters 👉 https://bit.ly/4tQQ1PA