SCOTLAND lost out to Yorkshire in its bid to host the start of next year’s Tour de France because of asking for four days rather than three, the organiser of the world’s biggest cycle race has confirmed.

Tour director Christian Prudhomme remains keen to bring the prestigious Grand Départ to Scotland and has told EventScotland he would consider a new four-day bid on the condition it includes a showcase stage in Edinburgh.

“It was a close contest between Yorkshire and Scotland and I hope [Scotland] still want the Tour,” Prudhomme said.

“Edinburgh is a magnificent city. You can do something marvellous. But four days was too long. In the history of the Tour, it is only a maximum of three days abroad.”

Paul Bush, chief operating officer of EventScotland, who led the bid, said: “Despite the disappointment of losing out to Yorkshire this time it doesn’t alter our aspiration to bring the Tour de France to Scotland. Our commitment hasn’t wavered at all.”

Bush added that if Glasgow is awarded the Youth Olympics in 2018 – the decision will be made on Thursday – then he would like the Tour in the same year.

The Scottish bid lost out to Yorkshire despite having secured £10 million in public funding from throughout the UK and enlisting First Minister Alex Salmond to make an appeal.

Yorkshire’s bid was led by Gary Verity, head of tourism agency, Welcome to Yorkshire, with minimal funding in place.

Only when the Tour confirmed its preference for Yorkshire at the end of last year did the English tourism agency apply to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) for funding.

This earned Verity and his team a reprimand, although it now seems the government is prepared to plug a £10m hole, subject to strict conditions that include establishing a new organising committee with the DCMS taking a leading role.

“We would never approach things the way Yorkshire did,” said Stuart Turner, EventScotland’s international events director, “because it’s not just about one event for us, but hundreds of events a year. We wouldn’t work that way but they were successful and we weren’t.”

Turner said a renewed Scottish bid could hinge on the success or otherwise of the Yorkshire Grand Départ.

He added: “If it does end up costing lots of money there could be negative feedback and that could affect our bid.”

For this reason he said that a renewed Scotland bid would not be made before next July. “We haven’t gone back to secure the political backing and finance [for another bid] because we want an agreement from ASO [the owners of the Tour] that four days works,” he said.

“They did acknowledge to us that we couldn’t do it without it being four days, and if we get that agreement, I don’t have any doubt we can get the political backing.”
The Scottish bid for the Tour has its roots in 2007, when Bush met Prudhomme in Paris during the Rugby World Cup. The original proposal was for 2016 or 2017, years that Yorkshire also expressed an interest in when it went public with its bid in 2010.

Prudhomme said that changed when Sir Bradley Wiggins became Britain’s first ever Tour winner last year. “After Bradley Wiggins’ win, and after the huge success of the Olympic Games in London, and the hugest success of all of the British cyclists, I knew it must be in Britain as soon as possible,” said Prudhomme. “So it must be 2014.”

Prudhomme suggested it would be five years before another visit to the British roads would be made, paving the way for a Scottish bid. 
It has recently emerged that London, which hosted the start in 2007, almost had a return as soon as 2009. Ken Livingstone, the then-mayor, shook hands with Prudhomme on an agreement that would have seen the Tour back in London between 2009 and 2011. According to ITV Tour de France presenter Ned Boulting in a new book, On The Road Bike, Livingstone’s successor, Boris Johnson – known, ironically, as the “cycling mayor” – said no.

There are few firm rules when it comes to bidding for the Tour. Prudhomme, whose preference for Yorkshire apparently owed much to the close personal relationship he forged with Verity, said they would consider returning “every year”.

Another Brit, Chris Froome, is favourite for this year’s race, which started in Corsica yesterday. “If we have a British winner of the Tour every year I think we will have new opportunities to do something,” said Prudhomme. “Perhaps to sail from Scotland and go through Yorkshire back to France.”

CHILDREN as young as 12 are among hundreds who have been held overnight in police cells in Scotland over the past two years.

Some youngsters have been kept in custody for several days, with one 15-year-old boy being detained for more than 88 hours.

The practice, which goes against a United Nations treaty protecting children’s human rights, has been described as “disturbing”, while Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People warned police were in breach of the law.

The data, released under Freedom of Information legislation, also flags up significant disparities across the country.

Whereas officers in some areas, such as Grampian, say they did not detain a single child overnight during the period, the practice was routine elsewhere, despite a series of recommendations to overhaul and streamline the system outlined in an HM Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland inspection five years ago. No reasons were given as to why the detentions had taken place.

In the former Lothian and Borders force area, 187 children aged 15 or under were held in custody overnight, defined as a period which started before and ended after midnight. They included two 11-year-olds, ten 12-year-olds, and 21 13-year-olds.

Although most children spent only a few hours in custody, the records include a 14-year-old boy arrested and held for more than 36 hours, and another 14-year-old boy held for more than 26 hours.

One 15-year-old boy arrested in 2011 was held for more than 88 hours. The same year, two 15-year-old boys were arrested and held for more than 37 and 34 hours respectively.

In 2012, meanwhile, one 15-year-old boy was held for more than 59 hours after being arrested, while a 14-year-old boy was arrested and held for more than 21 hours.

In Tayside, the force detained 124 children aged 15 or under overnight during 2011 and 2012. They included eight 12-year-olds, six of whom were held for up to eight hours, and three 13-year-olds detained for up to 24 hours.

The former Northern Constabulary said it was not able to disclose the hours, but a nine-year-old, a ten-year-old, nine 11-year-olds, 37 12-year-olds, and 67 13-year-olds were among 664 detained children.

Not every force disclosed information. The former Fife, Dumfries & Galloway, and Central Scotland regions cited excessive costs, while the former Strathclyde Police said the information requested was not obtainable. This suggests the number of child detainees held in breach of the law may be significantly higher.

The length of time spent in custody by some of the children goes against Article 37 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It states that the arrest or detention of a child “shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time”.

The Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 says a child should not be kept in custody other than in exceptional circumstances, such as where they face a charge of homicide. Even then, they should be in a place of safety other than a police station.

Tam Baillie, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, said: “It is clear that there are very significant variations in practice and this is a matter for concern. The fact that we are missing data from a very large section of the country may mean that the situation is worse even than this data indicates.

“It raises a question of consistency of practice, and if one area can produce a return of no children held in police custody it begs the question of why others produce such high returns. If some forces were not monitoring the use of police custody for children and as a result were unable to assess trends in their area, then presumably ministers did not have the oversight necessary to judge whether we were meeting our obligations in respect of domestic and international law.”

He added: “I have a concern that the number of children held is high compared to the number of children appearing in the Sheriff Court. We may be continuing to unnecessarily or inappropriately detain children in police custody. My hope is that a single police force will bring consistency.”

Alex-Cole Hamilton, head of policy at children’s charity Aberlour, said: “This data is deeply concerning. It’s something you might read about in more draconian societies, and it’s symptomatic of the fact we credit children with the mental capacity to decide between right and wrong at an incredibly early age, but don’t give them the rights that should go along with that.”

Chief Superintendent Ciorstan Shearer, of Police Scotland, said: “The safety and welfare of children is paramount when considering their detention in custody, and wherever possible a child will be released on an undertaking as quickly as possible.

“If this is not possible, police and social work staff working alongside parents and guardians will look for alternatives to detention in a police office. A decision to detain a child is made on a case-by-case basis.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Children will only be kept in police custody as a last resort. Police have the powers, on the written authority of an inspector, to hold children in certain circumstances when it is in the interests of justice.”

Twitter: @MartynMcL

HEALTH officials in Scotland are in talks to encourage more surgeons operating in Scottish hospitals to publish their death rates.

Scotland on Sunday understands civil servants in the Scottish Government health department are looking at ways of encouraging surgeons to publish performance data.

The move follows the historic decision to publish individual surgeons’ mortality rates.

Last week vascular surgeons became the first of a new group of nine specialities to give the public access to figures revealing the percentage of patients who died in their care.

Twenty-four vascular surgeons working in different parts of Scotland voluntarily contributed to the data, which is published on the NHS Choices website.

Submission of data was voluntary for the first year for surgeons in England, but will become mandatory south of the Border next year. In Scotland and the other devolved nations of Wales and Northern Ireland surgeons were encouraged to submit their figures by professional bodies.

Currently in Scotland surgeons provide the information on a voluntary basis, but the Scottish Government said its officials were discussing how “further submissions of data should be encouraged in future years”.

Reacting to the publication of the information, a Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “These figures also include data from Scottish surgeons who volunteered information. The report did not find that any surgeon had outcomes that differed from the national average by more than would be expected from random fluctuations alone. This is very reassuring for patients in Scotland.”

She added: “We encourage submission to audits of this kind which increase information available for patients and their families and can drive improvement where necessary.”

The publication of surgical mortality for individual surgeons has been a controversial issue. Six of the 500 vascular surgeons, who specialise in operations on arteries and veins, opted out of having their statistics made public.

South of the Border, the UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned that those refusing to take part in the initiative, which will see eight other specialities publish statistics later this year, would be named and shamed. The NHS Choices website emphasised that none of the six who had declined to provide the information had results outside the normally expected range.

They are all based south of the Border and were named as Richard Bird, Patrick Kent, Robert Lonsdale, Manmohan Madan, Peter McCollum and Leszek Wolowczyk.

Those against the new approach have argued it will put pressure on younger surgeons not to do difficult surgery in case it upsets their statistics.

To date, individual performance data has only been published for heart surgeons. But for years there has been debate about whether other areas of medicine should follow.

The publication of surgery-specific data was first called for in 2001 by Professor Sir Ian Kennedy, who chaired the inquiry into the excessive number of deaths of babies undergoing heart surgery in Bristol.

Those in favour of publishing results say that it will drive up standards of surgery and is another example of increasing openness in the NHS.

FROM hairdressing to conversational French, they were once seen as a route into employment or a way of improving skills to find a better job. But a new survey reveals the number of students attending further education colleges in Scotland for evening and weekend courses has almost halved in the past four years.

Figures compiled by the umbrella organisation Colleges Scotland show there were around 29,000 people studying evening and weekend courses last year, compared with 53,000 in 2008.

The fall follows attempts by the Scottish Government to radically reshape the college sector to focus on getting 16 to 19-year-olds into work, instead of classes dubbed “hobby courses” by critics.

But it also reflects the fact that fewer people are prepared to pay the fees associated with evening classes, which have traditionally been paid for by the student or their employer.

The figures show that while courses in cookery, dance and sport are among those in decline, so too are those in IT, languages, teacher training, childcare and construction.

Around 10 per cent of those studying at college do so during the evenings or weekends, with well over half of those having no previous qualifications.

Analysis of the figures, which were collated by Colleges Scotland using data from the Scottish Funding Council, show that of the approximately 29,000 students on evening classes in 2012, the biggest group (13,118) was made up of women aged 25 to 59. There were 6,179 men from the same age group.

While classes in subjects such as cookery and photography remain popular, thousands of students are enrolled in courses ranging from childcare to construction.

According to the figures, nearly 4,000 students were enrolled in language courses, including English. A significant proportion of these were studying for Highers.

There were more than 2,000 students in catering, tourism and leisure courses, while engineering, IT and business classes all had a similar number.

John Henderson, chief executive of Colleges Scotland, said: “There’s a misconception that evening classes are simply hobby classes.

“As the Scottish Funding Council’s data shows, Scottish colleges offer evening classes across all subject areas.

“Evening classes are used by learners to gain qualifications such as Highers, gain extra skills to help them in their job, learn languages and get back into learning.

“These classes give people in communities across Scotland the opportunity to build their skills and improve their employability, as well as improve social inclusion. They are a crucial element of colleges’ offering to learners.”

Scotland’s colleges are currently undergoing a major overhaul after the Scottish Government began reforming the further education sector to focus on getting school leavers into employment.

While universities have seen the money they receive from government increase, the further education sector will see its budget cut by £24.7 million next year alone, putting pressure on colleges to cut staff and the courses they offer.

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the country’s largest teaching union, said he “fundamentally disagreed” with the direction taken by the government.

“Part of our argument is that further education provides a major second chance for people,” he said. “Of course 16 to 19-year-olds are important, but for a lot of adults who have left school early and gone into the world of work, they find themselves going back to college in their early 20s.

“Often that kind of part-time study is a way back into more study. A lot of these people won’t have had great academic results at school, and these short courses are a stepping stone back into education.

“The Scottish Government has clearly focused on addressing youth unemployment. Nobody is going to argue about the guarantees given to 16 to 19-year-olds, but it is being done at the expense of other learners.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We have asked colleges to prioritise full-time courses for young people, where the need is greatest, to maximise their chances of getting a job and staying in a job.

“We are delivering an extra £61m to colleges over two years. Extra investment from the Scottish Government means colleges are delivering more than first planned with a particular focus on 16 to 24-year-olds, while funds have also been identified specifically for women and older learners.”

Figures released earlier this year showed the overall number of students in Scotland’s colleges has fallen by more than 120,000 since the SNP came to power in 2007.

The statistics showed that while the number of full-time learners had increased by 19 per cent, there had been an overall reduction in student numbers by 121,320 due to cuts in part-time provision. The figures also showed the number of full-time 16 and 17-year-olds fell by 14 per cent.

Twitter: @chris_scotsman

SCOTS could face more expensive mobile phone calls if they visit the rest of the UK after independence, Westminster ministers will warn this week.

So-called roaming charges – a premium paid for continuing connection to home networks in foreign countries – are likely to be applied if Scottish residents travel south of the Border in the same way as when UK residents visit other European countries as present.

Independence campaigners have, however, accused UK ministers of scaremongering – and highlighted the fact that the European Union intends to effectively phase out charges in two years’ time.

“International roaming charges have been cut drastically in recent years and are expected to be scrapped by 2015,” a spokesman for Yes Scotland said last night. “This simply seems to be more scare­mongering.”

The claims will be made in the UK government’s latest paper on the consequences of a referendum Yes vote next year to be launched on Tuesday by Business Secretary Vince Cable. It is also is likely to focus on infrastructure and transport as areas where independence will have consequences.

Posting a letter to other parts of the UK could also become pricier because of the potential break-up of the current UK-wide postal service, it will say.

Tens of millions of pounds in subsidies to provide broadband to remote parts of Scotland will no longer be available, it will also claim, while warning that network providers may also see sparsely-populated Scotland as a less attractive place in which to do business.

UK consumer minister and East Dunbartonshire MP Jo Swinson said: “If Scotland left the UK, posting a letter or making a call could cost more – and there could be less choice for customers.”

There was a prospect of a broken-up postal service ­applying delays and charges to letters sent to elsewhere in the UK. On Royal Mail privatisation, she said that an independent Scotland would have to find the money to invest in it from public resources if it wanted to keep it in public hands.

“In order for Royal Mail to compete and deliver a good service and not be undermined by other companies, then they need to invest in new state-of-the-art equipment. If that is paid for by the taxpayer, then that money is competing with money for hospital scanners and school buildings.”

Although the EU has pledged to axe roaming charges, Swinson claimed the move could not be “guaranteed” for Scots as there were questions over Scotland’s membership following independence. And on future network auctions, she said companies may not be so willing to pay huge sums to service a Scottish-only region, given the fact that rural areas cost more to provide for.

The warnings last night received a blunt reply from the Scottish Government, which argued that independence is the only way to prevent postal services being privatised, as is being planned by the UK government. On broadband provision, Scotland could follow the example of Sweden in designing a better regulatory scheme so that operators were ordered to provide a service to all of the country’s remoter ­areas in return for gaining coverage.

The Mobile Operators Association in the UK said that it had not seen the government paper, but added: “Whatever the result in the referendum, the industry would hope for a degree of continuity based on EU rules that will give confidence and help investment.”

DOCTORS are warning of a summer NHS crisis over a failure to find enough GPs to treat patients in the evening or at weekends.

A Scotland on Sunday investigation has found that most NHS boards are still to fill slots for out-of-hours cover this coming month, with some having to rely upon private doctors, nurses and paramedics to ensure some kind of coverage for patients.

Health boards and GPs both are warning that the crisis is particularly acute this summer, with doctors on holiday and amid evidence that large numbers of those still at work are no longer willing to fill the after-working-hours posts because of decade-old rates of pay and rising stress levels.

The British Medical Association is now in talks with the Scottish Government to avert a “crisis point”. The lack of cover has implications for hospitals as it could potentially force patients to go to A&E units during the weekend or at night for minor complaints if they want to be seen promptly.

In Greater Glasgow, the country’s largest health board area, health chiefs have been forced to advertise across Britain and have approached private GP agencies for staff as it seeks to fill a “particularly” difficult period.

Grampian Health Board said that in June one in five of its own out-of-hours shifts were covered by nurse practitioners or ambulance staff, while 17 per cent were left unfilled.

In NHS Highland, one in five out-of-hours shifts are still to be filled for July.

The emerging problem has roots in changes to the contract on which GPs are employed. Since 2004, medical practices can now choose whether or not to provide out-of-hours services for their patients. The vast majority decided not to do so, with responsibility for providing cover moving to health boards.

An Audit Scotland report warned five years ago that there was a “risk” that, as the new contract continued, many GPs would opt against providing the care, as is their right.

Doctors leaders said last night that the problem was now “coming to a head”. Dr Alan McDevitt, chair of the British Medical Association’s Scottish GPs committee, said that older doctors were no longer opting to work out of hours because of recent increases to pensions contributions, which was lowering take-home pay.

“So, you are working for a lot less money and it is stressful work, so a lot of them moving towards the end of their career are just deciding that it is not worth doing the extra work at that stage,” he said. “Also the pay rate has largely not changed since 2004, so gradually that makes people less attracted to doing it.”

He said that with out-of-hours attendances having ­increased by 11 per cent in some areas over the past two years, GPs were too exhausted to work after hours, as well as during the working week.

“The job is getting busier. Quite often the GPs working in it don’t feel they are properly supported and they are working under extreme pressure and high volume,” he said. “In a lot of areas we believe the number of doctors doing it have been reduced, so the health boards are not employing the same number of GPs to do it, so fewer doctors doing more patients is the impression that we have.”

BMA leaders were now in talks with the Scottish Government to avert a crisis, McDevitt added. “It’s important that the public has confidence in GP out-of-hours services, and we think that by taking strong action now with the Scottish Government, we hope to avoid any problems with public confidence.”

A spokeswoman for Greater Glasgow Health Board said it intended to ensure slots were fully staffed in July. However, she said: “Despite the ongoing support of local GPs, the ­holiday season presents challenges in staffing the service and this is particularly so this year.”

An NHS Highland spokeswoman said that of 276 shifts needing to be filled in July, 57 were still empty. The health board said that the use of “unscheduled care practitioners, nurses or paramedic practitioners” was being considered.

Meanwhile, NHS Grampian said that, in June, only 61 per cent of the GP out-of-hours service was covered by GPs, with 22 per cent by nurses and paramedics, and 17 per cent unfilled. A spokeswoman said that it expected the “majority” of shifts to be filled in July but, depending on circumstances, patients could be “offered telephone advice and asked to come to their nearest centre or receive a home visit”.

NHS Forth Valley said that a quarter of out-of-hours shifts in the Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmannanshire area over the coming three weeks remained to be filled. “We anticipate that these will be allocated over the next few weeks.”

NHS Ayrshire and Arran said that 91 per cent of its July rota had been filled and that it was “confident” of filling all slots.

NHS Lothian said that 98 per cent of its July shifts were filled. It said no locums or overseas GPs had been recruited.

NHS Fife said that of 408 shifts, 19 were still to be filled.

NHS Tayside said that 92 per cent of its shifts for July had been filled. A spokesman said: “We continue to work actively on our rotas, keeping them under review and trying to fill any vacant shifts right up to the day.

NHS Orkney said that 100 per cent of its slots were filled, the only board to offer that guarantee. NHS Lanarkshire did not supply figures, but said it was “confident” that “continuity of services” could be provided this month.

NHS Western Isles, Shetland, Borders and Dumfries and Galloway failed to reply.

Margaret Watt, chair of the Scotland Patients Association, said: “The Scottish Government needs to work much more closely with doctors so we don’t get these situations. We don’t want this to reach a crisis point in out-of-hours care.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “NHS boards are responsible for effective, safe care throughout the entire year.

“At times of particular demand, including the holiday season, the standard approach is that NHS boards utilise all necessary mechanisms to ensure they are staffed to provide a service that can meet demand and best support the patients in their area.”

Barack Obama walks in some famous footsteps in today’s cartoon

Illustration: Brian Adcock

Former Chancellor Alistair Darling has told of the dramatic moment he was imformed that the Royal Bank of Scotland was on the brink of collapse and that the crisis-hit institution had just a few hours worth of cash left.

Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, the Edinburgh MP revealed how he was shocked to discover that RBS was on the brink of crashing down and causing shockwaves throught the economy.

Mr Darling feared the knock-on effects on the British economy and banking system if the bank had gone under, and the crucial information came in a phonecall.

“The scariest moment was when the system could have collapsed,” Mr Darling said.

“Tom McKillop, who was then the chairman of RBS, phoned me up to say the bank was running out of money. When I asked him how long he would last, he paused and said ‘Well, maybe two or three hours’.

“This was then the largest bank in the world. I just closed my eyes and thought ‘What if they close the doors and shut down the cash machines?’”

RBS was eventually bailed out by the government, with 82 per cent owned by the taxpayer.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage has revealed that he used Alex Salmond as a model to raise his own profile in British politics, but he was unhappy with his reaction to the ‘Edinburgh incident’.

According to the Sunday Post, Farage said that Mr Salmond’s decision to step down as the SNP’s Holyrood leader in 2000, along with his subsequent return in 2004, was the ideal template to rise to prominence.

Farage wakled out on the Ukip leadership in 2009 due to exhaustion, but returned just a year later in a move which echoed the previous career moves of Scotland’s First Minister.

Farage said: “I was burnt out, but I’d seen what Alex Salmond had done. He’d walked away then come back a few years later on his own terms.”

However, he was less than happy with Mr Salmond’s refusal to condemn the actions of protesters who hounded the Ukip leader in Edinburgh recently.

“Alex Salmond is someone I have admired in politics. Certainly in terms of ability he’s been head and shoulders above everyone else in Edinburgh for a long time. I was very disappointed by his reaction to that incident.”

See Also:

• Nigel Farage forced to flee Edinburgh’s Royal Mile

EU offices in Brussels – as well as its offices in Washington – were allegedly bugged by US spies as part of its massive internet surveillance programme that has created a diplomatic rift between Europe and America.

Der Spiegel magazine today reported details of the bugging operation were based on confidential documents accessed through US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, who revealed the existence of the so-called PRISM programme operated by the US National Security Agency (NSA).

A document dated September 2010 and classed as “strictly confidential” describes how the NSA kept tabs on the European Union’s diplomatic mission in Washington with microphones installed in the building and the computer network nobbled, “giving the agency access to emails and internal documents”.

“The EU representation at the United Nations was subject to similar surveillance,” Der Spiegel said, adding that the leaked documents explicitly referred to the Europeans as “targets”.

In Brussels the headquarters of the EU was targeted. Five years ago security experts working for the union discovered telephone and online bugging devices at the building, following on from a 2003 incident when the EU announced it had discovered phone taps in the building targeting the offices of several countries, including Germany and France.

A spokeswoman for the European Commission said: “We have immediately been in contact with the US authorities in Washington DC and in Brussels and have confronted them with the press reports. They have told us they are checking on the accuracy of the information and will come back to us.”

The US taps half a billion phone calls, emails and text messages in Germany in a typical month and has classed its biggest European ally as a target similar to China, the report claimed.

The document Der Spiegel cited showed that the US categorised Germany as a “third-class” partner and that surveillance there was stronger than in any other EU country.

“We can attack the signals of most foreign third-class partners, and we do it too,” the magazine quoted a passage in the NSA document as saying.

In France, Der Spiegel reported, the US taps about 2 million connection data a day. Only Canada, Australia, Britain and New Zealand were explicitly exempted from spy attacks.

European Parliament chief Martin Schulz said more information was needed but if the spying allegations proved correct, “it’s a huge scandal”.

“It would be a big strain on the relations between the EU and the US,” he added.

Luxembourg foreign minister Jean Asselborn said US spying was “out of control”, adding: “The US would do better to monitor its intelligence services instead of its allies.”

The top-secret PRISM programme collects and analyses information from internet and phone users around the world.

The European bloc earlier demanded swift answers from Washington about the programme, warning of “grave adverse consequences” for the rights of EU citizens.

Ask people what they think of rail travel and chances are most will say it’s too expensive.

It’s certainly true that passengers are now the main “funders” of Britain’s railways as a result of almost a decade of UK government policy that has shifted the financial burden on to customers by increasing many fares above inflation.

To its credit, the Scottish Government has called a halt to this strategy, with off peak fares frozen until 2015, and peak fares pegged to RPI for the same period, provided the rate remains below 3.5 per cent.

But what can train companies do to add value for customers?

Tackling the complexities of Britain’s rail ticketing network has always been in the “too difficult” box – thanks to a patchwork of stitched-together systems – but ScotRail has made a start.

In May we removed more than 1,500 fare “anomalies”, reducing fares for 250,000 journeys and making it easier for customers to locate the cheapest fare without having to split their journey.

We’re also supporting Scotland’s economic prosperity. For example, the over-55s are snapping up £19 flat fare tickets to anywhere in Scotland at less busy times, giving a welcome boost to domestic tourism. And 1.6 million children travelled free last year.

Investing in technology is transforming rail travel and making things a bit simpler for people. We’re rolling out free wifi at 25 stations and on board almost 100 trains so people can get connected while travelling. And we’re at the forefront of smart ticketing solutions fit for the 21st century, extending a successful pilot scheme to other areas of Scotland.

Smartcards are convenient, easy to use and easy to replace if mislaid.

We never forget that stations are often at the heart of communities. We’re making improvements at over 50 stations across the country, including a major refurbishment of Gleneagles station before the Ryder Cup.

Last week we were awarded Scottish Public Transport Operator of the Year for the second consecutive year. We’re quietly proud of this achievement, but we need to be more than a transport operator. Our ambition is to forge stronger and lasting links between communities in Scotland.

• Steve Montgomery is managing director of ScotRail

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East-West links are marred by misconceptions, says Roddy Gow

Recent events in Afghanistan and Syria underscore the perilous times we live in. How to evaluate our options? Can we stand by as so many die in the Middle East? Should we negotiate with the Taleban? Where are the lessons in all of this? Who wins, who loses?

These are the dilemmas crystallised in the urgent need to better understand the countries of Asia, from the Gulf in the west to Japan in the east.

Asia offers colossal commercial potential but also seismic fault lines arising from unresolved sectarian and tribal conflicts and arbitrary colonial frontiers.

These make it imperative that whether we are soldiers, policymakers or business people, we need a far deeper knowledge of the peoples of Asia to engage with them more fruitfully.

These were the catalysts that led to the launch of the Asia Scotland Institute (ASI). The Institute’s mission is “to promote awareness, understanding and collaboration between Scotland and Asia to create mutually enriching economic, cultural and educational opportunities”.

We do this by providing access to thought leaders such as Stephen D King, chief economist of HSBC and, on 2 and 3 July, Jim O’Neill, creator of the term BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

Awareness, understanding and collaboration have been in short supply in Afghanistan and other “war on terror” battlefields, resulting in a situation where “we really have no answers for how to control the violence”, in the words of Professor Akbar Ahmed, speaking at our latest event, held in conjunction with the Alwaleed Centre for Islamic Studies at Edinburgh University.

The former Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK and Brookings Institution scholar proceeded to dismantle myths exposed by his study: The Thistle and the Drone: How America’s War on Terror Became a Global War on Tribal Islam.

From Waziristan to Somalia, Helmand to the Yemen, the hostility directed at the West is emphatically neither a clash of civilisations nor the product of militant Islam, he said.

Instead it is part of a complex struggle between the centre (the all-powerful Drone) and the periphery (the prickly Thistle).

He spoke of Pakistan as “a dire situation of conflict” between the central government and tribal provinces where “a simmering independence movement” is too easily dismissed as foreign meddling. “I heard the exact same thing in 1971 about East Pakistan,” he warned.

Tribal identities underpin everything, he explained, quoting an elder in Waziristan: “I have been a Pashtun for thousands of years, a Muslim for a thousand years, a Pakistani for 65 years”.

This recalls an Afghan proverb oft-quoted by the Taleban taunting its Nato adversaries: “You have the watches, but we have the time.”

Scotland a hopeful example

Ahmed’s plea was for a coming together of civilisations so all groups command respect. Indeed, Scotland has been a hopeful example, he said, of “a people allowed to live in dignity and with a sense of honour”.

His warnings echoed those two weeks earlier of Dr Vanda Felbab-Brown, another Brookings scholar ASI invited to Scotland, who presented her research on state building in Afghanistan in her book Aspiration and Ambivalence. Her prediction of a “triple earthquake” of military, legal and economic breakdown after Nato troops withdraw, expertly summarised by Bill Jamieson in these pages, concluded that many Afghans believe a civil war is inevitable.

Profound misunderstanding of the country, and the population’s needs, led the Allies to “systematically compromise good governance for the sake of military exigencies,” she said, propping up a corrupt regime.

She argued that the West foster the rule of law. Does that sound a little like David Cameron’s plea for a greater sense of reality in dealing with any transition in Syria?

To bring this all back to our work at the institute, knowledge and understanding enable us to comprehend the different cultures and markets of Asia, to place the reasons for conflict in their historical perspective, to place political and economic drivers in their cultural setting, to grasp what it takes to be successful and act accordingly.

The need for ASI’s declared mission has never been greater. Scotland must embrace the century of Asia, as our forebears embraced “emerging markets” so influentially in centuries past. Global competition for Asian customers and Asian capital demand it.

“You have the watches but we have the time” may be an Afghan proverb, but it might equally apply to the Asian view of the global economy.

• Roddy Gow is chair and founder of the Asia Scotland Institute www.asiascotlandinstitute.com

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By combining Surrealist art and portrait photography, Man Ray changed the way we look at the world more than any of his contemporaries, says Duncan Macmillan

Man Ray was a well known Surrealist. Typical of his work, for instance, and one of the most familiar Surrealist images, is Disagreeable Object, a flatiron with a line of sharp tacks down the middle, an object that refutes its own purpose. Man Ray was also a photographer, however, but if that is less well known, it is perhaps because some of his photographs are so familiar that we forget to ask who made them. If Hilary Mantel could imagine the Tudor court and all its intrigue from Holbein’s extraordinary portraits, some future novelist could do the same for Paris between the wars using Man Ray’s photographs.

Born in America, Michael Emmanuel Rodnitzky, Man Ray’s father, was in the garment business, so there is a hint of autobiography in the flat iron, although the tin-tacks typically cancel the reference. He liked to cover his traces. For the same reason, he changed his name. Man Ray has a Futurist ring to it. X-rays were in the news. They seemed to open up new ways of seeing and new ways of seeing were his aim. When the new art of Modernism was shown for the first time in New York in the Armory Show of 1913, he knew he had found his destiny. Then in 1915, he met Marcel Duchamp. They became close friends, influenced each other and shared a passion for chess.

Man Ray originally took photographs simply to record his own art works, but from 1920 he began to take portrait photos to make money. Then in 1921 he moved from New York to Paris and there, through Duchamp, he met and photographed everybody who was anybody: Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Stravinsky, James Joyce, Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas, Cocteau, Tristan Tzara and many others are all recorded in pictures that have simply become the way we know them. They are memorable not only because of who they are, however, but because of Man Ray’s skill with lighting, choice of context and so much else. Salvador Dali is lit from beneath like an apparition. Yves Tanguy’s hair is standing on end as though he had had an electric shock. Miro has a twist of rope behind him mimicking his drawing style and Picasso, at ease, head on hand, quite simply radiates power.

The earliest photograph in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition is of Duchamp. Seated and seen in profile, he seems withdrawn. Raking light shows the contours of his face as though carved in marble. Man Ray was already master of lighting. This is even more apparent in a sultry portrait he made of Duchamp a few years later in the character of his female alter ego, Rose Selavy (a lavatorial, school-boy pun.) It is a superb photograph, but while emphasising Duchamp’s apparently feminine glamour, Man Ray also undermines it. The light picks out his masculine complexion. Like the flat iron, it’s a self-refuting image.

Rather than trying to separate them, Man Ray saw photography and painting as one. Light in photography was just like paint, he said. In Paris he gave up painting altogether for a while. Duchamp approved and said he treated the camera as he did the paintbrush. Nevertheless, like the tacks defying the function of the flatiron, Man Ray later denied the value of his skill as a photographer. He wanted to be judged only by his art works. But while some are indeed memorable, his photographs are in a different order of importance.

Man Ray didn’t limit his photography to those in the public eye. He also photographed his love life, or rather he made his lovers into art. A model, Kiki de Montparnasse, was his mistress in the 1920s and the subject and inspiration of some of his most memorable pictures. In one she poses, arms hidden, shaved and lit to look exactly like the armless marble torso of the Venus de Milo, but then classical marble is brought startlingly to life by her smiling face. Suddenly all the carefully constructed barriers that had for centuries stood between the high classical ideal and the merely erotic are cheerfully overrun by Man Ray’s wit and humour.

In Violon d’Ingres, back turned and head in a turban, Kiki becomes one of Ingres’s Odalisques, but, with violin volutes stencilled on her back, the curves of her body also become those of a violin, a musical instrument for Man Ray to play. In the introduction to the catalogue, Marina Warner remarks that Kiki and indeed women in general were “a hobby or a pastime for men in those unenlightened times.” Man Ray also makes a joke against himself, however. Ingres thought his violin more important than his painting, just as Man Ray thought his painting more important than his photography.

Nevertheless, however unenlightened they are, in such pictures the erotic goes mainstream. This is where modern attitudes to sex and its imagery start to become universal in the way that is now so familiar. We can’t say that Man Ray alone was responsible, but his wit and lightness of touch and the sheer beauty of his images made them acceptable in a quite new way. His art also had a far deeper reach than that of any of his contemporaries, however, because he was already in the mass media. His portraits of the avant garde were published in glamour magazines like Vogue and Vanity Fair. He did fashion shoots for them too that were just as inventive and adventurous. A model in a shimmering Lucien Lelong gown poses in a wheelbarrow. Another sits with her dress draped over her open legs in a way that ladies shouldn’t. Such was his influence that such mildly transgressive images are now the clichés of fashion photography.

Man Ray’s greatest muse was fellow American Lee Miller, who became his assistant in 1929. They stayed together till 1932 and when she left him he photographed himself with gun to his head and a rope round his neck. (She of course went on to become a major photographer herself.) Her beauty inspired some of his most memorable photographs. In Triptych she stands at a window, naked to the waist, lit through a net curtain. In another picture of surpassing beauty her head is isolated in pure profile surrounded by a dark halo that transfigures it. He and Lee Miller discovered this effect when accidentally she opened the door of the dark room. He called it solarisation and also exploited it in a striking self-portrait. Other experiments included colour transparencies painted from behind to give miniature portraits of Yves Montand, Juliet Greco and others a depth and richness which is extraordinary.

During the War, Man Ray moved to Hollywood. For a while he gave up photography altogether, but then, needing money, he returned to it to produce memorable pictures of stars like Ava Gardner. The last picture in the exhibition, however, is a hauntingly beautiful portrait of Catherine Deneuve for the cover of the Sunday Times magazine in 1968. As well as of the star, the picture is a kind of self-portrait of the artist for she is surrounded by his art works, leaning on a chess board, his favourite game, and even wearing spiral earrings he designed. So he declares himself at once artist and photographer. Because of the way those two sides of his work reinforced each other, it has penetrated our daily lives to shape the way we see more than that of almost any of his contemporaries.

• Man Ray Portraits is at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, until 22 September.

Olaf Furniss and Derick Mackinnon report on Scotland’s underground music scene

Paisley has consistently punched above its weight when it comes to supplying the nation with pop talent, which over the decades has included everyone from disco artiste Kelly Marie to Stealers Wheel and Paolo Nutini. Now a substantially louder offering is emerging as a standard bearer of the city’s scene, in the form of Carnivores. The trio were one of our highlights at the goNorth Festival last month, boasting a ferocious live show and an audience to match. Our track of the month, Scottish Football (http://carnivores1.bandcamp.com/track/scottish-football-3) is a hugely enjoyable musical rage complemented by suitably angry lyrics and a very meaty sound.

At the other end of the genre spectrum, but also a goNorth highlight, is Jemma Tweedie. The 20-year-old from Nairn has been performing for less than a year, but has played at Rockness, supported Charlotte Church, and received spins on both BBC 6 Music and Radio 2. The singer finishes an extensive UK tour on 4 July, which saw her play over 41 shows in 20 days at Caffe Nero shops. You can see her at the Wickerman festival on the goNorth festival stage on 27 July. Visit www.jemmatweedie.com

Other emerging acts to look out for at Wickerman, which takes place in Dundrennan on 26 and 27 July, include Flutes, Roman Nose, Siobhan Wilson, Saint Max & The Fanatics, Honeyblood, Fat Goth, Casual Sex, Prides, Hector Bizerk, Be Like Pablo, Friends In America, MAASK, Book Group, Willie Campbell and Garden Of Elks. Visit www.thewickermanfestival.co.uk

For those heading along to T In The Park earlier in the month, there is no shortage of excellent new talent to check out between 12-14 July. In addition to the 16 acts performing on the T Break tent (www.tennents.com/tbreak) – these include Arches, Hector Bizerk, Honeyblood, Fake Major, Poor Things, Pronto Mama, Michael Cassidy, The Velveteen Saints, The Merrylees – the BBC Introducing stage also promises to supply some extremely good acts. We recommend looking out for Roman Nose, PAWS and the young Dundonians Model Aeroplanes (www.bbc.co.uk/events/egfrbp/stages/s5qwrz).

And for anyone who prefers smaller and more intimate festivals, we strongly recommend Kelburn Garden Party (6-7 July), a £5 taxi ride from Largs. Not only does it boast a stunning location and the most diverse range of genres (including electronica, folk, classical, blues and rock), its organiser has gone to the trouble of making a mix tape featuring many of the artists performing this year. Highlights for us are likely to include Tinderbox Orchestra, Hidden Orchestra, Hector Bizerk, Poppy Ackroyd and Roy’s Iron DNA. www.kelburngardenparty.com/programme.

Innovative new Glasgow record label East 52nd Records is launching an online competition called Do The Right Thing, designed to raise money to help get young people get involved in music. For a donation of £1, aspiring artists are able to download a hip-hop or pop backing track and are then invited to add their own lyrics and melody which they upload to YouTube. The competition will run for five weeks, and prizes include JBL Speakers, HP tablets and clothing. For full info visit www.east52nd.com/competition.

Meanwhile, up in Ullapool, Middle of Nowhere Records, founded by music entrepreneur Rob Hicks, to release Rachel Sermanni’s music, has announced the addition of Colin Macleod (best known under the moniker The Boy Who Trapped The Sun) to their growing roster. He’s already confirmed for the Belladrum and Wickerman Festivals, as well as a host of European dates, and an EP is scheduled for release later this year. www.monr.co.uk

• Olaf Furniss and Derick Mackinnon run Born To Be Wide music industry evenings, which take place at Edinburgh’s Electric Circus. The next event is the annual BTBW Edinburgh Night featuring ten acts performing during the Fringe playing ten-minute ‘taster’ sets, interspersed with DJs spinning their favourite four tracks by acts from the capital. Find out more at www.borntobewide.co.uk

FULL list of graduands from University of Aberdeen graduation ceremonies on 1 July

UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN

11.00 a.m. CEREMONY

ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCES

Undergraduate Degrees

Master of Arts – Honours Degree – Legal Studies-Politics – Stephanie Louise McHallum Taylor

LAW

Undergraduate Degrees

Bachelor of Laws – David Hugh Scott

Bachelor of Laws (Accelerated) – Agnieszka Kuzniacka with Distinction; Andrew Matthew Blair Tennant

HONOURS DEGREES

Bachelor of Laws – Adeola Adelakun; Jordan Aikman; Sharaf Al-Hijazin; Sara Elena Albizzati; Stuart Norman Allan; Rory William Anderson with First Class Honours; Mathias Apostolou; Lewis Christopher Atherton; Alison Stephanie Balfour with First Class Honours; Catherine Anne Barclay; Zia Chapman Bartlett with First Class Honours; David Beaumont; Andrew Breslin; Daniel Burke Brown; Emma-Louise Mary Brown with First Class Honours; Claire Patricia Bruce; Euan Bruce; Lucinda Burns; Liberty Campbell-Lochrie; Qi Rui Chen with First Class Honours; Rebecca Supriya K Cheriyan; Jennifer Man Yi Cheung; Samantha Clair Chisholm; Hazel Beth Clark with First Class Honours; Mackenzie Claire Eleanor Clark with First Class Honours; Robert Alan Clews; Nicola Cocozza; Michael Alan Conner; Rachel Elizabeth Ellen Cooper; Iain Steven Corbett; Rebecca Cox; Lois Craig; Tom Croy with First Class Honours, Lesley Cunningham; Dominic Currie; Clare Elizabeth Dallas-Ross; Amanda Jordan Davy; Katherine Blanche Dawson; Adam John Dempster; Sarah Dickson with First Class Honours; Lora Dimitrova; Aaron Diver; Heather Donald; Aimée Julia Doran; Hope Joyce Durno; Sarah Duthie; Emma Dyson; Rhyannon Earlam; Nicole Elaine Flockhart; Ross Alistair Macdonald Fordyce; Lillie Alice Fraser; Ianthe Joy Bethan Fullagar; Lauren Gallagher; Niall Gallagher; Ross J Gardiner; Zack Gardner; Mhairi Gavin with First Class Honours; Alan David Gibson; Andrew Murray Graham; Mairi Jessica Graham; Alasdair Grant; Sophie Elizabeth Hamilton; Faye Patricia Henderson; Calum James Hogg; Emily Barbara Horn; Catriona Hume with First Class Honours; David John Ilyine; Beth Louise Jackson; Siobhan Isabella Johnstone; Mark Julegin; Eda Karakaya; Arian Keogan; Matthew Kerr; Liam John Kildare; Alexander Kolev; Mitchel Bruce Lawrie; Christopher Lawson; Matthew Lyon; Kenzey McAdams; Graham Robert Macdonald; Gordon Macfarlane; Janey Elizabeth McFarlane; Fraser Hugh Mackay with First Class Honours; Karyn Anne Mackay; Rachel Claire McKenzie; Fiona Mackintosh; Rachel Marie McLean; Clare McManus with First Class Honours; Alison Elizabeth McNab with First Class Honours; Kirsten Macpherson; Oliver Marriage; Ross Matthew with First Class Honours; Douglas Maxwell; Claire Miller; Deborah Milne with First Class Honours; John Elliott Ward Milton; Richard Moir; Simret Nadzafov; Catriona Napier; Annika Neukirch; Jessica Norrie; Cameron Ogilvie; Henry John Oliver; Samuel Alexander Parry with First Class Honours; Calum Paterson; Jade Paterson; Rory Edward Liston Paterson; Kirsty Paton; David Andrew Perdikou; Andrew Pirie; Jamie Pryde; Callum Rae; Konrad Rawicz with First Class Honours; Heledd Mai Rheinallt; Anna Robertson; Kristian Edward James Rose; Heather Rosie; Chelsey Jane Ross with First Class Honours; Jamie Mckenzie Ross; Craig Harrison Rothnie; Katie Elizabeth Russell; Jan Scholz; Laurie M Scott; Jonathan Alan Shepherd; Robyn Elizabeth Shepherd; Gurnish Sidhu; Heather Simmonds; Katie Spearman; Magdalena Stefaniak; Amy Catherine Stevenson; Shannon Milne Stewart; Fern Jamieson Stone; Cameron Duncan Strachan; Kirsty Strachan; Campbell McGown Stuart with First Class Honours; Helena May Stylianou; James Townend; Raymond Utuk; Alexander Watt with First Class Honours; Natalie Watt; Erin Macaulay Wilson; Gabrielle Wilson; Jamie Campbell Wilson; Rhona Lesley Wilson; Cara Chrystal Wood with First Class Honours; Joanna Wyllie; Elorm Kwame-Kota Zormelo

Bachelor of Laws with Options in Accountancy – Alexander George Houston; Victoria Clare Smith

Bachelor of Laws with Options in Economics – Danis Sor Lam Wong

Bachelor of Laws with Options in French Language – Iain Lindsay Dods; Heather Veronica Kennedy; Maria Mihaylova; Lynsey Margaret Reid; Annabel Sharma with First Class Honours; Euan Fraser West with First Class Honours

Bachelor of Laws with Options in Management Studies – Peter Knuhtsen; Grant McGregor; Eve-Liis Mendel; Fuad Sultanov; Sofija Veljkovic; Scott James Wood with First Class Honours

Bachelor of Laws with Options in Spanish Language – Blair Sprott

Bachelor of Laws and European Legal Studies – Craig James Edward; Barbara Gwara; Catriona Grace Hepburn; Laura Kravale; Murray Ross MacRae; Shona Thomson; Tomáš Vágner; Adrian Wardzynski with First Class Honours; Gillian Anne Wilson with First Class Honours

Bachelor of Laws and French Law – Rebecca Campbell; Andrea Victoria Hunter with First Class Honours; Erin Christina Leyden; Susan Anne MacAulay with First Class Honours; Louise Gillian Merlet; Caroline Rebecca Millar; Simon Dildarjeet Singh Roudh; Hannah Bethany Julia Wilson

Bachelor of Laws and German Law – Roisin Elizabeth Kerr

Bachelor of Laws and Spanish Law – Bogdan Emilov Hristov; Hannah Louise Lamont

3.00 p.m. CEREMONY

HONORARY DEGREE

Degree of Doctor of Laws – Professor Terence Charles Daintith MA LLD, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of London

ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCES

Undergraduate Degrees

Master of Arts – Designated Degrees – Accountancy – Yi Ling Lau; Michael Maruwana

Management Studies – Jamie Ernest Davies Pearmund; Jill Louise Rae

HONOURS DEGREES

Accountancy – Charles Adams; Hannah Louise Atchison with First Class Honours; Megan Brown; Stephanie Jayne Buchan; Gregor Campbell; Nicholas Ian Carlisle; David Barry Donaldson; Fiona Henderson; Christopher James Tweedie

Accountancy-Economics – Emma Elizabeth Bisset; Douglas Cameron; Murdo Alasdair Morrison with First Class Honours; Jack Roberts; Mark Rodford; Thomas Smith; Usamah Wasif

Accountancy- Entrepreneurship – Flora Calder

Accountancy- Finance – Claire Anderson; Arni Binns; Tomasz Bruch with First Class Honours; Naomi Nicole Taylor Burnett; Emma Jane Chambers; Gordon John Cooper; Stuart John Dalrymple; Paul Doherty; Sean Egan; Dallan Gallagher; Forbes Drummond Gauld; Cameron S Hay; Taiba Hussain; Julie Anne Hutchison; Rabu Khanam; Paulina Monika Krupska; Fraser John Neil Loudon; Ewan Alexander Sutherland McIvor with First Class Honours; Neill McKillop; Joshua Meyrick; Fahad Nadeem; Anna Naryzhnaya; Nigel Pang Kin Chee; Pritesh Sunil Patel; Claire Pollock; Christopher John Reid; Sirle Shanin; Tivona Sin; Murray Sneddon; Colloque Tsui; Richard Whyte with First Class Honours; Augustyna Izabela Wolczynska; Kristy Wong; Yiran Zhang

Accountancy- Legal Studies – Ming Him Kelvin Ko

Accountancy- Management Studies – Victoria Emslie

Behavioural Studies – Management Studies – Kamile Klimaviciute

Economics-Property – Jessica Lawman

Economics-Real Estate – Harry Christopher Ball

Entrepreneurship – Jamie Gibbon; Nathan Munnich; Andrew David Park

Entrepreneurship-Finance – Mary-Julie Oduor

European Management Studies – Klara Machackova; Michal Bartosz Malinowski

Management Studies – Lulu Bates; Scott David Brown; Zuzana Curdova; James Ian Anderson Dickson; Samantha Emlick; Harry Nicholas Gerard; Katie Sarah Gill; Stephanie Ann Greenlees; Greta Griegerova; Valentina Hainovska; Marija Ivanova; Gyorgy Kantor; Natalie Jennifer Kelsey; Jade Sara Monaghan; Daniel Morgan; Tomas Navratil; Jacquilline Ngowi;

Robyn Ann O’Donoghue; Alice Elizabeth Prior; Cassandra Pryde; Kathleen Ross; Ondrej Stvan; Ross Sutherland;

Rishi Talla; Lilli-Sinda Tam; Yee Han Teri Tang; Graham Thomson; Agne Vanseviciute; Charlie Walker; Scott Willox; Katie Emily Wyllie

Management And Property – Steven Brewster; Charles Lim

Management Studies-Politics – Russell Callander; Lili Zita Nagy

Management Studies-Psychology – Auguste Baciulyte; Felicity Linda McNeice

Management Studies-Sociology – Heidi Barnes with First Class Honours; Craig Jerrard

Property – Cherie Anne Adam; Donald Alexander Brown; Juliet Kelly; Emma Mary Kirk; Claire Elizabeth Barclay Watson

Property & Spatial Planning – Steven Clarke; William Blair Farrar; Scott Andrew Young

Real Estate – Benjamin Herson; Thomas James Lydiate; Matthew David Moggach; Andrew Thomson

LAW

HIGHER DEGREES

Doctor of Philosophy – Fatma Khaled Mohammed Al Mohsen; Chika Stella Anyichie; Khaled Ramadan Ali Bashir; Michael Peter Gordon Smith

Master of Laws – by Research – Eilidh Jane Kaney

Taught Programmes

Climate Change Law & Sustainable Development – Katharina Heidi Merkel with Distinction

General Law – Janya Rattanapaiboon

Christine Zuleger with Distinction

International Commercial Law – Hathairat Chumintrajak; Qi He; Nnennia Obiajulu Nwafor-Orizu; Oghenetega Georgina Ohwofasa; Oluwabunmi Oluwagbemi with Commendation; Justina Mayowa Omokri; Kanchana Sangin with Commendation; Nopkamol Sangrungaroon with Commendation; Ubolmas Sathiensopon; Tatiya Thantipreechapong; Aparajitha Vishwanath; Yingdi Wang

Oil and Gas Law – Okechukwu Chimenem Aholu with Commendation; Akinseye Adebayo Akinteye with Commendation; Lisa Diane Boyers; Archimedis Chimene Chieme; Rachel Dagadu with Distinction; Lita Analistya Dipodiputro; Oyeb Arikpo Ettah with Commendation; Maria Margarida Gomes Taborda Goncalves with Commendation; Osman Ainoo Gyan with Commendation; Cynthia Milburgh Lassey-Ibrahim with Commendation; Sandra Mwesigye with Commendation; Lily Mmaeju Okoye with Commendation; Nosakhare Omagbon; Peter Kwabena Opoku Bonna; Ebiemi Seigha Saroh with Commendation; Kanya Satwika with Commendation; Niki Trapezari with Commendation

6.30 p.m. CEREMONY

ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCES

HIGHER DEGREES

Doctor of Philosophy – Nagham S.F.J Aldabbous; Zainizam Bin Zakariya

Master of Business Administration – Abidemi Anuoluwapo Akanle; Agnes Christabel with Distinction; Lavanya Elangovan; Ekta Gupta; Anurag Mahavir Chand; Nilosananth Nirmalan; Varsha Rajagopalakrishnan; Brigid Ama Amponsaa Yirenkyi with Commendation

Human Resource Management – Annzley Merissa Clark; Supannee Keawchaum; Olorunwemimo Orepitan

Marketing – Babatunde Franklin Adefarati; Ebrahim A. M. E. N. Alnajdi

MASTER OF SCIENCE

Taught Programmes

Accounting And Finance – Maurice Matondo Matondo

Management, Economics And International Relations – Taiwo Oyinade Okoturo with Commendation

UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES

Master of Arts

Designated Degree – Finance – Nadia Nasir; Zhao Juan Sun; Min Zhang; Guangyuan Zhu

HONOURS DEGREES

Economics – Lorenz Adams; Robert Allen; Nicholas Dailey; Martha Dlaboha-Morrison; Stephen Dunlop; Matthew James Ellis; Gregory William Evans; John Hamilton; Sarah Danielle Harrison; Jonathan William Hogan; Erica House; Nellamaria Selina Jaakola; Mieke Emilia Jarvinen with First Class Honours; Namita Jolly; Emilija Jurgulyte; Muhammed Jaber Khan; Neil Maceachin; Alan George Harold Moore; Stephanie Noble; Ibukun Ojedele; Chukwudebelu Nnamdi Okudo with First Class Honours; Douglas Allan Ronald Olley; Tom Christoph Palinkas; Tereza Peterkova; Peter John Robinson; Christopher Ryan; Graham Scott; Jordan Aneil Shenolikar; Fay Bernadette Stanton; Edvardas Tamavicius; Nick Trim; Ross Wallace; Robert Weaver

Economics-Entrepreneurship – Cornelius Bruhn

Economics-Finance – Liulu Chen; Xiyu Chen; Yang Chen with First Class Honours; Stoyan Hristov Djourov; Zhe Fu; Beini Guo; Thomas William Hallett; Siyu Jiang; Stanislav Kozlov with First Class Honours; Jiali Lin; Teng Liu; Indre Magalengaite with First Class Honours; Ebere Martha Muo with First Class Honours; Bo Viktor Palo; Euan Robertson; Stewart Shaw; Giedre Strazdaite; Minghao Wang; Jingxiong Wen; Ke Zhang; Di Zhu

Economics-German – Sam Galloway

Economics-History – Michael Logue

Economics-International Relations – Sara Kristina Dalvig; Sachin Karia; Lilla Loretta Laszlo; Ross Donald Mckenzie Mackintosh; Rory McLean; Anders Campbell Melhus; Lauren Dianne Nutt; Arleta Osmann; Michaela Pacalajova; Antony Rosato; Abylaikhan Zubairov

Economics-Management Studies – Conor William Bowers; Lauren Dannielle Burnside; Elliot Cameron Hoare; Laura Johanna Sivula; Darya Varasteh; Fraser Wilson

Economics-Mathematics – Julia Adrianna Korzeniowska; Francesca Mary Lutterodt; Kayleigh Pirie; David John Stevenson

Economics-Politics – Samuel David John Bingham

Finance – Matthew James Bell; Howard Chan; Mengqi Chi; Prishail Dodhia; Agne Lazauskaite with First Class Honours; Ziyu Li; Zhenlin Liang; Xinze Lu; Jordan Suzanne McKenzie; Vivien Molnar; Charlotte Beatrice Pimm; Jessica R M Silcocks; Sharanki Sriranganathan; Calum David Wood

Finance –Hispanic Studies – Laura Liisa Siim

Finance -International Relations – Maxwell Van Aken

Finance -Management Studies – Alex Baverstock; Liuyao Chai; Amanda Kwarko; Jinfeng Zhang

FULL list of graduands from University of Strathclyde graduation ceremonies on 1 July

University of Strathclyde

11.00 a.m. CEREMONY

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Doctor of the University – Professor Atilla Incecik, Mr Choong-Heum Park, Chief Technical Officer, Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd

Doctor of Philosophy

Politics – Stuart Andrew Brown, Andrew Judge, Piro Rexhepi, Keith James Smith

Sociology – Abdala Mohamed Abdala Ashhima

Master of Science

Public Policy – Terry Christopher Cowan, Iain Alexander Young

Political Research – Ruth Lindsay Lightbody

Master of Social Work – Margaret Oparebea Kyeremeh, Christopher John Shuttleworth

Master of Arts

Social Work – Third Class Honours – Heather Barr

Bachelor of Arts

Geography – First Class Honours – Casey Dickson, Gillian Wales

Second Class Honours – upper division – Simon Robert Burrows, Thenneh Maureen Conteh, Shona Davidson, Caroline Nancy Hyslop, Zlata Popelnuh, Imogen Margaret Rodgers, Jane Elizabeth Weir

Second Class Honours – lower division – Gillian Kate Adie, Lorna Isabel Clark, Robert Laurie Duncan, Jenna Murray Ferri, Amie Letham, Cally Anne MacPherson, Francis William Millar, Lynne Robertson

Geography with History – Second Class Honours – lower division – Stephen Andrew Dick

Geography and Human Resource Management – Second Class Honours – upper division – Fiona Claire Anderson

Geography with Law – Second Class Honours – lower division – Christina Mary Ferguson

Geography with Psychology – Second Class Honours – upper division – Stephanie McGinlay

Politics – First Class Honours – Priscilla Adeline Cholvy, Kenneth Stevenson

Second Class Honours – upper division – Usman Ali, Rozanne Linda Ashe, Ryan Boyle, Kerry Donohoe, John Alexander Fraser, Dominique Graham, Alison MacKenzie Jones, Laura Kelly, Daniel McColgan, Alan McCrone, Josh McLaughlin, Pooja Marwaha, Lewis Gordon Miller, Laura-Eve Müller, Kathleen Eleanor Stark, Moray Angus Strang

Second Class Honours – lower division – Hannah Jane Stuart Harris

Third Class Honours – James Daniel McGarragle

Politics and Economics – Second Class Honours – upper division – Katy Frances Rankin

Politics and English – Second Class Honours – upper division – Ellis Cochrane, Jillian Ferguson

Politics and Geography – Second Class Honours – upper division – Mhairi Elizabeth Hannah

Politics and History – Second Class Honours – upper division – Ross Murray MacLaren, David Alexander Whiteford, Darren Young

Politics with History – Second Class Honours – upper division – Marc Alasdair Davidson, Craig Higgins

Second Class Honours – lower division – Craig Dunning

Politics and Law – Second Class Honours – upper division – Kavin Ryan-Hume

Second Class Honours – lower division – Dean Riddick-McGregor

Politics and Sociology – Second Class Honours – upper division – Sean McGivern

Sociology – First Class Honours – Grant James McPhail, Darren Peaston

Second Class Honours – upper division – Sarah Elizabeth Case, Cheryl Cooper, Nicola Louise Dall, Daniel Murray Forrest, Anne-Marie Kennedy, Sarah Emma Lowe, Kerry McGillion, Steven John Sandlan

Second Class Honours – lower division – Kirsty McKee

Third Class Honours – Conor Deeney

Sociology and Geography – Second Class Honours – lower division – Lauren Maria Curley

Sociology and History – Second Class Honours – upper division – Kristina Swallow

Sociology with History – First Class Honours – Jaye Pollock

Sociology and Politics – Second Class Honours – upper division – Ashleigh Anne Gallacher, Fiona McCulloch, Rachel Louise Paterson, Victoria Phelps, Helen Nancy Stewart

Second Class Honours – lower division – Kim Halliday, Rebecca Sawyers

Community Education – First Class Honours – Catherine Elaine Docherty, Michael David Hail, Cathieanne Mackay, Tracey Murray

Second Class Honours – upper division – Audrey Mary Cardno, Emma Colgan, Janet Macdonald, Saga Pardede, Amanda Scott, Lynsey Ann Thompson Semple, Charlotte-Rose Elizabeth Smith

Second Class Honours – lower division – Jacqueline Collins, Jennifer Patricia Collins, Annisha Davie, Regan Allyson Jackson, Vikki McLennan, Patricia O’Connor

Third Class Honours – Megan Elizabeth Bryce

Bachelor of Arts – Shannon Renee McMinn

Social Work – Second Class Honours – upper division – Kirsten Biggar, Phillipa Mackinnon

Second Class Honours – lower division – Diane Craig, Jemma Louise Elliot, Margaret-Anne Mackenzie, Rebecca Mathers, Emma Shahnavaz

Social Work - Residential Child Care – First Class Honours – Dawn Louise Simpson

Second Class Honours – upper division – Michael Lavery, Christine Macleod

Second Class Honours – lower division – Adam Morrison

Third Class Honours – Christine Caroline Hoggan

Applied Social Studies – Bachelor of Arts – Maureen Lyons

Arts and Social Sciences – Bachelor of Arts – Ross McCafferty, Kirsty Maireadh Anne Joy Macdonald, Lewis Kenneth Robert Sharpe, Rhona Anne Young

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Bachelor of Arts – Loraine Robert

Faculty of Education

Bachelor of Arts – Louise Hunter, Margaret Nilsson, Gemma Julie Watson

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

Doctor of Philosophy – research in the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering – Ahmed Seif ElDine Mohamed Abdallah Bayoumi, Qi Chen, Hany Abdel Samie Mohamed Sadek Elosta, Dimitrios Mylonas, Wei Shao, Xing Sun

Master of Philosophy – research in the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering – Tineke Bosma, Kai Zhang

Master of Research – Engineering

Turan Bugra Timuroglu

Master of Engineering –

Naval Architecture – Zane Lyander Tan with distinction

Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering – Ektor-Ioannis Chrysochoos with distinction, Tsvetomir Danev with distinction, Fraser James Guthrie with distinction, Ryan John James Howie with distinction, Vasileios-Nikolaos Kakamoukas with merit, Stefanos Kiouproutzoglou with merit, Nikolaos Larentzakis Moschovakis with distinction, Jordan Ian Leask with distinction, Vasileios Milionis with merit, Jessica Basse Rasmussen with distinction, Tony Tahir Sarwar with distinction

Naval Architecture with Ocean Engineering – Djanani Balacoumarane with distinction, John Monasta with distinction, Sayed Raza Abbas Rizvi with merit, Pavan Kumar Sripathi with distinction

Naval Architecture with Small Craft Engineering – Dorothea Kathleen Anne Bouck-Standen with distinction, Joseph Thomas Macgregor with distinction

Bachelor of Engineering – Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering – First Class Honours – Qiang Sun, Hanlin Wang

Second Class Honours – upper division – Giancarlo Gizzi, Yue Gu, Jin Qu, Shuai Sun, Wang Shuaiwen

Second Class Honours – lower division – Xiaokai Chang, Shuai Guo, Han Zheng, Lindsey Kinsella, Andrew Stewart McMorran, Yevgeniya Manchul, Jun Qin, Chamara Udayanga Ratnapala

Third Class Honours – Xu Ding, Prashant Manhas

Naval Architecture with Ocean Engineering – Second Class Honours – upper division – Chan Yong Xiong Benjamin, Kunpeng Chen, Gao Luyao, Niall Kennedy, Ruoxin Li, Yongbo Liu, Jiaqi Men, Xue Xu, Peng Xue, Hong Yue

Second Class Honours – lower division – Lee Li Ming Rosalyn, Arvind Kishor Tirumanur Shanmugavelu, Haoran Wang, Yu Yang, Zhao Kai, Sijia Zhao

Naval Architecture with Small Craft Engineering – Second Class Honours – lower division – Rebecca Jennifer Barnard, Alasdair Thomas Burgess, Andrew Edgar Cooper, Theo Edmund Inigo Hoole, Stuart Keith Mack, Bariscan Ozkalay

3.00 p.m. CEREMONY

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

Doctor of the University – Professor Ian Ruthven , Mr John Giannandrea, Director of Engineering, Google, Former Chief Technologist, Netscape

Doctor of Engineering – research in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering – Gabriel Nnamdi Bolu

Doctor of Philosophy – research in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering – Ahmed Adel Hassan Hassanein Aboushady, Bader N F M T Nasser Alajmi, Steven MacPherson Blair, Carmine Clemente, Federico Coffele, Gaetano Di Caterina, Tamunosaki Graham Douglas, Catherine Joyce Edwards, Steven David Angus Fletcher, Stephanie Louise Hay, Ke He, Kyle Ian Jennett, Liang Ji, Andrew David Kenyon, Li Li, Zhemin Lin, Mohd Nazri Bin Mohd Warip, Hannah Mary Moir, Ibrahim Soliman Mohamed Naser, Faisal Peer Mohamed, Jiancong Ren, Umarin Sangpanich, Rahul Summan, Ryan Michael Tumilty, Simon Mark Whiteley

Master of Science – Electrical Power Engineering with Business – Ning Yang

Electronic and Electrical Engineering – Congcong Ma, Jingmo Wang with merit, Yichen Wang, Yueyang Xu

Master Of Engineering – Electronic and Electrical Engineering – Stuart Andrew Carey with distinction, Anthony Cheung with merit, Scott Peter Linkie with distinction, David Macleod with merit, Mathew Malcolm with distinction, Neil Lewis Milne with merit, Gavin Duncan Oldroyd with distinction, Alan Paterson with merit, Daniel Sinclair with merit

Electronic and Electrical Engineering with Business Studies – Graeme Robert Jackson with distinction, David William Kilpatrick with distinction

Electronic and Electrical Engineering with European Studies – Stanislas Bertrand with distinction, Xavier Galzin with distinction, Liam Greenshaw with distinction, Marie-Anne Le Menn with merit, Andrew Miller with distinction

Electronic and Electrical Engineering with International Study – James Arthur Roger Balfour with merit, Dale Benjamin Carter with merit, Rebecca Shirley Cumming with distinction, Christopher Dawson with distinction, Grant Stewart Galloway with distinction, Eilidh Patricia Malcolm with distinction, Peter Tom Sklaschus with distinction

Electrical Energy Systems – Scott Sandy Kirk with distinction, Corinne Margaret Shand

Electrical and Mechanical Engineering – Grant Alexander Agnew with distinction, Andrew John Angus Allan with distinction, Lewis Bowick with distinction, Laurie Brown with merit, Patrick James Cassels with distinction, Robert Andrew Gibson with distinction, Jonathan Bernard Gillespie with merit, Fraser Ross Glen with distinction, Douglas Murray Maclean Herbert with distinction, Matthew Hesselmann with merit, Gareth Jenkins with distinction, Adam Kenneth Rowan with merit, Donald Stewart with distinction, Ward James Telfer, Nicola Todd with distinction, Scott Andrew Urquhart with merit, Andrew Thomas Young with distinction

Electrical and Mechanical Engineering with International Study – Roy Hutton Brown with distinction, Fiona Downie with distinction, Mark Samuel Ryan Dunne with merit, Alasdair Cameron King with distinction, William Grant Ross, Stewart John Urquhart with distinction

Bachelor of Engineering – Electronic and Electrical Engineering – First Class Honours – Douglas Gordon Allan, Jianlin Cao, Ji Hengnan, Dan Lei, Ruiqi Li, Ziang Li, Gaochang Lu, Greig Douglas Paul, Huanyu Sun, Xihe Tan, Hantao Wang, Shengxing Wang, Lue Xiong, Yao Wei, Mengran Yu, Shiyang Yuan, Weicong Zhang, Zhang Zhongshu

Second Class Honours – upper division – Tianshu Bao, Sen Gao, Guo Jiadi, Libo Guo, Sam Harris, Houyuan Li, Shun Li, Yuanxi Li, Lin Xiqiao, Zhijin Liu, Binglei Luo, Xuehai Ma, Jingyuan Ren, Shuning Ren, Gareth Scott Robinson, Shen Junjie, Song Hao, Anping Sun, Zhujun Sun, Wang Jianjian, Yi Wei, Yibin Xu, Zhe Yang, Chuncheng Yu, Hanfeng Zhang, Liheng Zhang, Lijun Zhang, Yang Zhang, Zhou Ding, Yuwen Zhu, Yicheng Zuo

Second Class Honours – lower division – Ghalib Azam, Neil Bruce, Barry Cairns, Xiyu Chen, Nick Wing Hang Chung, Gary Dillon, Edem Kwesi Fiamanya, Stephen Michael Gallagher, Jinwei Gang, Guo Zijian, Ben John Hardie, Xueru Hou, Huang Yiyun, Bazil Hughes, Eileen Innes, Mi Jia, Xiao Jia, Hanyu Lei, Jichong Li, Jingwei Li, Duolun Liu, Kirsten Elizabeth McIver, Thomas Duncan MacLaren, Stuart McVean, Meng Zhaopeng, Patrick Quinnlan Murphy, David Meek Murray, Christopher Patterson, Gary William Poli, Scott Alexander Robson, Richard Thomas Craig Smith, Stephen John Stobbs, Chen Wang, Yukun Wang, Xu Tingting, Jinbo Zhang, Pu Zhang, Banghao Zhou, Zhou Changyou

Third Class Honours – Yilin Liu, Neil Phillips, Zhang Xuan

Bachelor of Engineering – Reinhard Fuchs, Scott Thomson Leslie, Steven O’Neil, Robin Herbert Struebig with merit

Electrical and Mechanical Engineering – First Class Honours – Andrew Baxter Reid

Second Class Honours – lower division – Andrew John Lauriston Stephens, David James Wilson

Engineering Studies – Bachelor of Engineering – Alastair Charles Gathergood, Neil McBain, Steven McArthur

FACULTY OF SCIENCE

Doctor of Philosophy – research in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences – Sulieman Salem S Alshuhri, Sukumar Letchmunan, Brian Grieve Tripney, Mark Joseph Vella

Master of Science – Information and Library Studies – Ana-Maria Clarisa Duta with merit, Sara Dawn Emerson, Amanda Ashley Marinello with distinction, David John Fraser Spence, Domenico Francesco Traetto with merit

Master of Engineering – Computer Science – Jamie Ross Calderwood with distinction, Colvin James Alastair Cowie with distinction, Jonathan Innes with merit, John McCulloch with distinction, Christopher Findlay MacDonald with distinction, Ryan James McNulty with distinction, Christopher Sloey with distinction, Fulvio Valente with distinction, John Valenti with merit, Fraser Watson with distinction

Computer and Electronic Systems – Chee Wah Chan with merit, Jamie Corr with distinction, Michael Lewis Day with merit, Mark Fraser Johnstone with merit, Victor Lee with distinction, Ross David Logan with merit, Glenn McConnell with merit, Martin Maciver with merit, Calum Mackinnon with distinction, Christopher Scott Morrison with merit, Peter Blaise Norton with distinction

Bachelor of Engineering – Computer and Electronic Systems – Second Class Honours – upper division – David Blackwood

Bachelor of Engineering – Sonali Sandeep Jadhav

Bachelor of Science – Business Information Systems – First Class Honours – Andrew Taylor

Second Class Honours – upper division – Zinat Asif, Greig Anthony Baird, Sarah Louise Cadzow, Daniel McLoughlin, Max Conrad Bell Modlin

Computer Science – First Class Honours – Ricky Dalziel, Deryk Craig Egan, Sean Conrad Fitzsimmons, Karol Kopiec, Stewart MacKenzie-Leigh, Alistair John McKinlay, Ross William Maden, Darren Mowat, John Patrick Norrington, Matthew Reilly, Jamie Stevenson

Second Class Honours – upper division – Graeme David Cassels, Jamie Collins, Stephen John Dolman, Adele Gibson, Heather Elizabeth Graham, Jonathan Hendry, Gary Hodge, Raman Deep Jassal, Simon Dundas Loy, Daibhidh Francis Hamilton Membury, David Menzies, Calum Munro, Stuart John Paton, Sean Robertson, Declan Alexander Stobo

Second Class Honours – lower division – David Anderson, Donald Alexander Anderson, Lee Martin Morrison Coleman, Christopher Forbes, Iain McLean Green, Mathew James Green, Ross Murray Herbertson, Niall Robert Horne, Kieran John Michael Hunter, Kevin George Meakin, Conor Alexander O’Toole

Third Class Honours – Michal Kinasiewicz

Bachelor of Science – Claudia Lee Flynn, Pushkal Gandhi, Stephen Gemmell

Computer Science with Law – Second Class Honours – upper division – Iain Maclennan, David Smith

Second Class Honours – lower division – Cheryl Armstrong

Software Engineering – First Class Honours – Steven David Coull, Sean McCormick, David John Mowle, Matthew Brodie Watson

Second Class Honours – lower division – Scott Ross Gardiner

FULL list of graduands from University of Edinburgh graduation ceremonies on 1 July

University of Edinburgh

Morning Ceremony

Honorary Degree

Doctor of Science – Professor Thomas Walter Bannerman Kibble

Doctor of Philosophy – Ab. Kadir, Mariyana Aida; Acosta Alvarez, Jorge; Alhseinat, Emad; Arumugam, Vinodiran; Back, Trevor; Brown, Nicholas; Burchardt, Harald; Chaimayo, Wanaruk; Chiu, Mu-Chen; Cole, Harriet; Dimitrov, Svilen; Dong, Yu; Fardell, Gemma; Furber, Alison; Hall Barrientos, Pauline; Harding, Samuel; Hayes, Barry; Hollingsworth, Anthony; Hou, Ying; Howie, Ross; Isa, Mohammad; Iturbe, Xabier; Jiang, Jian; Jiang, Ya-Qiang; Ker, Louise; Kotsovinos, Panagiotis; Latif, Rhonira; Lee, Martin; Liao, Hanqing; Logie, Shona; Mangano, Enzo; Monteiro, Hugo; Roberts, Iain; Robertson, Alan; Roy, Graeme; Scheler, Thomas; Sellar, Brian; Serafimovski, Nikola; Song, Zhenhuan; Sparkes, Ailsa; Tao, Yi; Taylor, William; Teh, Hee; Underwood, Thomas; Velugotla, Srinivas; Videv, Stefan; Wang, Weiwei; Webster, Eric; Wigmore, Ioan; Wynne, Benjamin; Zoroufchian Moghadam, Peyman

Master of Science – Sustainable Energy Systems – Wang, Ning

Master of Science by Research – Underwood, Laura; Weir, David

Postgraduate Diploma – Carbon Capture and Storage (Engineering) – Shao, Shao Chenyang

High Performance Computing – D’silva, Sharon; Martino, Paolo

Signal Processing and Communications – Rahmad, Haziq

Sustainable Energy Systems – Liu, Yuan; Wang, Zhuonan

General Postgraduate Certificate – Pang, Ning; Tan, Ting

Postgraduate Certificate – Bioelectronics – Shi, Jingjie

Bachelor of Engineering with Honours – Chemical Engineering – Bell, Robert; Clouting, Michael; Durrant, Oliver; Hibbs, Jack; Ku, Kenny; MacFarlane, Martin; McNeilly, Christopher; McPherson, Calum; Mohamad Sabri, Mohamad; Stephen, Lewis; Trimble, Christopher; Vasileiadou, Parthenopi; Yang, Jiarui; Yu, Lejun; Zhang, Claire

Chemical Engineering with Environmental Engineering – Boothroyd, Kelda

Chemical Engineering with Management – Taj, Nihal

Civil and Environmental Engineering – Mui, Ho; Raja, Omar; Robinson, Joshua; Timmins, Joanne

Civil Engineering – Gao, Junjie; Hu, Junxian; Mo, Yaxin; Purkis, Christian; Su, Wanyu; Wang, Siyi; Young, William

Civil Engineering with Construction Management – Low, Gavin; White, James

Electrical and Mechanical Engineering – Khiyami, Abdulaziz; Schwabl, Sebastian; Zhou, Wenbo

Electronics and Electrical Engineering – Bao, Chichen; Chen, Haomeng; Connolly, Briannon; Ding, Yining; Fu, Lin; Lian, Zhenghong; Li, Hongchuan; Li, Jiaming; Li, Zhengdao; Mai, Hanning; Pan, Rui; Rong, Xiaoyun; Roseweir, Lewis; Sheldon, Alexander; Snelling, Innis; Sun, Junhua; Wang, Jing; Xu, Min; Yang, Yuxi; Yan, Xiao; Yao, Jiannan; Yu, Xuejiao; Zhang, Boyi; Zhang, Zedong; Zhong, Zhuoli; Zhuang, Jiateng

Electronics and Electrical Engineering (Communications) – Wang, Chen

Electronics and Electrical Engineering with Management – Lai, Han; Ramstad, Eirik; Zhan, Tong

Mechanical Engineering – Barry, Aisling; Brogan, Jed; Burgess, Thomas; Chatterjee, Kushaan; Chen, Kevin; Drakopoulos, Konstantinos; Duncan, Michael; Feng, Pinhan; Georgiev, Nikola; Hierl, Christoph; Johnstone, Callum; Lee, Jotham; Mccurrach, Simon; Millar, Scott; Minakata, Yuto; Nguyen, Anh; Perrin, Timothy; Pinsent, Joss; Smith, Charlotte; Steel, Stuart; Travis, Sam; Vasileiadis, Filippos; Xiao, Weike

Mechanical Engineering with Management – Alzamil, Badr; Chiwaridzo, Ngonidzashe; Errington, Kenneth; Fish, Sebastian; Hackl, Lukas; Mohan, Riveesh; Van Leeuwenstijn, Jacobus; Vey, Edward; Yang, Kaiji

Mechanical Engineering with Renewable Energy – Kraisingkorn, Touchapon; Liang, Zhishen; Nisser, Martin; Ren, Xiaotong; Simpson Dore, Samuel; Winfield, James; Yu, Zeyu

Structural and Fire Safety Engineering – Coyle, Douglas; Vaitkevicius, Arnas

Bachelor of Science with Honours

Astrophysics – Bonnassieux, Etienne; Corley, Robert; Knox, Katerine; McKenzie, Michael; Reid, Nicholas

Mathematical Physics – Burnett, Jordan; Campbell, Kieran; Dimitrios, Voulgarelis; Gallacher, Alexander; Gounaris, Pavlos; Jones, Cameron; Khamseh, Ava; MacAskill, Lewis; O’Neill, Jennifer; Ramchand, Nitin; Schmit, Claude; Thompson, Glendon; Underhill, Simon

Physics and Music – Harrison, Reg

Physics – Chapman, Thomas; Chee, Wai; Craig, Michael; Fleming, Alexander; Franklin, Kate; Graham, Kirsten; Kolarov, Dimitar; Mackie, Stephen; Maidment, Luke; Maughan-Newby, Meredith; Narbuvold, Jarand; Newman, Linda; Payne, Rory; Pruteanu, Ciprian; Raafat Esfahani, Kian; Robbins, Jack; Rudischhauser, Lukas; Swanepoel, Stefan; Taylor, Samuel; Theasby, Drew; Tollervey, Calum; Vidmar, Matjaz

Theoretical Physics – Fuchs-Martschitz, Tobias; Gillies, Ewen; Ludlam, Ana; McLean, Euan; Tandy, Oliver

Master of Engineering with Honours – Chemical Engineering – Abbas, Yassen; Abbie, Andrew; Birchett, David; Blowers, Stephen; Cassels, Jamie; Cessford, Robin; Cheyne, Chloe; Chidi, Francine; Clark, Scott; Connaghan, Paul; Dunnigan, Lewis; Griffin, Rory; Grigoras, Ionut; Herron, Gareth; Hughes, James; James, Euan; Janjua, Bobby; Marshall, Lee; May, Heather; McLeod, Alasdair; Pollitt, Iain; Tennyson, George; Tong, Raymond; Wallace, Gordon; Walpole, Samuel; Wang, Huiqi; Wang, Qiao-An; Warr, Max; Watson, Benjamin; Watson, Lauren; Watson, Tom; Young, James

Chemical Engineering with Environmental Engineering – Bell, Richard; Chambers, Malcolm; Doig, Lois; Fantom, Neal; Leetanakul, Thanaporn; Main, Rebecca; Nash, Hannah; Scharnweber, Joshua

Chemical Engineering with Management – Bathgate, Amy; Black, Dylan; Forsyth, Euan; Jones, Ffion; Jones, Sam; Roberts, Graham

Civil And Environmental Engineering – Bradley, Michael; Brown, Alastair; Dudorova, Zuzana; Farren, Sinead; Gilbertson, Jenny; Graham, Andrew; Hart, Courtney; Kelly, Paul; Khan, Hiba; Tod Pittam, Jonathan; Walder, Ross; Wright, Anna

Civil Engineering – Barnett, Stephen; Bath, Ian; Batson, Andrew; Boubert, Craig; Canning, Richard; Chohan, Aqib; Conti, Lorenzo; Davidson, Euan; Doherty, Eamonn; Duke, Callum; Graham, Rebecca; Grosu, Silvian; Hill, Charlotte; Humphreys, Rachael; Kay, Christopher; Kennedy, Patrick; Killick, James; Milewski, Henry; Mitchell, Duncan; Mollicone, Phillip; Muckersie, Ross; Paterson, Ewan; Peters, Jools; Phillips, Tom; Prentice, William; Primavesi, Katherine; Raciukaitis, Vytautas; Robb, James; Rogers, Iain; Rudzis, Kristaps; Ruthven, Douglas; Sim, Aly; Stewart, Ian; Taylor, Ross; Thomson, Wayne; Triantafyllidou, Eleni; Valavanis, Antonios; Walker, Ben; Winning, David; Zhu, Miao

Civil Engineering with Construction Management – Bhudia, Punit; Dennis, Gareth; Hall, Katie; Holt, Fraser; Wojcik, Bartlomiej

Electrical and Mechanical Engineering – Bogomolnijs, Mihails; Lepik, Siim; Lochery, Susan; Radyjowski, Patryk; Smith, Samuel

Electrical Engineering – Walker, Colin

Electrical Engineering with Renewable Energy – Lindesay, Alexandra; Maccormick, Craig; Schnabel Seim, Paul-Johan

Electronics and Computer Science – Beattie, Robert; Leaver, Ewan; MacDonald, Kenneth; Quale, Christian; Stewart, Callum; Vergote, Johannes

Electronics and Electrical Engineering (Communications) – Qian, Kun; Vasilev, Vladislav

Electronics and Electrical Engineering – Anastasiades, Christos; Asghar, Ali; Ball, Colin; Black, Alistair; Botev, Ivan; Gray, Gavin; Ho, Siu; Hussey, Ben; Lazar, Bogdan; Liang, Chuen Tschi; Taneski, Filip; Trimbitas, Bogdan

Electronics and Electrical Engineering with Management – Georgiev, German

Mechanical Engineering – Adey-Johnson, Robin; Asher, Finlay; Bhat, Akshay; Broad, Sophie; Bruce, Kieran; Burnett, David; Cairns, Graham; Crake, Hamish; Cuthill, Fergus; Dawson, George; Edwards, Peter; Ellix, Peter; Elston, Geoffrey; Flynn, William; Gibson, Andrew; Hill, George; Hoare, Simon; Holland, Matthew; Ingram, Liam; Liddle, Jacob; Lyall, Robert; Martin, Douglas; McAllister, Mark; McIlroy, Samantha; Miller, Ross; Mutimer, Mark; O’Connor, Christopher; O’Connor, Emily; Palmer, Rowan; Salkeld, Craig; Seywright, Calum; Tuchel, James; Wojtowicz, Natalia

Mechanical Engineering with Management – Biermann, Marius; Hanson, James; Harper, Ross; Jean, Antoine; Miglionico, Mario; Rothwell, Victoria; Snijders, Sander; Soutar, Duncan

Mechanical Engineering with Renewable Energy – Barker, Saskia; Cartlidge, Thomas; Fernandes, Christopher; Gill, Jonathan; Haggarty, Nicholas; Hart, Jonathan; Ingram, Robin; MacKinnon, Stephen; McGrath, Tom; Roux, Ruan; Smith, Edward; Syrda, Peter; Watson, Matthew; Werngren, Joshua

Structural and Fire Safety Engineering – Callaghan, Victoria; Dolan, Thomas; Elliott, Angus; Govan, Thomas; Harris, Melanie; Noblett, Michael; Sharp, Benjamin; Sime, Euan; Temple, Alastair

Structural Engineering with Architecture – Angus, Graham; Boyle, Mhairi; Cook, Darius; Cowley, Sean; Ellis, Thomas; Guizzetti, Daniel; Lad, Pria; Mishkova, Martina; Rhys-Davies, Benjamin; Robertson, Lucie; Wabik, Grzegorz

Master of Physics with Honours

Astrophysics – Davison, Thomas; Gwynne, Elen; McGeachy, Karen; McLeod, Derek; Muirhead, Fiona; Nisbet, David; Papadogiannakis, Semeli; Teague, Richard

Computational Physics – Lloyd, Stephen; Usoskina, Evguenia

Mathematical Physics – Bodnarescu, Adrian; Bourke, Adam; Brodrick, Jonathan; Burns, Euan; Disilvestro, Leonardo; Fraser, Neil; Gheeraert, Nicolas; Jehu, Guy; Johnson, James; Klinker, Markus; Kohler, Eloise; Lisonek, Viktor; McKay, Mairi; Östmark, Anna; Prusis, Janis; Roman, Sabin; Storey, Guy; Tesoro, Salvatore; Thomson, Stuart

Physics – Allan, Lindsay; Darley, Patrick; Dods, Matthew; Griffin, Christopher; Hrmo, Pavel; Johnston, Abigail; Karodia, Sarah; Keal, Louis; Kroll, James; Leary, Matt; March, Rob; Meldrum, Jamie; Rab, Adil; Riise, Jonathan; Rostén, Jonatan; Taylor, Robin; Temple, Adam; Williams, Alexander

Theoretical Physics – Senior, Natasha

Bachelor of Science – Burnet, Ross; Copeland, James; Crewther, Thomas; Gray, Nathan; Lawson, Fraser; Liu, Chunyang; Quinn, Owen; Solodyankina, Yulia

Undergraduate Diploma of Higher Education – Barbour, Christopher; Johnson, Magnus; Nangle, Blair; Turton, Andrew; Wilson, Patrick; Wright, Malcolm

Undergraduate Certificate of Higher Education – Anderson, Stuart; Brady, Sebastien; Coverdale, David; Henderson, Gary; Hinds, Ronda; Keating, Christian; Koller, Jennifer; Macrae, Angus; Mcmillan, Andrew; Pirongs, Ben; Stockan, Einar; Theocharis, Petros; Vernham, Iain

Afternoon Ceremony

Honorary Degree

Doctor of Science – Quentin Cooper

Doctor of Philosophy – Angst, Teri; Annett, Amber; Bloom, Alexis; Booth, Matthew; Breen, Philip; Caldararu, Silvia; Cassells, Gemma; Chiang, Naiyuan; Comeau, Laura; Douarin, Melanie; Flaherty, Silvia; Harley, James; Heinemann, Niklas; Henley, Sian; Howell, Rachel; Huangfu, Qi; Hurst, Martin; Jamaian, Siti Suhana; Jamieson, Rachel; Johnson, Nicholas; Jude-Eton, Tanya; Lee, David; MacKintosh, Hamish; McDougall, Julie; Miles, Andrew; Mohd Yusof, Mohd; Morak, Simone; Munro, Ealasaid; Murray, Stuart; Nankervis, Christopher; Prior, Amy; Prior, Jonathan; Roberts, Jennifer; Rowland, Lucy; Schroder, Catherine; Simpson, Katrina; Swinney, Geoffrey; Thompson, Andrew; Williams, Ryan; Woollen, Emily; Wright, Jennifer; Xia, Wenjun

Doctor of Science – Mills, Derek

Master of Philosophy – McGlone, Kathryn

Master of Science by Research – Fraser Harris, Andrew; Ingle, Alex; Lindsey, Nathaniel; Rawlinson, Zara; Revill, Andrew; Zhang, Mengxin

Postgraduate Diploma – Environmental Sustainability – Alam, David

Financial Mathematics (Jointly With Heriot-Watt University) – Welsh, Thomas

Financial Operational Research – Chen, Zhao; Huang, Di

Mathematics – Behr, Merle; Puddu, Hallie

Mathematics – Postgraduate Certificate – Mathematics – Lountzi, Aggeliki

Bachelor Of Science With Honours

Applied Mathematics – Gallacher, Tom; Zanini, Elena

Biological Sciences (Ecology) – McDonald, Craig; Stewart, Cameron

Ecological Science (Conservation and Ecological Management) – Benvenuti, Francesco; Carr, Georgia; Caulfield, Jasmine; Cooper, Rona; Donaldson, Jamie; Grieve, Erin; Latham-Warde, Catherine; Munro, Alan; Preston, Arthur; Simonaityte, Kristina; Thornton, Sara

Ecological Science (Ecology) – Beveridge, Louise; Flynn-Carroll, Alexander; Gratton, Zak; Haskell, Rosemary; Stevenson, Jamie

Ecological Science (Environmental Science) – Abbott, Charlotte; Baker, Andrew; Bertuna, Deniz; Cleat, Rob; Ewing, Tabitha; Hair, Louise; Hilton, Eleanor; Iron, Rosalind; MacEwan, Caitlin; Mitchell, Joseph; Morrison, Calum; Royds, Poppy; Suleimenova, Alua; Tolley, Sophie; Watson, Emma; Weir, Nicolas; Whitehead, Sophie; Willis, Polly

Ecological Science (Forestry) – Jones, Matthew

Ecological Science with Management – Adomaviciute, Justina; Delabre, Celine; Gaile, Madara; Warrender, Faye

Environmental Geoscience – Ashton, Arron; Atkinson, Jessica; Ballantyne, Harriet; Bell, Michael; Bracchi, Alex; Bredski, Tracey; Cao, Jun; Clapham, Alex; Cleary, Adrian; Dobson, Philippa; Doran, Eilish; Duncan, Kirstie; Evans, Kate; Finlay, Samantha; Houcke, Stanley; Liddon, Kirsty; Liu, Feixue; Morgan, Jennifer; Morrant, Rosemary; Morrison, Rebecca; Pritchard, Oliver; Saint, Ruth; Tait, Megan; Thomson, Michael; Tornes, Michelle; Tunaley, Claire; Williamson, Coll

Geography – Alvis, Samuel; Belcher, Fiona; Bell, Tom; Bond, Conor; Boughton, Edward; Brash, Matthew; Brown, Roberta; Buchan, Ashley; Carmichael, Zoe; Collinson, Simon; Corrigan, Mary; Cosgrove, Louise; Cowton, Adelaide; Cuthbertson, Robbie; Dale, Anthony; Dashwood, Victoria; Diamond, Samuel; Douglas, Alexander; Fiennes, Alex; Findlay, Liam; Gray, Annabel; Haggis, Robyn; Haines, Chloe; Harney, Sam; Hibbert-Hingston, James; Holroyd, Matthew; Hooper, Joshua; Innes, Claire; Johnson, Victoria; Kennedy, Alice; King, Tom; Lawrie, Sarah; Lorton, Judith; MacLaren, Andrew; Marsh, Shona; McKie, Emily; McLauchlan, Lisa; Merritt, Jennifer; Overton, Charlotte; Parry, William; Patterson, Natasha; Poward, Jonty; Price, Alex; Rama, Bijal; Ratcliffe, Christine; Reid, Christopher; Rennick, Douglas; Richards, Jennifer; Rooney, Paul; Rosser, Charles; Sethia, Ashok; Souter, Leesa; Stanyard, Katherine; Strzelecki, Maximilian; Szatkowska, Zofia; Thompson, Sophie; Thomson, Charlie; Tullett, Caitlin; Ungar, Peter; Williams, Calum; Wood, Maxwell; Yorston, Fraser

Geology and Physical Geography – Ball, Amy-Louise; Barlass, David; Bodiam, Emma; Bornstein, James; Brett, Poppy; Bull, Jennifer; Clubb, Fiona; Crickmore, Bryony; De Boer, Ysbrand; Dixon, Jennifer; Dyson, Heather; Faulkner, Daniel; Horsnell, Danielle; Kingdom, Louis; Klimacki, Luke; McIntosh, Ruadh; McKeown, Leah; Muskus, Samuel; Nicholas, Kenneth; Paterson, Kirsty; Powe, Emily; Robinson, Katrina; Seymour, Thomas; Simmister, Nicholas; Smith, Dominic; Theaker, Alex; Togneri, Joshua; Tynan, Thomas; Willan, Susanna

Geology – Anthony, Victoria; Balfour, Alexander; Boddy, Claire; Bolton, Sophie; Coffin, Nicola; Ewart, Ross; Fu, Xiao; Garvey, Nicholas; Jayasinghe, Melanie; Kitney, Robert; Lancaster, Verone; Lane, Mark; Leslie, Rory; Liew, Wan Shan; Lord, Jonathan; McQuistan, Dhugal; Messenger, Anne; Newton, Ewan; Perry, Deborah; Petrie, Hannah; Randall, Lisa; Riordan, Niall; Smethurst, Amelia; Stewart, Nicola; Wen, Bo; Willatt, Alex

Geophysics and Meteorology – Allmark, Claire; Coats, Rebecca; Deans, Kirsten; Gray, Melissa; Hunter, Rachael; Mazza, Edoardo; Mollard, James

Geophysics – Bayliss, Kirsty; Brown, Rowan; Fraser, Shaun; Johnston, Mark; Logan, Donald; MacMillan, Ewan; Petrescu, Laura; Smith, Ross; Staddon, Michael; Zhao, Youqian

Mathematics and Business Studies – Gillen, Andrew; Ivanova, Aleksandra; Mecejus, Klemensas; Monstvilaite, Monika; Robert, Kim; Song, Zhenqi; Stoyanov, Evgeni; Sun, Yu; Yu, Baian; Yum, Chi Phone

Mathematics and Music – Schuster-Beesley, Daniel

Mathematics and Physics – Crisp, Matthew; Gustas, Dominykas; Kinkaid, Katie; MacKenzie, Scott; Smith, Greig; Wilson, Colette; Zippelius, Leonard

Mathematics and Statistics – Bainbridge, Rachael; Clyne, Carrie; Ham, Junhyuk; Hu, Sen; Ismail, Dk; Low, Fiona; Mcclay, Mark; Pop, Remus; Shu, Shi; Song, Jie; Wedd, William

Mathematics – Arapis, Athanasios; Bailey, Madeleine; Baldie, Jonathan; Barak, Rami; Bishop, Samuel; Boyd, Rachael; Burke, Rachel; Cartwright, Lily; Chong, Philip; Cooper, Georgina; Crookes, Abigail; Cuff, Helen; Cumberlege, Edward; Dalton, Peter; David, Stefan; Dunion, Mhairi; English, Hannah; Gardiner, Stephen; Gibson, Charlotte; Gilbert, Sian; Gray, Jack; Greenslade, Julia; Hannah, Rebecca; Hart, Edward; Hennessy, Lauren; Holland, Rachel; Hopkins, Peter; Horrocks, Paul; Jonathan, Josephine; Kelly, Declan; Kendal Parker, Charlotte; Lavelle, Grace; Lucas, Edgar; MacGillivray, Lynsey; MacLeod, Kaye; Madhusudan, Siddharth; Manancourt, Fernand; McKay Fletcher, Daniel; McWilliam, Ian; Morgan, Hannah; Mulji, Sheena; North, Francis; Nutting, Stewart; Orr-Ewing, Edward; Peake, Josh; Peaker, Harry; Pencheon, Joshua; Penny, Ruth; Piilmann, Kristjan; Raine, Rachel; Rix, James; Smith, Rebecca; Stewart, Rory; Stockan, Katherine; Stonebridge, Dominic; Stronach, Caitlin; Suto, Fumiya; Wright, Lucy; Wyatt, Nathan

Mathematics with Management – Hassan, Mohib

Master of Arts with Honours – Geography and Archaeology – Cumming, Jamie; Smith, Charles

Geography and Economic and Social History – Burns, Anthony; Flitcroft, Harriet; Sanchez-Rodilla Espeso, Candela

Geography and Economics – Brown, Roy; MacGeoch, Ailie; Saper, Gabriella; Warshaw, Luc

Geography and Politics – De Leyser, Jonathan; Grant, Claire; Hughes, Jennifer; Lamb, Stacey; Travis, Rachel

Geography and Social Anthropology – Anderson, Timothy

Geography – Bowman, Richard; Broadhead, Rona; Broughton, Caroline; Burns, Naomi; Clark, Charles; Cuddy, Rachel; Do Rosario, Daniel; Holtom, Bridget; Ivinson, Thomas; Jones, Tobias; Kelly, Thomas; Kennedy, Naomi; Kirton, Alexandra; Lewis, Emily; MacAndrew, Kirsty; MacKay, Cara; McLaren, Elizabeth; McLuckie, Ailsa; Moore, John; Oates, Judith; Palmer, Jonathan; Parker, Joshua; Pollock, Tommy; Quinn, Craig; Sharkey, William; Taylor, Francesca; Thompson, Louise; Walker, Helen; Woodward, Iain; Zack, Emmelene

Geography with Environmental Studies – Conley, Declan; Douglas, Fiona; Hulseman, Elizah; Love, Robyn; Petrova, Desislava; Taylor, James; Wells, Conor

Mathematics – Alcock, Mark; Arnold, Michael; Dzieciolowski, Jacek; Giltrow-Tyler, Gregory; Leong, Jia Wen; Piper, Rosamund; Seaton, Andrew; Shetty, Shaswath; Willows, Matthew

Mathematics (Pure Mathematics) – Ayres, Benjamin; Green, Constance; Prettyman, Joshua; Thrussell, David; Warren, Hera

Master of Earth Science with Honours – Geology and Physical Geography – Main, Charlotte

Wilson, Rebecca

Geology – Askew, Rob; Cooke, Alex; Gallagher, Catherine; Smith, Winston; Taylforth, Joseph; Valters, Declan

Master of Mathematics with Honours – Mathematics – Charlston, David; Gandini, Francesca; Gierjatowicz, Patryk; Kottke, Richard; Pelczynski, Daniel; Whittington, Alexander

Bachelor of Science – Chaplin, Jack; Gunatilleke, Mestiyage; Hancock, Aaron-Keers; Hu, Yuting; Noh, Tai; Pomeroy, George; Reza, Faisal; Watt, Laura

Undergraduate Diploma of Higher Education – Moore, Max; Sanchez Tarraga, Eva; Torrance, Michelle

Undergraduate Certificate of Higher Education – Larter, Euan; Lynch, Erin; Monahan, Magnus; Woodhouse, George; Wright, Johnny Gunnar

MARKS & Spencer has joined forces with the Prince’s Trust to create more than 1,400 work experience placements for young people.

The recruits, aged 16 to 25, will take part in a four-week programme of unpaid work in an M&S store.

The firm says the joint scheme is designed to address the skills and experience gap that prevents many young people from finding work.

Chief executive Marc Bolland said: “Youth unemployment has become one of today’s key social issues and we want to lead the charge for businesses to do more to tackle it head on.

“We’ve set aside 1,400 placements for young people and have called on our suppliers and other businesses to make their own commitments to youth opportunity.”

Make Your Mark is inspired by “Marks & Start”, M&S’ employability scheme for people who face barriers to employment. Since 2004 it has helped more than 1,100 people to complete placements in stores and offices, with half gaining employment with M&S or another employer within three months.

Construction industry trade body the Scottish Building Federation (SBF) is calling on consumers not to fuel unfair competition after a survey found almost half its members are struggling to compete with “cash-in-hand” cowboys.

Its latest member survey found that unfair competition from rogue traders is now having a negative impact on the business of more than two in five small to medium-sized Scottish building firms.

And more than half of respondents said they had been pressurised by customers to “lose the VAT” in the past year.

SBF boss Vaughan Hart said warned that not only were such practices illegal, consumers may find themselves ripped off by rogue operators as well.

AN INVESTOR boycott of government-owned bank shares could frustrate efforts to return Lloyds Banking Group back to the private sector, sources have warned.

Some fund managers have said they will be wary of buying stock released in staggered sales until banks and regulators clarify the rules on how quickly company owners are allowed to sell more shares – a dispute that could hurt large stock offers such as Lloyds.

The government has flagged it is ready to start offloading its 39 per cent stake in Lloyds and on Friday began the process of appointing advisers for the sale, expected to take place incrementally over many months.

The concern over how quickly shares will be sold emerged in May when Lloyds sold 15 per cent of wealth manager St James’s Place, just over ten weeks after a previous sale, despite having agreed not to reduce its stake further for at least a year.

The so-called “lock-up” was waived by bookrunner Bank of America Merrill Lynch. And although lock-ups are waived relatively often, and investors are warned that the timetable for additional share sales can change, it usually happens closer to the expiry date than in the St James’s case.

Investors say they want clarity on the terms under which such agreements can be waived. It is thought the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has written to regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) asking them to look at the issue of lock-ups and their importance in maintaining an orderly market.

One fund manager who declined to be named said: “It is very important the authorities do what they can to shore up investor confidence before the likes of Lloyds and RBS come to market. They will be some of the biggest partial stake sales seen for a long time.”

Another added: “Decisions to blacklist are on people’s agenda. This goes right to the heart of whether we have trust in the markets in which we operate.”