00:00hello welcome to the scotsman's daily video bulletin for this wednesday my name's dale
00:15miller i'm deputy editor of the scotsman and i'm joined by investigations correspondent martin
00:20mclaughlin martin we're gonna get to writing sorry talking about a story of yours that has
00:27just gone live on the site now shortly but firstly the front page of today's scotsman
00:33and we led on the energy sector telling sir keir starmer to end the north sea windfall tax now
00:42there's been an open letter that has been partially coordinated by the aberdeen grampian
00:48chamber of commerce it's been written to sir keir starmer has been signed by some uh 3500
00:55representatives largely of the business community um and some prominent names in that mix that
01:01readers may recognize and they're demanding an end to the windfall tax now they have
01:06cited the job losses announced by harbour energy in recent weeks and ongoing pressure on the north
01:13sea sector we know they're also um projects are facing a squeeze over licensing and any future
01:20licenses um with the uk government uh considering how they will proceed on jackdaw and rosebank um
01:28over coming months against this backdrop uh so there's a lot um going in uh on in and around here and
01:36admit all this the smp are calling for funding for acorn which is the carbon capture project plan for that
01:43part of the country saying that the uk government needs to put its money where its mouth is effectively
01:49and and allocate more funding to acorn to get it off the ground and uh and provide jobs um so a key
01:56story there and one to uh to watch on the rangers front as speculation builds around stephen gerard will
02:03he uh make a comeback to the managerial position at the club um you can read all the latest on the sports
02:10front uh at the scotsman site and martin we just had a story as i said go live on the website um anyone
02:19can read that by uh visiting the the health tab on the home page uh via the navigation bar but it's
02:26about shetland islanders and it's a pioneering initiative that's that's quite significant that's
02:32right dale and there has been a launch of a a major fundraising campaign for a really quite unique and
02:39large-scale community preventative genetic screening program in shetland and there's a researcher called
02:46dr jim wilson who's been spending the past two decades looking at kind of genetic variants in
02:52shetland and how these variants give rise to potentially life-limiting diseases and shetlanders
02:59by quirk of their genetic makeup are far more likely to have these variants and can develop diseases such as
03:07cardiomyopathies breast cancer and even some rarer and more ghastly conditions like batten disease
03:14which is a fatal neurodegenerative condition in children so what the team led by dr wilson is
03:22looking to do is to raise around a million pounds to effectively screen about five thousand people in
03:29shetland and really create this genetic map which will allow people to take preventative action in some
03:36cases which will hopefully um you know limit the impact of disease or possibly even prevent it
03:43altogether so um it's a story that resonates not just in shetland but for people who are of shetland
03:51heritage all across scotland the uk and the wider world martin um we know that healthcare can be uh at
03:59times uh they're more difficult to access for those who uh live in places like uh the islands um yeah
04:06we know it's not the central belt where you've got more uh facilities within driving walking or public
04:11transport distance um how important do you think is this project and that it is government funded and
04:18it's got some government backing as well well it's interesting because this is a fundraising drive
04:24um dr wilson is is funded he's a member of staff at edinburgh university but the the money that
04:30they're looking for is to effectively engage with the community kind of hold discussions hold actual
04:36screenings and what have you um you know this kind of project quite bizarrely in my view isn't bankrolled
04:42by um academic grants and there's no kind of significant public funding uh previous research has been um helped out by the likes of the medical research council but i think this kind of
04:46piecemeal approach does raise a question as to whether there should be um you know a a block of funding coming from the nhs or the scottish government for this we are talking about a small but significant proportion of the scottish population and i think there's there are also ethical arguments you know if you're based in a chain of ideas and you know if you're based in a chain of ideas and you're based on a
05:16islands where there's a genetic disadvantage to you and you know you could be a far greater risk of uh developing disease is there not an obligation on the part of the nhs and the government and the council to um ensure that those uh risks are are mitigated as best as possible
05:36um you know it doesn't just apply in shetland you know i think there's been studies in the western isles where
05:41people are more likely to develop the likes of hemochromatosis um the jewish community are also
05:48um at greater risk of um having these genetic variants similar to shetland they're called brca2
05:55which can lead to diseases so across scotland and the uk and further afield there are these little
06:02subsets of the population who are more at risk of um having serious disease as a result of their genetics so
06:11there's undoubtedly an argument to be had that you know this funding should be coming um you know very
06:18promptly and ensuring that these people can be allowed to live as long and healthier life as
06:23everyone else you can read the story that we've discussed now at scotsman.com please follow us on
06:30all social media channels for all the very latest and go out and pick up a copy of the paper tomorrow we'll
06:37be carrying this story in print as well uh so if you're coming to us um via our daily print edition
06:44then please go and have a copy we'll have all the latest on the uk and scottish political landscape
06:51as well and marlon thank you to you and thanks to everyone else for joining us thanks
