Ali Khan was sitting at a meeting in a Glasgow mosque, discussing a paedophile assault in a house of God, when he realised he had to take matters into his own hands.

Nine newly appointed care workers were sent home because they had worked at a school plagued by child abuse. The former Kerelaw staff’s jobs were frozen before they carried out a day’s work.

A care home at the centre of an abuse scandal has been rocked by fresh neglect claims. Inspectors have given owners 15 days to improve standards or be closed down.

Council services across Edinburgh are set to grind to a halt after workers voted overwhelmingly in favour of a one-day strike. The industrial action is set to take place on Thursday, and union leaders said it will affect services “right across the board”.

Thousands of City of Edinburgh Council workers have voted for a strike against cuts and redundancies, it was announced yesterday.

A politician who accused gypsy travellers of “environmental terrorism” insisted last night that he wasn’t racist. The comments by Neil Cooney, a Labour councillor, sparked calls for him to be sacked.

New figures have revealed the shocking extent of poverty among lone parent families. More than two thirds of lone parents have an income of less than £15,000 a year, while one in three lives on less than £10,000, according to children’s charity NCH Scotland.

At the height of the Lothian bed blocking crisis, there were so many elderly patients with nowhere to go they could have filled every bed in St John’s Hospital. With the emergence of a booming property market in the Capital, care home owners began cashing in on megaprofits.

James Livingstone used to come home from school every afternoon and get drunk. When he was 15, he stopped going to school altogether. Until 10 weeks ago, he was living with his dad in a small town near Edinburgh.

The generous donation came from the Robertson Trust who will work closely with Scotland’s foremost alcohol charity on the new project. The project will work with local people and organisations to identify how alcohol misuse affects the community and how to best have a real and positive impact on local alcohol issues.