Good morning and welcome to The Midge, your first bite of the day’s politics from Scotland and elsewhere.
Today’s top stories
- Jihadi John targeted in US airstrike: “results being assessed”
- MPs slate special treatment of Kids Company charity
- Labour voters prefer Sturgeon to Dugdale finds poll
- Lower university entry grades for poorer pupils call
- SNP MSP apologises over sharing anti-Semitic image
06.00 BBC Radio Four Today headlines
Pentagon confirms airstrike against Jihadi John carried out … Whitehall officials warn BBC PM’s plan to curb migrant benefits could hit British claimants … Aung San Suu Kyi’s party has enough seats to choose Myanmar’s next president … Public Accounts Committee “staggered” over treatment given to Kids Company … Police training bodies in England and Wales considering whether new recruits should be graduates … New Yorker accused of “Goodfellas” airport robbery acquitted … Storm Abigail causes disruption in western Scotland … Sir Terry Wogan pulls out of Children in Need charity appeal due to back problems.
07.00 BBC Good Morning Scotland headlines
US airstrike against Jihadi John … Storm Abigail brings power cuts to Western Isles … “EU migrants benefits curb to hit Britons” … Lord Smith says Scotland Bill delivers on his commission’s proposals … Researchers in Glasgow and Hawaii unlock secret of how water came to Earth - it was here all along … And after 35 years hosting Children in Need, Sir Terry Wogan will tonight be watching from home.
The front pages
A Government-backed commission wants Scottish universities to lower grades for poorer pupils to address a “fundamental unfairness” in the system, reports Education Correspondent Andrew Denholm in The Herald. The paper also highlights the TNS survey which showed 32% of Labour voters “liked” Nicola Sturgeon as opposed to 25% who preferred party leader Kezia Dugdale. Four in ten Labour voters had not heard of Ms Dugdale.
The same poll inspires a classic National front page today with a mock-up of the Scottish Labour leader supposedly playing “Who am I?”
The Evening Times warns readers about pickpockets targeting customers queuing at a Sauchiehall Street taxi rank.
The Scottish Daily Mail leads on SNP MSP Sandra White’s apology for retweeting an anti-Semitic image. The Glasgow Kelvin MSP said it was an accident. An online petition is calling on her to quit.
The Times focuses on the warning by Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, that the migrant crisis could mean the end of the open border system.
The Daily Telegraph says building societies are reviewing their upper age limit for mortgages, opening the way to people being offered deals stretching into their 80s and 90s.
The Daily Record splashes on the “Taxman Axeman” cutting up to 2300 Scots jobs due to reorganisation, as does The Scotsman.
The Daily Express says Storm Abigail will usher in a week of wild weather. Next up: Hurricane Kate.
The Sun has more on the Kirkcaldy bank raid, reporting that two police officers, fearing a kidnapped cabbie had a bomb strapped to him, drove him two miles to a secluded area.
The Guardian says England’s Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is “digging” for a fight in after junior doctors announced strike dates of December 1, 8, and 16 over changes to pay and hours.
The Financial Times reports that two wealthy London fund managers are giving money to the EU “in” campaign.
The Independent has an exclusive on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s plan to change party rules to head off plotters.
Camley's cartoon
Even Camley, the Brando of cartooning, gets caught up in the Clooney fuss.
Need to know
It was during the night that reports emerged of a US airstrike against “Jihadi John”, the Kuwait-born, British raised Islamic State fighter accused of being involved in the beheading of Scots aid worker David Haines and five others. Mr Haines, a 44-year-old father of two from Perth, was murdered last September. The Hellfire missile airstrike from a drone took place in Raqqa, Syria. The US military is now going through a verification process, including monitoring recent texts and calls from the area, to establish whether Mohammed Enwazi has been killed.
Talk of the steamie: from the comment pages
In The Herald, Alison Rowat delivers a mixed report card on the SNP’s class of 2015 in the Commons. Business Editor Ian McConnell wonders if Holyrood and Wesminster share the same hopes for oil prices. Barry Didcock writes about his bromance with the Channel 4 comedy Peep Show, while Robert McNeil moves into the “modern homes are rabbit hutches” row begun by Tory MSP Alex Johnstone.
In The National, Green MSP Patrick Harvie says reducing energy demand is a must if we are to avoid a canned goods and candles future.
Joyce McMillan in The Scotsman looks at the possible ripples from the Carmichael election court case.
In the FT, Martin Wolf says the tax credit cuts are “bad policy, dishonestly presented” and ministers should think again.
Melissa Kite in The Guardian calls the contradictory advice given to menopausal women about HRT a scandal.
In the Telegraph, Fraser Nelson looks mournfully at the impact of immigration on Sweden
Finally, in the Times, design expert Stephen Bayley welcomes the Smithsonian’s decision to accept props from Breaking Bad and says British museums should follow its populist lead.
The Diary
London: The UK Youth Parliament's annual sitting in the Commons will be chaired by Commons Speaker John Bercow. Prime Minister and Indian premier Narendra Modi hold further talks; Prime Minister Modi speech at Wembley.
Afore ye go
“You guys come to work at 7 in the morning? Ooh, that hurts, doesn’t it?”
Why George Clooney, chatting to Social Bite cafe staff in Edinburgh, became an actor rather than a postie.
“The only poll that matters today.”
Labour leader Kezia Dugdale takes a Pythonesque look on the bright side of life by tweeting about coming top in a poll at Portobello High School with 25% as opposed to the SNP’s Ash Denham’s 24%. Another poll yesterday put the SNP on course for a landslide next May.
“If you go and shoplift at the local WH Smith you go to prison. But if you’re the market trader on the trading floor of a big investment bank and you rip off people to the tune of millions of pounds there are no criminal offences to deal with you.”
Chancellor George Osborne in a speech yesterday.
“Next year, when tax credits are cut and more families are forced to use foodbanks, children will ask: ‘Why are you crying, mummy?’ And they’ll get the answer: ‘I’m sorry, but Her Majesty’s Leader of the Opposition only bends at 20 degrees instead of bowing to an acceptable geometrical standard, darling. Try not to worry, we’ll muddle through’.”
Tongue piercing cheek, Mark Steel examines the row over whether Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s bow at the Cenotaph was adequate. (The Independent)
Don’t forget - First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is Kirsty Young’s castaway on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs this Sunday.
Thank you for reading The Midge: your first bite of the day’s politics from Scotland and elsewhere. See you Monday.
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