The Midge: D-Day for Cameron, Swinney strikes back, and Chairman Miaow special

Today

• D-Day for Cameron on Syrian airstrikes
• Swinney (above) responds to Osborne spending review as IFS delivers its verdict
• Fresh hopes for Glasgow Airport rail link
• Maogate rumbles on

06.00 BBC Radio Four Today headlines

PM sets out arguments for RAF to join airstrikes on Syria … Government urged to be more lenient on Syrian refugees’ families … IFS report due … Acas talks on junior doctors’ strike in England begin … Lord Coe to chair IAAF meeting … 100,000 wild fowl being killed by lead poisoning.

07.00 BBC Good Morning Scotland headlines

PM to make Syria case … French president visits Russia … Scottish Government gives first hint of spending plans … North Sea gas contractors warn of further job losses … Caledonian Sleeper staff meet management in hope of averting Christmas strikes … Dundee grandmother and grandson missing … Florida man who murdered wife and posted picture on Facebook found guilty. 

The front pages

The Herald leads the way on the Autumn Statement, saying the Chancellor is taking a punt on growth to pay for his tax credit U-turn. The paper also reports that Glasgow Airport could have a rail link to the city centre within a decade if a plan to go before city leaders today is accepted.

The National says Scotland’s services face cuts of 6%. 

The Evening Times reports that a million hospital and surgical appointments have been missed in Glasgow since 2011.

The Times focuses on the vetting procedures for SNP MPs, with Jackson Carlaw of the Scottish Conservatives calling the system “shambolic and inadequate”. 

The Scottish Daily Mail says the Chancellor has “thrown down the gauntlet” to his Scottish Government counterpart John Swinney, who delivers his budget next month.

The Daily Record and The Sun lead on the case of a man who murdered his mother and hid her body under a caravan. The Sun also says Scotland’s block grant is facing a real terms cut of 5%, which The Daily Express describes as a “£500m black hole”.

The Guardian carries pictures of Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell quoting from Mao’s Little Red Book as colleagues look on stoney-faced.

The Daily Telegraph declares “The end of austerity”. 

The FT looks closer at the politics of the Autumn Statement, saying the Chancellor is continuing his pivot to the centre ground. 

Camley's cartoon

Camley swings the axe on the Autumn Statement.

Need to know

Government responses to Commons select committee reports are usually low key affairs. Not this one. David Cameron will come to the Commons this morning to deliver his reply to the Foreign Affairs Committee report which warned that the risks of British involvement in Syria far outweighed any benefits. The committee wanted above all a coherent international strategy to solve the problems of Syria and Isil. But how much can the PM promise when his would-be allies, including Russia, do not want to remove President Assad? Also, the SNP’s Angus Robertson led the way at PMQs yesterday by asking about the possible commitment of ground troops. Expect more on this, and the need for a UN resolution expressly authorising military action. Labour MPs, meanwhile, are being told by their leader to consult their constituency parties over the weekend and report back on Monday, ahead of a possible vote next week. 

Talk of the steamie: the comment sections

In The Herald, Iain Macwhirter welcomes the Chancellor’s tax credit U-turn but says the country still remains on “the highway to hell”. John McLellan looks at the continuing tussle over turning the old Royal High School on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, into a hotel, while the letter writers want assurances on military action in Syria. 

Lesley Riddoch in The National hails the U-turn as a victory for the people. 

In The Times, Alex Massie explores the SNP response to taking the fight to Isil in Syria. 

John Gapper in the FT looks at criticism of the $160bn Pfizer takeover of Allergan, saying it is hard to view drug companies’ mergers and acquisitions tactics as progress. 

Allister Heath in The Telegraph disapproves of Osborne’s move to the centre, saying the Tories have lost their nerve. 

In The Guardian, Lucy Mangan hopes shoppers revolt against Black Friday frenzy (above) and have a “Civilised Saturday” instead.

In the Daily Mail, Janet Street-Porter calls for children to be banned from cafes and restaurants. “There’s a time and a place for adventurous play,” she writes, “and it is not when I’m trying to eat lunch.” 

The diary

• Commons: PM statement on Syria expected. 
• London: Institute for Fiscal Studies issues spending review analysis.

• Lords: Lord Hague of Richmond (above) introduced.
• Holyrood: First Minister’s Questions; Ministerial Statement on Scotland’s public finances.
• Glasgow: Council leaders to unveil details of Glasgow and Clyde Valley City deal, including update on airport rail link. 
• Edinburgh: Former SNP leader Alex Salmond to unveil a portrait of himself at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Afore ye go (1): Chairman Miaow special

"Let me quote from Mao, rarely done in this chamber, ‘We must learn to do economic work from all who know how. No matter who they are, we must esteem them as teachers, learning from them respectfully and conscientiously. But we must not pretend to know what we do not know’.”

Shortly after, John McDonnell, Shadow Chancellor (above), threw a copy of the Little Red Book across the despatch box. This morning, interviewed on BBC's Today, Mr McDonnell said he wanted to highlight the government's selling off of British assets to "a Maoist regime". 

"Oh look! It's his personal signed copy!”

The Chancellor (above) reacts.

“Some people are worried about Labour. They think it's all over.... It is Mao.”

Karim Palant, former head of policy for Ed Balls, Twitter

“I haven’t quoted a communist before and I have no intention of doing so in the future.”

Labour MP Chuka Umunna (above)

“It is nothing more than a joke and it is no indication of any underlying belief system.”

A Labour spokesperson attempts to rescue matters

“Still can’t believe John McDonnell got out the Wee Red Book. He should have memorised East Fife’s home fixtures by now.”

Gordon Darroch, Twitter

“So what do we think will be John McDonnell’s next side-splitting stunt at dispatch box? Fake Marx beard? Come armed with hammer and sickle?"

Humza Yousaf, Scottish Government minister

Afore ye go (2): Not the Chairman Maiow special

“As Gordon’s spin-doctor, I used to love days like this. The media and the opposition would be baffled into submission for 24 hours, long enough for us to get through the evening news and the morning interview round, which was all we cared about.”

Damian McBride (above) grows dewy-eyed recalling spending reviews with his old boss, Gordon Brown, The Times

“This is going to be a real thrill for Bernie because he actually remembers when time came onto the scene. Not Time Magazine, just actual time.”

James Corden on the prospect of 74-years-young Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders (above, with Hillary Clinton) being named Time person of the year. The Late Late Show with James Corden, CBS.

“I am your master and you’re mine. Seems I canna possess your soul without losing my own.”

The quote from Diana Gaboldon’s Outlander which topped a poll for Book Week Scotland. Outlander is set in the days before dating app Tinder. 

Thank you for reading The Midge: your first bite of the day’s politics from Scotland and elsewhere. See you tomorrow.