Good morning and welcome to The Midge, your first bite of the day’s politics in Scotland and elsewhere.
Today
- Labour in turmoil over Syria
- Salmond (above) under fire for missing Syria statement
- Independence on way within decade say half of Scots
- BBC Alba loses £1million in spending review
- Queen opens Commonwealth meeting in Malta
06.00 BBC Radio Four Today headlines
Corbyn cancels visit to Oldham by-election to deal with Syria crisis in party … Memorial service in Paris for attack victims … English Local Government Secretary to take fracking decision … Royal College of Emergency Medicine says A&E targets across UK missed … Child abuse inquiry in England to name institutions to be investigated … Gun attack on two police officers in Belfast, no-one hurt … England and Wales Cricket Board orders players to wear helmets.
07.00 BBC Good Morning Scotland headlines
Corbyn facing Shadow Cabinet resignations … Man draped in US flag arrested after jumping White House fence … 50,000 tons of food set to be wasted in Scotland over Christmas … Four arrests linked to Celtic match … Asda quits Black Friday.
The front pages
The Herald reckons Labour's deep divisions over Syrian air strikes increases the Prime Minister’s chances of winning a vote. It also reports that a health chief in the Western Isles has volunteered to provide emergency GP cover.
The Guardian says Jeremy Corbyn won the support of just four members of his Shadow Cabinet over his position on air strikes, while The Times reports Diane Abbott’s warning to rebels that “[Jeremy] is the one with the electoral mandate”.
The Scottish Daily Mail has a picture of Alex Salmond at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery with the headline, “Debate Syria? Sorry, but I’m unveiling a portrait … of myself”. It also reports that in the evening he attended a Holyrood reception for veterans.
The Daily Record reports that SNP MP Natalie McGarry paid a “four figure sum” to Women for Independence late last summer.
Shoppers are set to spend £1billion on an online Black Friday frenzy, says the Daily Telegraph.
The FT carries a warning from Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, that the EU could collapse like the Roman empire if it does not protect its borders.
The Sun has an exclusive about an Iraq veteran from Airdrie who says he was discharged from the Army because of a nut allergy.
The Press and Journal says hopes are fading in the search for the killer of banker Alistair Wilson.
The Courier leads on the search for a pensioner missing for three days.
The Scotsman reports that immigration to the UK reached a record high of 336,000 in the year to June.
Camley's cartoon
Camley paints a picture of the political divide over Syrian airstrikes
Need to know
They thought the timetable was clear. As Mike Settle of The Herald reports, Labour’s shadow cabinet had agreed to wait till Monday to make a decision on Syrian airstrikes. That plan was torn up when leader Jeremy Corbyn wrote to MPs saying he would not back air strikes. “This is war and I’m not talking about Syria,” said one shadow cabinet member. Last night, on BBC Question time, there were hints from Ken Livingstone, a close ally of Corbyn, that there would be a free vote for Labour MPs. “This is not the Tony Blair era,” said the former London mayor, adding: “You can’t force people to vote to kill other people, or vote not to kill them.”
Talk of the steamie: the comment sections
In The Herald, David Pratt argues that UK air strikes in Syria risk adding to the already desperate plight of the people. Robert McNeil muses on what makes a memorable quote (just don’t quote him on it), and the Letters Page jumps on the (for now imaginary) Glasgow airport rail link. Business Editor Ian McConnell says entrepreneurs are up to the challenge of a weak economy.
In The National, Green MSP Patrick Harvie looks forward to an action on climate change march in Edinburgh tomorrow.
Jan Moir in the Daily Mail reckons old age, and the loneliness it can bring, is especially tough for women.
In the Times, Kenny Farquharson casts an eye over the SNP’s vetting processes and predicts some Holyrood candidates “will be nothing but a headache for the party on whose coat-tails they have skidded into a plum job”.
French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian writes in The Guardian that his country needs British support in the fight against Isil.
Philip Stephens in the FT has advice on dealing with a “humbled” Putin (above).
A Telegraph leader looks with dismay on Black Friday, saying “No wonder Asda has thought better of refereeing a scrummage in its shops to no profit to itself”.
The diary
- London: Commons and Lords not sitting
- Valletta, Malta: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
- London: Nicola Sturgeon attends British-Irish Council.
Afore ye go
Times columnist Deborah Ross’s top ten Black Friday tips
Ex-MP George Galloway (above), on Labour’s candidate for London mayor
“It’s hard to believe this is my seventh year of pardoning a turkey. Time flies, even if turkeys don’t.”
President Obama turns comedian for Thanksgiving
New York Times journalist Serge Kovaleski, who has the joint condition arthrogryposis, reacts to Donald Trump’s apparent “impression” of his disability. Trump denies mocking the reporter and says he does not remember meeting him.
Columnist Peter Hitchens, Twitter
Thank you for reading The Midge: your first bite of the day’s politics from Scotland and elsewhere. See you on Monday.
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