Hello and welcome to The Midge, your first bite of the day’s politics in Scotland and elsewhere.
Today
- SNP MP facing questions over charity’s paltry donations
- Industry turmoil as oil heads towards $30 a barrel
- MSPs publish Coatbridge College severance payments report
- Ministers think again on university reforms
- English votes for English laws makes its debut
- Crunch times in Tunnockgate
06.00 BBC Today headlines
Obama upbeat in last State of the Union speech … Iran seizes two US Navy boats … Junior doctors strike in England ends … Swedish police deny sex attack cover-ups … US researchers link potatoes to pregnancy diabetes.
07.00 BBC Good Morning Scotland headlines
BP job loss reverberates … Hundreds dying waiting for care packages says MND campaigner … SNP lead Commons debate on economy … Bird flu cull in Fife … Borders Lottery winners revealed … US lottery jackpot hits $1.5 billion.
The front pages
The Herald has an exclusive by Tom Gordon on a taxpayer-backed charity, founded by SNP MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, which donated less than 3% of its income to good causes while she was chairwoman.
The National says it could be another ten days before insurance assessors visit flood damaged Aberdeenshire homes.
Wine is to replace water at rest stops during a new 10k race in Glasgow, reports the Evening Times. Organisers are capping entries to the “Wineatholon” at 600.
The Scottish Daily Mail reports that child killer Robert Black, who has died in prison while serving 12 life sentences, was about to be charged with another murder.
The FT, the Daily Record, the Daily Express, the Scotsman, and the Sun focus on the downturn in the oil industry as thousands more jobs are lost - 600 in Scotland - and prices head towards $30 a barrel. See “Need to know” below.
The Times leads on a study estimating five million pensioners will turn down their heating due to fuel cost fears.
Gary Lineker and his wife Danielle will divorce today, says the Sun.
The Daily Telegraph reports that dementia experts in London hope a treatment for Alzheimer’s could be available “within a decade”.
Camley's cartoon
Camley looks forward to a busy year for elections
Need to know
The diary
- Holyrood: Coatbridge College severance payments report to be published by the Public Audit Committee; New MSP Lesley Brennan, who replaces Richard Baker as regional member for the North East of Scotland, sworn in; Scottish Labour Party Debate: “Achieving Social and Economic Success for all of Scotland.”
- Blairgowrie: Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead MSP to visit flood-affected farm.
- London: Alex Salmond hosts first phone-in on LBC between 4pm and 4.30pm.
- Commons: PMQs; SNP debate on economy; VW give evidence to Environment Committee on air quality; Theresa May gives evidence to Commons Committee on Investigatory Powers Bill.
Talk of the steamie: the comment sections
SNP MSP turned columnist Kenny MacAskill in The Herald says he will be voting with a heavy heart to stay in the EU, while the letter writers raise a glass, or not, to the new drinking guidelines.
Magnus Linklater in the Times runs the rule over Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence and asks: Is it working?
Sarah Vine in the Mail is not as enamoured of “tiger mums” as the Prime Minister. She is convinced pushy parents produce “intolerable, precocious children and smug, arrogant adults”.
Allison Pearson in the Telegraph confesses to being more Tigger Mum than Tiger Mother.
In the National, SNP MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh condemns Westminster’s refusal to reintroduce the post study work visa for overseas students.
Afore ye go
“My favourite is a Tunnock’s caramel wafer.”
While taking part in a mumsnet webchat about pensions, SNP MP Mhairi Black joins the list of politicians to have answered the website’s famous biscuit question. Presumably she will not be joining the Scottish Resistance protest at the Uddingston firm tomorrow over the firm’s rebranding of tea cakes in England.
Defence Minister Mark Lancaster yesterday disclosed the rank and rations of the Army’s nine taxpayer-funded mascots, including Shetland pony Cruachan IV, a lance corporal with the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Their rations? “Pasture forage and concentrate”.
“It’s just wrong and betrays who we are as a country.”
President Obama, in his State of the Union speech, condemns attacks on Muslims. The name Donald Trump was conspicuous by its absence.
"With this proposal we are significantly lowering the hurdles for the possible expulsion of foreigners who have committed crimes in Germany.”
German Interior minister Thomas de Maiziere announces plans to ease deportation rules following the New Year's Eve assaults in Cologne.
£3.1 million
What Isis raises every day, according to the UK Middle East Minister Tobias Ellwood. Most comes from oil.
"(My Mum) wasn’t speaking to me for several hours. Last night she was pacing the house, crying, saying she didn’t know why I’d done this to myself and she didn’t know what she was going to do with me.”
Teenager Hannah Stock, who reportedly got a tattoo of Ed Miliband on her thigh. Buzzfeed
“They're hoping to extradite him to the United States so he can be tried by a jury of his customers.”
Jimmy Kimmel Live on recaptured drug lord El Chapo
“So this is what an English parliament looks like.”
SNP MP Pete Wishart (above) as England and Wales MPs only vote on the housing bill in the first outing for new Evel (English votes for English laws) arrangements.
"I wanted to do something nice for her. When I found out that she doesn't like dogs, of course I apologised.”
Vladimir Putin tells German newspaper Bild why he brought his black Labrador, Koni, into a meeting with Angela Merkel in 2007. The German chancellor was once attacked by a dog. Via CNN
Thank you for reading The Midge, your first bite of the day’s politics in Scotland and elsewhere. See you tomorrow.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel