Hello and welcome to The Midge, your first bite of the day’s politics in Scotland and elsewhere.
Today
- Push for new Act of Union to stymie independence
- Explosions and gunfire in Jakarta
- Cabinet minister breaks ranks over EU
- Moray to raise council tax by 18%
- No privacy at work fear after European court ruling
- Salmond-Trump feud reignites
06.00 BBC Today headlines
Jakarta explosions … Met to train more armed officers … Commons leader Chris Grayling speaks out on EU … Brent Crude dips below $30 a barrel … MPs demand better treatment of transgender people … Livingstone: Trident decision “within 8-10 weeks” … World record lottery jackpot won.
07.00 BBC Good Morning Scotland headlines
At least six explosions in Jakarta … Buyer declares interest in Scots steelworks … Oil price hits 12-year low … Labour Trident decision on way … New safety measures at Dundee Airport after crash last year … Celtic Connections begins tonight.
The front pages
Exclusive: In The Herald, UK political editor Michael Settle reveals cross-party group’s plans to “wrest back the initiative from the separatists” through a new federal system. On the wing, the paper reports that ex-SNP leader Alex Salmond began his new radio show with a call for Donald Trump to pull out of Turnberry.
The Tories plan a £600 bill for graduating, says The National.
Exclusive: Lightburn Hospital in Glasgow is facing closure, reports the Evening Times, but Scottish Health Secretary says she knows of no such plans.
The Scottish Daily Mail, the Times, the Daily Express, and the Scotsman report on the planned 18% council tax rise in Moray. More councils may follow, it is claimed.
The Daily Record says David Bowie has been cremated without family or friends present.
Grassroots Labour Party members overwhelmingly support for Jeremy Corbyn, says a survey by The Guardian.
The Sun pictures Scotland’s latest Lottery winners, David and Carol Martin. Among Mr Martin’s first purchases will be a pair of £200 brogues.
Commons leader Chris Grayling writes in the Telegraph that the EU is “disastrous” for the UK, though he stops short of declaring his support for Brexit.
The Times quotes the RAC’s prediction that petrol could soon be cheaper than bottled water.
The FT highlights a European ruling backing an employer’s right to look at the personal emails and instant messages sent from office equipment.
Camley's cartoon
Camley looks on the bright side over vitamin D's powers, as revealed by an Edinburgh University study.
Need to know
Those Labour MPs who secretly, and not so secretly, hope their leader’s star is on the wane will receive cold comfort from The Guardian’s dig into the current state of the party, out today. Interviewing constituency party members across the UK, the survey found overwhelming backing for Jeremy Corbyn (above), increasing irritation with rebellious MPs, and the party on a solid leftward tack. Confirming the rosy picture for Mr Corbyn are Labour’s own figures showing membership has increased from 201,000 last May to 388,000 today. But, and it is a crucial “but” given the Holyrood poll in May, the membership rise in Scotland is described as “modest” compared to London and the rest of England and Wales.
The diary
- Holyrood: First Minister's Questions; Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Bill.
- London: Bank of England interest rates meeting.
- Glasgow: Mohammad Sarwar publishes autobiography, My Remarkable Journey.
Talk of the steamie: the comment sections
In The Herald, Iain Macwhirter looks at the oil price plunge and the “folly” in talking ourselves into another crisis, while John McLellan flips channels and considers how Tony Hall performed before MSPs when defending BBC Scotland (above).
Stephen Daisley in The Telegraph fears Jeremy Corbyn could be the new Neil Kinnock, here for the long, transformative haul, rather than a Michael Foot.
Cabinet Minister Chris Grayling takes to the Telegraph to say that “simply staying in the EU with our current terms of membership unchanged would be disastrous for Britain”.
John Macleod in the Mail reflects on Scottish Secretary David Mundell’s announcement that he is gay. What would have been a death knell for a political career 30 years ago is now just part of the poignant business of being human, says the headline.
Afore ye go
“I cannot give LBC listeners the inside track on Donald Trump’s toupee.”
Alex Salmond during his first radio show for the station.
“If indeed he has one.”
Co-host Iain Dale adds some balance to the tonsorial talk
“Come on Speaker Bercow, fast-track the Bill, and let's kick off the Six Nations at Murrayfield with the ‘countenance divine’."
Labour MP Tristram Hunt backs Jerusalem as England’s national anthem, as called for in a bill by fellow Labour MP Toby Perkins
"Gender and sexuality should make no difference whether you are a cabinet minister or in any other walk of life and I hope that I can, in my own way, reinforce that message.”
Scottish Secretary David Mundell comes out as gay.
“US blames incursion into Iran on faulty GPS equipment, which actually said, ‘You have reached a testy nation.”
Have I Got News for You, Twitter.
£1.6 billion
The record prize won last night in the US Powerball lottery. The odds of winning the biggest jackpot in history were one in 292 million.
A packet of fairy dust and a marzipan model of the Brandenburg Gate
Presents to Prince Charles and the Queen, as revealed in a list of official gifts given to Royals published yesterday.
£910,000
The amount spent by the MoD on hats made from bear, rabbit and fox fur, according to Defence Minister Philip Dunne.
“The New York Times is describing President Obama’s State of the Union as ‘a balance of terror and reality.’ Which, coincidentally, is also the motto of match.com.”
Conan O’Brien
“Just tried to get somewhere. Allowed loads of time but abandoned journey. Am I alone in feeling Britain is full?”
Noel Edmonds expresses commuter rage on Twitter
“No you're just stupid and taking a hyperbolic view of rush hour.”
A fellow Twitter user responds
Thank you for reading The Midge, your first bite of the day’s politics in Scotland and elsewhere. See you tomorrow.
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