Hello and welcome to The Midge, your first bite of the day’s politics in Scotland and elsewhere.
Today
- University fears visa block hitting Scots economy
- Patients warned of longer waits to see GPs
- Wild camping at Loch Lomond banned
- Scotland’s health services lagging behind England
- Abbott backs Kezia and heads north
- What the miners thought about Brown
06.00 BBC Radio 4 Today headlines
Tennis governing bodies announce inquiry into anti-corruption watchdog … Apple warns of first dip in revenue since iPhone launched … NSPCC says children’s access to mental health services worsening … English councils set to impose fines over roadworks … Trump withdraws from Fox debate.
07.00 BBC Good Morning Scotland
Tennis inquiry … Calls for better care for people with autism … Councils given deadline of next Tuesday to accept Scottish Government funding offer … Netanyahu criticises UN Gen Sec over comments on Palestinians … Fishing protest at Holyrood over marine protected areas… 3000 events in UK to mark Holocaust Day … Concern over Moray Firth ship-to-ship oil transfer plans.
The front pages
The Herald highlights Edinburgh University concerns that Scotland is suffering economically because foreign students cannot stay after graduation. On the wing, Helen Puttick reports on a leading doctor’s warning that securing a GP appointment is about to get “much, much worse” because, he claims, the service is not receiving the support it needs.
The Times, Daily Record, Scotsman and Express also lead on the comments by Dr Miles Mack, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners (Scotland).
The FT reports that eyebrows have been raised in Beijing over George Osborne putting forward Lord Danny Alexander (above) for a job with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The job ad had called for a “minimum 20-25 years in a leadership function”, says the paper.
The National reports that a hearing to consider expenses in the election court case against Alistair Carmichael is likely to take place next month.
Money to pay for the modernisation of Glasgow’s subway has been cut from £45 million to £20 million, reports the Evening Times.
The Scottish Daily Mail says Deputy FM John Swinney is heading to 11 Downing Street to “beg” for help with the oil industry.
The Telegraph pictures Catherine Zeta-Jones at last night’s London premiere of Dad’s Army, the movie.
The Times says Italy, like France, is set to be tougher on Google over tax than the UK.
T in the Park is under threat - this time from Eurasian beavers, reports the Sun. Experts suspect the animals were responsible for bringing down a tree near the Strathallan site.
MPs and Lords could be out of the UK parliament for six years while refurbishment takes place, reports the Guardian.
Camley’s cartoon
Camley gets grizzly about litter as wild camping is banned at Loch Lomond
Need to know
Who will be in charge of the sandwiches? That is one question which arises after yesterday’s announcement that Labour’s top team in London will be journeying to Scotland regularly to campaign in the Holyrood poll. More controversial is the news, reported by The Herald’s Kate Devlin today, that Diane Abbott (above) will also be heading north, despite having said only a month ago that it was “too late now” for Labour to make up lost ground. Looking at the reception given to Ed Miliband during the referendum, London Labour must be hoping the mood has changed radically since Jeremy Corbyn’s election and that, like the Durham miners (see Afore Ye Go, below) a warm welcome and cuddly photo opps await.
The diary
- Holocaust Memorial Day.
- Commons: PMQs; Opposition day debates on housing benefit cuts and prisons; Westminster Hall debate on resettlement of refugees.
- LBC: Alex Salmond’s phone in
- Lords: Question by UKIP peer Lord Rannoch on anti-Muslim hate crimes; Welfare Reform Bill.
- Holyrood: Scottish Liberal Democrats debates on education and fuel poverty
- San Francisco: Facebook announces financial results.
- London: Labour MPs and MEPs vote to select a new backbench representative on the National Executive Committee.
Talk of the steamie: the comment sections
Dorothy Grace-Elder in The Herald says the Scottish Government has to get a grip on health, while Mark Smith argues free tuition entrenches rather than reduces inequality.
Catherine Shoard in the Guardian says Robert De Niro’s latest film, Dirty Grandpa tackles a taboo few will go near - sexual desire in pensioners.
Magnus Linklater in the Times wonders why it has all gone quiet among Scotland’s middle classes.
Sarah Vine in the Mail picks up on designer Orla Kiely’s comments on “throwaway culture”. Writes Vine: “Just as well I resisted the urge to buy one of her £132 signature flower bins in John Lewis at the weekend.”
Afore ye go
“Why should the networks continue to get rich on the debates? Why do I have to make Fox rich?”
Donald Trump pulls out of tomorrow’s Fox News Channel debate. The presidential hopeful previously rowed with anchor Megyn Kelly (above).
Corbyn, Watson and McDonnell
Not a new firm of solicitors but the “top team” of Labour leader, deputy leader (above) and shadow chancellor heading north for the Holyrood elections.
Placenta encapsulation specialist
The job title of the person who converted Coleen Rooney’s afterbirth into capsules so she can eat it. Her third son, Kit, was born on Sunday, a brother to Kai and Klay. Above: Mr and Mrs R.
"This is a symbolic move to scare people away.”
Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen of the Red-Green Alliance on Denmark’s new law which allows the government to seize refugees’ valuables to help pay for their upkeep.
"Blair was a disgrace, he only lived five miles away from the meeting and he never attended once. Brown was a walking disaster. That fella couldn't get anything right. If you asked him heads or tails, the coin would have come down on its side."
Dave Hopper of the Durham Miners' Association is “delighted” the new Labour leader will attend the Miners' Gala on July 9.
“Tesco knowingly delayed paying money to suppliers in order to improve its own financial position.”
Groceries Code Adjudicator Christine Tacon
Paint Drying
The title of a 10-hour, £6000 film by British director Charlie Lyne which does exactly what it says on the (paint) tin. The BBFC has given the self-styled protest at censorship a “U” certificate for having “no material likely to offend or harm”. Mashable
“The latest CBS poll has Bernie Sanders (above) beating Hillary Clinton by 1 percent in Iowa, though another poll has Hillary beating Bernie Sanders with a folding chair.”
Late Night with Seth Myers
“I have noticed there has been an increasing tendency for parents to escort children to and from school while still wearing their pyjamas and, on occasion, even slippers.”
Kate Chisholm, a primary school headteacher in Darlington, issues parents with a dress code. Some even turned up in PJs for parents’ evening, said Ms Chisholm. Above: the perfectly properly dressed Bananas in Pyjamas
“There is no safer place for her to be than in my arms.”
Bullfighter Francisco Rivera Ordóñez on why he was carrying his five-month-old daughter, Carmen, while he fought a bull. Guardian
“Mental, dangerous and cruel. With or without the baby.”
Ricky Gervais responds on Twitter
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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