AS a new councillor, the SNP's enthusiastic Lewis Ritchie is understandably keen to make a splash. When he launched a petition to have Hibernian FC pay the living wage, the Leith Walk representative no doubt thought he was on to a winner.
Until Leeann Dempster, the CEO of the club, pointed out that Hibs have in fact been paying its staff the living wage for more than a year. She then rebuked the new councillor for starting his campaign 13 minutes before he emailed her about it, meaning she did not have a chance to point out the error.
Joining the Living Wage accreditation scheme, an initiative trumpeted by none other than Nicola Sturgeon, was not a priority as it is "not something that exercises the mind of our hard working, dedicated staff," she added. Ouch.
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FORMER Scottish LibDem leader Tavish Scott set his sights on Boris Johnson at the Scottish LibDem conference yesterday.
"Boris has had more positions on Europe than the Karma Sutra," he quipped, raising a chuckle from an otherwise moribund audience at Edinburgh's Assembly Rooms.
Who better than Boris, reportedly a serial adulterer and father to a secret love child, to verify the claim?
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THE Lib Dems' green credentials may have taken a hit yesterday, when activists voted to reverse the party position and back fracking.
But the party's commitment to recycling - at least - was there for all to see at conference even if it meant a reminder of a damaging alliance with The Tories.
Activists arriving for the conference were transported back to 2014 by being treated to a yellow Better Together lanyard to display their passes.
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PETER Murrell, the SNP's Chief executive, has proudly declared his party's membership figure amid speculation that some Yessers who joined up after the referendum may not have renewed.
"25,642 on referendum day. 93,045 by 31 December 2014 and now 115,102," he proclaimed, responding to a journalist's speculative tweet.
Given the precedent set by the boss, not to mention the SNP's form for haranguing Labour for their reluctance to reveal membership figures, surely the party would be only too happy to provide similar statistics for North Lanarkshire?
But strangely, a request from Unspun for a breakdown of areas beset by infighting leading to reports that members have quit in their hundreds did not elicit a response from the SNP press office.
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