Hello and welcome to The Midge, the e-bulletin that takes a bite out of politics in Scotland and elsewhere.
Today
- McLeish calls for home rule referendum
- IDS says Germans vetoed key Cameron demand on migration
- Second trial in Lockerbie case a ‘possibility’
- Salmond urges Remain campaign reboot
- Ex-SNP MEP Kerr joins Scottish Greens
06.00 BBC Today headlines
IDS … leading former figures in US government claim UK influence diminished by Brexit … British Chambers of Commerce finds support for Remain dropping … MPs demand clarification on use of drones
07.00 BBC Good Morning Scotland headlines
IDS ... Scots Chamber of Commerce favours Remain over Leave ... Scotland Stronger In Europe campaign launches ... Drone strikes ... Hiroshima survivor in Edinburgh to warn against Trident renewal ... 1200 migrants buried in unmarked graves across Europe.
Front pages
Exclusive: In The Herald, Daniel Sanderson finds former Labour FM Henry McLeish backing a new referendum to include an option of radical home rule. There’s an election special on the Letters page, with one correspondent warning of a new “toxic divide” in the Scots body politic.
The National reports that a scientist from Heriot-Watt University has cracked the genetic code of bacteria that “eat” oil spills.
The Mail says Natalie McGarry MP has apologised and paid £10,000 in damages after falsely claiming a pro-Union campaigner was a ‘Holocaust denier’.
The Times has a letter from 13 former US secretaries of state and defence warning UK voters against backing Brexit. The Telegraph has another missive along the same lines, this one from five former Nato Secretaries-General.
The Guardian says Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has made a plea for unity after conceding the party has far to go if it is to win a general election.
The FT pictures Rodrigo Duterte - aka “Dirty Harry” for his tough stance on crime - who is set to be the next president of the Philippines.
Camley’s Cartoon
Camley discovers Alex Salmond in the mood to make friends - maybe - to keep Britain in the EU.
Need to know: presiding officers
In Westminster, Washington and Stormont they call them Mr or Madam Speaker, in Scotland and Wales it is Presiding Officer. The job usually involves keeping the peace in the chamber, representing parliament at home and abroad, and generally ensuring the smooth running of business.
Whatever the title, the one thing all presiding officers around the world (they have an annual conference, don’t you know) are meant to have in common is impartiality. Which is all well and good once in the job. The race for the position, however, is an intensely political affair which says a lot about the state of the parties, not to mention the career fortunes of candidates.
The Herald’s Daniel Sanderson has Labour’s Johann Lamont, Ken McIntosh and former Deputy PO Elaine Smith, and Murdo Fraser of the Conservatives among those likely to ask MSPs to elect them in a secret ballot on Thursday. Read his story here. The Sun, meanwhile, has McIntosh, Lamont and Smith, plus John Scott for the Conservatives.
With the parliament numbering LibDem, SNP, and Tory POs in the past, and the major parties unwilling to give up a precious vote with a minority administration in charge, it is thought likely the £105,000 a year job will go to a Labour MSP, but which one?
Afore ye go
In which a group of serious parliamentarians are bullied into leaping around like bairns by some cruel photographers pic.twitter.com/P8bkHfNysC
— Philip Sim (@BBCPhilipSim) May 9, 2016
The BBC's Philip Sim finds a Tiggerish mood among Green MSPs on the first day of the new parliamentary session.
"The standard of debate around the UK's EU membership, to date, has been at best puerile and at worst just outlandish scaremongering. With support for the EU across the UK hanging in the balance, the Prime Minister should reboot the Remain campaign away from Project Fear mark two.”
Former FM Alex Salmond on hand with advice. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
Putin heard #EUreferendum campaigners have been arguing about him pic.twitter.com/j7YeEKMvwW
— Asa Bennett (@asabenn) May 9, 2016
From the Telegraph's Asa Bennett
"The press want to know what people make, and we don't want them to know what we make, in a sense. It's not so much the press that we're worried about, it's about fellow actors.”
One Foot in the Grave’s Richard Wilson is not in favour of rumoured Government moves to force the BBC to disclose what it pays its top stars. He also said he had been offered a place on Strictly years ago but turned it down because “it just filled me with dread”. Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Celebrations of #EuropeDay already well underway in Greece with some traditional dancing. #VoteLeave for freedom. pic.twitter.com/ztNvDby9MA
— Tony Parsons (@TonyParsonsUK) May 9, 2016
Writer Tony Parsons notes Europe Day - yesterday, in case you missed it.
"I am a child of Europe. I am a liberal cosmopolitan and my family is a genetic UN peacekeeping force. I can read novels in French and I can sing the Ode To Joy in German - and if they keep accusing me of being a Little Englander, I will.”
Boris Johnson resents being told Brexiteers are “a group of small-minded xenophobes”. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
The publication date for the 2.6 million word Chilcot Report on the Iraq war, as announced yesterday. Oli Scarff/Getty Images
"What I love is the fact that the lamp exploded, everybody jumped apart from Clover.”
A guide dog shows TV hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield how it’s done when a bulb exploded live on air.
"We can talk maybe off air.”
It’s that man Prince Harry again, having a busy week on American TV publicising the Invictus Games in Florida for injured ex-service personnel. Here, he was responding to Jenna Bush, daughter of Dubya, telling him that her sister Barbara was single. Above, with the twins' parents.
“Is Trump the new normal?”
Headline on cnn.com on a feature pointing out that world leaders, including David Cameron, seem to be softening their stance on the Republican hopeful the closer he gets to the White House. Mark Lyons/Getty Images
This ever happened to you, Shuggsy @Lord_Sugar? pic.twitter.com/BKVcwHlfkg
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 9, 2016
The war between broadcaster Piers Morgan and Alan Sugar grows dirtier with the deployment of Michelle Mone.
Diary
- City: Interims: easyJet.
- London: Delegations from Parliament to visit Buckingham Palace to mark The Queen's 90th Birthday.
- London: Jeremy Corbyn and Alan Johnson launch Labour In for Britain EU campaign battlebus.
- Commons: Belle de Jour author gives evidence on prostitution to MPs. Brooke Magnanti, a research scientist and writer, will appear before the Home Affairs select committee.
Thank you for reading. 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