Hello and welcome to The Midge, the e-bulletin that takes a bite out of politics in Scotland and elsewhere. 

Today

  • Crackdown on schools ignoring new exam rules
  • Australian family facing deportation win reprieve till August
  • Scotland’s small firms enter EU debate
  • Battle of Jutland remembered

06.00 BBC Today headlines

Iraqi forces in bid to retake Fallujah; 50,000 civilians trapped in city … Belfast boys’ home inquiry opens … French gardener sentenced to 30 years for murder of British ex-pat … Leave leads on scrapping VAT on fuel … Australian family can stay in Scotland till August but not work.

07.00 BBC Good Morning Scotland headlines

Fallujah ... Battle of Jutland commemoration in Orkney ... Belfast inquiry ... Economy Secretary Keith Brown to set out plans ... Graduate vacancies drop ... Holyrood debates farm payments ... Dingwall family reprieve ... MOBO awards return to Glasgow. 

Front pages

The Herald:

Exclusive: In The Herald, education correspondent Andrew Denholm reports that education officials believe some secondary schools are pushing pupils into taking exams too early. It also shows sunbathers in Glasgow, where the temperature is set to reach 23C today. 

The National pictures the Brain family from Australia, who have been told they can stay in Dingwall till August but not work. Local SNP Ian Blackford called the work ban “mean-spirited”. 

The Herald: The Evening Times turns the spotlight on a bonus scheme for council officials. 

The Mail says one in four Scots children already has a Named Person - months before the scheme is implemented. 

The Times reports on a pilot study showing the effectiveness of a low-carb diet in controlling Type 2 diabetes. 

The Telegraph has a poll showing Leave (46%) catching up with Remain (51%).

The FT flags up a feature looking at the money being made by private firms in Germany - some 20 billion euros - for looking after refugees. 

The Guardian launches its “final countdown” coverage as the EU vote looms. 

The Scotsman says more than 2000 air guns have been handed to police in the first week of an amnesty. 

Camley’s Cartoon

The Herald:

Camley spies an eviction underway in a certain London street. 

Need to know: Roots

Television history was made in the US last night when a drama by the name of Roots began its run. Those of a certain age will recognise it as a remake of the landmark 1977 show adapted from Alex Haley’s bestseller of the same name. 

Telling the story of the slave trade through the character of Kunta Kinte, Roots made the news for the number of awards it garnered, its record audiences in America and the UK (130 million in the US at one point), and its political impact. Roots was a reminder that much of the wealth of the west was built on human misery. One scene, in which Kinte is whipped by a Scottish slaver for refusing to go by the name of Toby, brought home Scotland’s connection to the grisly trade.

It might have been thought that the drama would have lost some of its political impact now that America is 40 years on and has elected its first black president. Yet race remains a powderkeg issue in America, and the new series is already proving controversial.

As The Herald’s sister paper USA Today reports this morning, the actor and musician Snoop Dogg is calling for a boycott. In a video posted on Instagram and Twitter, he says: “I don't understand America. They just want to keep showing the abuse that we took hundreds and hundreds of years ago. But guess what? We're taking the same abuse.”

LeVar Burton, who starred in the original as Kunta Kinte and returns as co-executive producer on the remake, says the new series is just as relevant today. 

“If you are living in America right now, then the story of slavery is relevant to you, because it's shaped the country and the culture in which you live, whether you want to admit that or not.”

Afore ye go

The Herald:

“I endorse Hillary Clinton for president. She is the second-worst thing that could happen to America.”

Republican party reptile and essayist PJ O’Rourke declares himself for ABT (Anyone But Trump). The Times. MICHAEL BUCKNER/GETTY IMAGES

The Herald:

“The SNP seems to have had some sort of love affair with the EU and they are so entranced by it that they are incapable of looking at it and seeing it for what it is - an undemocratic organisation run by an unelected elite.”

SNP former deputy leader Jim Sillars. Above, Sillars, second from right, at a Yes gathering. JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGES

Oops...

The Herald:

“It's being reported the Obama family is planning to move into a nine-bedroom mansion in Washington, D.C., after the president leaves office. I guess he wants to be close enough to drive by the White House every morning and shout, 'Sucks, doesn't it?'"

The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. Above, daughter Malia with dad. MARK WILSON/GETTY IMAGES

The Herald: Extraordinary coalition: Cameron and Khan share platform to claim Britain would be stronger, safer and better off staying in EU

"It would be a pretty exquisite conspiracy that could bring together the Labour mayor son of a bus driver and the Tory son of a stockbroker Prime Minister.”

PM David Cameron, campaigning for Remain alongside Labour mayor Sadiq Khan despite criticising him during the mayoral race, dismisses Brexiteer’s claims of a “massive establishment conspiracy” to keep the UK in the EU. 

The Herald: Tom Harris is under fire for berating voters for being miserable

"In 14 years as an MP I never met anyone more nakedly ambitious than Khan. And I mean that in an entirely positive, complimentary way." 

Former Labour MP Tom Harris, above, reckons the London mayor could be just the man to come to the aid of of the Labour Party. Daily Telegraph

The Herald:

"Mr Bailey would like you to know that he is for leaving the EU in June - Out will have his vote.”

It’s clearly a photographer’s prerogative to change his mind 41 years after appearing on a pro-Europe poster for an earlier campaign. 

The Herald:

"I have some very specialist moves developed in the 1970s. You may laugh but I am a lovely little mover.” 

Is Tory MP Sir Nicholas Soames angling for a place on Strictly? CHRIS JACKSON/GETTY IMAGES

The Herald:

"This beautiful gorilla lost his life because the boy's parents did not keep a closer watch on the child.”

Some 70,000 people have signed a petition on change.org following an incident at the Cincinnati Zoo in which a child entered the gorilla enclosure. The animal was shot dead. The zoo said: “They made a tough choice and they made the right choice because they saved that little boy's life.”

The Herald: 2-1

William Hill odds on David Cameron leaving Downing Street before the New Year. CHUNG SUNG-JUN/GETTY IMAGES

The Herald:

“I would love to play Jane Bond.”

Emilia Clarke, aka Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, throws her crown in the ring. Daily Star. Above, promoting her new film, Me Before You. DEMETRIOS KAMBOURIS/GETTY IMAGES

The Herald:

“If anyone’s like Trump, it’s actually Ken Clarke himself! Bombastic, arrogant, dictatorial, sexist know-it-all.”

But tell us what you really think, Suzanne Evans of UKIP, as you hit back at pro-EU, former Tory Chancellor Ken Clarke for calling Brexiteer Boris Johnson “a much nicer version of Donald Trump”. Twitter. PETER MACDIARMID/GETTY IMAGES

Think The Thick of It was an exaggeration? Head over to the Twitter account of former New Labour special adviser Theo Bertram to read about the nightmare that was a particular Gordon Brown speech ... Gloria Gaynor features. 

Thank you for reading. See you tomorrow