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

Today

  • Clinton 'has nomination in the bag'
  • Mike Ashley to Commons amid Rangers resignation reports
  • Brexit ‘will cost Scotland £2.2 billion’
  • How old school ties are flourishing at Holyrood

06.00 BBC Today headlines

Clinton passes milestone number of delegates required for nomination … Mike Ashley to be quizzed by MPs on working conditions at Sports Direct … NHS England chief says bed blocking will continue for five years  … US Fed chief Janet Yellen says Brexit vote will have ‘significant economic repercussions’ … Midnight deadline for voter registration: six million yet to do so … Blood test could show which anti-depressant is best.

07.00 BBC Good Morning Scotland headlines

Hearing on minimum unit price of alcohol resumes ... MPs to question Navy chiefs on warship procurement ... Ashley ... Voter registration ...  Explosion in Istanbul ... Clean-up operation in Australia after storms ... Scotland's largest solar farm to be unveiled today ... Pele items auctioned. 

Front pages

The Herald:

The Herald leads on a warning from the Stronger in Europe campaign that almost 30,000 Scots businesses will be hit by an “export tax” under Brexit. 

The National pictures the Australian family fighting to stay in Scotland as an August 1 deportation deadline looms. 

The Herald: The Evening Times, and The Herald, say Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley is understood to have stepped down from the board of Rangers’ merchandising arm. 

The Mail says a “winter of discontent” lies ahead in schools as teachers threaten to strike over their workload. 

The Scotsman warns of torrential downpours across parts of Scotland today. 

The Telegraph, Times and Guardian picture former Chelsea team doctor Eva Carneiro, who reportedly turned down a £1.2 million settlement offer in her case against the club. 

The FT reports that car tax revenue fell by more than £200 million in the six months after the scrapping of paper discs. 

The Express says bookies have cut the odds on Brexit from 5/2 to 7/4

Camley’s Cartoon

The Herald:

Camley gets straight to the poink of new scientific research. 

Need to know: history woman

She’s done it - but it is not officially signed, sealed and delivered. Regardless, Hillary Clinton will be lauded today as the first woman chosen by a party to run for president of the US.

Even though there are primaries still to go - six today, including New Jersey and California - an Associated Press survey of superdelegates (who can choose where their votes go at the party convention) calculates she does not need to wait for those. She needs 2,383 delegates to secure the nomination, and AP reckons she has them.

But her Democratic opponent, Bernie Sanders, says it is not over till the July 25-28 convention in Philadelphia. His spokesman told the BBC: "It is unfortunate that the media, in a rush to judgement, are ignoring the Democratic National Committee's clear statement that it is wrong to count the votes of superdelegates before they actually vote at the convention this summer. Our job from now until the convention is to convince those superdelegates that Bernie is by far the strongest candidate against Donald Trump.”

The focus will now be on Barack Obama to come out in the next few days and endorse Clinton as the woman who will fight for the White House. 

Afore ye go

The Herald:

"It's time for the Leave campaign to outline their economic plan for Britain outside Europe. They are perpetuating an economic con-trick on the British people, and we're calling time on it. The British public deserve better than being asked to roll the dice." 

David Cameron, Harriet Harman, Tim Farron and Natalie Bennett, in a joint statement. 

Simply Red's Mick Hucknall sees, er, red, over the Labour leader

Oh dear, the punning begins... 

The Herald:

"The dresses worn by the judges did not raise issues under our rules on nudity, and the judges were not portrayed in a sexualised way."

Media watchdog Ofcom explains why it will not be taking further action on the 19 complaints it received about the skimpy attire of Britain’s Got Talent judges Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon. Picture: ITV

The Herald:

“Priti Patel, surely a contradiction in her name.”

GMB general secretary Tim Roache was attacked on Twitter for his remarks about the Brexiteering Tory minister, above. Roache said he was not being sexist “in the slightest … What she says and thinks of workers & rights is not pretty.” Carl Court/Getty Images

TMI (too much information) there from former Tory minister and Remain campaigner Edwina Currie.

The Herald:

“A women who rejects motherhood, who refrains from being around the house, however successful her working life is, is deficient, is incomplete.”

Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a speech to the Women and Democracy Association conference in Istanbul. Hurriyet Daily. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The Herald:

"An Old Etonian surrounded by a privileged elite who doesn't know how the other half lives ... I cannot envisage how Margaret Thatcher would have got into such a mess.”

Sir Bernard Ingham, above on Prime Minister David Cameron. Oli Scarff/Getty Images

The Herald:

"I am not going to keep fighting the image that exists. People anticipate a shallowness, a self-centredness, and a lack of self-awareness. It doesn't matter what I say or how eloquent a speaker I may be.”

Actress Megan Fox presumably gives up her dream of a political career. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

The Herald:

50 

FM Nicola Sturgeon’s ranking on Forbes’ most powerful women in the world list. Only the Queen beats her in UK rankings. Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel stays in the number one spot. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

The Herald:

5789

Number of offenders from overseas in the UK, as revealed in a Commons home affairs committee report yesterday. Tory MP Sir Bill Cash, above left, noted the figure emerged on the anniversary of the Normandy landings. Sir Bill, whose father was killed in Normandy, said: “Those who fought and died there did not do so to enable convicted EU rapists, paedophiles and drug dealers, who are now here in prison, to be protected under the new European human rights laws, including the European charter and the European court.” 

The Herald:

30,000

Number of foreign offenders removed since 2010, Home Secretary Theresa May told the Commons. Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images

The Herald:

“It is ironic that he didn't want to speak at an event about democracy unless I left.”

Controversial MailOnline columnist Katie Hopkins claims Bob Geldof would not share a platform with her at an EU debate. Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images

Thank you for reading. See you tomorrow