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

Today

  • Sturgeon and Johnson clash in debate
  • Labour’s Burnham raises prospect of Remain defeat
  • Union calls for refugee teachers support
  • Osborne: Vote Remain to kill indyref2
  • Swinney issues “see me” note over exam mistakes

06.00 BBC Today headlines

Senior Labour figures to issue Brexit warnings … Labour’s Andy Burnham raises prospect of defeat for Remain … Amber Rudd accuses Johnson over leadership ambitions ...Labour MPs Mann and Skinner back Leave … Euro 2016 opens ... Obama endorses Hillary … Hopes over stem cell treatment for MS … Queen to attend service of thanksgiving to mark 90th birthday. 

07.00 BBC Good Morning Scotland headlines

Oil and gas job losses set to rise ... BP Sullom Voe plan scrapped ... Rudd ... Euro 2016 ... Queen ... Scottish Episcopal Church debates same sex marriage ... 18,000 expected at Ali Louisville funeral ... Muller closes Aberdeen plant. 

Front pages

The Herald:

The Herald splashes on the ITV debate, saying it was host to the most passionate exchanges in the EU referendum campaign so far. 

“It’s a whopper” is the headline in The National, referencing Nicola Sturgeon’s description of the £350m Leave claim. See ten in ten.

The Herald: In the Evening Times, Investigations Writer Peter Swindon digs into the trade in illegal tobacco.

The Mail leads on warnings by Tony Blair, John Major and George Osborne that Brexit will “break up” Britain.

The Times, Telegraph and Guardian report that MS is “close to being cured” after work by scientists in Canada. 

The FT says a decision on Tata Steel on the future of its UK operations has been pushed back to July. 

The Record hears from a whistleblower who claims social workers were in touch with the killers of two-year-old Liam Fee 24 hours before his death.

Camley’s Cartoon

The Herald:

Camley finds even the beautiful game being dragged into the increasingly fractious EU debate. 

Ten bites in ten secondsThe Herald:

Who won? Who had the best line about Boris’s leadership ambitions? Who was not wearing the trousers? Here, in ten bites, is last night’s debate.

1. “Get that lie off your bus.”

Labour’s Angela Eagle on the claim, painted on the Leave battle bus, that the UK sent £350m a week to Brussels - money it said could go instead to the NHS.

2. “I would not trust Boris Johnson with the health service as far as I could throw Boris Johnson.”

FM Nicola Sturgeon

3. “I am massively pro-immigration. I’m the descendant of Turks and very proud of it too.”

One of several mentions by Boris Johnson of his background.

4. “The only number that Boris is interested in is the one that says Number 10”.

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Amber Rudd wins the “have a go at BoJo’s leadership ambitions” contest.

5. Not everyone thought Boris came off worse. According to the Telegraph’s Tim Stanley: “He did well. Very well. He was on top of the data and threw facts out with ease. He wasn’t afraid to attack Dave. And when the jokes came his way he brushed them off with a Reaganesque ‘there you go again’. Most importantly, he was serious. Faced with a TV camera, Boris’ temptation can be to seduce and amuse. On this occasion, he showed that he could convince, too. It was a fine first audition.”

6. “What the European Union gives it can also take away.”
Labour’s Gisela Stuart says don’t trust a Europe drifting towards the right to be progressive in future. 

7. “She’s keener to be ruled by Brussels than she is by Westminster politicians.”

Boris Johnson to Nicola Sturgeon. 

8. “Not the man you want to drive you home at the end of the evening”.

Amber Rudd on Boris Johnson.

9. “She is not a democrat.”

Minister of State for Energy Andrea Leadsom accuses Nicola Sturgeon of wanting to re-run the independence referendum on the back of an EU vote because she did not get the desired result first time. 

10. That trouser question: Nicola Sturgeon. Everyone else, including host Julie Etchingham, opted for trews. 

Afore ye go

Shouldn't that still be "Mr President?" Hillary?

Clinton's opponent remains unimpressed

The Herald:

"The plain uncomfortable truth is that the unity of the United Kingdom itself is on the ballot paper in two weeks time.”

Sir John Major believes a vote for Remain in Scotland and Leave in rUK will mean a “serious risk” of a second indyref with a different result than in 2014. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

The Herald:

"We don't want to give them [Scottish nationalists] any excuses, so the simplest way to deal with all these issues ... is by voting to Remain.”

Chancellor George Osborne on the same subject during a visit to Scotland. Richard Stonehouse/Getty Images

The Herald:

"We understand that, although today Northern Ireland is more stable and more prosperous than ever, that stability is poised on carefully-constructed foundations." 

Tony Blair, visiting Derry with John Major, warns of the risks of Brexit. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

The Herald:

"Surely this is the most irresponsible talk that can be perpetuated in terms of Northern Ireland - very dangerous, destabilising and it should not be happening.”

DUP MP Nigel Dodds, responding to Mr Blair's comments. Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Muck-raking, Tory-style, as witnessed by The Herald's Dan Sanderson

The Herald:

"Major names on the high street stand accused not only of paying poverty wages but playing fast and loose with people's health and throwing their employees on the economic scrapheap on a whim even while the owners line their own pockets.”

Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie criticises the "deeply unethical" practices at Sports Direct and BHS revealed in Commons committee hearings. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

The Herald:

“What we heard this week … from Mike Ashley about practices at Sports Direct was absolutely and utterly appalling, shameful and unacceptable, and every right-thinking person in this country should condemn that unequivocally.”

FM Nicola Sturgeon. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

The Herald:

"You can always spot a fool, for he is a man who will tell you he knows who is going to win an election.”

Novelist Robert Harris, with pal Peter Mandelson, above. Fergus McDonald/Getty Images

The Herald:

"You're actually going to let him in?”

Filmmaker Michael Moore, whose latest documentary Where to Invade Next opens today, on Donald Trump’s visit to Scotland. Michael Springer/Getty Images

The Herald:

"Perhaps paying an extra 5p or 10p for a cup of coffee or a meaty wrap will be money well spent if we are paying our staff correctly?”

Labour MP Christian Matheson says Westminster’s catering staff are having to work double shifts “simply to make ends meet”. Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake, representing the House of Commons Commission, said staff were paid the London living wage but he would look into the double shift claims. Carl Court/Getty Images

The Herald:

“There's going to be an interesting sort of backlash. Things will happen, and there will be films with people of colour that have directed them, and are acting in them, and all of a sudden you'll have to start thinking 'Well, did they do this because they had that controversy last year, or am I really worthy of this award?”

Samuel L Jackson on the possible aftermath of the “Oscars so white” row. ITV’s This Morning

Meanwhile, over at the real Tory HQ in Scotland ...

Thank you for reading. See you on Monday