Hello and welcome to The Midge, the e-bulletin that takes a bite out of politics in Scotland and elsewhere.
Today
- Shops and pubs could be forced to limit drink sales
- Gordon Brown to make ‘positive’ case for EU
- Report: Action needed to halt decline in North Sea oil and gas
- Sturgeon urges Scots to get out and vote for In
06.00 BBC Today headlines
FBI says Orlando gunman investigated but not considered a threat … Gordon Brown leads for Remain … Campaign group forecasts net migration of quarter a million a year if UK stays … Hillsborough campaigner Andy Burnham wants more legal funding support for families … BT and unions back Remain in letter to staff … Pistorius to be sentenced.
07.00 BBC Good Morning Scotland headlines
FBI had investigated gunman ... Vigils across world ... Police in California arrest heavily armed man planning to attend Pride march in LA ... Call for action on oil and gas ... Brown speech ... Air weapons amnesty ends ... French authorities call for alcohol ban in football cities.
Front pages
Exclusive: Gerry Braiden reports in The Herald on proposals from an alcohol charity and medical experts to introduce a national target on alcohol consumption. The main picture is of Floridians grieving over the attack at the Pulse nightclub.
Most of the other papers, including The National, picture the scenes in Orlando, with the Sun calling the massacre “America’s Bataclan” after the attack on a Paris concert hall. The paper reminds readers that this is the worst terror attack in the US since 9/11. The Telegraph quotes gay rights activist Peter Tatchell saying gay organisations in the West should “redouble” security.
Elsewhere on the front pages, the Times says Uefa could boot England out of Euro 2016 if fan violence continues.
The Evening Times reports on a call to stop a “pro-drug barbecue” taking place on Glasgow Green next month.
The FT and the Mail lead on Gordon Brown’s entry into the EU campaign in a bid to woo working class voters to Remain.
Camley’s Cartoon
Never mind Euro 2016, it’s all kicking off at the royal garden party, finds Camley.
Five in five: the Orlando shootings
1. In a televised address last night, President Obama condemned the deadliest mass shooting in American history at a gay club as “an act of terror and hate”.
2. FBI say Omar Mateen, 29, had sworn allegiance to the so-called Islamic State. He had been interviewed by authorities three times for suspected extremist views but no action was taken.
3. Hillary Clinton sent a message of solidarity to the LGBT community: “We will keep fighting for your right to live freely, openly and without fear. Hate has absolutely no place in America.”
4. Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, who called in the wake of the Paris attacks for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US, has renewed his demand. In a statement issued yesterday, he said: “I said this was going to happen — and it is only going to get worse.” On Twitter he added that he appreciated “the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism”.
Is President Obama going to finally mention the words radical Islamic terrorism? If he doesn't he should immediately resign in disgrace!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 2016
What has happened in Orlando is just the beginning. Our leadership is weak and ineffective. I called it and asked for the ban. Must be tough
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 2016
Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don't want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 2016
5. Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton campaign spokesperson responded: “Hillary Clinton has a comprehensive plan to combat ISIS at home and abroad and will be talking to the American people in the coming days about steps she would take to keep the country safe. In contrast, Donald Trump put out political attacks, weak platitudes and self-congratulations.”
Afore ye go
“In no sense do I have some divine hotline to the right answer. but for my part, I shall vote to remain.”
Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury. Mail on Sunday. Chris Ratcliffe/Getty Images
"There is naked fury. How can you order your troops to work round the clock for a month or two and then swan around in furs and a tux saying things like that? He is like a general from Blackadder.”
A Labour source tells Tim Shipman he is not impressed by Mr Corbyn’s attempt on Channel 4's The Last Leg to get down with the kidz. Asked how passionate he was on a scale of one to ten about staying in the EU, Mr Corbyn said "7 to 7.5". Sunday Times
Judging by the number of medals, Prince Edward's fortnight in the Marines was pretty eventful. pic.twitter.com/cPaJAFsbsX
— Peter Smith (@Redpeter99) June 11, 2016
“I’m a parent and a businesswoman - I leave politics to my husband. But in a few days there is a vote that I think is far bigger than any issue we’ve faced before.”
In her first newspaper article, Samantha Cameron comes out for … drum roll please … Remain. Mail on Sunday
“I am not prepared to participate in a process which has not even the pretence of fairness and objectivity.”
Sir Philip Green (above with Tony Blair), due to appear before a Commons inquiry on Wednesday into the collapse of BHS, writes to Labour MP Frank Field MP, co-chair. Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
“I’m expecting him to appear. There are a huge number of questions that need answering.”
Mr Field responds. Oli Scarff/Getty Images
“[She] will not be attending.”
FM Nicola Sturgeon, in common with the Tories’ Ruth Davidson and Labour’s Kezia Dugdale, declines an invitation to Donald Trump’s official opening of Turnberry on June 24. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
“Boris runs his hand through that bird’s nest of platinum hair. ‘This is the real thing,’ says Boris. ‘It’s all natural.’ But you do dye it, don’t you Boris? I say. ‘Yes,’ he admits. Real but enhanced, a little like the public personality.”
Brexiteer Boris Johnson is interviewed by Tim Shipman of the Sunday Times. Johnson later said it had been a joke and his sister said all Johnsons were “natural blondes”.
"The UK is bad for the EU but also the EU is bad for the UK because it permits a lack of democratic accountability in this country by permitting successive governments in this country to simply say 'oh, we are forced into doing things because of EU legislation' when it is precisely these governments that have been behind the EU legislation in the first place.”
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is for Brexit but still not for exiting the Ecuadorian embassy in London. ITV’s Peston on Sunday. Carl Court/Getty Images
@carlgavin he's a chateau bottled nuclear powered ocean going shit
— Nicholas Soames (@nsoamesmp) June 12, 2016
But Tory MP Nicholas Soames is unimpressed by Mr Assange
"I now find the political landscape so alien and awful that it's hard to match the waves of cynicism it transmits on its own.”
The Thick of It creator Armando Iannucci says he won’t be bringing back the comedy. New Statesman. Oli Scarff/Getty Images
“Love has no gender”
A slogan on a placard held aloft at Ukraine’s first major gay pride march in Kiev yesterday.
"Give up the Euro, introduce accountability,and hang Jean-Claude Juncker”.
Former Python John Cleese’s ideas for EU reform. He is voting Leave. Cleese, above, not with a dead parrot but with a very much alive lemur, by the name of Colin, at Bristol Zoo.
“Oprah Winfrey's talk show is coming to an end. It's been revealed that a 30-second ad for the final episode of Oprah's talk show will cost $1 million. In other words, the only person who can afford to buy an ad on Oprah's last show is Oprah.”
Conan O’Brien. Scott Olson/Getty Images
Thank you for reading. See you tomorrow.
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