Hello and welcome to The Midge, the e-bulletin that takes a bite out of politics in Scotland and elsewhere.
Today
- SNP: Trident renewal vote will boost indy push
- Oil workers to strike over pay
- Boris Johnson-John Kerry in US/UK talks
- Revealed: Scotland’s biggest airports owned in tax havens
Front pages
In The Herald, UK political editor Michael Settle reports on the Trident debate and vote, which the government won by a 355 majority. All of Scotland’s MPs, bar Scottish Secretary David Mundell, voted against.
The National has a picture of a nuclear sub with the headline: “Get this out of Scotland.”
The runaway bus which brought chaos to Glasgow city centre is the splash in the Evening Times.
The Mail and the Telegraph report on a Financial Conduct Authority survey showing some saver accounts are paying zero interest.
The Guardian says Hermes parcel firm, which delivers for John Lewis, is paying some couriers below the national living wage.
“Russia faces Olympic ban as doping scandal grows” is the lead in the Times. It also reports that Jeremy Corbyn is 20 points ahead of his rivals in a poll of party members.
The FT reports on boos from a section of the crowd in Nice when Manuel Valls, France’s PM, visited the area where 84 people died.
Camley’s cartoon
Camley reckons the renewal of Trident will be cold comfort to veterans struggling to survive.
Ten in ten seconds: the new Mrs T
1. What’s the story? The first night of the Republican Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, was electrified by a high-profile speaker.
2. Jeez, not Clint Eastwood talking to an empty stool again? A former fashion model by the name of Melania Trump, who came on to the stage with her husband to a soundtrack of Queen’s We Are the Champions.
3. Any relation? Third wife.
4. Bio? 46, born Melania Knauss in Slovenia, became US citizen 2006. One son, Barron William Trump.
5. What did she say? Nothing to frighten the horses. Her husband is a fighter, don’t you know. “He will never give up and he will never, never let you down.” And life with him will never be dull, surprise, surprise. “The race will be hard, tough fought all the way to November. There will be good times and hard times and unexpected turns. It would not be a Trump contest without excitement and drama.”
6. Any message for the sisterhood? “No matter who you are, a man or a woman, he treats everyone equal.”
7. A fairly dull speech then? Not quite. Vox website has pointed out some similarities in last night's speech, said to have been six weeks in the making, to one Michelle Obama made in 2008, which is causing much comment. See video below.
Watch Melania Trump straight copy her speech from Michelle Obama. https://t.co/cKJn7ALXhi #RNCinCLEhttps://t.co/XOjcfOARv9
— Vox (@voxdotcom) July 19, 2016
Trump campaign advisor Jason Miller said: "In writing her beautiful speech, Melania's team of writers took notes on her life's inspirations, and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking."
8. Why is she called Trump's "secret weapon"? Her husband is not too popular among women voters, and anything his wife and daughters can do to talk up his feminist credentials could potentially soften his image. Although how Mrs T’s posing nude while a model will sit with the more conservative parts of America is unknown.
9. Hillary will take her apart for that surely? Hillary, if she is wise, will treat her like the third rail - not to be touched. The last time wives were deployed in the campaign, when Trump contrasted his wife with Ted Cruz’s spouse, things got extremely nasty, very quickly.
10. How will Hillary match Melania for box office? There’s this boy called Bill she knows …
Afore Ye Go
"Can we cut to the chase? Is she personally prepared to authorise a nuclear strike that can kill a hundred thousand innocent men, women and children?”
SNP MP George Kerevan (East Lothian) to Theresa May during the Trident renewal debate.
“Yes.”
Mrs May responds
David Cameron sits on the back benches for the first time in 11 years pic.twitter.com/PVqDJPw90g
— Emily Ashton (@elashton) July 18, 2016
Guess who else turned up to the Trident debate?
The spot where the Nice lorry attacker was killed is being marked with an 'anti-tribute' of rubbishhttps://t.co/EhLYYw2xDH
— ITV News (@itvnews) July 18, 2016
"It is not a great position for the Labour Party to be in, to be honest. It doesn't show clarity of thinking, nor do I think it would reassure people that we are strong enough on security matters.”
Labour deputy leader Tom Watson on the split within the party over Trident renewal. BBC World at One. Rob Stothard/Getty Images
New potatoes cabbage & cauliflower from my plot in Kelty. This is the only plotting I am doing this summer! pic.twitter.com/YM9ZJtgjmu
— Alex Rowley (@Alex_RowleyMSP) July 18, 2016
From Scottish Labour's deputy leader
"I'm pleased to welcome Ian to my shadow cabinet.”
Kezia Dugdale appoints Ian Murray MP as Scottish Labour’s Westminster spokesman. Mr Murray previously resigned as Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Scottish Secretary. Ms Dugdale said the chances of a Labour government in the near future were “slim at best and non-existent at worst”. Above, Ms Dugdale and Mr Corbyn in happier times. Matt Cardy/Getty Images
“Although he's still a little shaky on his little legs, he is doing well so far.”
Not a progress report on Britain’s new Foreign Secretary but an update on a new Malayan tapir male calf, the first of the endangered species born at Chester Zoo. Boris Johnson attended his first Brussels summit yesterday. His French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault said BoJo showed “some humility”.
“[It was] easier to leave Europe than the Ikea Reading car park”.
One way of looking at the Brexit vote, this one from a shopper caught in a three-hour plus wait to get out of the new store’s car park. The store is the first Ikea to open in the UK in seven years.
"The Union is very important to me and I'm pleased to visit Wales so early in my premiership.”
It’s Groundhog Day of a kind as Theresa May follows up her visit to Scotland last Friday with one to Wales yesterday. Above, Mrs May with First Minister Carwyn Jones (Lab)
Wish I'd invested in security fencing before coming to Cleveland #RNCinCLE pic.twitter.com/vg3WXcpKWp
— Matt Williams (@matt_itvnews) July 18, 2016
Guess where the Republicans are holding their convention?
“Pundits are saying that the new British prime minister is following in the footsteps of Margaret Thatcher, with some in the media calling May ‘dull as porridge’, ‘extremely dependable,’ and ‘not humorous.’ Said Hillary Clinton, ‘Ugh, I would kill for reviews that good’.”
Late Night with Seth Myers. Alex Wong/Getty Images
Prince Charles was greeted by two women wearing union flag swim suits in Cornwall today https://t.co/abpAvHpsVMhttps://t.co/WQtELZNAo2
— ITV News (@itvnews) July 18, 2016
Thank you for reading. See you tomorrow.
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