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

Today

  • Brown backs Home Rule to head off indyref2
  • Architect speaks out on hospital delay
  • Minister to meet councils after legal threat
  • Home Secretary Rudd to France as Calais pressure intensifies

Front pages

The Herald:

In The Herald, UK political editor Michael Settle reports on Gordon Brown’s appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. There's a Herald Letters exclusive on the building of the £150 million Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh. 

The National looks ahead to the US Open, where it says Andy Murray is the player to beat. 

“Half of female heart attacks missed” is the headline in the Mail, quoting a study of 600,000 patients. 

The Herald: Exclusive: Caroline Wilson in the Evening Times says organisers of a cancelled Wineathlon in Glasgow are to return next year with a Pieathlon and a Chocathlon. 

The FT says the CBI wants the Government to ease up on banking regulation to stop firms leaving London after the Brexit vote. 

The Herald and the Times picture the end-of-festival fireworks in Edinburgh. 

The Telegraph says Home Secretary Amber Rudd will tell her French counterpart today that renegotiating the border agreement is a “complete non-starter”. 

UN contracts worth millions have been awarded to people closely associated with President Assad of Syria, according to a Guardian investigation. 

FFS: Five in five seconds

1. What’s the story? The European Commission has taken a big bite out of Apple. 

2. Why? Officials accused the Irish government of entering a “sweetheart deal” with the tech giant whereby the firm would bring jobs to the country in return for paying lower tax rates on sales. For the Commission, this amounted to illegal state aid, and it wants the firm to pay the Irish government back taxes.

The Herald:  

3. What does Apple say? It denies receiving special treatment, arguing it pays most of its taxes in the US where its research and development takes place. The Irish Government, like Apple, is expected to challenge the ruling. 

4. How much will the penalty be?  £11 billion, the biggest ever levied. 

5. Big closing down sale at all Apple stores today then? No. In the last three months of 2015, Apple banked profits of $18 billion (£14 billion). Read the story here.

Afore Ye Go

Scottish Secretary David Mundell stakes his claim to be survivalist Ray Mears' number one fan. Is there much demand for starting fires from scratch in Cabinet? 

The Herald:

£5.2 million

The amount left by Labour MP Michael Meacher (above, left, in 2007 with John McDonnell MP) in his will. The left-winger, a Corbyn ally, is reported to have owned at least nine houses at one point. Times. Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images. 

The Herald:

"Axing the treaty altogether would be a disaster for France and Britain. It would simply force the ferries and Tunnel to become border guards – meaning higher ticket prices and longer queues.”

Charlie Elphicke, Conservative MP for Dover, speaks out as an increasing number of politicians in France call for British border controls in Calais to be axed, potentially transferring “The Jungle” to Dover. Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

What the man from the Daily Mail is set to do next

The Herald:

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem at a game in Santa Clara, California, has sharply divided opinion, with some fans burning shirts and others supporting him. Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

The Herald:

“We do have oven chips from time to time when the grandchildren come – give them a treat – but I usually do things in the oven rather than frying.”

Great British Bake Off’s Mary Berry refuses to back down from her assertion that deep fat frying was smelly and unhealthy. Masterchef judge Gregg Wallace said "Our nation was built on chips and spam fritters.” Ian West/PA Wire

Still on the subject of Bake-Off, here's economics commentator and Corbyn supporter Paul Mason in an authoritative pose. 

The Herald:

“The Boston Globe just reported that according to his campaign staff, Donald Trump wouldn't take any vacations as president. I think that's because he has offended so many other countries he can't leave this one.”

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Thanks to BuzzFeed's Jamie Ross

The Herald:

“Virtual corpses”

What Jeremy Paxman, 66-years-young, called pensioners after receiving a copy of the Mature Times magazine. Its publisher said Mr Paxman was turning from “Jeremy Paxman into Jeremy Clarkson, without the charisma”. Financial Times/dailymail.co.uk. Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images for Advertising Week

The Herald:

“His recent clumsy intervention to demand that Sir Richard Branson, the country’s most popular business leader, should be deprived of his knighthood, is an example of McDonnell’s spite as well as his poor judgment.”

Former Labour MP Tom Harris on Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell. Telegraph. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

The Herald:

"After long and painful consideration and work on my marriage, I have made the decision to separate from my husband.”

Clinton aide Huma Abedin is leaving her husband after the New York Post caught him in another sexting scandal at the weekend. Larry Busacca/Getty Images

The Herald:

“Our Governor, Paul LePage, is a bigot, a homophobe, and a racist. I think that about covers it.”

Author Stephen King (above, left, with TV host Bill Maher) lets his words do the talking on the governor of Maine, who said the “people of colour or people of Hispanic origin” were “the enemy”. Thos Robinson/Getty Images

Thanks for reading - see you tomorrow. Twitter: @alisonmrowat