GENERAL bafflement in the SNP deputy leadership contest over a new campaign video from Chris McEleny. The Inverclyde councillor asks folk to back his call for Indyref2 within 18 months to the sound of the theme from the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me. You remember the one. It starts with 007 skiing off a cliff and being saved by a Union Jack parachute. A more striking metaphor for the No campaign would be hard to find.
ALSO cocking it up on social media this week was Midlothian Labour MP Danielle Rowley, daughter of long-lost former Scottish Labour deputy leader, Alex Rowley. On Tuesday, as a riposte to schoolboy Aberdeen Tory MP Ross Thomson, she proudly tweeted a poll to show the support Jeremy Corbyn enjoyed among young people. This put support for the Tories at 58 per cent, against Labour’s 42 per cent. Don’t they teach young MPs arithmetic anymore?
ELSEWHERE on Twitter, Edinburgh Eastern SNP MSP and self-confessed footwear addict Ash Denham has been trying to advertise her weekly surgery. Voters were told it would be at Northfield and Willowbrae Community Centre at 3pm. The only problem was it was tweeted at 9.30pm that day. Still, thanks for letting us know. At least you spelled your name right.
AFTER months of fevered anticipation, the new biography of Ruth Davidson written by improbable Scottish Labour spin doctor Andrew ‘Two Lobsters’ Liddle has finally hit the shelves. Like any good comrade, he immediately got it serialised in the Daily Mail, where we learn the Tory leader is a shoo-in to lead the next campaign against independence. It won’t be easy, Liddle assures us, but Ruth “likes a challenge”. The Labour leadership will be delighted.
EARNEST SNP backbencher Kate Forbes – most famous, if that's the right word, for raging against the use of plastic straws – tells Holyrood magazine about her biggest fear. “In this job, it’s ever being willing to compromise who I am, what I love and what I believe in for a quick shot of fame or power,” she declared, before adding: “If you sell your soul then you may as well give up.” Best of luck in politics, Kate!
WIDESPREAD disquiet in Holyrood as the SNP chose to drip-feed information about its long-awaited independence blueprint through a series of press releases – each issued on the basis that journalists don’t approach other parties for comment. Politics being what it is, this unusual approach lasted all of an hour or so. The Tories quickly got hold of the releases and issued quotes, sarcastically telling hacks: “Please note this information is provided on the basis you can ask anyone you like for comment.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here