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

Today

  • Corbyn to rule out SNP alliance 
  • MacAskill: Scotland ‘took the rap’ for Lockerbie release
  • Councils threaten court action over talks exclusion
  • Opening of Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh delayed
  • Scottish Labour leader backs Owen Smith

Front pages

The Herald:

Exclusive: In The Herald, Andrew Whitaker reports that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will use a visit to Glasgow this week to rule out a coalition with SNP MPs at Westminster. 

The National says the Scottish fishing industry faces a £93 million black hole due to Brexit and the loss of financial support. The Telegraph says the Scottish Government and fishermen are at loggerheads over Brexit. 

“On top of the world!” is the headline in the Mail, with a picture of Mo Farah celebrating winning his second gold in Rio. Overall, says the paper, it was Team GB’s best performance for 108 years. 

The Herald: Exclusive: Hannah Rodger in the Evening Times speaks to a pensioner who was sent a warning letter from Glasgow Housing Association after friends took their dog to visit him. 

The Scotsman and The Herald cover former justice minister Kenny MacAskill’s claim, made at the Edinburgh book festival yesterday, that Scotland “took the rap” for Lockerbie despite “huge international deals going on”. 

The FT says Theresa May is coming under pressure to green-light major building projects after figures showed infrastructure spending had plunged post Brexit vote. 

There is a depression “epidemic” among teenagers, reports the Times, with a study of 30,000 teens showing a third of middle class girls in distress. 

FFS: Five in five seconds

1. What’s the story? The first ballot papers for the Labour leadership contest are sent out today.

2. How many will vote? More than 640,000 people, including 343,500 fully paid up party members, will choose between the incumbent, Jeremy Corbyn, and Owen Smith. 

3. When will the winner be known? Voting closes September 21, with the result announced at a special conference on September 24. 

The Herald:

4. Another month of peace, love and understanding then? If the weekend was any guide, no. London mayor Sadiq Khan (above, with Corbyn) backed Smith, saying Jeremy Corbyn was "extremely unlikely" to win a general election. At a Corbyn rally in London last night, supporters booed when Mr Khan’s name was mentioned. Watch below.

5. Where does Scotland figure? Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale today officially backs Smith. The hustings circus moves to Glasgow on Thursday, with Mr Corbyn also holding rallies in Edinburgh and Dundee. Given it is expected that most members will vote this week, how each candidate performs here could be significant. As Andrew Whitaker reports in The Herald today, Mr Corbyn is expected to rule out any coalition with the SNP at Westminster. Will Smith do the same, leaving Mr Corbyn’s choice for Shadow Scottish Secretary, Dave Anderson, looking isolated? 

Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

Afore Ye Go

The Herald:

“It might be seen as opportunistic to hold a snap election less than two years after the last one. There is an aspect of her needing to get on with the job. But I’m torn. Why not get a mandate?”

Scots Tory leader Ruth Davidson takes part in the good auld Scottish tradition of swithering when asked if Theresa May, majority 17, should go to the country. Observer. Carl Court/Getty Images

The Herald:

“I am sorry, Gandalf doesn’t do weddings.”

Actor Sir Ian McKellen’s response to a £1 million offer to officiate at the Lord the Rings-themed wedding of internet tycoon Sean Parker, Facebook’s first president. Mail on Sunday. Visual China/Getty Images

The Herald:

“He was a very good-looking guy. I used Donald more in what he did, how he worked, and how he was building his empire, than his sexuality.”

Joan Collins says her character of ruthless, scheming Alexis in Dynasty was based in part on Donald Trump. Event magazine. Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

The Herald:

"Dry your eyes, do the job or move on!”

Northern Ireland's police chief George Hamilton, above, appealing for new recruits on Twitter, responds to an apparently already serving officer who said he was living with depression and pain. Mr Hamilton later apologised. Brian Lawless/PA Wire 

The Herald:

"I don't think people should punch their colleagues. It's hard to keep them if they do. But I would say his pungent, transgressive, slightly out-of-control talent was something the BBC could ill afford to lose. He spoke to people who didn't find much else in the BBC.”

Former BBC director general Mark Thompson, above, on losing Jeremy Clarkson, sacked after a “fracas” with a producer. Sunday Times. Dave Thompson/PA Wire

The Herald:

Cheltenham Borough Council are looking into the disappearance of this Banksy mural, The Spy Booth, which appeared overnight in 2014 on a house a few miles from GCHQ.  Ben Birchall/PA Wire

The Herald:

"The parties are like operating systems that can be taken over. They are like bodies and then a parasite is injected into them - Trump for example. In the old days, the parties were able to police that and shut that down, but they weren't able to this time.”

Republican Party strategist Robert Moran. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Mystery of Ed Miliband's Edstone solved? Courtesy of the New Statesman's Stephen Bush. 

The Herald:

"It's been estimated that each medal in Rio has cost £5.5 million of public funding. There are some tough questions to be asked about whether financial priorities should be re-aligned to focus on the many, rather than the few.”

Broadcaster Janet Street-Porter. Above, the GB hockey team. Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

The Herald:

“He looks to me like a guy who should stop and take stock on whether he is in the right line of work.”

Former Labour MP Eric Joyce, above, no stranger to controversy, has some advice for Simon Danczuk MP, arrested in Spain last week after an alleged incident involving his wife. He was released without charge. Daily Record. Above, Eric Joyce in 2012. Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Graffiti crimewave hits Edinburgh.

The Herald:

“I am truly, 110% sorry.”

US swimmer Ryan Lochte apologises for saying he had been robbed at gunpoint in Rio when in fact he had been part of a group who vandalised a petrol station toilet door and was asked to pay for the damage. Interview with Matt Lauer, NBC. Matt Hazlett/Getty Images

The Herald:

700

The number of staff on the Clinton campaign. Her rival employs 70. BBC. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

From the Sun's Harry Cole.

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