JIM Murphy seems to have forgotten he is an MP. In a speech to unveil Scottish Labour's first election pledge, he committed a cardinal sin for all Commons members by annoying one of his party whips. The Scots Labour was speaking at Edinburgh's geology museum, Our Dynamic Earth, and joked that members of the audience could have their picture taken with David Hamilton, the veteran Midlothian MP, dressed as a dinosaur. (He's that old, geddit?) "You've gone to far," muttered the former miner, ominously.

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DAVID Cameron made a baffling reference to "Salmondisation" during Prime Minister's Questions when he was asked about the delayed Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq War. He meant "Salmonisation," the process by which those criticised in a public inquiry are given advance warning so they can challenge the findings. The term harks bark to an ethics inquiry in the 1970s chaired by Lord Salmon. But as the PM wittered on about its possible connection with Alex Salmond, Unspun could not help wondering whether he has the former First Minister on the brain.

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POLITICIANS who did not receive a Christmas card from BBC Scotland's Gary Robertson should not fret. It's not because of something they said during one of his Good Morning Scotland interviews. The presenter didn't send any cards but instead donated the cash to Gordon's Fightback, Gordon Aikman's campaign to raise awareness of motor-neurone disease and funds for research into the condition.

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