Opinion Matrix: Why Ruth Davidson says she feels sorry for Labour leader Richard Leonard

Ruth Davidson said that Labour was "too weak and divided" to provide an effective opposing political voice in Scotland while expressing some sympathy for the plight of its Scottish leader.

The Scottish Conservatives' Scottish Parliament leader used her column to point out that it was the "concerning numbers" in current political polling that has led to calls to for Richard Leonard to quit as Scottish Labour leader.

"In terms of dirty washing being laundered in public, the attempts to unseat Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard this week are a pretty stark example of a family feud that has spilled over into wider public consciousnes," she said.

"Two of his critics labelled their prospects in May as 'catastrophic', while one went further saying it could be an 'extinction level' result," she wrote.

"For a Labour Party that once weighed votes, rather than counting them north of the Border, that is some decline."

"I have to say, I felt pretty sorry for Richard Leonard as he slunk into First Minister's Questions on Wednesday. Sorry for him that his colleagues had broken cover in public the night before they knew he would have to face the cameras - and a gloating Nicola Sturgeon, who (inevitably) threw a barb about him not being in post by next May.

"I seldom write this column with my Tory Party hat on, but I will make this point today - it matters that Scotland has parties equipped and able to stand up to each other and test each other's arguments.

Labour is too weak and divided at the moment to be able to. So if voters out there do want the SNP to be challenged, they need to back a party big enough and united enough to take them on - the Conservatives."

The Sunday Times Scotland

Alex Massie offered little more hope for Mr Leonard as Scottish Labour leader - and suggested Anas Sarwar as someone who "can do even a little bit better".

He wrote that while a change in leadership will not be enough to turn the party's fortunes around "it seems crushingly obvious that persisting with the Richard Leonard experiment guarantees utter failure".

"Doubtless Richard Leonard still thinks he is the best man for the job," he said. "In typical Corbynite style, he hints that his internal opponents should be deselected for it is their treachery that is undermining the leadership and thwarting an otherwise irresistible march towards victory. Root out the heretics and all will be well. A word on this: it won't.

"But Corbynism, like the hard left more generally, has always been more interested in internal purity than the messy business of doing what's needed to win elections."

Sunday Mail

It's leader raised the spectre that Covid-19 will impact on our lives for another three years.

It said that one of Europe's leading scientists Professor Hendrik Streeck has said spikes such as those seen in Scotland in recent weeks "are inevitable for the foreseeable future - and said the public should get used to it".

The leading German virologist has said hopes of a vaccine are not guaranteed and people must prepare to alter their everyday lives over a long term.

"He knows what he is talking about. Professor Streeck helped lead the response to the pandemic in Heinsberg, one of the worst-hit districts of Germany," the paper said.

"He and his team used the town of Gangelt to study the virus to learn how it spreads and how it can be contained."

Prof Streeck said: "This virus is not disappearing. It will still be here in three years and we have to find a way to live with it."

The paper's commentary concluded: "Just when you thought things could not get worse."

Scotland on Sunday

It's leader concentrated on the poisoning of Russia's leading opposition figure and claiming it "gives every state a moral duty to act".

"During the pro-democracy protests in Belarus, many commentators have described President Alexander Lukashenko as 'Europe's last dictator'," it said.

"While this was once true, Vladimir Putin has so successfully subverted Russian democracy that he can no longer be considered an elected leader and, therefore, no longer actually has a right to be its president.

"The use of the military-grade nerve agent Novichok to poison Russia's leading opposition figure, Alexei Navalny, virtually confirms the involvement of Putin's regime in this assassination attempt. It also shows that, while they publicly deny it, they want people to know what happens to those who oppose them.

"Navalny's poisoning has led to calls by senior German politicians to reconsider their country's major gas deal with Russia. Given Putin's regime is intent on murdering its opponents and laughing in the face of those who object, it is time for every country, business and individual who has dealings with Russia to consider whether they are helping to prop up the man who is now Europe's most powerful dictator and whether they have a moral duty to act."