Cover story
SNP Constitution Secretary Angus Robertson used his Edinburgh Evening News column this week to heap praise on bookshops. Edinburgh is a "world-class capital of literature", dontcha know, with a "flourishing" of different outlets. Riveting. "I should declare that I have a book currently on sale, which I wrote before my election as an MSP," he added coyly in the penultimate line of the piece, which was obviously not a sly plug for his new 464-page history of Vienna.
LibDumb
VENTURING north this week, UK LibDem leader Sir Ed Davey lectured hacks on the need for a Scottish inquiry into the handling of the pandemic. "There must be... a judge-led inquiry in Scotland to a strict timetable, to look at some of the Scottish dimensions," he said. "The SNP probably don't want an inquiry," he then harrumphed, apparently blissfully unaware that just such an inquiry was announced in Scotland in August.
Small talk
CRINGE of the week came from Nicola Sturgeon as she opened her Ted talk on climate change with an ancient gag. “I’m going to start today with a question. In other contexts, perhaps a risqué question perhaps - not one you would expect from someone in my position in a talk about climate change. But it’s important. Does size matter? My answer – perhaps also unexpected – is that no, it really, really doesn’t. And Scotland is proving that.” Whether her hubby, SNP boss Peter Murrell, is part of this proof was left unsaid.
Big talk
TRY telling LibDem MP Jamie Stone size doesn’t matter. After boundary boffins this week said his already vast Caithness seat should be expanded, he fumed it was “stark raving bonkers”. It would be the UK's biggest and take him three hours to drive its length, he wailed. However he omitted the best argument against the change - another 29,730 people could have the Bertie Woosterish Mr Stone as their livid MP.
What a banker
Ms Sturgeon added more amusement on Tuesday when she opened the hi-tech Barclays campus in Glasgow. Cutting the ribbon with her was rookie Scotland Office minister Malcolm Offord, the failed Holyrood candidate who was fast-tracked into power via the Lords after coincidentally giving the Tories almost £150k. Not only did his first official visit force him to stand amid a welter of Barclays signs, reminding everyone he was a banker not a politician, he was also required to thank Ms Sturgeon, an actual politician and serial election winner, for doing the introduction. They break ‘em in hard and fast at the Scotland Office.
READ MORE: Joanna Cherry warns threats at MPs must be taken 'more seriously'
Greenock Ermine
BIG Malky also took his seat in the Lords as Baron Garvel, a nod to his home town. “I'm just a local boy from Greenock who got a free education from the state, who went up to London by mistake, and has been trying to come back ever since," as he once put it. Homesickness no longer seems to afflict him. He has just updated his company records to declare himself now a resident of England. Still, good of him to drop by.
Holiday mood
HAS the FM’s recent forgetfulness spread to her staff, we wonder. On Thursday, her team sent the media a note giving the time and place for a post-FMQs briefing. It took an hour before the inevitable follow-up: “There will be no media briefing today - please accept our apologies." It seems someone forgot Holyrood is in recess.
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 hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel