Modesty blazing
SNARKY scenes in the Holyrood chamber on Tuesday after publication of the first slice of the Scottish Government’s new independence prospectus. SNP Constitution Secretary Angus Robertson was in no mood to take a slagging from Tory Stephen Kerr over the thing, calling him an “election loser” for failing to dislodge Nat limpet Michael Matheson in Falkirk West last year. “I know that humility does not come easily to Stephen Kerr,” he sniffed. At which lots of giggling broke out, as Angus is not exactly famed for his humility either. But in recognition of this unsuspected quality, he has now been dubbed the Minister for Modesty.
Lose-lose
THE ribbing of Tory list MSPs as election losers has also raised eyebrows. At the 2017 election, with the exception of Alex Salmond, Mr Robertson was the highest profile loser in Scotland. Despite all that humility, the then SNP deputy saw his 9,065 majority in Moray turned into a Tory win of 4,159. Still, takes a loser to know a loser, we reckon.
Out for the count
AFTER letting slip on the radio that his boss wants to hold Indyref2 in October next year, Mr Robertson sat with arms folded and a huffy look through FMQs, as if he was in the dog house. His mood wasn’t lifted when Douglas Ross mentioned the census shambles. “The constitution secretary - who is looking up to the sky, maybe for divine inspiration - was too busy updating the ‘UK bad’ bar charts to actually count the number of people in Scotland,” the Scottish Tory leader quipped. Bested by Douglas Ross? How bad can it get?
New blue?
HOWEVER MR Ross shouldn’t get too cocky. After his excruciating gyrations over Boris Johnson’s future, Partygate and the MPs' confidence vote, we hear Tory high command wants him to patch things up with the Prime Minister, yet again. And if Mr Ross can’t stand the thought of doing that, then like his short-lived predecessor, Jackson Carlaw, he will be “replaced”. Gulp.
Gaels Aloud
DESPITE being only five minutes long, the audio version of the prospectus is a surprisingly tough listen. It’s delivered in a weird singsong by some sort of Gaelbot that reads the junk as well as the contents. “This is an audio version of a Scottish Government document,” it begins. “Summary. Marketing code PPDAS109522206 slash 22.” By the end you’ll vote for anything.
Cash stramash
WITH the prospectus emerging in many slices over the coming months, not all will have their own SNP-Green press event, perhaps not even the vital currency paper. Pity, as it could be great telly. The Greens want a new Scots currency immediately after independence, but the SNP hierarchy are so worried about spooking voters, we hear they don't want a new currency mentioned at all now!
Jack, hack & crack
SCOTTISH Secretary Alister Jack hosted a drinks do at Edinburgh’s new Queen Elizabeth House on Thursday, with hacks and politicos hobnobbing on the roof terrace. There was a nice send-off for one veteran reporter who was coincidentally leaving the trade that day. Mr Jack presented him with a bottle of Commons whisky signed by Boris Johnson. “Although it doesn’t look like he needs any,” he observed of the crumpled newsman.
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