Stooshie Issue 10 Published July 26 2014

JULY 26 issue no.10 ❘ £2.50

W NE NE ZI GA MA

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Pecking order

Stooshie Feathered fiends go up before the beak

T h e b e s t o f S c ott i s h m e d i a – n e w s

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opinion

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d e bat e

Blood on his hands?

Making a splash

Scots seek answers to MH17 atrocity

Scots take the plunge at Games

Baby, Please Don’t Go Recall: R31 – 01-Aug-14

£2.50

30 9772055595008

26-Jul-14

Stars send Scotland a love bomb

Scotland in days www.thestooshie.co.uk

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Scots offer aid to Palestinian refugees

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Healthy debate in referendum

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Header Archie Macpherson turns the page

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Chief Constable in the firing line

Stooshie Editor’s Round-up: That was the week that was

While athletes continue to push themselves to the limit in Glasgow as the Commonwealth Games hots up, we’ve pulled out all the stops once more to bring you the best of Scotland’s media in seven days in this week’s issue of The Stooshie.

A certain international sporting celebration has featured heavily in the news this week, but that has sadly sat alongside stories of unspeakable tragedy after the Malaysia Airlines plane crash in Ukraine. A Scot was among the 298 souls who lost their lives, and there have been plenty of other tales to emerge which have touched the entire nation. We look at how the downing of the doomed airliner was covered.

Elsewhere, Scotland has offered assistance to thousands of refugees fleeing the terrible conflict in Gaza and, on a lighter note, Scottish ministers have pointed to new figures which they say show the green shoots of economic recovery.

Seven by Seven looks at how Scotland’s ‘virtual independence’ is spreading its wings while, speaking of wings, our Stooshie of the Week wonders if it’s time to take action on scavenging seagulls.

We’ve also got news of a business boost for Grangemouth, as well as all the sport as golf makes way for all things Glasgow 2014 on the back pages of our national newspapers.

Read, digest and enjoy!

SCOTTISH WORD OF THE WEEK

dreich adj ❘ dri:x ❘

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24

Farewell to a golfing legend

1. (Especially of weather) dreary; bleak Usage: “Even on a dreich day the stillness was only broken by piped Scottish music” (page 35) “Sunshine in Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games?

It’s normally dreich!”

WE REally LIKE...

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Scotland striker’s sea change

Contact the Stooshie Mail:

The Stooshie, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL

Email:

editor@thestooshie.co.uk

Visit:

www.thestooshie.co.uk stooshiescot

■ Edinburgh artist Leigh Chorlton created this referendum dinner set, designed to look like “tat” from a tourist shop on the Royal Mile.

Editor-in-chief: Richard Neville Editor: Steve Bargeton Deputy editor: Catriona MacInnes Art director: Aileen Wilkie Content manager: Rory Weller Editorial: Craig Smith, Stefan Morkis Contributors: Brian Donaldson, Robert McNeil, Andrew Burnet, James Williamson, Graham Huband

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4 l news

MAIN EVENTS

Scot among 298 killed on flight over Ukraine International condemnation of Kremlin over alleged attack by pro-Russian rebels ■ Scot Stephen Anderson was among the 298 people who died when Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was reportedly hit by a missile fired by proRussian Ukrainian rebels.

A Dutch former Dundee University student, Hannah Meuleman, was also among the casualties.

President Vladimir Putin has denied Russia gave the separatists the weapons thought to have been used to bring the plane down and said investigators should be provided with the security

needed to carry out their work.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has said he is willing to cede control of the crash investigation to the Netherlands but rebels were accused of preventing the Dutch team from accessing the crash site and of removing evidence, although they have now handed over black box data recorders from the plane.

Prime Minister David Cameron called on the EU to impose tougher sanctions on Russia and for countries to halt arms sales to Russia.

EDITORIALS SAY

COMMENTATORS SAY

As soon as reports began to emerge that Malayasian Airlines Filight MH17 had been shot down, President Vladimir Putin was “swift to blame Ukraine” said Scotland on Sunday.

The paper said the Russian president wants to “muddy the waters” but “investigators must be allowed full access to ensure the truth will out”.

It said the Kremlin’s response “suggests panic” and that the attack was carried out “in error”.

Since the crash, Scotland on Sunday said “Russia has been contradictory, by turns conciliatory and aggressive, offering co-operation then thwarting the work of investigators”.

The Scotsman said it was “truly outrageous” that the rebels accused of downing Flight MH17 “have had untrammelled access to the wreckage”, even after the UN Security Council “demanded” a full, independent investigation.

It said completing this work will be difficult as eastern Ukraine is a “war zone” but “the basic protocols of humanitarian intervention and supervision must surely be given urgent priority”.

The Scotsman concluded the “overrunning of the crash site by armed thugs completes a episode of deep shame for the civilised world”.

The Scottish Daily Mail said sanctions “must be stepped up” and the military “rebuilt”.

There may be widespread condemnation of Russia’s role in the shooting down of Flight MH17 but The Scotsman’s aviation correspondent Keir Giles said the “likelihood of a full and proper investigation” into what happened appears remote.

He said nobody can understand “why the Russianbacked separatists are not allowing access to international investigators and, worse, are removing vital evidence from the scene”.

He said the longer access is denied, the more the “credibility” of any investigation diminishes. Giles speculated that preventing an “objective assessment” of what happened may be what the separatists “and at one remove the Kremlin” wants.

Writing in Scotland on Sunday, Euan McColm said President Putin “may have the blood of 298 people, 80 of whom were children, on his hands”.

He said if President Putin was involved then “we are dealing with a rogue state” but warned a change of regime cannot be forced upon Russia. Sanctions have so far had little impact and, he said, it is “difficult” to see a response which does not “escalate into conflict”.

In The Scotsman, Peter Jones said economic sanctions on Russia could affect the British economic recovery. He said: “Are we willing to bear that pain?”

Wages cannot keep pace with recovery Scotland’s economy has bounced back and has now exceeded its pre-recession peak ■ The Scottish economy grew by one per cent in the first quarter of the year and has now exceeded its prerecession high point.

GDP was up 2.6% on the same period last year and the number of Scots in work reached a new record high of 2.587 million.

However, wage rises have remained stubbornly below the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

the rate of inflation, meaning that many Scots still face a “cost of living crisis” as the rising cost of essentials is out of step with earnings.

Scottish Government Finance Secretary John Swinney (left) said the figures represent “an important stage” in Scotland’s economic recovery.

EDITORIALS SAY The headline figures may show the economy is improving, but The Scotsman said it is not time to hang out the bunting in celebration just yet.

The paper said GDP growth “is to be welcomed” but said there is still a long way to go, particularly as Scotland has a higher unemployment rate than the rest of the UK. It concluded that “until the effects of economic growth trickle down into pay packets, times will continue to feel tough”.

MAIN EVENTS

Scots offer aid as Gaza crisis deepens Scotland “ready for refugees” from conflict ■ Scotland is ready and willing to take in Palestinian refugees from the conflict in Gaza, the Scottish Government has said.

External affairs minister Humza Yousaf condemned the killings on both sides of the conflict and has written to Home Secretary Theresa May to say Scotland would be willing to take in Palestinian refugees.

Israel has launched air strikes and a ground assault against Hamas to stop it firing rockets into Israel.

Around 1,000 Scots marched though Glasgow in protest against Israel’s actions.

Mr Yousaf said: “It is essential that the UN should be allowed to independently investigate all civilian deaths to determine whether there has been any violation of international law.

“The blockade in Gaza is exacerbating the suffering experienced by the people there and tantamount to collective punishment.”

More than 300 Palestinians have died since July 8.

Over at The Scottish Sun, it said “record levels of employment are to be welcomed” but struck a cautionary note.

“As inflation leaps by 1.9% while wages rise by a miserable 0.3%, what is the quality of those jobs?” it asked.

Answering its own question, the paper said many people are working “long hours for peanuts” or have been forced to take on part-time work.

Ultimately, The Scottish Sun decided politicians “can bang on about recovery till the cows come home” but that “too many people are still not feeling the benefit”.

EDITORIALS SAY

COMMENTATORS SAY

The world has been left “shocked” by the violence in Gaza but does not know how to react, said the Sunday Herald.

It said “both sides have a smidgen of right” on their sides and that “both should sit down and broker an agreement before more lives are lost”.

However, it said this is unlikely to happen and that there will be little external pressure put on the Israelis and Hamas as “peace in Israel is no longer a major issue in US political circles”.

The paper said American apathy is “a pity” as it is the only “country capable of imposing the political solution that is the answer to the current crisis”.

The Scotsman said the Israeli assault will continue until Hamas “exhausts” its supplies of military hardware or international pressure is placed on Israel, something it said has to happen urgently.

The Israeli government’s response to Hamas rocket attacks leaves them “damned if they do and damned if they don’t” said the Sunday Herald’s diplomatic editor Trevor Royle.

He said the “audacity of the Hamas attacks had increased” which placed pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take decisive military action.

Royle said Israel and Palestine have “slipped down the diplomatic agenda” because of other crises, such as Iraq.

He added that the Israeli Defence Force will only stop its attacks one Hamas agrees to a ceasefire.

Writing in the Daily Record, Humza Yousaf told readers: “Scotland stands ready to offer whatever assistance it can and has offered specialist medical help to civilians caught up in the conflict if medical evacuation is possible.”

COMMENTATORS SAY

signs of robust improvement”.

And he said unemployment rising by 13,000 to 192,000 was the result of “more Scots actively seeking work, rather than through job losses”.

Also in The Scotsman, Bill Jamieson pondered the effect of the economic uplift on the independence referendum.

He said: “The latest clear signs of improvement should help lift confidence and our ‘can do’ spirit but may work to blunt the SNP critique that only self-government could deliver economic growth.”

He added public spending will remain constricted.

A growing economy and higher employment rate may be good news but are not enough to combat poverty on their own, said Jim McCormick in The Scotsman.

An advisor to charity The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, he said “sluggish wage growth, limited working hours and the high cost of essentials” is hitting low-income families hard.

In the same paper, David Bell, a professor of economics at Stirling University, said the economy is “at last showing

news l 5 on the bright side ■ A hungover Plymouth man who popped to a shop while holidaying in Cruden Bay for more booze wearing a skimpy nightie was fined £450.

The Scottish Sun revealed how Bryan Forrester was “nicked after inadvertently giving locals an eyeful as he wandered the streets in the bizarre get-up”.

■ Coffee served in Glasgow is stronger than some brews served in Italy and Spain, reported BBC Scotland.

New research said the findings had implications for people who needed to watch their caffeine intake.

■ Eleven homeless puppies have been named after Scots Commonwealth Games athletes in a push to find them loving new homes, STV reported.

The pups, who have been cared for by the Dogs Trust, are named after gymnast Emma White, swimmer Grace Reid, marathon runner Hayley Haining, steeplechaser Elish McColgan, judo player Sarah Clark, boxer Josh Taylor, swimmer Daniel Wallace, hurdler Eilidh Child, gymnast Liam Davies, rugby player Richie Vernon and Sir Chris Hoy. ■ An Australian website has warned its athletes to stay away from seven “gross” foods during the Commonwealth Games.

As Glasgow is “the home of the deep fryer”, according to Perth Now, Aussie visitors should steer clear of a pizza supper; a pizza crunch (pictured); a “Glasgow Salad”, which is just a meat pie, baked beans and chips for the uninitiated; a tattie scone; haggis; a haggis supper; and an Irn-Bru battered butterball.

26 July 2014 ❘ the stooshie

6 l news

POLITICS

The health of nations depends on a Yes vote, claims Salmond Only independence can protect Scottish NHS from deepening cuts, claims First Minister on visit to Liverpool

indy BRIEFS 1. Comedian Frank Skinner has said he fears England will become more right-wing if Scotland votes for independence but added he would “probably vote Yes” if he was Scottish.

2. Cardiff Business Council is writing to firms in the financial services sector urging them to relocate to Wales if there is a Yes vote.

3. Labour has formally pledged to devolve powers over tax, welfare and jobs to Scotland if it wins the next General Election.

■ First Minister Alex Salmond said only independence could stop the Westminster government’s “privatisation agenda” creeping into the Scottish NHS. Speaking in Liverpool, Mr Salmond (below) argued that cuts to the NHS budget in England would have repercussions in Scotland because of the Barnett Formula, even if health is a devolved matter.

Former chief medical officer Sir Harry Burns said health care in Scotland could improve after independence.

Professor Jim Gallagher from the Better Together campaign said even if some health services in England are contracted out to the private sector they will still be paid for through taxation and so would not impact the Scottish budget.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned cross-border organ transplants could be disrupted by a Yes vote. This was denied by the Scottish Government.

4. The UK government is to deliver a leaflet detailing five reasons to vote No to every household in Scotland.

The SNP is also sending out a pro-independence mailshot to every home in August.

5. Scotland’s small firms have been told by the Federation of Small Businesses it may be “beneficial” to set up registered offices in England if there is a Yes vote in September. the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

COMMENTATORS SAY There is no doubt in the mind of Sunday Herald columnist Iain Macwhirter that the NHS will suffer if Scotland does not vote for independence this September.

He said “the privatisation of health provision in England” would have a “twofold impact in Scotland”.

Firstly, he explained the “reduction in health budget will be reflected disproportionately in the Barnett Formula” because health accounts for “nearly one third of spending in Scotland”.

Macwhirter added plans to allow private companies to provide health care in England “could leave Scotland vulnerable to the legal predations of private health multinationals seeking to use the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks to prise open the NHS to competition”.

Over in The Scotsman,

Lesley Riddoch, another pro-independence columnist, alighted upon former Chief Medical Officer Sir Harry Burns’ comments that health could improve after independence.

Sir Harry said people may begin to lead healthier lifestyles if they feel they have more control over their lives.

And Sir Harry said he was “concerned” about what is happening to the NHS in England.

Riddoch told readers: “Given the number of Sots employed in the NHS, the longevity of Sir Harry’s distinguished career and the venerated position of the NHS in Scotland – his words count for a lot.”

Meanwhile, former SNP deputy leader Jim Sillars wrote in the Edinburgh Evening News that where England leads Scotland will follow when it comes to health care.

“As it privatises the English NHS, Westminster governments will start to question how our NHS is run,” he said.

Sillars said complaints about cuts to funding will be met with calls that Scotland should begin to “follow them down the private road” when it comes to health care.

“I think the arguments of the Better Together campaign have got stronger as time has gone on.”

“Getting the support of Tony Blair... as the architect of the illegal war in Iraq can only be a huge embarrassment for the No camp.”

Tony Blair,

Angus Robertson,

Former Prime Minister

SNP Westminster leader

POLITICS Currency union “dead as a parrot”

Obama’s Scottish agenda ■ US President and Labour leader Ed Miliband discussed Scottish independence at a meeting in the White House.

The talks were described by one observer as “warm and friendly”.

Mr Obama (above) spent 25 minutes with Mr Miliband and US Security Adviser Susan Green.

According to a spokesman for Mr Miliband, they discussed issues including the situation in Ukraine, the economy, climate change and the referendum on Scottish independence.

Last month President Obama made a direct intervention in the referendum debate when he said it was in the interests of the US to ensure “one of its closest allies” remains “a strong, robust, united and effective partner”.

However, Mr Obama made it clear the final decision on whether Scotland should remain part of the UK belongs to the Scottish people.

The Labour leader and Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander had not been scheduled to have an official meeting with the President. However, the “brush-by” encounter with the US President was heavily trailed in advance.

■ Plans for an independent Scotland to have a currency union with the rest of the UK are as “dead as a parrot”, a Westminster committee has claimed.

The Scottish Affairs Committee, which is boycotted by SNP MPs, said any future chancellor would have their “credibility destroyed” if they agreed to share Sterling.

Chairman Ian Davidson said: “The Scottish Government tries to give the

impression that a currency union is still a possibility.

“It is not. This parrot is dead.”

A spokesman for First Minister Alex Salmond said the Scottish Affairs Committee’s report was “lame” and that “the pound is as much Scotland’s as it is England, Wales and Northern Ireland’s”.

Mr Davidson’s reference to Monty Python came as the comedy troupe ended their reunion run of shows in London.

A giant dead parrot (below) was used to advertise the concerts.

Boost for life sciences

Sturgeon plea to Labour

■ Scotland’s life sciences sector will receive a £17 million boost from the UK Treasury, Chancellor George Osborne has announced.

Mr Osborne also announced £1.7 million to help grow new businesses in Scotland during a visit to Glasgow.

Speaking this week at the Commonwealth Business Conference, he said: “This is a hugely exciting new technology that has the potential to improve radically treatments for chronic diseases including cancer, diabetes and dementia.”

■ Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said Labour supporters should vote Yes if they want to create a fairer Scotland.

She made her plea after seven of the central figures from the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UCS) work-in wrote an open letter outlining their reasons for supporting independence.

The industrial action in 1971, led by the late Jimmy Reid, succeeded in forcing the then Conservative government to back down on a plan to axe thousands of shipyard jobs.

“I have yet to meet a Labour voter who puts bombs before bairns, which is one reason why I have spoken to so many in this referendum campaign who are voting ‘Yes’.”

“People in Scotland will react badly to anybody who tries to make political capital from the endeavour of sportsmen and women.”

“Your greatest export to us after September will be social justice, Scotia style.”

Nicola Sturgeon,

Alistair Carmichael,

Leanne Wood,

Deputy First Minister

Scottish Secretary

Plaid Cymru leader

news l 7

indy BRIEFS 1. A review by the Audience Council Scotland, has said BBC Scotland needs to reassess its news output and questioned its impartiality in the referendum. The ACS advises the BBC Trust.

2. Plaid Cyrmu leader Leanne Wood has said an independent Scotland could become a “beacon of social justice” for the rest of the UK. 3. Scottish crime writer Val McDermid and theologian Richard Holloway both said they will be voting Yes in September.

4. Current SNP plans for £1.2 billion of public sector investment after independence would create around 30,000 jobs, the Scottish Government has claimed.

5. New European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said an independent Scotland would be a “special case” when it came to EU membership.

26 July 2014 ❘ the stooshie

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SEVEN BY SEVEN

Dot.scot or not – want to identify with your country online?

SEVEN QUESTIONS YOU REALLY WANT TO ASK 1. I’m Scottish enough as it is, what more do you want from me?

Relax, nobody’s making you do anything. It’s just that, if you want a Scottish internet domain name or email address, you can now be, say, rupertblenkinskop@provider.scot instead of @provider.com or, more sensitively for many, @provider.co.uk.

2. Whoop-de-doo. Have there been spontaneous outbreaks of joyful dancing?

Well, yes, assuming you speak metaphorically.

Campaigners have sought the change for years and many people felt it only right that, since every other country had its own domain name, Scotland should have one too. Apart from pride, it’s good for marketing.

The new domain was launched after notfor-profit company Dot Scot Registry agreed operating terms with international regulators Icann. Dot Scot director Gavin McCutcheon said: “This is a fantastic day for Scotland online and gives our nation a chance to stand out.”

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was “entirely right” that Scotland had its own distinctive domain that would “resonate internationally, helping to promote Scottish business and culture throughout the world”.

3. Has this anything to do with the referendum?

You’d think so but, no, it has nothing to do with whether you dot the i of independence or put a cross for no ta on September 18.

Though the .scot domain becomes available to buy five days later, on September 23, industry experts say the timing was coincidental and that getting the new domain was the culmination of a nine-year campaign that started long before the referendum was planned.

Apart from anything else, while you might expect the Yes campaign to be one of the 50 “pioneers” signing up to use the .scot domain, Better Together has also staked a claim.

dots IN NUMBERS

50m

People claiming Scots ancestry worldwide are potential dot.scots.

10,000

Organisations and individuals lodged expressions of internet in .scot by day of launch.

76%

Of Scottish households had internet access in 2012.

22%

Of adults in Scotland didn’t use internet at all.

10.5m

Domains were registered .uk as at January 31.

10

Seconds is said to be maximum “acceptable” response time for websites opening.

3.3bn

Pages on the worldwide web.

4. How does this work then?

For the next couple of months, only the 50 “pioneers”, such as the Scottish Government, NHS Scotland, WWF Scotland and Scouts Scotland, can use the .scot domain. But after September 23, anyone can purchase one.

5. Fair enough for those and such as those, but how do I change my email address?

This is what techies would call a simple matter and so, first, try switching this page off and switching it on again. After that, one way to proceed is to buy your domain name from a reputable provider. Once you purchase morrisdancer.scot for a few quid, you can change your email address likewise.

More likely, big companies will buy .scot domain names and, if your current provider is one, you can make a smooth transition, or you can change to another provider offering the domain. Either way, you’ll need to let everybody know your new email address or, as a Dot Scot Registry spokesman helpfully pointed out to The Stooshie, you can set your email system to forward messages sent to your old address.

6. Is it just us Scots who are clamouring to be noticed?

No, .london is already up and running, with .wales, .berlin and .NYC also available this year.

It really isn’t a Scottish political thing, even though the Daily Mail described it as “a huge propaganda coup” for Alex Salmond.

7. So .scots are nothing special?

My, you’re hard to please. A survey for Fasthosts Internet found the strongest demand for web identity across Britain came from Scottish consumers, with 71% more likely to buy from a firm with a .scot web address. So it must count for something.

26 July 2014 ❘ the stooshie

10 l news

AROUND SCOTLAND

1 HIGHLANDS & ISLANDS Thurso is surf city

Highland sanctuary for endangered wildcats

More than 100 surfers will compete at the UK Pro Surf Championships at Thurso later this year.

The three-day event, from October 30 to November 1, will feature professional and junior competitors. More than 2,000 spectators are expected.

The Ardnamurchan peninsula in the north west Highlands has been designated as a Scottish wildcat sanctuary.

All domestic cats that live near the area are being neutered to prevent them breeding with pure wildcats.

Domestic animals cross-breeding with pure wildcats, disease and loss of habitat has been blamed for the decline in the wildcat population.

Scottish National Heritage believes there are only 150 breeding pairs left in the wild.

2 GLASGOW & WEST Spikes spiked for good

Spiked metal barriers erected outside a Glasgow office building to deter homeless people from sleeping rough against the side of the property will not be replaced.

The barriers (below) provoked an angry public backlash after they were installed by the office block in St Vincent Lane and they were removed with a sprocket wrench by a self-professed “vigilante”.

Now Savills, which rents out the building, has said they will not be replaced.

Glasgow City Council had not granted permission for the spikes and had already demanded their removal before the vigilante struck.

Carvings to be revealed

A set of 5,000-year-old West Dunbartonshire rock carvings could be seen by human eyes again for the first time in half a century.

Discovered in 1887, The Cochno Stone was buried under soil 50 years ago to protect it from vandalism.

It was found on farmland near what is now a housing estate on the edge of Clydebank.

The stone is covered in around 90 carved indentations, including grooved spirals, a ringed cross and two four-toed feet.

Nobody is sure what the carvings are supposed to represent but some believe it is a map of other settlements.

1

5

Pitbull mauls toddler A Kilmarnock three-year-old was hospitalised after being mauled by a pitbull.

The boy was playing in his garden when he was attacked by the dog and suffered facial injuries.

The dog belonged to the boyfriend of the boy’s mother and was put down with owner consent after the incident.

2 3

3 SOUTH SCOTLAND Council rejects wind farm Councillors have rejected wind farm plans near Kirkcudbright which had generated nearly 800 letters from opponents and supporters of the project.

Planning officials had recommended refusal of the five-turbine scheme because the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

of its potential impact on the landscape. Renewable Energy Systems (RES) had also wanted to build a substation and wind speed masts at Barcloy Hill.

More than 500 objections were received but there had also been more than 200 expressions of support for the project.

Golden eagles to return to south Scotland?

Scottish Natural Heritage has claimed golden eagles could soon be winging their way back to the south of Scotland.

The organisation has published a report saying the area could support up to 16 breeding pairs of the bird.

Currently there are just one or two pairs in Galloway and three in the Borders.

Across Scotland there are only 440 pairs, most of which are in the Highlands and Islands.

news l 11

AROUND SCOTLAND 4 NORTH EAST, ORKNEY & SHETLAND Hundreds of university students caught cheating

More than 600 students have been caught cheating at Aberdeen universities over the last three academic years.

The figures, which cover 2010 to 2013 examinations, show 413 students were disciplined for “academic misconduct” at Robert Gordon University.

This was almost twice the 234 caught cheating at the University of Aberdeen over the same period.

The cases involved students cheating in exams, committing plagiarism or copying work from other sources.

Cheating at RGU peaked in 2011/12 when there were 145 cases identified by university authorities.

Currently, around 16,500 students attend the University of Aberdeen, while approximately 16,000 study at RGU.

Missing wrestler found

A member of Cameroon’s Commonwealth wrestling team who went missing while training in Aberdeen was traced in London.

Cameroon’s team was training at Aberdeen Sports Village when two wrestlers, aged 26 and 31, disappeared.

Police said the second man is still missing.

Several members of Cameroon’s squad went missing before the 2012 Olympics.

Dundee thieves take everything but the sink

5 TAYSIDE & CENTRAL

Raiders who broke into a Dundee house stole almost Scone Palace, where the early kings of Scotland were crowned, the entire kitchen. is letting members of the public stay overnight for the first time Police believe the during this year’s Ryder Cup at Gleneagles. perpetrators had a key to the Fans who can afford it will be able to live in the lap of luxury Laird Street property, which during the international golf competition. was being redecorated by its It is one of a number of owner. prestigious residences around The brazen thieves made Scotland that is welcoming off with 16 cupboard door paying guests during the Ryder handles, 16 kicker board Cup. fixings and cupboard doors These include Methven Castle while the east wing of Meikleour as well as a number of other bolts and fittings.

House is also available.

Neighbours said they were Months of renovation work has taken place to ready Scone Palace bemused by the theft as they for the expected influx of visitors. had neither seen nor heard Charles II was the last king to anyone entering or leaving the building. be crowned at Scone.

Golf fans given royal welcome at Scone Palace

4

6 EDINBURGH, FIFE & EAST 6

Wheel of fortune

Artists demand play part-funded by Israeli Government is banned

A giant Ferris wheel set up for the Edinburgh Festival could earn £1 million for its operators.

More than 2,000 people paid £8 for a spin on Underbelly’s Ferris wheel in its first two days.

Under a profit sharing deal, Edinburgh City Council will earn around £250,000 if the big wheel reaches its target over the Festival.

The 42-metre tall big wheel stands on Princes Street and offers views across the city and beyond.

Potholes stop pushkart race

Scots Makar Liz Lochhead (below right) is one of 50 leading Scottish cultural figures who have demanded a show supported by the Israeli government be dropped from the programme at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Incubator Theatre receives funding from the Israeli Government and is performing a hip-hop opera called The City during this year’s Fringe.

A letter signed by Ms Lochhead and others including Alasdair Gray asks the Underbelly to “show solidarity with the Palestinian people” and drop The City from this year’s programme.

A spokesman for the venue said receiving state funding does not make any artist “cultural legitimisers” for their government.

The main race of the Dalgety Bay Pushkart Derby had to be cancelled after a lorry caused huge potholes in the road.

Children were supposed to race each other in homemade bogeys but organiser Mark Bennett said the race had to be scrapped because the road surface near the finish line was too treacherous.

Other events planned for the day, including a performance by Big Country, went ahead as planned.

26 July 2014 ❘ the stooshie

12 l news

AROUND BRITAIN

1 NORTHERN IRELAND

2 NORTH ENGLAND

Ambulances attacked

B&B scam in NI

Savile unit set up

Explosive find for Manchester police

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) has demanded attacks on their vehicles stop.

Six ambulances were attacked in a 10-day period. The NIAS has called for “stiffer sentences” for those responsible.

Holiday accommodation owners in Northern Ireland are being targeted by an “over-payment” booking scam.

A bogus couple, thought to be from Nigeria, books a room but overpays using a money order or cheque.

The “couple” then asks for the difference to be refunded from the owner’s own bank account.

A new unit has been set up to monitor new complaints from victims of Jimmy Savile at NHS hospitals around the country.

The Department of Health said it is creating the Savile NHS Legacy Unit after the full extent of the Leedsborn DJ and television personality’s abuse in hospitals emerged last month.

A hoard of more than 40 shells, including a missile and other “prohibited weapons” have been seized by police from a Dukinfield house in Greater Manchester.

The shells were part of a collection owned by a 76-year-old man. Inquiries are ongoing.

3 MIDLANDS & EAST “Trojan horse” school board resigns

1

The board of governors for three Birmingham schools at the centre of claims of a takeover plot by hardline Islamists has resigned en masse.

The Park View Academy Trust runs three of the five schools that are believed to have been targeted as part of the plan to introduce a hardline Islamic ethos. A Department of Education inquiry found evidence of such an “agenda”.

2

4 WALES

Banking on royal flush

Shark horror on Welsh beach Fifty-five dead sharks that washed up on a Gower beach may have been killed by bottom trawling, which involves fisherman using a large net that is dragged along the sea floor, trapping everything in its path.

Marine biologist Judith Oakley said she believes the three different species of sharks at Pwll Du had been caught in this way.

Estate agents are hoping buyers will snap up a luxury flat that includes a secret bathroom built for the Queen. Sutton Coldfield Council House is being turned into flats and developers found a secret annexe containing a WC that was installed for the Queen’s sole use on a visit to Sutton Coldfield in 1957. It was not needed.

Although the annexe will remain, the toilet itself has been removed.

3 4

West Mercia police embark on grail quest A religious relic claimed to be the legendary Holy Grail has been stolen from a house in Wales.

The Nanteos Cup, a wooden chalice named after the mansion in Aberystwyth where it was once kept, has been taken. It had been loaned to a seriously ill woman because of its supposed healing properties.

Burglars stole the cup while she was in hospital.

5 SOUTH WEST ENGLAND Alien invasion off coast Warmer seas are attracting exotic species such as bluefin tuna to the Cornwall coast.

A bluefish tuna was hauled out of the sea by kayakers in Kingsand, Cornwall this month.

Sightings of barrel jellyfish in the water is also being attributed to the warmer sea temperature. the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

5

6

6 LONDON & SOUTH EAST Jail for Tooting jihadi

“Cannibal” nurse guilty

A British computer expert who admitted supporting terrorism through the internet has been sentenced in a US court to 12-and-a-half years in prison.

Babar Ahmad, of Tooting, south London, admitted conspiracy and providing material to support the Taliban.

But his lawyers say he could be released in months as he has already spent 10 years in prison.

NHS nurse Dale Bolinger has been found guilty of trying to meet a 14-year-old girl he had sexually groomed and promised to kill and eat.

Bolinger chatted with the teenager, a Mexican girl known as “Eva” living in Germany, on a website called the Dark Fetish Network. Police arrested Bolinger (58) after being tipped off by the FBI. He will be sentenced in September.

PEOPLE

news l 13

Suspect extradited ■ A man wanted in connection with the murder of gangster Kevin ‘Gerbil’ Carroll four years ago was extradited from Spain.

The Daily Record told how Carroll (29) was gunned down in front of horrified lunchtime shoppers outside Asda in Robroyston, Glasgow in January 2010. William Paterson was arrested in Spain and was flown home to face charges.

Student surprise ■ A mum’s shock after her son revealed he had secretly completed a fouryear psychology degree was captured on camera.

Liam Blair (31) told mum Rhonda he was living in Perth, when he was in fact staying in Dundee to study.

Dishwasher safe ■ Emergency services had to free a teenager who had trapped her hand in a dishwasher at a Dundee hotel.

The Evening Telegraph’s Will Lyon told how firefighters and paramedics rushed to the city centre’s Malmaison after reports of a 19-year-old girl being stuck in the machine.

Scots ‘lucky’ to avoid plane tragedy Couple missed Malaysia Airlines flight due to lack of seats

Wullie cannae settle unless his seat is metal... but the bucket is nae use on a Spanish summer holiday!

■ A Scottish family had a lucky escape after they switched flights from doomed airliner MH17 because it was full.

Barry Sim, from Aberdeenshire, tried to board the Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur but could only get one seat, the BBC reported. Instead, he and his wife Izzy booked on to a KLM flight with their baby son. Officials from the airline said 298 people were on board the Boeing 777-200, which was apparently shot down near the Russia/Ukraine border.

Mrs Sim told BBC News: “There must have been someone watching over us and saying ‘you must not get on that flight’.”

Mr Sim added that he also felt “sick” after hearing about his family’s lucky escape, but said he wanted to carry on as normal.

“In my mind lightning never strikes twice in the same place, so I am still philosophical that you get on the flight and you go about your life,” he concluded.

Not a minor flit ■ The Scot responsible for moving 12,500 British soldiers and their families out of Germany spoke of the huge scale of the task.

Major General John Henderson said it could take 1,000 vans seven weeks to complete the job.

Stars say ‘Let’s stay together’ But new video featuring celebrities speaking out against Scottish independence provokes mixed response ■ A ‘lovebombing’ video featuring a whole host of stars speaking out against Scottish independence has, as one might expect, elicited a mixed reception.

British celebrities from the world of television and sport joined forces for the ‘Let’s Stay Together’ drive, which aims to persuade Scots to vote No in September.

The Scottish Daily Mail revealed how the campaign was set up by PR firm boss Andrew McGuinness and Scots-born creative agency founder MT (Mary Teresa) Rainey.

Among others, comedian Eddie

Izzard (left) pleaded “Scotland, please don’t go”, ex-Eastenders star Ross Kemp said his passion for the Union was fuelled spending a month with the Argylls in Afghanistan, and Scot Richard Wilson poked fun at his famous catchphrase by holding an “I do believe” sign.

However, some Yes campaigners branded the stunt “cringeworthy”.

The video followed the launch of a pro-indy film featuring actors Brian Cox and Martin Compston, Elaine C Smith, and Deacon Blue front-man Ricky Ross.

Dragging their heels ■ STV’s Riverside Show was criticised for refusing to allow a drag queen to discuss the Pride parade.

Pride Glasgow hit out at the decision not to let Bee Fiarse Beaujambes to appear “for fear children may ask questions”.

26 July 2014 ❘ the stooshie

14 l news

BEST OF SCOTTISH COMMENT

No easy solution to EU poser

A fizzy, ginger phenomenon

Catherine MacLeod

John MacLeod

The Herald

Scottish Daily Mail

■ Scotland’s future within the EU has been one of the key battlegrounds of the independence debate.

The Herald’s Catherine MacLeod said comments by new European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker show how difficult negotiating entry in the EU may prove to be.

And while she said “nobody is saying it could not happen” she added “it will at least be very difficult”.

MacLeod said that while Mr Juncker said he was not referring to Scotland when he said there will be no new EU member states within the next five years, she said his comments “would be as relevant to a Scottish application as any other”.

She wondered why so “many of those whom know little about European politics” dismiss comments made by Mr Juncker, or European Council president Herman van Rompuy.

MacLeod added that Scotland may be able to negotiate entry but that it will require “horse trading” with the other 28 member states.

Until then, she said, Scotland’s future in the EU is “fraught with uncertainty”.

■ As a sponsor of the Commonwealth Games, IrnBru is a success story that “marches effortlessly on”, wrote John MacLeod in the Scottish Daily Mail, “making a positive virtue of its seemingly pawky vulgarity”.

MacLeod noted that IrnBru ensures Scotland is one of only two countries on the planet where Coke is not the top-selling soft drink and lauded its production in countries across the world, not to mention export sales.

And although he highlighted past tensions over the drink’s ingredients, like in “prissy” Australia where caffeine and quinine are banned, the fact only three people know the recipe and a written copy is kept in a Swiss bank vault – “partly for brand protection but largely for a touch of melodrama” – all adds to the mystique. However, he did acknowledge one pitfall: the difficulty in getting Irn-Bru stains out of your best carpet.

Even so, “the more this Caledonian nectar be doubted, derided or distrusted, the stronger its essentially subversive image becomes – doubtless to the gibbering despair of Coke and Pepsi executives”.

An Archie in all of us

Rosemary Goring The Herald

■ Archie Macpherson may not be everyone’s idea of a literary heavyweight and the publication of his first novel – a thriller called Silent Thunder – could be “viewed as proof that everyone has a novel in them”, said The Herald’s literary editor Rosemary Goring.

But regardless of the quality of Macpherson’s book, Goring said it exemplifies a trend for famous names to turn their hands to novel writing.

She said “high-profile media figures” including Kirsty Wark, James Naughtie and John Gordon Sinclair have all put pen to paper.

“Regardless of the merits of these books,” she said, “they demonstrate one

unarguable fact: even those who are household names feel the urge to immortalise themselves in fiction.”

But, she said, “this ambition is not restricted to the famous” as huge numbers of “selfpublished or one-off” novels are released each week.

She said an explosion in the number of small publishers and the opportunities to self-publish online means “aspiring novelists have access to more outlets than at almost any time since Caxton’s day”.

However, she warned the volume of books makes it hard to separate the wheat from the chaff, particularly if a famous name is attached.

She said that while it may be expected the lack of financial reward might put some firsttime authors off she believes that “for many, financial urge is irrelevant” and that half the population has the “urge to confront the blank page”.

This desire to write, she said, “must be traced to our prehistoric ancestors, the bone-deep storytelling gene all societies value and nurture”.

HAUD YER WHEESHT! ■ English athletes have been briefed on what to do if they are booed by patriotic Scottish crowds at the Commonwealth Games.

The Daily Telegraph’s Gordon Rayner said advice had been given “amid fears that Scots nationalists could use the ‘friendly games’ to voice animosity towards the Auld Enemy” (see also page 16).

Several athletes reportedly approached Team England bosses asking for guidance on how to respond to heckling at the Games, the paper added, with sportsmen and women the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

from south of the border particularly “aware that anti-English sentiment may be running high among some Scottish sports fans”.

However, the paper added that Games organisers insisted English athletes have “nothing to worry about” and will be given a reception “second only to members of Team Scotland”.

A spokesman for Team England said: “If it happens I’m sure the athletes will all just carry on. Some sports are more adversarial than others.”

16 l news Commonwealth cannot tolerate intolerance

Magnus Linklater The Times

■ Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell (below) has called on Prime Minister David Cameron to condemn Commonwealth countries that discriminate against homosexuals and transgendered people.

Writing in The Times, Magnus Linklater said Tatchell’s campaigns have never been “low-key” and that “after attempting a citizen’s arrest of Robert Mugabe” it is impossible to predict how he might protest human rights abuses at the Games.

Linklater said a potential protest is a “headache” for organisers, particularly as “they agree with the protestors”.

But he said while they may view “discrimination

BEST OF briTISH comment as anathema”, 43 of the 53 Commonwealth nations regard homosexuality as a criminal offence, with seven imposing the death penalty for the supposed crime.

Linklater said that although the Games organisers have reaffirmed their commitment to human rights, “antihomosexual prejudice not only continues but is in some ways more deeply embedded than ever” in some countries due to fundamentalist Christian or Islamic views.

Because of this, Linklater said organisers must ensure protestors can have their say while ensuring “the Games are not disrupted”.

However, he said this is not just an issue for Glasgow 2014 “but for the Commonwealth as a whole”.

According to Linklater, “its reputation is at stake”.

Although he said its power is limited, he said it should initiate discussions with Comonwealth leaders to remind them of their “democratic principles”.

If it does not then “it must count itself not so much a commonwealth of nation, more an empty facade”.

Gove’s zealotry cost him his job

Athletes need not fear the crowds

Hugh Muir

Allan Massie

The Guardian

The Daily Telegraph

■ Michael Gove’s demotion from his role as Education Secretary initially made no sense to The Guardian’s Hugh Muir.

But he said the draft report on the alleged infiltration of Birmingham schools by hardline Islamists showed why the Scot had to go.

Muir said the review found no links to terrorist activity but “unearthed ample evidence that schools were targeted by groups whose allegiance was to the propagation of their own particular strand of Sunni Islam”.

This was only possible, said Muir, because in his “zeal” to reform the teaching establishment “he crafted and lauded structures that paved the way for the virtual capture of a clutch of schools by extremists”.

According to Muir, the report makes it clear that the process of turning schools into academies happens too quickly for proper governance to be put in place, which is what made the Birmingham schools vulnerable.

Muir concluded “the department he ran is damned by the report he commissioned”.

■ Training given to English athletes on how to respond if they are booed by Scottish supporters at the Commonwealth Games is unnecessary, said Allan Massie in The Daily Telegraph.

Massie said English athlees are more likely to be applauded by “Scots who are quite capable of making the distinction between sport and politics” and the English will receive a “warm welcome”.

He added that even if some do try to boo English competitors they “would be countered by applause for English teams and athletes”.

The Games, Massie said, will not be “a nationalist festival” and pointed out that it was former Labour First Minister Jack McConnell who lobbied for the Games to be brought to Glasgow.

Alex Salmond, he said, would not be foolish enough to try to “make political capital” out of the event.

However, Massie said there is always “a keen rivalry” between Scotland and England but that any “anti-English feeling” is usual the result of “the perceived complacency or arrogance of sections of the English media than by anything else”.

HAUD YER WHEESHT! ■ A climber from Aberdeen demanded a helicopter take him down from one of the world’s tallest mountain peaks – because he was too “scared”.

The Scottish Sun’s Stuart Patterson revealed how the unnamed man was 12,500ft up Mont Blanc in the French Alps when he called rescuers “insisting on a lift back down”.

But “baffled” emergency crews refused because the man was not hurt or in any kind of distress. the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

Locals were outraged that the man had “treated rescuers like a taxi service”.

The climber “threw a tantrum” when he realised no-one was coming to get him and then tried to charter a private helicopter, although Saint Gervais mayor Jean-Marc Pellix scuppered that move – prompting the man to “sulk in a shelter for 48 hours” before paying for a guide to lead him back down.

Mr Pellix said: “Is the mountain rescue squad going to have to get a taxi licence?

Mont Blanc is not an amusement park.”

18 l news

everybody’s talking about...

Sticking to his guns Chief constable refuses to back down in row over arming police 1. Police are still carrying guns?

Bang on. Despite widespread condemnation of the decision to allow officers to carry handguns when out on patrol, Chief Constable Stephen House (below right) is maintaining it is necessary.

According to Police Scotland, officers can now go to a scene and “provide immediate protection without having to arm themselves” beforehand.

2. Phew, that’s a relief. When have they been needed?

Most recently, armed officers were spotted intervening in an argument between two men outside the Inverness branch of McDonald’s on a Saturday night.

The Scottish Daily Mail drily pointed out that the dispute was settled without recourse to a shoot out.

In fact, the whole stooshie started when visitors to the Highlands began noticing police were routinely carrying sidearms while emptying pubs, or simply buying their lunch in a shop.

Meanwhile residents of Dundee’s City Quay have complained about armed police patrolling the area in order to provide security for Commonwealth skeet shooting athletes who will be staying at the Apex Hotel (below centre).

They described the security operation as “complete overkill”.

across Scotland have been given a standing authority to carry handguns.

Around 30 of them are based in the Highlands, with 17 of those in Inverness to take care of those troublesome late night fast-food disputes.

Previously, all firearms were kept locked away and officers required written permission before they could take them out. However, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill (below left) has said that before Police Scotland was created in 2013, three forces – Strathclyde, Tayside and Northern – used to regularly arm officers.

4. Arm them with what, exactly?

The Daily Mail pictured one police officer with a Glock 17 in his holster. It described the Austrian-made weapon as “the world’s number one choice for law enforcers” and said it can fire 17 9mm bullets in just three seconds.

But officers also have other crimefighting gadgets that would make Batman green with envy. One officer was using a lanyard line. This attaches the gun to his belt so if an officer drops it when giving chase it will remain close at hand, even if his dignity does not.

3. How many police officers are actually armed?

5. So what exactly is the justification for arming police?

The Herald reported that 275 officers

Sir Stephen has cited the Dunblane

massacre as proof that gun crime can happen anywhere and at any time.

However, the Scottish Daily Mail’s Graham Grant said this was bunkum, pointing out that Thomas Hamilton’s attack was “too random” to have been prevented, no matter how many officers are carrying guns.

Grant also dismissed Sir Stephen’s claim that it will ensure firearms officers talk to the public rather than remain hidden away in a special unit. Improving their social skills, said Grant, is hardly justification for arming police.

He also pointed out that gun crime is on the way down.

6. Why are people so angry?

Two reasons. The first is that arming police is a fundamental change to law enforcement in Scotland and may even encourage more criminals to arm themselves.

The second is that such an important change was pushed through without any consultation or debate.

Mr MacAskill knew about the change in policy but did not inform the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish Police Authority, which monitors Police Scotland, has said it will keep the situation review.

Sir Stephen may also find himself hauled before MSPs to explain his decision while Labour wants an emergency debate at Holyrood over the issue.

Armed police in numbers

275

Number of Police Scotland officers carrying guns

the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

365

Number of offences in 2012/13 where a firearm was allegedly used

news l 19

BOFFINS

Astronauts hear pupils’ ideas

Mission Discovery in blast-off from Renfrewshire ■ Around 200 young Scots have taken part in a week-long space school hosted by former Nasa astronauts.

The S3-S5 pupils from Renfrewshire launched themselves into Mission Discovery, an international educational programme brought to Scotland for the first time, The Herald reported.

The pupils split into groups to work with the astronauts, scientists and trainers to discuss ideas for experiments to be carried out in space.

Confusing treatment ■ Patients suffering from multimorbidity face a confusing and uncoordinated array of services, according to a study by Edinburgh University.

Suffering from several illnesses at the same time is increasingly common in the last year of life, but care for patients in Scotland and England is “not joined up”.

Researchers spoke to 37 multimorbidity sufferers and 17 family members, who described complicated and sometimes unresponsive services.

Medication was frequently changed, often resulting in hospital admission.

However, the project was not just theoretical. Astronauts will test the best idea in an experiment at the International Space Station.

Former Nasa space shuttle commander Ken Ham (pictured) said the aim was to stimulate the imagination in any area from the physical to the medical sciences.

“A wonderful aspect of working with youth, particularly these ages, is that they come up with the most amazing ideas that none of us old adults can come up with on our own,” he said.

Mulling over cryptozoology’s monsters ■ Is looking for the Loch Ness monster a proper scientific pursuit? The subject was down for discussion at a special event in Inverness featuring a mathematician’s look at the claims for cryptozoology.

Dr Charles Paxton of University of St Andrews said he wanted to address the question of “how many unknown aquatic animals await discovery by science”.

As The Press and Journal reported, Dr Paxton also set out to challenge his audience to “think about whether cryptozoology is a science and how hunting for Nessie can be good science”.

Gary Campbell, president of the Loch Ness Monster Fan Club, said there was certainly more to Nessiehunting than sitting by the water with a camera and net.

■ The president of the

Scottish Association for Marine Science has followed in Scott of the Antarctic’s footsteps by receiving a distinguished award for his lifetime’s work studying glaciers, The Press and Journal reported. Professor Geoffrey Boulton collected the Royal Geographical Society’s Founder’s Gold Medal at the organisation’s annual presentation.

Research by Imperial College London and the University of Edinburgh shows that fire in wind turbines occurs

10

times more often than is reported.

Their global assessment of the world’s estimated 200,000 turbines showed almost 120 separate fires are breaking out annually.

HISTORIC BUILDINGS AT RISK FROM HEAVY RAIN ■ Scotland’s historic properties, particularly those built of red sandstone, face the possibility of “catastrophic” damage caused by climate change, a major conference has heard.

Described as “the most significant gathering of conservation and climate experts ever assembled in Scotland”, the event, hosted by the Scottish Traditional Skills Training Centre, highlighted persistently high rainfall as a major factor.

Dr Maureen Young, a

conservation scientist for Historic Scotland, told the Sunday Herald that heavier rainfall patterns of recent times threatened “severe surface deterioration on many older buildings within five years”.

The worst affected were on the east coast, particularly softsandstone sites in places like Dundee, Montrose and Arbroath.

Skara Brae in Orkney (pictured left), abandoned around 2500BC during an earlier phase of climate change, could also suffer.

26 July 2014 ❘ the stooshie

20 l

LETTERS TO THE EDITORS Princely perspective

best of the week

Getting in a flap about flags ■ If Scotland votes for independence, the St Andrew’s flag of white cross on blue background will remain as Scotland’s flag, yes?

But what of the Union flag? Will it become a white flag with the red crosses of St George and St Patrick?

It would impinge on the flags of Australia, New Zealand, Falklands, changing not only their state and civil flags but also those of their navies and air forces, as well as those of the British armed forces.

How about the tail planes of British Airways?

What about the vapour trails of the Red Arrows?

Will there be three fewer aircraft in the display team?

■ It is reported that Prince George is having a commemorative medal minted to celebrate his first birthday.

It will certainly give him bragging rights in the nursery when he starts. No doubt there will be chitchat with his contemporaries about the latest Lego, the episodes on Nickelodeon, new issues of play people, and the must-have bikes. He can listen to all of that and then say: “Yes, but have you had a specially-issued first birthday coin? Beat that if you can.”

One can, perhaps, understand the minting of such items to celebrate the life of a significant figure in the history of our country, such as Winston Churchill, or events of national importance, such as the Battle of Britain during the Second World War, but a one-year-old, highly-privileged toddler?

While people are being invited to spend money on such flimflam, I would invite them to note that it has been reported recently that there are 3.5m children living in poverty in the UK today, approximately one in four.

Let us earnestly hope that, long before the time young George is due to succeed to the throne, the phrase “child poverty” will have been consigned to the etymological dustbin of words, discarded

CR Hood, Alicante, Spain The Scotsman the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

because they have ceased to have any meaning or relevance.

Ian W Thomson, 38 Kirkintilloch Road, Lenzie The Herald

A pointless endeavour ■ It has been pointed out that an independent Scotland cannot rely on the UK buying Scotland’s mega-expensive wind electricity when it can buy cheaper electricity from Europe. Wind turbine developers are guaranteed high returns for 25 years and consumers pay. Alex Salmond boasts that he has the best CO2 reduction targets in the world.

But wait a minute – Scotland has less than 0.15% of global emissions, so it all becomes a bit pointless when competitors in China, Asia, the US and elsewhere made no such commitments.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow, West Lothian Scottish Daily Mail

Where does the power lie?

■ The issue of Scotland in the EU arises again with the comments from the new EU president, Jean-Claude Juncker, being seized upon as confirmation that an independent Scotland would not be an automatic member of the EU. The Scottish public are, again, left to decide whom to believe from a motley

collection of rent-a-quotes from the Yes and No camps.

This is all very disappointing and completely unnecessary.

The British Government, as a member state, can apply to the EU Commission, at any time, for a legal ruling on the position of an independent Scotland vis-a-vis membership of the EU. Scotland cannot seek a ruling. It has to go through Westminster.

Yet the UK Government has not sought a legal ruling from the EU. If it were confident that the answer would be favourable to the No campaign, as its spokesmen regularly proclaim, why the reluctance to ask?

And why continue the charade of asking for proof of continuing EU membership from the Yes campaign when it has the means to end the uncertainty in its own hands?

James Mills, 29 Armour Square, Johnstone The Herald

Serious about stationery ■ There are many errors in your paper, but one of the worst has to be your headline with the word “stationery” spelled wrongly!

AR of course is for pARked cars and ER for papER and pEn! Liz Cargill, Riccarton Mains, Edinburgh The Scotsman

that’s debatable ■ I live in England and I want to live in a social democratic country where the difference between the rich and poor is much less. I want a country where the government has a responsibility for the well-being of its population, where there is less poverty, where firms and the people see that paying taxes is a benefit for all, where the state can still have a role, where the only solution is not to privatise all public services. Many of us do not want to be governed by a southernbased public school elite. The Scots can just cut and run and achieve some of the above themselves, but they will be turning their back on hundreds of thousands of people in the UK. If Scotland decides to vote Yes, then it will be taking away the influence it could have in changing the whole of the UK.

■ Nigel May profoundly misunderstands where we are at now in the independence debate. Like him, I wish to live in a social democratic country where the difference between rich and poor is much less, but the opportunity to bring that about in Britain has long since passed – in approximately 194650. Mr May uses the pejorative term “cut and run” to describe Scotland’s desire to rule itself. Does he seriously think that England has the desire and ability to bring about the leftish social revolution he longs for?

Scotland hung in there for a century, hoping to be the catalyst for social revolution. It will not happen now unless the English people want it – a remote possibility. The Scots cannot wait, nor should they. The time is now.

Nigel May, Cutmere, Cornwall The Scotsman

David Roche, Coupar Angus, Perthshire The Scotsman Letters have been edited

news l 21

THE WEE PAPERS

A taste of...

The Oban Times

Seaman’s ordeal ■ Charges against a Connel seaman, detained in an Indian cell for five months, have been quashed, according to his girlfriend.

Bill Irving (33) was arrested with crew from US-owned merchant ship Seaman Guard after allegations the craft had illegally procured diesel and was carrying arms and ammunition without necessary documentation.

Bypass call for Oban

SPORT Super sailing ■ The new Loch Melfort Race got off to a great first day at this year’s West Highland Yachting Week.

Circumnavigating the island of Shuna off Craobh Marina, the 19-mile event started in a westerly breeze, providing “an excellent day’s racing on all points of sail”, The Oban Times reported.

Joy for Skye ■ Skye Camanachd won shinty’s Bailliemore Cup for the second time by beating Ballachulish 3-2 after extra-time at Taynuilt.

Skye took the lead after five minutes through Shockie MacLennan, but the game was poised at 2-2 with three minutes to go before penalties when Jordan Murchison got the winner.

■ A road bypass is urgently needed to counter the gridlock choking Oban’s main thoroughfare, according to several councillors and agencies.

Councillor Duncan MacIntyre said the town had to consider the possibility “seriously”.

However, Argyll and Bute Council fears that building a bypass at £10-15 million would be prohibitively expensive.

Looming crisis ■ Island communities face a cost of living crisis after a decision by ferry operator CalMac to charge ‘light goods’ vans that are overweight, Steven Rae reported.

Light vans pay reduced rates, and islanders say the vehicles could now be priced out

of business, sparking a hike in household shopping bills.

the Ambulance Service and NHS 24.

Cover withdrawn

■ A gang of cockle pickers has been spotted collecting potentially toxic shellfish in various areas around Lorn.

Witnesses said the group of 10-12 people had children, including a baby in arms. Argyll and Bute Council warned against buying “bargain” shellfish that may come from an area covered by a ban.

■ Mull and Iona residents were shocked to learn GPs were withdrawing out-ofhours emergency cover.

Councillor Alastair MacDougall described it as “frightening and a sad day for the islands”.

However, an NHS Highland spokesman said negotiations about serving the communities were taking place with

Toxic cockles warning

the big story New group to fight school demolition ■ The campaign to save a “beautiful” former primary school from demolition received a boost with the launch of a new lobbying group, Louise Lee reported.

‘Rockshield’ said it was confident it could save former Oban primary school, which Argyll Community Housing Association (ACHA) wants to knock down and replace with 37 onebedroom flats.

Two groups have now been formed since The Oban Times revealed Argyll and Bute Council’s plans to sell the building for £1, with a closing date of August 8.

Rockshield has collected more than 700 signatures for a petition and claimed “overwhelming” support for building a cultural hub in the derelict building. Oban Communities Trust, meanwhile, wants the building kept as a community resource.

Rockshield chairwoman Fiona CampbellSmith said it was “ridiculous” to put a closing date on the “beautiful old building”. However, ACHA chief executive Alastair MacGregor said affordable housing was “desperately needed” for future generations.

EVENING ALL Edinburgh Evening News

Evening Express

■ A former RAF secretary,

■ Owners of Aberdeen lap ■ Residents of a

who used to look up in awe at daring fighter pilots, has achieved a lifelong ambition by soaring over Loch Leven in a glider – at the age of 90.

Betty Lyons, “resident daredevil” of her care home, said she would repeat the high flying experience “in a heartbeat”.

dancing bars have warned the Scottish Government not to interfere with their clubs.

One respondent to an official consultation, a spokesman for Club Magma, said: “It is a business that has been around for years in different cities in Scotland with no obvious trouble.”

Evening Times Milngavie cul-de-sac were stunned to discover Scottish Gas Networks (SGN) installing a “gas shed” at the entrance to their street.

Council bosses say SGN should have applied for planning permission but locals want the pipes “moved underground or taken elsewhere”.

Greenock Telegraph

Evening Telegraph

■ A Greenock martial arts

■ A Dundee University

stuntman has spoken of his delight at working with Oscar winner Colin Firth on his latest movie.

Craig Miller (31) filmed fight scenes with the star in Kingsman: The Secret Service.

He said: “Given the pressure he was under I was surprised how nice he was.”

PhD student, who studies the use of jewellery in forensic identification, is nearing her dream of joining the FBI. Maria Maclennan has secured an research fellowship to study In Washington’s Library of Congress. The FBI has a jewellery theft division in the US capital.

26 July 2014 ❘ the stooshie

22 l

VIEW POINTS: THE BEST OF THE REST

NEWS BLOGS Reshuffle means nothing to Scots

By Trevor Salmon ❘ The Conversation Prime Minister David Cameron’s cabinet reshuffle is unlikely to have much sway over how Scots vote in September, said Aberdeen University’s emeritus professor of politics. He said people will vote because of “economic reasons” rather than Europe and that Iain Duncan Smith staying in his role at the Department of Work and Pensions “won’t mean much to Scottish people either”. But Professor Salmon wondered if it is time for a Holyrood reshuffle too, saying some ministers have been “around an awfully long time”.

■ Singer Susan Boyle met six-year-old Dylan Simpson as she carried the Commonwealth Games baton at Glasgow’s Yorkhill Hospital.

■ Heather McDonald and Douglas Boag were among the thousands of revellers who enjoyed the Rewind 80s music festival at Scone.

www.theconversation.com

Half of Scotland overlooked by history

By Lauren Hossack ❘ Scots Politics History student Lauren Hossack noticed something funny when she reached university. Neither she nor her classmates could identify more than three of the 10 women they were to study in their Women and Scottish Society course. She said women’s voices have been “muted” over the centuries but that a “a concerted effort” is now needed to help “recognise the role of women in creating the world we now inhabit” and to develop a more “balanced view” of our history.

■ Judoka Euan Burton carried the Saltire into the Glasgow 2014 opening ceremony at Celtic Park.

www.scotspolitics.com

Concentrate on what unites us

By Gerry Hassan ❘ Scottish Review There has been much talk of Scotland being “divided” by the independence referendum but Gerry Hassan said it makes more sense to “use this debate to define ways which bring us together, identifying what we share and have in common”. He said Scotland is far richer and more diverse than those who warn ominously of a “divided land” and “it is time to stop giving succour” to “accounts” of division which are “problematising Scotland”. www.scottishreview.net

Debatable whether debates matter

By James Corbett ❘ Think Scotland First Minister Alex Salmond has agreed to debate Better Together leader Alistair Darling but James Corbett wondered if they really change minds as debates he as attended are nothing but “a blend of assertions and facts which appear to support them”. www.thinkscotland.org the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

■ The Duchess of Rothesay sat on a Triumph Thunderbird at a Royal Voluntary Service reception outside Edinburgh City Chambers.

■ Ava Malcolm, from Glasgow, was just one of 12 babies sharing their first birthday with Prince George to receive a commemorative coin.

NEWS TWEETS #Glasgow2014 Scotland and Glasgow are trending. Wow I feel famous.

Glasgow has been overtaken by a breed who only wear massive lanyards. #Glasgow2014

Ah, the Commonwealth Games. Or The Hunger Games for the erstwhile British Empire. #Glasgow2014

Beth @brblovingstyles

Vicky Lee @VickyLeeonTV

Sajad @72forthesoul

l 23

VIEW POINTS: THE BEST OF THE REST good week Drivers are snap happy Only one in five speed cameras work at any given time, new figures revealed.

Of the 169 roadside speed cameras across Scotland, only 20% are active – according to statistics released under Freedom of Information.

Dram good figures Whisky helped retail sales of Scottish food and drink brands across Britain rise to nearly £2 billion.

New analysis revealed that between May 2013 and May 2014, the estimated value of retail sales of Scottish food and drink products was up by 3.3%.

■ Our word cloud amalgamates all the week’s top stories from the Scottish papers, with greatest prominence given to the most frequently used words.

GOSSIP OF THE WEEK

bad week

Outlander out early The much-anticipated TV series dubbed Scotland’s Game of Thrones will premiere early, according to Scotland Now. Outlander, which is based on Diana Gabaldon’s books and was filmed in various Scottish locations, will be first shown in the US on August 2.

A view to a tip A beautiful Scottish glen where scenes from James Bond’s Skyfall were filmed is being blighted by flytippers and litter louts.

Tents, mattresses, and piles of rubbish have been left strewn around Glen Etive in Lochaber.

Swanning around An aggressive Geordie swan forced the stoppage of sailing sessions at an Edinburgh pond.

Council staff had to suspend boating on Craiglockhart Pond after attacks by the bird, which tests proved came from North East England.

Fifteen to wan

Golfers’ gala gig A whole host of acts have been added to a gala concert which will mark the start of the Ryder Cup. Twin Atlantic (above), Jake Bugg, Texas, Eddi Reader, Midge Ure and Nina Nesbitt will join the likes of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Scottish Opera on stage at the SSE Hydro on September 24.

Classic Channel Four quiz show Fifteen to One is to be filmed in Glasgow, reported the Scottish Sun’s Katy Docherty.

Remedy Productions will start making the show at BBC Pacific Quay in Glasgow from August.

Shimmying across Scotland Lorraine Kelly, who has just launched her own fashion range, is to take part in 24-hour fitness challenge for charity in

September. STV reported that Lorraine’s Shimmy Across Scotland will see her take part in as many dance and exercise classes she can in aid of the STV Appeal.

Sir Jackie in sing-along F1 legend Sir Jackie Stewart celebrated his 75th birthday aboard a luxury cruise ship with a sing-along.

The Scottish Sun’s Stuart Patterson revealed Sir Jackie toasted the occasion with Irn-Bru on the Hebridean Princess, with Lady in Red crooner Chris de Burgh singing at the bash.

Rod’s farewell to Ferrari Rod Stewart has put his rare Ferrari up for sale for nearly £584,000, according to the Scottish Daily Express.

The singer’s F40 model is being sold at auction with just 7,900 miles on the clock.

Love #Glasgow in the sunshine and what a buzz round the city for the Commonwealth Games! Truly international!

Glasgow looking beautiful. City feels like a cosmopolitan northern city. Why does it take Commonwealth Games for such a transformation?

My train was so busy this morning and it was like half 6. #gtf

Games lanes eh.

Lanes. Lanes for the Games. #gameslane

Ridiculous to be hosting the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow at this time of year. Far too hot.

Should’ve moved it to winter.

David Farrell @DavidJ_Farrell

Gerry Hassan @GerryHassan

Jen @fringe_xo

Chris Graham @ChrisGraham76

Gary Lineker @GaryLineker 26 July 2014 ❘ the stooshie

24 l

Stooshie of the week

aye or ay ❘ eye ❘

1. means yes.

Usage: “Aye, something needs to be done.”

■ What happened to Wave 102 DJ Gary Robinson last week could be considered by some as mere misfortune.

Perhaps though, it should serve as a wake-up call to a society that has allowed seagulls to run roughshod over communities.

The Dundee man was left drenched in blood, with a broken nose and needing stitches after he was divebombed by a seagull, and one passer-by thought the poor guy had even been brutally mugged.

When one first hears the story, one may be inclined to snigger slightly.

After all, being attacked by a seagull is slightly less glamorous than escaping an encounter with a would-be robber. But Gary’s story is just one more serious example of a wider problem that needs to be tackled – and drastically.

If you read local papers up and down the UK, the seagull scourge comes up time and time again, with everyone from children to pets suffering in some shape or another.

And I’m sorry, but if you have got people walking around their own town, city or village in fear of something, then something has to be done to alleviate that particular situation.

Seagull sympathisers will say the behaviour of animals living close to humans inevitably changes to better suit the creature, or that the answer is to keep waste food in secure bins and that people should be discouraged from dropping litter and feeding the birds (although why anyone would want to encourage seagulls by offering them scraps is beyond me). That’s all well and good.

But despite councils’ best efforts, seagulls are becoming bolder and more aggressive when scavenging.

The problem is bad in Dublin just now and Senator Ned O’Sullivan, when calling for a cull, hit the nail on the head when he said “seagulls had lost the run of themselves” after toddlers were attacked and food was swiped from people’s hands.

Let’s face it, if it was a person behaving this way, they would be brought to book. And that’s even without considering the many thousands of pounds spent cleaning up either their faecal mess or the mess left behind on streets as they tear open bin bags.

So whether it is an outright cull or measures to remove nests from rooftops, the days of freedom our feathered ‘friends’ have enjoyed must surely be numbered.

Time to tackle the seagull scourge?

In the week Dundee DJ Gary Robinson needed hospital treatment after a seagull attack, we ask: Is culling the answer?

AS ITHERS SEE US!

O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us!

To a Louse ❘ Robert Burns the United States’ favoured To be young and stance of preserving the Scottish this summer union. is to be “swept up in a once“But in the gothic streets in-a-lifetime choice”, wrote of Edinburgh, it’s the proGriff Witte in The Washington independence forces that Post. seem to have the upper hand With less than 100 days in energy and enthusiasm, a to go until the referendum, disparity that’s most apparent Witte said opinion polls show among the young,” he noted. that most Scots agree with the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

“Unlike most, Scotland’s separation from the United Kingdom could be achieved without a shot fired as teens and 20-somethings wield IMF reports, comedy skits and Twitter memes to evangelize their case for doing what generations of brawny Scottish warriors couldn’t –

breaking from London once and for all.”

Witte added that the Scottish debate differs from others in that it “isn’t dictated by ethnicity, race, language or religion”. He added: “Instead, it’s up to each Scot to choose after a debate that, so far at least, has been remarkable for its civility given the considerable stakes.”

“I’ve yet to see a smashed window over this, let alone a pub brawl or a riot,” Michael Rosie, a sociologist at the University of Edinburgh, was quoted as saying. “Young people are weighing the facts and thinking very carefully.”

l 25

Stooshie of the week

naw

❘ naw ❘

1. means no or not.

Usage: “Naw, let them live.”

Kilts were “trending” as thousands of people had “a wee bit of fun” at the first annual Penticton Scottish Festival, wrote Joe Fries in the Penticton Western News.

The Canadian paper said the event featured “bagpipers, strongmen, sheep dog demonstrations, plus music and dancing, all set against a tartan backdrop”.

Top draw was the strongman events, with local man Lance Barusch’s six-foot-five 300 pound frame deemed ideal.

“I actually got a 12 o’clock, a perfect throw, so I was pretty jazzed,” said Barusch.

New York-based newspaper the Tech Times highlighted how red heads, or “gingers” are in danger of extinction due to changes in climate.

Gingers are “not very common”, the paper added, and noted that roughly only 1% of the total world population has red hair.

“Most of the gingers are found in Ireland, Scotland and North of England,” it added.

“Around 650,000 people in Scotland, which accounts to 13% of the total population, are said to be gingers.”

The paper went on to reveal that scientists indicate that

■ It’s hard to believe that back in the 1970s a book about a seagull could be seen as some sort of spiritual self-help guide.

These days anyone picking up a copy of Richard Bach’s cloying Jonathan Livingston Seagull would probably approach it carrying quite a lot of prejudice towards gulls, or the “vermin of the skies” as they’re also known.

Towns and cities across Scotland, and the rest of the UK, have resorted to a range of desperate and not-so-desperate measures to drive gulls away.

Whether it’s bringing in hawks to scare them off or even painting parts of the town red, as happened in Arbroath after someone concluded gulls don’t like that particular colour, there is no method too outlandish not to be tried.

When all else fails, however, the usual answer is to simply start killing birds whose only crime is doing what comes naturally.

There is no doubting that herring gulls and lesser black-backed gulls – the most common types of gulls to nest in urban areas – are not particularly pleasant creatures.

They’re loud and greedy, quick to swoop down on any food that’s available, even if it is still in the hands of their unfortunate target. Gulls can be

culled when there is a proven danger to public health but it seems it would be easier, and less cruel, not to invite them into our living space in the first place.

Gulls are hardy scavengers and as fish stocks have diminished, they have begun to look inland for food.

Fortunately for them, and unfortunately for us, our town and city centres are a never ending buffet of discarded scraps.

It’s not just that humans are incredibly wasteful when it comes to food, we also discard that waste extremely casually.

If people dispose of their food carefully, particularly takeaway snacks in and around town and city centres, then there will be less reason for seagulls to nest in urban areas.

And, rather than simply butchering the birds, whose numbers have decreased drastically in recent years, buildings can be gull-proofed to stop them nesting there.

Gulls are ugly, noisy and occasionally, when they have chicks in their nest, aggressive neighbours.

But if we want them out of our town and city centres a cull is the lazy option, not least as the seagull invasion is a mess of our own making.

the ginger gene, which causes red hair in an individual, is an evolutionary response to the cloudy skies found in places such as Scotland.

“I think the reason for light skin and red hair is that we do not get enough sun and we have to get all the Vitamin D we can,” Dr Alistair Moffat, managing director of Galashiels-based Scotlands DNA was quoted as saying.

Some scientists believe the gene is dying and the number of gingers will reduce in the future, the paper added, although it said it can take “hundreds of years before gingers are totally extinct”.

Just in case readers did not know of any famous gingers, the paper confirmed that “Queen Elizabeth I and Prince Harry are natural gingers”, while Spice Girl Geri Halliwell (below) also has red hair.

26 July 2014 ❘ the stooshie

26 l

REVIEW & Preview

STAGE

Henry IV / Henry V Botanic Gardens, Glasgow Until August 2 ■ The annual Bard in the Botanics season concludes with a set of plays which Neil Cooper in The Herald described as tackling “both the personal and political consequences of conflict”.

Joyce McMillan in The Scotsman found Henry IV

Perch Rottenrow Gardens, Glasgow Run ended ■ Leaping about the streets and roofs of Glasgow’s Merchant City to mark the opening weekend of the Commonwealth Games, Perch’s mix of international street theatre, aerial acrobatics and circus hoopla has been featuring heavily in newspaper supplements over the last few weeks. Could this carnival of flying and falling live up to the hype?

Although she had to jostle to find a good place to see the action, Mary Brennan in The Herald was touched by the “sheer mystical-thrilling imagery of bodies in flight”.

A collaboration between Scotland’s Conflux, Australia’s Legs on The Wall and Brazil’s LUME Teatro, there was a lot to pull together and Mary thought the show just about carried it off: “A lot of the anticipated dots did join up.”

Jay Richardson in The Scotsman also felt the show had a lot to prove, noting the “palpable crackle of anticipation”.

While the site had played host to successful outdoor productions in the past, Jay felt something was lacking from this production. A video link to Brazil tripped up the flow of the production and a zip wire strung across the audience failed to, well, zip.

“If the object of Perch was to inspire and exhilarate us for the Commonwealth Games,” he concluded, “then it scarcely succeeded.”

Under Milk Wood Tron Theatre Run ended ■ Dylan Thomas’s seminal radio play got a staging at The Tron by the theatre’s Community Company and received rave notices all round.

Neil Cooper in The Herald found the play, which concerns the “bustle of life

EXHIBITIONS Generation Various venues, Glasgow Various dates ■ The Generation project which showcases some of the best and most significant artists to have emerged from Scotland over the last 25 years rolls on and The Scotsman’s Moira Jeffrey took a grand tour of the Glasgow highlights. the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

“ingenious and impressive”; BitB’s artistic director Gordon Barr condensing both parts of Henry IV in to a tightlyfocussed three hander that concentrates on the relationship between young Prince Hal and his two father figures as he emerges as king. Neil Cooper found the production “full of macho swagger”.

Both critics also saw the large scale open-air Henry V (adapted and directed

by Jennifer Dick), framing the play around a Glasgow school fete in 1915. “The parallels between Agincourt and Flanders to be made plain”, Cooper commented.

For McMillan there were moments that “burn in the memory and touch the very essence of this mighty and terrible national pageant of a play”. in the imaginary hamlet of Llareggub”, put “quaking flesh on the rich bones of Thomas’ big rambunctious symphony of inner yearning shattered dreams and hidden hopes”.

Set in a bar (a “wood-lined howff” designed by Charlotte Lane), with the narrator’s words split between three of the barstaff, Joyce McMillan in The Scotsman felt the play captured the “sheer compelling magic” of the verse drama.

Although written in 1954 about a fictional Welsh place, McMillan found resonance with Scotland today and thought the play suggests that Scotland still has “powerful folk-memories of places where most women were either ageing battle-axes or ‘no better than they should be’, and most men were either henpecked or up to no good”.

At Tramway she found elegance in the work of Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan (pictured) which pokes fun at the very concept of art-making. She found further subversion at the Modern Institute with Scott Myles’ “sly if scattergun mediation on making, meaning and artistic inheritance”.

Mary Redmond’s show at

Platform was “lovely” and “lyrical” while Michael Fullerton at Glasgow Print Studio has a terrific show that uses “every weapon in his considerable arsenal”.

Douglas Gordon at GoMA displays a body of work that suggests “history won’t go away, though it is a more messy and disordered place than we would like”.

l 27

REVIEW & Preview FILM

I Am Divine (15) Starring: Divine ■ Dubbed the Drag Queen of the Century, Divine was the muse of John Waters and as Alistair Harkness recounts in The Scotsman, “helped him cement his reputation as the Pope of Trash in the 1970s”.

This documentary examines in detail the making of films such as Hairspray, Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble along with

the artist’s early life and pop career. Harkness feels that while the traditional talkingheads bio-doc format may seem at odds with the Divine story, “so much of the material is genuinely subversive in its tastelessness, it’s easy to forgive”.

Emma Simmonds in The List warned those expecting a “blowsy riot” would be disappointed, “but it tells his story with wit, insight and compassion, revealing a rather sweet and sensitive man”.

The involvement of Divine’s recently deceased mother proved most illuminating for Lewis Porteous in The Skinny, offering insight into his “private battles and lending pathos to an otherwise profane story”.

Average rating 8/10

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (3D) (12A)

Pudsey the Dog: The Movie (U) Walliams voices the Britain’s

Starring: Andy Serkis, Keru Russell, Gary Oldman

Starring: David Walliams, Olivia Colman, Jessica Hynes, ■ Look at that picture of adorable Pudsey down there.

Who could fail to love that shaggy pup? Film critics watching his feature film, that’s who.

Alistair Harkness in The Scotsman thought that David

■ The reboot of the Planet of the Apes franchise in 2011 saw jaw-dropping special effects breathe new life in to the story which continues with this new chapter, set 10 years later. A virus has all but wiped out humans and the apes, still led by Andy Serkis’ Caesar, have taken to the hills.

Alison Rowat in The Herald praises director Matt Reeves for delivering a film that features “big-ass ideas, gargantuan action, and a haymaker of an emotional punch”. Although wowed by the special effects she doesn’t think they’re used at the expense of the drama. “You will really believe apes can take over the world, and you might even cheer them on in doing so,” she said.

Alistair Harkness in The Scotsman felt that Dawn doesn’t quite match the last offering and in a crowded marketplace of allegorical sci-fi films needs to do more to stand out. “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes sadly lacks the kind of iconic moments that would really help distinguish it,” he said.

Demetrios Matheou in the Sunday Herald is cheerleading for Serkis to win an Oscar. Caesar is “every bit as complex” as his Gollum, “at turns dignified, sensitive, formidable and ferocious”.

Average rating 8/10

Isa Genzken Inverleith House, Royal botanic gardens, Edinburgh Until September 28 ■ This new show at Inverleith House highlights a radical and influential German artist who despite having been exhibiting since the 1970s has only recently

Got Talent dog “charmlessly” and that “barrel scraping doesn’t come much more blatant than this”.

David Edwards on the Daily Record website found the film “about as funny as fleas” but didn’t expect much after director Nick Moore’s “equally ghastly” Horrid Henry.

Although the children who saw the film with Edwards “might as well have been watching one of the Saw movies” given the number of laughs he heard, the dogcrazy kids who accompanied The Herald’s Alison Rowat to her Glasgow premiere loved it. She, on the other hand, thought it was “corny and creaky”.

Average rating 2/10 become more widely known.

Following on from a major retrospective at New York’s MoMA this year, this exhibition in Edinburgh is the artist’s first show outside of London.

In her preview of the show, Sarah Urwin Jones in The Herald describes Genzken’s art as “humorous and somewhat terrifying, intimate

and monumental” with a genre skipping approach to her choice of media from moving image to collage.

Recent work has involved “large-scale assemblage” and Urwin Jones believes the urban nature of the pieces will provide an interesting foil to the natural world seen from Inverleith’s windows.

26 July 2014 ❘ the stooshie

28 l THIS WEEK

SCOTS on the box

REVIEW & preview

Worth catching…

The return of a shocking yet stylish drama and a stroll around some iconic Scottish streets lead the way on TV this week, while the radio makes a strong impression

TV: Utopia Channel 4 Mondays, 10pm ■ Conspiracy theories, comic book riddles and some gut-churning violence were among the things which marked Utopia out as one of the more distinctive British dramas of 2013. The show never quite lived up to the promise of its scintillating opening episodes, but there are plenty who will be delighted it’s returned, as it tracks back in time to the 1970s as we discover how and why some seeds were sown into the later plot.

Henry Northmore in The List dubbed it “dark, fierce, compelling and addictive”, while the Sunday Herald’s Damien Love was especially impressed by Aberdeenborn actress Rose Leslie, most recently seen as the semi-romantic wildling Ygritte in Game Of Thrones.

“Leslie dominates, and does a truly brilliant job of foreshadowing the performance Geraldine James gives as the older Milner in Utopia proper.”

Secret History Of Our Streets BBC Two, Saturdays, 9pm ■ Scotland is the focus for this new series of the programme as it visits archetypal locations in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. Glasgow’s Duke Street and Aberdeen’s Footdee are the addresses in later episodes, but this opener drops in on the capital city’s Moray Place.

The street is a single development with the longest Georgian Terrace in Europe. Built in the 18th century, Moray Place has been home to Scotland’s elite for 200 years and its residents have agreed to open their front doors to the cameras and talk with a surprising frankness about their neighbourhood. What we discover appears to be the last bastion of the British Empire with architecture and a people seemingly from another time.

The series is made by Joseph Bullman, who previously gave us Seven Sins Of England and The Enemy Within, and whose team popped letters into the homes of residents on the street and waited to see what kind of stories came back. Enough to open Bullman’s eyes to the hidden history of a street steeped in its past.

RADIO: Private Passions

Bryan Burnett GET IT ON

Radio 3 Sunday July 27, noon ■ Actress Phyllida Law (Emma Thompson’s mum) talks to Michael Berkeley about the music she loves to dance to and finding the funny side of old age. Her music choices include Glenn Gould playing Bach, Schubert’s Fantasia In F Minor and a joyous Malinese song introduced to her by her grandson.

BBC Scotland’s request show played songs which mention other musical artists

Stevie Wonder

Weezer

Sir Duke

Buddy Holly

ABC

The Wombats

When Smokey Sings

Let’s Dance To Joy Division

The Wanted

The Saw Doctors

Walks Like Rihanna

I’d Love To Kiss The Bangles

Kirsty MacColl

There’s A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis

Louise White morning call

Radio 4 Monday July 30, 6.30pm

the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)

■ Get It On ❘ Weekdays at 6.10pm

RADIO: Dead Ringers ■ The classic impressions show is back for the first time in seven years with a new cast of characters. No one will sleep safely in their beds as the show takes down programmes, institutions and politicians by the truckload.

Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens and Debra Stephenson are among those dusting off their mimicry.

Scritti Politti

The following questions were asked on BBC Scotland’s weekday Morning Call programme ■ Do we need to have more

■ What is your stance on

women MPs?

assisted dying?

■ Should the Team Scotland

■ Are male carers being given

uniform be scrapped?

adequate support?

■ Is Scotland’s hospital food an insult to its patients?

■ Morning call ❘ Weekdays at 8.50am

l 29

REVIEW & preview

The best of this week’s books

SCOTTISH BESTSELLERS

The poignant story of two lost souls melts onto the Stooshie reading pile while some very cute mammals get us all a bit moist of eye. Plus, a short story master returns

HARD BACK 1. My Scotland, Our Britain

RECOMMENDED

by Gordon Brown

Thirst

by Cressida Cowell

2. How To Train Your Dragon 3. Written In My Own Heart’s Blood

by Kerry Hudson

■ After the tongue-twisting Tony Hogan Bought Me An Ice Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma, Scottish author Kerry Hudson has gone all minimalist with her follow-up’s title.

Thirst is set in London and Siberia and tracks the adventures of two lost souls who fall in love under the most unlikely circumstances.

Yasmin Sulaiman in The List was full of praise: “This book fizzes with the thronging sounds of east London in the summer and the bustling streets of an unknown Siberian town.”

For Barry Didcock in The Herald, the tale had a few lulls but the reader would be rewarded should they stick with it. “A final passage set on a journey across Russia is one of the novel’s strongest as the two star-cross’d protagonists finally find the courage to put the ‘love conquers all’ mantra to the test.”

England And Other Stories

Otters: Return To The River

by Laurie Campbell and Anna Levine

by Graham Swift

■ In his new book of short stories, Graham Swift writes about barbers, doctors, lawyers and headmasters, all living in a Middle England that is fading fast.

Allan Massie in The Scotsman hailed the author as a writer whose economy of style helps deliver true quality: “There is nothing flashy about the stories, whether he is writing in the first or third person, but he has a wonderful knack for getting the tone right either way.”

■ Thanks to Tarka, the humble otter can leave us all a bit misty-eyed. But that hasn’t stopped it from becoming an endangered species in many parts of the UK. The photos of Laurie Campbell and words of Anna Levine have provided a charming and enlightening experience for Jim Gilchrist of The Scotsman: “Otters is not only a visual testimony to Campbell’s ability, but a heartening picture of the return of a species.”

LOOK OUT FOR...

■ He may have made people laugh at his singing through the years, but the Peter Pan of light entertainment, Des O’Connor, has now turned his talents to comic verse in order to raise some genuine smiles.

Laughter Lines is the rather clever title of his surprise poetry debut.

■ Talks by Alex Salmond (Aug 11) and Gordon Brown (Aug 15) have been added to the Edinburgh International Book Festival programme.

Festival director Nick Barley (right) said: “The events offer an exciting opportunity to get to the very heart of the independence debate.”

by Diana Gabaldon

4. Where Memories Go

by Sally Magnusson

5. Kingdom

by Robyn Young

6. The Sex Lives Of Siamese Twins

by Irvine Welsh

7. An Illustrated Treasury Of Scottish Folk And Fairy Tales

by Theresa Breslin and Kate Leiper

Village Of Secrets

8. Fighting Spirit

by Fernando Ricksen with Vincent De Vries

9. Shredded

by Ian Fraser

10. The Great Tapestry Of Scotland

by Caroline Moorhead

■ France has long struggled with the part it played in WW2 when the Nazis invaded. Some fought back, while others rolled over or went as far as all-out collaboration. Ian Bell in The Herald hailed Caroline Moorehead whose “remarkable book is in essence the story of how a community, or rather group of communities, survived the travails of war with dignity”.

“It is also a tale that gives a larger meaning to Hemingway’s macho phrase, ‘grace under pressure’.”

by Alistair Moffat and Andrew Crummy

PAPER BACK 1. The Critic

by Peter May

2. Extraordinary People

by Peter May

3. Dead Men’s Bones

by James Oswald

4. Scotland’s Referendum

by David Torrance and Jamie Maxwell

5. There Was A Wee Lassie Who Swallowed A Midgie

by Rebecca Colby and Kate McLelland

6. Bertie’s Guide To Life And Mothers

by Alexander McCall Smith

7. Flesh Wounds

by Chris Brookmyre

8. How To Train Your Dragon 2 Sticker Activity Book

by Cressida Cowell

9. Katie In Scotland

by James Mayhew

10. How To Train Your Dragon

by DreamWorks ■ Lists from Waterstones 26 July 2014 ❘ the stooshie

30 l CHEF’S CORNER

MARK GREENAWAY Edinburgh

The Scottish chef’s flagship restaurant was recently listed among the UK’s top 100 in Restaurant magazine’s National Restaurant Awards.

In The Courier’s “My first and last” Q&A, Greenaway revealed that he ate far too many strawberries while fruit-picking in Perthshire aged eight, began work as a kitchen porter at 15 and has taken two proper holidays in the last nine years.

He last quit a job four years ago, when he left the Dryburgh Abbey Hotel to set up on his own.

He had just read a book about the Sydney restaurant Quay, by its chef Peter Gilmore, and had recently been mistaken for his brother by a lifelong friend.

tastiest FOOD & Drink Living well off the land Foraging enthusiast Gary Goldie has been appointed as head chef at the new Born in the Borders Visitor Centre near Jedburgh.

Goldie’s former posts include head chef at the three-AA-rosetted Highland Hotel Ardanaiseig, and stints at Belgium’s Michelinstarred In de Wulf and Copenhagen’s legendary Noma.

Established by the Scottish Borders Brewery, Born in the Borders aims to showcase the best of Borders food, drink and other products. The café focuses on local produce and foraged ingredients.

Goldie’s menu currently includes Jedburgh Aberdeen Angus braised in Scottish Borders Brewery Dark Horse ale with mash and nettles, Eyemouth crab with foraged salad, and Scottish strawberries and elderflower.

Capital beer idea A low-alcohol beer – designed to provide some of the same restorative properties as sports drinks – has been launched by Edinburgh firm Greyhound Drinks Company.

DuneSurfer is branded as “desert lager” and contains just 2% alcohol, to rehydrate the drinker better than conventional beers.

DuneSurfer has been locally launched and is currently only available via seven Margiotta grocery shops in Edinburgh. It

will also be sold during the summer on an “Urban Nomad” tour at pop-up bars at music and sporting events. A further roll-out in England is to be announced soon.

Tea for free To mark the XX Commonwealth Games, John Lewis has opened a pop-up tea house at Royal Exchange Square in Glasgow. And the refreshments at Tea on the Green will be free. As Official Department Store Provider to the Games (obviously better than the unofficial ones), Lewis’s will be encouraging the public to “soak up the spirit of the Games” by offering complimentary tea and scones, together with live sporting action on a big screen, every day during the Games.

Hot breakfasts Mother India’s Café at 1355 Argyle Street, Glasgow has extended its opening hours to serve breakfast. The popular café-restaurant, which pioneered tapas-sized portions of Indian food, will be opening at 10am throughout the Games, and possibly at weekends from then on. Among the breakfast offerings will be omelettes, fresh fruit with cardamom syrup, stuffed paratha breads and sweet thali – a platter including taster portions of semolina halva, pooris with yoghurt and chickpeas with yoghurt.

WINE OF THE WEEK Sol Lucet Koshu 2013 (marks & spencer) Japanese wine appears on UK supermarket shelves Rose Murray Brown looked east for her column in The Scotsman. Japanese wines are new to UK supermarkets, she noted, but can be dated back to 1875, when researchers were sent to study European vineyards.

Japanese wine has advanced considerably since then, she explained, and the “delicate pink-skinned” koshu grape is now grabbing attention. She particularly favoured Sol Lucet Koshu 2013 (£12.99), for its “light floral nose, hint of citric fruits, lively acidity and light, delicate finish”. the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

RECIPE of the week

Beetroot Coleslaw From Robbie Gleave, Master Chef of the Pommery Champagne Café Bar in the Signet Library, Edinburgh.

The Heritage Portfolio chef created this coleslaw to complement the flavour of the Aberdeen Angus beef used in the cafe bar’s burgers.

“The earthy flavours of the beetroot and caraway work well with the burgers,” explains Robbie. “The carrots and celeriac give it crunch while the lemon juice and zest give it a zing.”

Ingredients (makes a sharing bowl suitable for a barbecue) ■ 1kg beetroot ■ 1kg carrots ■ 1 celeriac ■ 100g dill ■ 15g caraway seeds ■ 3 lemons ■ 300 ml extra virgin rapeseed oil Method 1. Peel the vegetables and cut into thin batons. Try to make them an even size.

2. Grate the zest from the lemons and juice them.

3. Mix the lemon juice and zest with the rapeseed oil.

4. Mix together the vegetables, dill and caraway seeds.

5. Leave everything to rest for an hour to let the vegetables really absorb the flavour.

6. Serve piled beside high quality burgers and with a chilled glass of champagne.

• The Pommery Champagne Café Bar is a pop-up event in Edinburgh’s Signet Library and runs from Friday August 1 to Monday August 25.

THE BEST RESTAURANT REVIEWS

Tapa 19 Shore Place, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6SW www.tapaedinburgh.co.uk ■ Occupying a Leith warehouse that once housed Martin Wishart’s restaurant, Tapa boasts a head chef who hails from Seville.

Joanna Blythman finds most British tapas bars “deeply average” and avoids them. But Tapa was different.

The Sevillano chef, she explained, had sourced his

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ingredients from independent artisan producers, celebrating regional diversity. The jamón ibérico de bellota (ham from acorn-fed free-range pigs) had “sweet flesh and aromatic fat”.

The morcilla blood sausage from the northern city of Burgos was “served crumbly and warm with “soft red onions and a perfect fried quail’s egg”.

She also praised Tapa’s good value, citing a “huge plate” of “rustling gold” whitebait for £4.50. The quality continued into the “voluptuous” desserts. Joanna was impressed, summarising Tapa as “a remarkably smooth operation with a sultry southern accent”.

Score: 9/10 | Sunday Herald

The Hyndland Fox

Sangster’s

Castlehill

The Meldrums Hotel

43 Clarence Drive, Glasgow G12 9QN www.thehyndlandfox.co.uk

51 High Street, Elie, Fife KY9 1BZ www.sangsters.co.uk

22 Exchange Street, Dundee DD1 3DL www.castlehillrestaurant.co.uk

56 Main Street, Ceres, Fife KY15 5NA www.meldrums-hotel.co.uk

Ron MacKenna dined al fresco at this new restaurant on the West End site once occupied

by Peckham’s. The view was of bottle banks, but the duck shepherd pie satisfied, with “deeply-flavoured hallelujah glory”, and the artichoke and roast pepper pappardelle was “all summery flavours and crème fraîche”. The hake and chorizo stew was “not bad”, though the “wan and woefully tough” bread and the roasted roots were disappointments.

These were, however, “relatively minor grumbles”.

MacKenna liked the spacious decor and the atmosphere, and thought the pricing “not too heavy”.

“Completely unpretentious” was how The Courier’s secret reviewer described this longestablished restaurant in Fife, where “the flamboyance is kept for the tastes on the plate”. Her rapture over the cheddar soufflé did not obscure her admiration for other dishes, including scallops with Asian herbs and spices, seared halibut, pork stuffed with black pudding and a spearmint pannacotta, which was “a real winner”. There were also intermediate courses including a shot of spiced pea soup.

A low-key, high-quality experience which proved good value for money.

Award-winning 23-year-old chef Adam Newth garnered praise from the Scottish Field’s Mystery Diner at this plush, new(ish) restaurant. The atmosphere was “clubbable but not stuffy”. A pigeon starter was “punching well above its weight”, while monkfish cheeks showed “a lighter touch”. A lamb main course was “sadly under-sauced”, but plaice with shellfish gremolata had flavours “balanced splendidly”. Desserts were even better, and included a “triumphant combination” of vacherin mousse, meringue and rhubarb.

Newth was likened to a young colt, already showing great form.

Accompanied by sweet-toothed friends, Tam Cowan dined at The Meldrums, “a country inn that looks like Hansel and Gretel’s holiday home”. Cowan was under strict instructions to order three desserts – cranberry and orange cheesecake, chocolate brownie and cranachan parfait – all of which met with approval.

His personal high spots, though, were a king prawn starter with chorizo, garlic and chilli, a “fantastic” piri-piri chicken, and a ploughman’s starter featuring “silky smooth” chicken liver pâté and ham hock terrine, with a piccalilli that was “spikier than Oor Wullie’s last haircut”.

Score: 22/30 The Herald

Score: 44/50 The Courier

Score: 4/5 Scottish Field

Score: 23/30 The Scottish Sun 26 July 2014 ❘ the stooshie

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PROPERTY

INSIDE OUT – our Pick of the Scottish Market

two principle reception rooms including an open plan dining Auchenbeag, Tayvallich, Lochgilphead, Argyll Offers Over: £395,000 Strutt & Parker ❘ www.struttandparker.com kitchen and a sitting room, both of which enjoy the views. n Completed in 2007, Auchenbeag is thoughtfully designed to obtain maximum advantage of the coastal views across Loch Sween. It is of timber frame construction with a larch cladding exterior beneath a cedar shingles roof. There are

In addition to the four bedrooms, the dining kitchen has contemporary fitted units with integral appliances, a wood burning stove as a focal point and a balcony overlooking the garden. The property is also situated close to Taynish National Nature Reserve on the western edge of Tayvallich.

BIG BUDGET

Navidale, Helmsdale, Sutherland Offers Over: £850,000

Fluthers, 2 Glenwood Road, Leslie, Fife Offers Over: £535,000

Savills ❘ www.savills.com

Pagan Osborne ❘ www.paganosborne.com

n This first class farm in Sutherland has outstanding amenity and sporting opportunities. One of its notable attributes is that it can either be run as an extensive upland stock farm or, for a nonfarming buyer, it could provide a manageable sporting property. the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

n This impressive C-listed eight-bedroom detached property is set within around 1.7 acres of landscaped mature garden grounds. It has many modern improvements such as quality bathrooms and kitchen, but still retains a host of original features.

PROPERTY

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Breakachy Lodge Laggan

Strutt & Parker

Strutt & Parker

Offers over: £695,000

Offers over: £660,000

A stunning 18th century home occupying a magnificent position on the River Thurso.

❘ www.struttandparker.com

Dale House Westerdale, Caithness

A stunning country house located in private grounds and in idyllic Cairngorms countryside.

Carolina Ardclach by Nairn

Apartment 103 Inverness

Strutt & Parker

Strutt & Parker

Offers over: £430,000

Offers over: £240,000

A stunning architectdesigned home set in wonderful private grounds near Nairn.

❘ www.struttandparker.com

❘ www.struttandparker.com

❘ www.struttandparker.com

HIGHLAND HOMES

A spacious first-floor apartment with roof terrace balcony overlooking the River Ness.

CLIMBING THE LADDER

17C Burntisland Road, Kinghorn, Fife Offers Around: £250,000

5 Temple Mains Steading, Innerwick, Dunbar Offers Over: £175,000

Delmor ❘ www.delmor.co.uk

Pagan Osborne ❘ www.paganosborne.com

n A luxurious penthouse apartment with panoramic sea views, this spacious and well-appointed property boasts solid oak flooring, high quality kitchen and bathroom fittings and magnificent internal design.

n This two-bedroom end-terraced house combines a contemporary interior set within a traditional stone building. The property benefits from two parking spaces, a private south facing patio area, a bathroom skylight and solid oak floors.

26 July 2014 ❘ the stooshie

34 l

the best travel writing

TRAVEL SCOTLAND

Paula Murray Scottish Sunday Express

Foxlake Adventures, East Linton

■ Billing itself as “Scotland’s first cable wakeboard park”, Foxlake is indeed the first place in the country to offer this fast-growing watersport.

For the uninitiated, cable wakeboarding is akin to surfing or waterskiing: participants stand on “what effectively looks like a snowboard”, and are pulled across the water’s surface by a cable.

Murray began with a dry run of what would soon prove to be a very wet sport, then moved on to the real thing. She found her first attempt “quite as challenging as I expected”. Before long, though, she was able to stand

up – an achievement Foxlake guarantees to novices, or their money back.

Initially she was “very wobbly”, and although she found “carving” on snow easy, different techniques were required to change direction on the wakeboard, which seemed to involve “a compulsory soaking”. Her worst moment, though, was landing flat on her face in the water.

Nonetheless, she was quickly hooked: “I simply can’t wait to try it again – and again.” And, she was pleased to report, improvement comes rapidly with practice. The next day, there were aches to contend with in numerous parts of her body, but she was quite sure she would be returning to do it again.

TRAVEL BRITAIN

TRAVEL EUROPE

TRAVEL THE WORLD

North Yorkshire

The Meteora, Thessaly, Greece

Cambodia

Alan Shaw ❘ Sunday Post

Neil Geraghty ❘ The Scotsman

Nick Pulley ❘ The Herald

■ The trip had been sold to Alan Shaw’s son on the basis of the Dracula connection. The pretty coastal town of Whitby is famously the setting for part of Bram Stoker’s ghoulish classic.

Whitby’s medieval abbey proved suitably gothic, and the Shaws also enjoyed the Church of St Mary, the Whitby Lighthouse Museum and the 199 steps down into the narrow streets of the picturesque old town.

■ After being distracted by a galaktoboureko custard tart, Neil Geraghty took a cable car from the town of Kalambaka to “one of the most mystical corners of Greece”. The Meteora is a towering rock formation peppered with hermits’ caves, monasteries (some still in use) and a 10th-century church.

Suitably awed, Geraghty later enjoyed a glass of the local aniseed grappa with his guide.

■ Returning to Cambodia 20 years after his first backpacking venture, Nick Pulley found the infrastructure much improved, but still discovered paths to explore “untouched by mass tourism”. In the mobbed backstreets of Phnom Penh he found artisan craftsmen and sweet, strong local coffee. Amid the amazing but touristswamped Khmer temples at Angkor, he found a “crowd-avoiding guide”. And in Kep, he found a peaceful coastal resort.

TRAVEL NEWS Exchange rate boost for backpackers

Budget travellers take note: this could be a good year to visit Argentina, as well as other popular backpacking destinations.

Sterling is very strong against the Argentinean peso, rising 68% in the

past year. In fact, 18 of the top 20 gap year destinations currently have advantageous exchange rates for thrifty British travellers.

Punk godmother takes to the air with Virgin Virgin Atlantic cabin will shortly be stepping out in new livery, thanks to fashion grande dame Vivienne

the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

Westwood. The designer, who found fame during the punk explosion of the 1970s, has created stylish new outfits featuring Virgin-brand red.

They’re environmentally friendly too – made from recycled plastic bottles – and mostly machine-washable, removing the need for aircrew to know their way around global dry cleaners.

Moor is more In good news for country house hotels, grouse moors will be particularly well stocked by start of the grouse-shooting season on August 12. Experts say that mild winter conditions on lower ground have provided ideal breeding conditions for the game birds.

THE BEST OF the great outdoors the garden experts Soft fruits in the garden spell summertime

Perfume fit for all ■ The scent of flowers is as important as how they look and the Sunday Mail’s Carol Klein said their olfactory overload is at its peak in midsummer.

She said her garden smells most “overwhelmingly” of lillies.

Klein said Lilium Regale is “one of the best” and “there are few gardens where you could not grow it”.

■ Strawberries offer a “wee bit of heaven” and picking the first berry from your patch is a sure sign summer is finally here, said The Courier’s John Stoa.

He said this year he was able to pick his first berries at the end of May and hopes “to continue to pick fresh fruit from a range of varieties well into October”.

However, he said gardeners need to find “the best varieties to suit your area and soil conditions”.

The Daily Record, on the other hand, preferred another type of soft fruit, saying “there’s nothing like the intense flavour of home-grown raspberries in summer”.

Looking east for allotment inspiration ■ It may be the time to harvest berries, but The Scotsman’s Jenny Mollison said it is also time to plant for vegetable harvests later in the “middle of winter”.

In her Allotment Tales column, she noticed that alternatives to traditional crops are now springing up.

“Oriental vegetables such as mizuna, pak choi and mustard have increased in popularity and now is the right time to plant their seeds,” she said.

Mollison said they “do much better later on in the year early plantings”.

OOT AND ABOOT! Bagging for charity

Evolving landscape

Trossachs by boat

■ Scottish Mountain Rescue is asking fundraisers to climb one or more Munroes this September to raise money for the charity, Chris Tiso, founder of the outdoors company, told the Sunday Mail’s Fiona Russell the charity is particularly close to his heart after his brother died while hiking earlier this year.

He said: “Accidents do happen and it’s then the SMR provides such a tremendous service.”

■ A walk through Tentsmuir in Fife reveals the “continual evolution of the landscape,” said Roger Smith in The Herald.

The start of the route through the National Nature Reserve takes walkers past coastal defences installed in 1941 and they can also see a “fascinating mix of tall pines and sand dunes”.

He noted unlike elsewhere, the coastline at Tentsmuir is “growing”.

■ One of best ways to explore the Trossachs and Loch Katrine is by boat, Pamela Moffat said in The Scotsman.

After a trip on SS Walter Scott she said “it’s easy to understand why pleasure cruises were so incredibly popular during the Victorian era”.

Even on a “dreich day” she said the stillness was only “broken by piped Scottish music” on the hour-long cruise.

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NATURE’S BEST ■ The question of whether the chicken or the egg came first has confounded people for generations.

Now fishermen at Ullapool are wondering if a surge in jellyfish numbers has caused mackerel stocks to dwindle, or if a lack of mackerel allowed jellyfish numbers to increase exponentially.

It may not quite be as catchy a conundrum as the chicken and egg scenario, but The Herald said scientists are trying to fathom why there has been a worldwide rise in the number of jellyfish blooms.

Some fear the jellyfish may force fish to spawn in different areas.

Calum Duncan from the Marine Conservation Society said the blooms may just be a result of the sea’s surface warming up over summer but added that over-fishing may be to blame.

He told The Herald that if there are fewer fish, it means there is more plankton for jellyfish to eat, allowing their numbers to increase.

“It could also be that there are more jellyfish in Loch Broom because there are fewer mackerel, rather than the other way round,” he told The Herald.

Weather Wettest

– Harris Quidnish 9mm

Sunniest

– Glasgow 11.3hrs

Coldest

– Cairngorm Mountains 3.3C (37.9F)

Warmest

– Glasgow 27.3C (81.1F)

Weather round-up: Forecasters have suggested that the warm weather Scotland has experienced of late – far from the dreich conditions we’re used to – should continue for the next week or so, reported The Scotsman’s Tristan Stewart-Robertson.

The paper said that temperatures are likely to remain around the 25C and 26C mark across the country, while parts of England are expected to enjoy temperatures of around 30C. The July average is about 19C for inland areas but even Scottish islands are likely to hit the 20s. Indeed, Stuart Brooks, a Met Office forecaster in Aberdeen, described the settled period as a “Scottish heatwave”.

Fortunately, the paper suggested Scotland should not see the thunderstorms which have caused damage in England. A family of four were forced out of their home after their semi-detached bungalow in Essex was struck by lightning, it said, while 27 patients had to be moved from the Royal United Hospital in Bath when heavy rain brought down part of a ceiling.

26 July 2014 ❘ the stooshie

CONSUMER

l 37

Three of the best... 4K TV technology

tried and tested

This new breed of eyeball-popping, high-end pixel-producing TV sets make standard High Definition look average, delivering four times as much detail as 1080p Full HD (eight million pixels versus two million). The results are truly stunning

Prin Georgcee

BIRTHD AY GIFTS

Steiff Vincent March Hare £125.00 Steiff Gallery

Prince George turned one this week but you can treat your own little prince or princess to a gift that he or she will cherish for years to come. This Steiff Vincent March Hare is made of the finest mohair.

LG BP740 £249.00

Samsung UE55H8000 £1,999.00

Sony VPL-VW500ES £8,799.00

Experience some of the eyewatering visuals of Ultra HD technology without shelling out on a wallet-busting new screen or projection unit. This upscaling machine breathes new life into your existing DVD and BluRay collections using clever technology. It also comes with a nifty LG Smart Remote and built-in WiFi for accessing more content with ease.

Sit in front of this curved 55-inch screen and you’ll soon become totally immersed in whatever’s going on. The set is packed with all the tech you’d expect too, but the real selling point is that feeling of being surrounded by the jaw-dropping effects.

Not a price tag for the fainthearted, yet it is a price tag that ensures incredible results. On the looks front, it’s a sleek (though slightly dull) black box with a fancy gold circle around its lens.

On the function front, it’ll beam out a bigger display than any others in this round-up, in true cinema-esque style. High-cost, but 100% high-end.

www.petertyson.co.uk

www.currys.co.uk

www.petertyson.co.uk

Prince George 2014 UK £5 Silver Coin £80.00 The Royal Mint

If you prefer, you can mark the royal youngster’s first birthday by buying a commemorative £5 coin. Only 7,500 have been minted, so get in quick.

Vickino Baby Dungarees £25.60 La Coqueta

Why not have your little toddler dressed in a pair of dungarees, much like the ones the heir to the throne wore recently?

DRIVE TIME

Peugeot 2008 Price from £12,995

Vauxhall Insignia Price from £21,844

Audi A3 e-tron Price from £29,795

Alisdair Suttie ❘ Sunday Post

Jack McKeown ❘ The Courier

Matt Kimberley ❘ The Press and Journal

Peugeot has got into the compact crossover market, and this particular model “goes alongside the also-rans in their class”.

As a crossover, the 2008 has “MPV space and SUV looks packed into a car the size of a Peugeot 208”. Cabin space is “excellent”, but the touchscreen display is “not intuitive enough to use easily” and the small steering wheel “compromises the driver’s ability to see the dials”.

It is not “quite as frugal or clean”, or as “fun to drive”, as its rival the Renault Captur, which proves to be the “clincher that puts the Peugeot 2008 among the also-rans in this burgeoning class”.

Vauxhall’s Insignia range underwent a revamp late last year – “not that you can really tell by looking”.

But that’s okay because the Insignia was always a “perfectly decent looking car”.

Vauxhall has paid attention to the “lamentable” noise levels of previous engines, while the fuel gauge showed “an admirable reluctance to move away from the “F” mark”. It’s still not a “driver’s car”, but this version “at least pitches it closer to the class leaders”.

It is still not possible to “comprehensively recommend” the Insignia, but this is “stylish, reasonably practical, has good road manners and isn’t expensive to buy”.

At first glance, “nothing is new at all” with this Audi A3. But delve deeper and you’ll find a “very clever petrol-electric hybrid drivetrain that combines the cheap energy of plug-in tech and the ability to recharge on the move”.

It “looks expensive without being antisocial in the eyes of the Joneses” while inside it’s “plenty practical enough”, although it’s “about as dynamically exciting as an elderly goldfish” when tackling winding mountain roads.

Still, any buyer wanting “premium quality, a near-silent cabin around town and fuel bills that will make an eco-diesel look wasteful” should look no further.

26 July 2014 ❘ the stooshie

38 l

BUSINESS & FINANCE Hired, Fired & RETIRED

£230 million loan guarantee gives new life to Grangemouth Long term future of petrochemicals giant Ineos’ Scottish plant secured after the UK Government puts its financial weight behind plans to build Europe’s largest ethane tank ■ Thousands of jobs have been saved at Scotland’s largest chemicals plant after investment plans by Swiss owner Ineos were backed by Westminster.

The move means an ethane store and import terminal will now be built at the facility on the Forth ahead of US shale gas imports beginning in 2016.

It comes just months after Grangemouth faced being mothballed following a major industrial dispute between management and the site’s main union.

Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe played hardball insisting that major reforms were required to working practices and conditions at Grangemouth if the site was to have a future.

A threat to walk away if change was not embraced finally won out and Ineos has now invested £300m at the site.

Wages in Scotland have grown at their fastest pace for more than

11 years

according to the Bank of Scotland’s latest labour market report.

The authors said a lack of job candidates had put pressure on pay.

COMMENTATORS SAY BBC News said the loan guarantee meant Ineos would now own two of Europe’s four gas crackers with the ability to use US imported ethane gas feedstocks.

The broadcaster quoted Mr Ratcliffe’s view the ethane storage facility was “one of the most important” infrastructure projects of recent times and would protect thousands of jobs across the UK. While the new facility is designed to handle US shale gas imports, Tim Webb noted in The Times that Ineos was also interested in securing its own supplies of domestic shale gas and could bid for “exploration acreage” in the government’s onshore licensing round.

The Scotsman’s Gareth Mackie said the accounting and financial sectors had taken on the most permanent employees in June.

Edinburgh offered the most opportunities while Glasgow had seen the sharpest rise in salaries.

Mr Mackie also noted a report by accountants Campbell Dallas which found workers in oil capital Aberdeen paid an average of £6,110 in income tax in 2011/12, the highest level in Scotland.

the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

Thomas Penny and Andrew Noel of Bloomberg Businessweek were interested in the timing of the move which they said came as UK Government ministers sought to “press the benefits” of Scotland remaining as part of the UK after September 18.

Kate Burgess in her Lombard column for the Financial Times also noted the timing, saying Ineos had secured a guarantee that would “materially reduce” its costs in funding the ethane plant just “weeks before” the independence referendum.

The political theme was also picked up in The Daily Telegraph’s leader column which stated the “war of independence” had helped “win the funding battle” for Grangemouth.

The paper said the loan was “surely the most political infrastructure decision in years” and asked what better way could there be to emphasise First Minister Alex Salmond’s “impotence” in major British business decisions than to deliver the future of one of Scotland’s most important energy plants.

■ Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke (pictured) saw his reign at the top of Britain’s biggest supermarket come to an ignominious end this week.

The news that Mr Clarke is stepping aside to be replaced by senior Unilever executive Dave Lewis came as the struggling retailer issued another trading warning.

The group has been hit hard by competition from discounters including Aldi and Lidl.

Mr Clarke said that having guided Tesco through the huge challenges of recent years it was the “right moment to hand over responsibility”.

■ The Scotsman reported that farming expert Douglas Baxter had been promoted to Johnston Carmichael’s head of landed estates just months after joining the firm.

■ Chartered surveyors DM Hall has appointed Paul Reilly and Barry McGhee as directors in Glasgow and Aberdeen respectively.

BUSINESS & finance WEEK IN NUMBERS

£147.8m

The value of contracts placed in Scotland by the consortium behind the Eurofighter Typhoon military jet programme.

A total of 18 businesses received orders but the vast majority of the cash went to radar specialist Selex’s Edinburgh outfit. The company is part of the Italian Finmeccanica group.

18,000

The number of jobs which computing giant Microsoft is set to axe in the largest restructuring exercise since Bill Gates founded the firm 39 years ago.

Around 12,500 of the jobs will go at the firm’s Nokia division as the firm refocuses its mobile business.

£620m

The amount realised by struggling Co-operative Group through the sale of its UK pharmacies business.

The division was snapped up by cash and carry firm Bestway.

Pensions shake-up Free financial advice ■ Millions are set to get free and impartial advice on how to spend their pension pots.

Chancellor George Osborne signalled major reform of the pensions sector during his spring Budget speech.

He pledged to give the public the freedom to decide how their retirement fund was spent and shape their own future.

The Scotch Whisky Association raised a glass to increasing sales in the Commonwealth ahead of the Glasgow games.

The trade body said Commonwealth countries accounted for

20%

of total global consumption during the year, a one per cent rise.

4 million

The number of drinks being supplied by Cumbernauld based AG Barr for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The Irn-Bru producer was one of the first companies to sign up as an official games sponsor.

Concerns that some people may not know what to do with their cash windfall led to this week’s announcement that advice would be available to those who needed it.

A range of independent organisations including The Pensions Advisory Service and the Money Advice Service will provide guidance to retirees.

Break up on cards for banking giants?

■ RBS, Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC are set to face a full competition probe after regulators found measures to open up the sector had not had the desired effect.

The Competition and Markets Authority said a lack of choice was shortchanging personal account holders and SMEs. The Financial Times said most banks were “resigned” to a CMA probe into business lending but said some were hoping a current accounts inquiry could be avoided.

James Quinn, executive business editor at The Daily Telegraph, said a full scale CMA probe was a “landmark” move.

However, The Scotsman’s George Kerevan wasn’t impressed stating that previous probes into both markets had led to lots of “huffing and puffing” but little in the way of change with the “Big Four” still controlling the vast majority of the market.

80 years The length of time the Chalmers’ family has been associated with DP&L, the Dundee-based travel, recruitment, marquee hire and industrial supplies group.

The Chalmers’ have now sold out their interest in the group, which was founded as a shipping company in 1826, to Scottish businessman Alick Bissett who has been working with the board on restructuring and succession planning for the past three years.

l 39

COMMENTATORS SAY

Customers go cold on SSE ■ More than 100,000 customers have given utility company SSE the cold shoulder despite its price freeze commitment.

The Perth energy supplier saw its supply accounts drop below nine million in the last quarter as customers opted to switch.

The firm introduced a freeze on domestic gas and electricity prices through to 2016 earlier this year.

It is the longest unconditional promise of its type ever offered.

The Telegraph said customers had continued to desert SSE following a year in which more than 370,000 had already left the supplier.

Energy editor Emily Gosden said criticism of the Big Six suppliers’ profits had added to customer dissatisfaction.

She said the latest figures will “pile further pressure on the energy giant” to go further and cut prices rather than just freeze them.

The update from SSE came as shareholders gathered in Perth for the firm’s AGM. The Courier’s business editor Graham Huband said investors were told SSE would demonstrate an “appetite for reform” to Competition and Markets Authority investigators tasked by Ofgem with probing the UK energy market.

talking heads “Williams and Glyn has the potential to be an important challenger in the small business market in particular and therefore many, including me, are anxious to see it in operation as soon as possible.”

Business Secretary Vince Cable (pictured) urges RBS chief executive Ross McEwan to speed up the roll-out of 314 of the bank’s branches under the Williams and Glyn name. The move relates to conditions imposed on RBS by the EU at the time of its multi billion pound bailout in 2008.

“When it came to video games, it was the case made from Dundee that was the most compelling.”

Chancellor George Osborne tells Commonwealth business leaders what persuaded him to introduce vital new tax breaks for the creative industries.

“It would not be unusual if we decided that Scottish renewable electricity was expensive and we imported renewable electricity elsewhere.”

Energy Secretary Ed Davey fires off a preindependence referendum warning shot across the bows of the energy sector north of the border.

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SPORT

Glasgow 2014 poster girl Eilidh Child in rallying call to Scottish competitors ■ The waiting is over, and the 20th Commonwealth Games – Glasgow’s Games – are well and truly up and running.

And with Scottish medal hopefuls striving for gold, silver or bronze in a range of sports over the coming days, Team Scotland’s captain Eilidh Child urged homegrown athletes to stay grounded as the excitement surrounding the games reaches fever pitch.

The Delhi silver medallist, the most experienced member of a 58-strong track, field and marathon squad in terms of appearances at major championships, is wary of athletes ‘getting carried away’ during Glasgow 2014.

Ticket issues, family support, intense media attention, social media and various other issues are all factors Child said she believes can act as a distraction from a primary focus on performance.

And with 30 of Scottish athletics squad aged 23 or under, for many it is a first experience of a major international championship, let alone one at home.

“For younger ones my advice would be: don’t get too carried away,” said Child, who will compete in the 400m hurdles and the 4 x 400m women’s relay at Hampden.

“Because you are a Scottish athlete, people will want to put medals around your neck in advance. But you have to focus and remember what your own goals are and what your coach’s expectations are – those are liable to be more realistic.”

Child added that she has been eagerly awaiting the Games ever since Glasgow was chosen to host in 2007.

She said she thought at the time: “I will be at my peak, I want to be there.”

Farah declares himself fit for Glasgow tests

OTHER NEWS

■ Double Olympic champion Mo Farah ended weeks of speculation by declaring himself fit enough to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Farah won gold in both the 5,000m and 10,000m events at London 2012, but there were fears he might miss the chance to repeat the feat in Glasgow after missing a Diamond League meeting in the city last month.

The 31-year-old had been suffering from illness after being hospitalised in the United States with abdominal pains.

But after completing a rigorous training session, Farah confirmed he will indeed take his place among the favourites vying for medals over the next week or so.

He tweeted: “Training is going good! Next stop Commonwealth Games.”

Farah is expected to contest the 5,000 metre final this weekend, and will also be in line for a crack at the 10,000m final on Friday, August 1.

Scotland stay put in FIFA world rankings Scotland held on to 27th place in the latest FIFA world rankings, while England dropped 10 places to 20th.

Germany’s World Cup win saw them take top spot, and SFA chief Stewart Regan revealed he was looking for a victory over the newlycrowned best team in the world in September to potentially overtake the Auld Enemy in the standings. He tweeted: “A win in Germany in Sept and we may be leap-frogging ;-)”

Badminton medal boost?

Kirsty Gilmour’s hopes of a badminton gold at Glasgow 2014 were given a boost when defending singles champion Saina Nehwal pulled out.

India’s world number seven withdrew citing fitness issues, and that means world number 17 Gilmour will be the second highest ranked women’s player heading into the singles competition which starts on July 29.

‘Icon’ Millar to lead charge Scottish cycling’s head of performance Gary Coltman said David Millar will put his Tour de France disappointment behind him at Glasgow 2014.

Millar was a shock omission from his Tour team but Coltman told BBC Scotland the Scot will go out on a high. “He’s already looking forward to making sure that his last races in Scotland – the Commonwealth Games time trial and road race – will be his best,” he concluded.

HAUD YER WHEESHT! ■ Football is often described as the beautiful game, but it also seems to be the game of choice for those ‘banged up’ behind bars.

New figures reported by The Herald have revealed that inmates being held at Her Majesty’s pleasure are receiving hundreds of footballs for kick-abouts to help pass the time.

A total of 584 footballs have been bought for prisoners in the 17 months since January last year, according to figures provided by the Scottish Prison Service.

Inverness prisoners are seemingly the “most football crazy”, the paper added, with 145 balls bought “allowing them to practise keepie-uppy and other skills”.

“With their high walls, the chances of losing a football in prison may seem remote,” the paper observed.

Meanwhile, the BBC reported how Scottish League Two side Annan Athletic teamed up with Dumfries Prison for a new scheme to help boost the “leadership, communication and confidence” of inmates through football.

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SPORT Scottish swimmer: ‘We can’t stop doping’

Going for gold

Salmond and co confident of successful Glasgow Games Nevertheless, First Minister Alex Salmond proudly predicted that Scotland would indeed host “the greatest Games ever” and spoke of his pride that the Games would be on time and within budget.

“That is an almost unprecedented position for a major event of this type and is testament to the immense planning, knowledge, expertise and sheer determination that everyone involved in the Games has shown,” he commented.

“This is the biggest sporting and cultural event Scotland has

hosted and this Government is determined to maximise benefits beyond 2014.”

Mr Salmond added that Glasgow 2014 would be viewed as “something for the whole country to be proud of”.

Around 4,500 athletes from 71 competing Commonwealth nations and territories are in Glasgow taking part in daily events until August 3.

Over a million tickets have been sold and 15,000 volunteers have been playing their part in making the 20th Commonwealth Games run as smoothly as possible.

a “soaring success”.

■ Given some of the things Meanwhile, the Scottish that have gone on over the Daily Mail’s John Greechan last few months, the Daily questioned Alex Salmond’s Record suggested there claim that the Games would had been a “real temptation be the best ever. to be cynical about Glasgow’s “It’s not the kind of thing Commonwealth Games”.

Its leader column proclaimed we Scots would ever normally say,” he noted. “Even in our there had been “plenty to be cynical about” and highlighted most beery ‘wha’s like us’ lapses into hiccuping hubris.” the “ill-conceived” Red Road He suggested it was a flats plan, the norovirus “teeny bit presumptuous” and outbreak, and the fact “the said it would be up to visitors patience of locals has been and organisers to decide if the tested with some draconian security measures and difficult Games were successful “after the whole shebang has wound traffic restrictions” as a few up”. examples.

As for the sport, he was However, it said that when hopeful of a “right good return Scotland looks back on the of Scottish medals – assuming 2014 Games it’s likely that the kids aren’t crushed by the these “hiccups will form a pressure”. mere footnote” – and said The Herald’s Susan Egelstaff you wouldn’t bet against the was more optimistic.

Games being remembered as the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

She urged everyone to “embrace the next couple of weeks as we might never see anything quite so spectacular and all-consuming” for the city of Glasgow, and added she had “little doubt” it will live up to its billing.

And Hugh MacDonald suggested in the Sunday Herald that while the Games’ pre-existence was “untidy, even shambolic and will cause some heartache”, with “more cones than a Nardini family reunion”, the Games “will work” – as that’s what tends to happen when it comes to “Big Sport”.

“Its success will be assured by a heavenly alchemy,” he said. “It is what occurs inevitably when top class athletes interact with a fervent crowd.”

■ Organisers of the Commonwealth Games have expressed confidence that when all is said and done on August 3, the world will look back on Glasgow 2014 as one of the best Games ever to be staged.

Games partners have expressed confidence Glasgow 2014 will be the first Games for a generation to be delivered at the predicted cost and, with the action now underway, it remains to be seen if all the preparation and infrastructure put in place ahead of the event will pay dividends.

COMMENTATORS SAY

■ Scotland’s Olympic silver medallist Michael Jamieson said swimming is “fighting a losing battle” with doping.

The Scot, in action on the opening day of competition at Glasgow 2014, told The Scottish Sun’s Gareth Law that sportsmen and women “know there are people who are not playing by the rules” but just accept it.

“People ask me if I know if I’ve been beaten by someone on drugs,” he told the paper.

“What I know comes from the reports I’ve read from people who work in the area.

“I’m sure there is a hell of a lot I don’t know.”

Quick FIRE ■ Coventry boss Steven Pressley – formerly of Falkirk – said a return to the Ricoh Arena would make a “massive difference” to the club both on and off the pitch after a season based in Northampton.

Coventry Telegraph

■ Olympic champion Heather Stanning will have an opportunity to win her first World Championship gold medal after being selected alongside Helen Glover. The 29-year-old Lossiemouth rower, who won silver in 2010 and 2011, missed last year’s regatta because she was serving in the Army.

BBC Scotland

SPORT

good week

QUOTES

Euan Burton

Two years ago at the London Olympics, the Edinburgh judo player was in tears after an emotional early exit.

But this week Burton wept tears of joy as he was chosen to lead Team Scotland out during the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony.

The decision to select the multiple world and European gold medal-winning judoka to carry the flag was made by his fellow athletes.

l 43 “We will have failed if we don’t leave a lasting legacy for Glaswegians.”

Gordon Matheson Glasgow Council leader admits Games success is not measured in medals

■ Australian cycling star and Olympic gold medallist Anna Meares took time out of her busy Games schedule to sample some local fare.

Graham Dorrans

The West Brom midfielder signed a new three-year contract at The Hawthorns.

A 12-month option on the Scot’s previous deal had already been activated by Albion this summer and he put pen to paper on fresh terms that commit him to the Baggies until 2017.

BAD week

Tom Daley

The diver has been tipped to be one of the stars of Glasgow 2014, but he has not had the best of weeks in preparation.

Firstly, he missed out on a medal by 34 points as he finished fourth in the 10m platform at Diving’s World Series.

And the Scottish Daily Mail revealed that his week did not get much better after he was involved in a dramatic mid-air emergency over Russia.

He and partner Dustin Lance Black were aboard a Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340 from Shanghai to London which had to put down in the Siberian city of Irkutsk due to ‘a technical fault’.

Hoops march on ■ Celtic cruised into the third round of Champions League qualifying by seeing off KR Reykjavik in the unfamiliar setting of Murrayfield.

“A Scottish team winning at Murrayfield? It’ll never catch on, you know,” joked David McCarthy in the Daily Record.

But the Hoops did just that, brushing aside the Icelandic champions at the

home of Scottish rugby 4-0 to win 5-0 on aggregate.

With Celtic Park out of action due to the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, thousands of Hoops fans made the trip to Edinburgh to see doubles from Teemu Pukki and Virgil van Dijk take them closer to the Champions League group stages.

Much of the attention was off the field though, with Celtic boss Ronny Deila revealing his desire to keep hold of goalkeeper Fraser Forster after rejecting a “derisory” bid from Southampton. “We want to do what we can to keep him here,” Deila said.

Prior to the game, Deila told the Scottish Daily Mail that progress in the Champions League was vital if he wanted to strengthen his squad.

“This is the biggest sporting and cultural event Scotland has ever hosted.”

SHONA ROBISON MSP’s joy at hosting

“I don’t think it is just a question of just bricks and mortar. I think the real legacy of the Games goes well beyond that.”

Alex Salmond First Minister looked beyond the facilities set up for Glasgow 2014

“I’d be p****d off if I were him.”

■ Blogger Paula McGuire completed her mission to try all 17 Commonwealth Games sports by playing rugby with the Scottish squad.

SIR BRADLEY WIGGINS England’s cycling hope joked that an Emirates sign had obscured the entrance to the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome 26 July 2014 ❘ the stooshie

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SPORT

OFF

Rory sets his sights on more glory ■ Rory McIlroy clinched his first Open Championship and third major title with a twoshot victory – then focused his attention on trying to “dominate” the sport of golf.

The 25-year-old secured a two-shot victory over Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler, adding the Claret Jug to his 2011 US Open and 2012 US PGA titles and making him the second Northern Irishman to win The Open in four years.

McIlroy, who revealed the Scottish Open had been the ideal preparation for his Open challenge, is now “confident”

of completing a Grand Slam of majors at the Masters in April and sent out an ominous warning to the sport’s other hopefuls when he said: “I want be to be the guy that goes on and wins majors regularly.”

The Scottish media were at Hoylake in force and, as well as covering McIlroy’s success, reporters were particularly interested in how the Scottish contingent fared.

Three Scots made the cut, with Marc Warren finishing on one-under and Jamie McLeary finishing on three-over.

But much of the spotlight was

again on Stephen Gallacher, whose eight-under total took him into the top 20.

His finish was viewed as a real boost to his Ryder Cup hopes as he sets his sights on a place in the European team at Gleneagles.

Elsewhere, newly-deposed Open champion Phil Mickelson told the media he will redouble his efforts to reclaim his crown when The Open returns to St Andrews next year.

“I can’t think of a better golf course, to win any tournament ever than St Andrews,” he said.

COMMENTATORS SAY Elsewhere, Woods’ troubles ■ Although it had been “by continued and, although no means a procession”, The he made it through to the Scotsman’s Martin Dempster weekend, Forsyth said his said McIlroy’s efforts at hopes of making the US The Open meant his victory Ryder Cup side are looking was “richly deserved” and “increasingly fragile”. suggested it was only a He noted that if The Open “matter of time” before he was an opportunity for Woods completes the career Grand to prove himself, he “should Slam by adding The Masters consider it wasted” – adding title to his collection. that there are no guarantees Indeed, the same paper’s US captain Tom Watson will Paul Forsyth said McIlroy’s pick him as one of his three success did not reduce the wildcard selections. possibility he could win more Back to McIlroy, and the majors than Jack Nicklaus.

Scottish Daily Mail’s John “McIlroy is now the next Greechan said it had been a Tiger Woods, which is not to “victory for the little fella” – say that he will win 18 majors, “graceful, classy, beautiful, 14 majors, or even another handful,” he said. right down to the hug for his “It is to say only that he is mammy” – and said it was the player, more than any “impossible to bury the feeling other of his generation, with that we were witnessing a the gifts to give it a try.” changing of the guard”. the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

THE BALL

■ BBC Radio Scotland’s Stuart Cosgrove and Tam Cowan welcomed former Hearts coach Billy Brown and author and reverend Ron Ferguson into the studio.

■ This week’s packed show discussed whether watching Scotland was too dear or not in light of ticket prices for the forthcoming friendly with England, and asked listeners what Cowdenbeath meant to them and what their ultimate ‘brasser’ was?

■ Team of the Week was the Church XI, featuring such gems as Aisle Berkovic, Sam Allardyce and Chapoel Tel Aviv.

Tributes paid to Torrance The Herald’s Alasdair Reid wrote in a similar vein, adding his view that there is “much more to come from this remarkable young man” and said he is now “firmly in the frame for consideration as the best golfer these islands have ever produced”.

The same paper’s Nick Rodger highlighted Stephen Gallacher’s efforts and said it was fitting that the Scot was heading to the Big Apple on a family holiday.

“It’s getting to the crunch time, after all,” he noted, referring to his Ryder Cup hopes.

“In this huge run of events that will have an equally huge bearing on his Ryder Cup ambitions, Gallacher’s share of 15th on an eight-under 280 was particularly timely.”

■ Open stars remembered golf coach Bob Torrance, who died at the age of 82.

Torrance Sr, father of Sam, was best known for his work with twotime champion Padraig Harrington, who he tutored to victory in 2007 and 2008. Players competing at Hoylake wore black ribbons by way of tribute, and, writing in The Scottish Sun, his good friend Jim Black said Torrance “challenged the claim” that no individual is bigger than their chosen sport.

Black wrote fondly of the man he described as a “man’s man who had an unflinching tendency to call a spade a JCB” and added: “RIP my friend – good men are hard to find.”

SPORT

good week

QUOTES

Jamie McLeary

“It’s cool to beat the best player who has ever played the game.”

The 33-year-old Scot now has something to tell the grand-kids.

A closing two-under-par 70 left him three shots better off than former world number one Tiger Woods at The Open at Hoylake and ensured a memory to savour from his Open debut.

JAMIE MCLEARY The Scot was delighted to beat Tiger Woods

“Bob was a very, very special man. The world is a worse place without Bob Torrance.”

Hibernian

The upturn in form – albeit in pre-season friendlies – for the Edinburgh club continued with a 2-0 friendly win over Stirling Albion, earning new head coach Alan Stubbs a third victory in succession.

■ Partick Thistle duo Ryan Stevenson (right) and Kallum Higginbotham are joined by Miss Glasgow West End Keri Mattinson to show off the club’s new away kit, designed in support of Breast Cancer Care.

HEADLINES

The Dundee United striker (pictured below) returned to action after battling skin cancer and scored on his return as the Tangerines drew 2-2 with Forfar in a pre-season friendly at Station Park.

Walker wins in Germany

Kevin Kyle

The Daily Record’s Dan Warburton’s front page told how the former £10,000-a-week footballer is now working 12-hour shifts as a storeman on a ship that houses oil workers.

The former Scotland international now reportedly earns £800 a fortnight.

DARREN CLARKE The Northern Irish golfer had kind things to say about Bob Torrance, who has passed away

FOOTBALL: Rangers are to name the Govan Stand after the late Sandy Jardine.

Jardine, who played more than 600 games for the Ibrox club, died in April after a battle with cancer.

Jordan Moore

BAD week

l 45

■ Scotland’s Kylie Walker was able to fend off a final-round challenge by England’s Charley Hull to win the Ladies German Open.

The 27-year-old Glaswegian, like Rory McIlroy in The Open, began her final day’s play with a six-stroke lead, but Hull fired a final round 65 to join her on 25 under par.

However, Walker kept her cool to win with a par on the first play-off hole.

“It was pretty nervewracking,” said Walker.

“I’m delighted to have hung on to win.”

FOOTBALL: St Mirren brought the Renfrewshire Cup back to Paisley at the first time of asking thanks to a 1-0 win over Morton.

BOWLS: Lanarkshire South defeated West Lothian 123-112 to regain the Scottish Cities and Counties Championship, wrote Anne Dunwoodie in The Scotsman.

SHINTY: Newtonmore were given a glimmer of hope in the Premiership title race after Lovat were held 2-2 by Kinlochshiel. Despite stuttering form, Lovat can still lift the title if they win all their games and another team dents Newtonmore’s hopes.

“I have to be happy.

I hung in there at the end.”

STEPHEN GALLACHER Gallacher did his Ryder Cup chances no harm whatsoever with a fine final day finish at The Open Championship

“He definitely needs to be higher up on the list.”

TOM WATSON The USA’s Ryder Cup captain cast doubt on the prospect of Tiger Woods appearing at Gleneagles in September

Burntisland Shipyard

The Fife amateur outfit saw the funny side after they were handed another away tie in the Scottish Cup preliminary round draw – their 10th in a row. This time they are away to Lothian Thistle.

■ Rangers boss Ally McCoist enjoyed his side’s pre-season tour of North America, which drew to a close in Canada.

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COMMENT

FRED SAID Comedian, broadcaster and presenter

FRED MACAULAY

It’s been a haar day’s knight for Fred at Edinburgh Castle Who’s that emerging out of the gloom?

It’s our Fred and his close personal celebrity friends

■ A few weeks ago my agent took a call from someone at the BBC asking if I could do a short stand-up segment at a proposed event at Edinburgh Castle. There would be a stage on the Esplanade with the castle behind creating a magnificent visual backdrop, lots of music acts, the Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and Bill Bailey were already confirmed. Sounded good, so we said yes.

Last Saturday evening it all came to pass. July. Scotland.

What were the chances of a pea souper of a haar descending to spoil things? It was a pretty exciting gig to be involved in as there are very few actual ‘live’ performances on television these days.

It was interesting to see how nervous some of the more seasoned performers were too.

No names, but if you saw the gig on TV you know who I’m talking about.

The Kaiser Chiefs warmed the audience up with one of their hits: “I Predict A Riot”. I’d hoped they might have done a

Clarifications and corrections The Stooshie is committed to journalism of the highest standards and we aim to produce our magazine with accuracy, honesty and fairness. Our journalists adhere to the DC Thomson company values of integrity, respect, commitment and creativity. We abide by the Editors’ Code of Practice which is enforced by the Press Complaints Commission. It is our policy to publish clarifications and corrections when necessary and as quickly as possible. You can contact us by email at: editor@thestooshie.co.uk or by writing to: The Readers’ Editor, The Stooshie, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL.

the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

Morningside version: “I Predict Disquiet”.

It’s also the first gig I’ve done where the artistes (really, that’s what it says on the backstage passes) grab selfies and photos with the others. So who am I to miss out? That’s me and Alfie Boe down the left of the page. He was just about to step on stage to sing Barcelona with Katherine Jenkins (she had someone with her whose job that evening was to hold Katherine’s long frock off the damp ground. Nice work etc).

Best line of the night was backstage though. Making small talk with Ronnie Corbett (honest, that was unintentional), I asked how his golf was...

“Fred!”, he said. “Fred!” That’s how he speaks. “Fred!”, he adjusted his glasses... “Fred, I haven’t played golf... for four days!”

There was a campaign a number of years ago to get Bruce Forsyth knighted and it worked. If there isn’t already one for Ronnie Corbett, let’s start it now.

August might be life on the Fringe for Fred but he’s always happy to show the way ■ It’s just a few days until the largest (and in my opinion greatest) arts festival in the world gets under way.

For me it’s an annual workfest, with the chance to catch up with fellow comedians who return to Edinburgh every year like bees to a hive.

In fact, many of them pass on directions to Edinburgh to each other through the medium of dance, just as bees do.

In the run up to opening night our minds are a frenzy of angst about our material and concern over tickets sold. If the material is working, the seats should fill up.

I had a hole in my show one year of about 10 minutes, but the comedy gods shone on me when, the day before the Fringe began, I spotted an article in a newspaper about a man who had just been given his fourth lifetime ban for driving convictions.

Really. Four lifetime bans! I always wondered if they ran concurrently.

If you see a guy doing 105 mph in the afterlife, it’s probably him.

Information about the Code of Practice can be obtained from The Press Complaints Commission at Halton House, 20/23 High Holborn, London EC1N 2JD or email complaints@pcc.org.uk or call 0845 6002757 or 0207 8310022.

Published in Great Britain by D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, 185 Fleet Street, London, EC4A 2HS. © D. C. Thomson & Co., Ltd, 2014. Distributed by Marketforce, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London, SE1 0SU. Tel: +44(0) 20 3148 3300 Fax: +44(0) 20 3148 8105 Website: www. marketforce.co.uk

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