The Stooshie Issue 2 Published May 31 2014

May 31 2014 issue no.2 ❘ £2.50

W NE NE ZI GA MA

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All the Farage

Stooshie Why did 140,534 Scots vote for UKIP?

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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Recall: R23 – 06-Jun-14

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Boogie Nichts Julianne Moore on her Scottish roots

Scotland in days

“Girl” is not a four letter word...

Rising from the ashes

Stooshie of the Week

Glasgow School of Art lives on www.thestooshie.co.uk

the

Scientists’ funding warning

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Salmond blasts Treasury report

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Tinned Buckfast just the tonic?

The best places to eat in Scotland

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

Welcome to The Stooshie, the magazine that brings you up to speed with the best of the Scottish media.

On our expedition to discover the best writing and most incisive comment from across the country we have worked our way through forests of newsprint, explored the secret corners of the internet and charted the shifting sands of opinion on television and radio throughout a momentous seven days for Scotland.

This week the country watched in horror as one of our greatest buildings was consumed by flames. Fortunately, the Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed Glasgow School of Art escaped complete destruction but the heartfelt response from around the globe demonstrated how architecture and design can influence our lives.

But will Nigel Farage still be revered in a century’s time as Mackintosh is today? UKIP made a splash across the UK in the European elections and even won a Scottish MEP. What does it mean for the independence referendum?

Meanwhile, adventurer Mark Beaumont found himself in bother after the BBC edited a comment they said could be considered sexist. Our Stooshie of the Week asks if such censorship can ever be justified.

Read, digest and enjoy!

SCOTTISH WORD OF THE WEEK

swally noun ❘ swal I ❘

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Going for a song? Rat Pack’s favourite drink for sale

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We really like...

A Fred by any other name

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Contact the Stooshie Mail:

The Stooshie, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL

Email:

editor@thestooshie.co.uk

Visit:

www.thestooshie.co.uk stooshiescot

1. A drink of alcohol or a period of time spent imbibing alcohol.

2. To swallow.

Usage: “Swally your tea and we’ll go down the pub for a swally.”

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■ Website Tea and Kittens created a Google Chrome app called UKitten that replaces images of Nigel Farage with kittens.

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, Alastair Bennett Contributors: Brian Donaldson, Robert McNeil, Lucy Penman, James Williamson, Graham Huband

Advertising & Commercial Opportunities: Bryn Piper: 0207 400 1050, bpiper@dcthomson.co.uk Circulation: Iain McKenzie: imckenzie@dcthomson.co.uk Subscription Sales & Customer Service: 0844 826 5009, thestooshie@dcthomson.co.uk 31 May 2014 ❘ the stooshie

4 l news

MAIN EVENTS

Rising from the ashes Glasgow School of Art to be rebuilt after blaze destroys much of iconic building ■ A massive blaze tore through Glasgow’s historic School of Art, damaging much of the building.

Designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the art nouveau art school is recognised as a global icon.

Fire crews were able to save most of the building and its contents but much was damaged beyond repair, including its famous library.

And, in a bitter irony, it later emerged that a new “fire suppression system” had been due to be installed in

the building over the summer although it is not known whether this would have prevented the spread of the blaze.

Although an official investigation into the cause is still to take place, witnesses said it may have started when a spark from a projector ignited a piece of foam.

Both the Scottish and UK governments said they will help rebuild the school, which is offering “phoenix bursaries” to students whose work was damaged in the inferno.

EDITORIALS SAY

COMMENTATORS SAY

The blaze at Glasgow School of Art left many across Scotland in despair.

It was a “blessing” no one was injured in the fire, said The Herald, but the ”shock and sadness” caused by the “tragic devastation” of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s masterpiece would be felt across Scotland and the world.

It said a fundraising campaign to restore the building to its former glories would “surely garner massive success” given the affection in which the building is held.

The Scotsman said there is no doubt the building should be rebuilt and that Glasgow would “rise to the challenge”.

“Many of Europe’s cities boast inspiring buildings which appear to be ancient but which are actually reconstructions of what was there before the war razed it flat,” the paper noted.

The Scottish Daily Mail said the fire had cast a “pall of sadness across Scotland and further afield”.

It said the “loss of so much history and heritage is keenly felt” but was optimistic the building could be rebuilt.

The Guardian said the building was unique and its library “had the atmosphere of a Shinto shrine”.

The Sunday Herald took a more philosophical view. It said the fire should remind people that “everything is transient” and “we should learn to love them in the permanent present.”

The fire that destroyed much of Glasgow School of Art “was a tragedy on many levels,” Roger Cox wrote in The Scotsman.

But he said all is not lost as it will be possible to rebuild much, if not all, of the building “thanks to the work of some skilful, dedicated people”.

He said although repairing the school could be expensive enough that “some will baulk at the price”, the building’s true value to Scotland is “without measure”.

Writing in the same paper, Moira Jeffrey said “Glasgow has lost its beating heart”.

It is not just those who studied at Glasgow School of Art that will feel a sense of loss, The Herald’s Rosemary Goring noted.

But she said Mackintosh’s meticulous plans will allow the school to come back to life.

This, she said, will prove the “most important thing” about the building is not its age or history but “the sheer genius of its design”.

The sight of Glasgow School of Art aflame would “make anyone who cares not only about architecture, but also Britain’s glorious tradition of art education, feel sick to the stomach,” said Mark Hudson in The Daily Telegraph.

He said art colleges in the UK “inculcate a distinctive ethos” which explains the country’s “leadership in the creative industries”. He said the fire was a “black day,” even if the school will be rebuilt.

Scientists challenge climate of silence Academics speak out over funding concerns, which they say are forcing universities to keep silent in referendum debate ■ Some of Scotland’s most respected academics have claimed universities are scared to speak out with concerns over independence because they rely on Scottish Government funding.

A letter signed by 14 of the country’s top clinical professors and biomedical scientists, including Sir David the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

Carter and Sir Philip Cohen (left), warned universities could lose out on millions of pounds of research funding if Scotland leaves the UK. They warn universities could “sleepwalk” into a situation that makes them less competitive.

Academics for Yes said Scotland could increase funding post-independence, if it chooses to.

EDITORIALS SAY Fears over funding took second place to fears for the freedom of speech of organisations like Scotland’s universities which rely on government funding.

Organisations face a tricky balancing act, The Herald said, as “for them to come down firmly on one side or other would be challenging”.

But it said expressing hopes and concerns about the potential impact of independence should not be considered the same as being strictly for or against it.

MAIN EVENTS

UKIP’s Scottish cameo turns into starring role Election of Scottish MEP may prove referendum game changer ■ Turnout was low and they only scraped into fourth place with 10.4% of the vote, but UKIP’s success in the European elections may transform the referendum campaign.

A year after he was barracked by a mob of Edinburgh protestors, Nigel Farage now plans to campaign against Scottish independence much, according to the Scottish Daily Mail, “to the horror of the established Better Together allies”.

UKIP won 140,534 votes to come fourth in Scotland, enough for one MEP. Many blame the SNP for UKIP’s success, as they based their campaign on a straight fight between the two parties for Scotland’s sixth seat.

David Coburn’s election also disrupted the SNP narrative that Scots have wildly different concerns than voters in other parts of the UK. The belief that Scots would vote Yes in reaction to a rightwing shift in politics south of the border has now been seriously undermined.

“Scotland’s sectoral interest groups should be encouraged to give their views,” the paper concluded.

The Scotsman said Yes Scotland must heed the letter’s warning, particularly as they so warmly welcomed the creation of Academics for Yes. The paper said that if the pro-independence academics should be listened to because “their words carry weight” then the same goes for those who hold an opposite view.

It added that while universities may have to remain neutral in the independence debate, that “should not be interpreted as tacit support for independence”.

EDITORIALS SAY

COMMENTATORS SAY

According to Labour, UKIP’s success was the SNP’s fault because they talked about Nigel Farage’s party too much.

According to the SNP, it was the BBC’s fault, because they talked about UKIP too much.

Maybe, said The Scotsman, it is time to consider the party “was saying things that a surprisingly large number of Scots agree with”.

The paper said although the low turnout may encourage some to dismiss the result, it is time for parties to ask if they “are really in tune with public opinion”.

The Herald said UKIP’s success “makes it harder” for the Yes campaign to “use different political cultures” as an argument for independence as there is not that much of a difference over several issues.

It said UKIP policies are “populist and divisive” and the mainstream parties must do more to challenge “the fears and prejudices of its supporters”.

The SNP’s campaign was built on stopping a UKIP MEP getting elected.

When that failed, they instead blamed the BBC for “beaming” UKIP into Scottish homes said David Torrance in The Scotsman.

But, he said, as explanations go that is only half the story. “There was – among enough of the electorate – a receptive audience,” he said.

UKIP and the Tories polled almost as many votes as the SNP, Kieran Andrews told readers of The Courier, leaving the myth of separate political cultures “in tatters”.

In the Scottish Daily Mail, Alex Massie said the idea Scots voted for UKIP because they received so much coverage was laughable. He said some SNP supporters live in a “fantasy world” where Scots are “responsible” if they vote SNP but “gullible” if they vote UKIP.

COMMENTATORS SAY

have not spoken out against it. Cochrane said many believe the public sector “has been heavily lent on by the Nats to keep shtum”.

However, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, one of the organisations the signatories claimed was being forced to keep silent over independence because of funding concerns, said this was not the case.

In a statement in The Financial Times it said its neutrality is beneficial.

“The RSE . . . must remain neutral to allow it to enlighten and inform – rather than seek to influence – the debate,” the statement said.

Such is the dominance of the SNP at Holyrood there now exists a “cult of silence,” The Daily Telegraph’s Alan Cochrane said.

He said the letter was signed by “men and women of the highest possible standards” and said their concerns over funding in an independent Scotland should be heeded.

But he also praised the letterwriters for stating that the heads of leading research universities do not necessarily support independence because they

news l 5 on the bright side ■ Business, trade and tourism links between Scotland and the Middle East have been boosted by the launch of a new flight between Edinburgh and Doha.

Qatar Airlines introduced the non-stop, five days a week service on Wednesday.

The new link will provide connections to more than 136 different destinations.

Meanwhile new direct services between Edinburgh and two American cities, Philadelphia and Chicago, have also been launched.

■ The public will finally get to use Edinburgh’s trams this weekend when they begin taking on paying passengers.

Although the £776 million project was subject to lengthy delays and went wildly over budget, a senior councillor has said the tram line should be extended into Leith.

Economy committee convener Frank Ross said extending the tram line would be a “nobrainer”.

■ There was delight in the Mearns as two fisherman who had been lost at sea for two days were found safe and well.

Jim Reid (75) and his grandson David Irvine (35) (below) sailed from Gourdon harbour but became lost when their creel boat drifted off course in fog after their compass stopped working.

They managed to survive two nights at sea even though their only supplies were a flask of tea and two biscuits.

They were eventually found at sea by a passing fishing vessel around 46 miles off the coast of Arbroath.

They were picked up and then finally taken back to land by a Montrose lifeboat.

Their boat, the Water Rail, sank as it was towed ashore.

31 May 2014 ❘ the stooshie

6 l news

POLITICS

Bitter row over the cost of breaking-up First Minister Alex Salmond attacks Treasury over how much it claims it will cost to set up an independent Scotland

indy BRIEFS 1. The Glasgow Film Theatre has banned adverts relating to the referendum from its screenings as they antagonise audiences too much.

2. Actor James MacAvoy has urged people to vote on what they believe, not on what “trained to lie” politicians tell them.

3. The Scottish Government has said it would create an oil fund on “day one” of independence. However, Better Together said the idea “makes no sense” as it would require additional borrowing to fund.

■ A survey carried out last year found that two thirds of Scots said they would vote for independence if it made them £500 a year better off.

Now the UK Treasury has said it could actually leave families at least £600 a year worse off due to the £1.5 billion it claims it would cost to set up the standalone systems, such as collecting tax and issuing benefits, needed in an independent Scotland.

They said costs may even rise to £2.7bn. The Treasury also said the Union was worth a “dividend” of £1,400 to every person in Scotland each year.

However, First Minister Alex Salmond said this analysis was “deeply flawed” and misrepresented research by the London School of Economics.

He claimed independence would be worth £2,000 to each family while the country’s economy could be £5bn a year better off by 2030 under independence. He said an independent Scotland would have less debt than the UK.

4. Around 100 healthcare staff have formed a new group to campaign for Scottish independence.

The group, called NHS for Yes, say independence is necessary to protect the health service from cuts.

5. Olympic gold medal winning swimmer David Wilkie has accused the Scottish Government of hijacking the Commonwealth Games. the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

COMMENTATORS SAY How much would it cost for Scotland to become an independent country?

According to the UK Treasury, billions.

According to the Scottish Government, however, nothing like that sum – although it has so far not put an exact figure on what it expects the start-up costs of an independent Scotland to be.

The Sunday Herald has given its backing to the campaign for independence and its front page said the Treasury had been “caught wildly exaggerating the cost of independence”.

But other papers were more receptive to the Treasury’s warning.

The Daily Telegraph’s leader column said the idea that independence would be as “cost-free and friction-free” as the Scottish Government suggests is becoming less

and less “tenable” by the day.

It said it is “crystal clear” that taxpayers would have to foot the bill for independence but that “it is asking too much to expect the First Minister to come clean about those costs”.

It said the SNP has been keen to quash any argument against independence but warned “the truth has a way of being heard – no matter how inconvenient it may be”.

Both sides of the argument have produced differing sets of figures they say supports their claims and The Herald wondered how helpful these disputes are to voters.

It said: “However wildly overestimated the Treasury’s £2.7bn estimate may be, we know there would be a cost to setting up an independent country.”

And the paper said it is time for the Scottish Government to put a figure on what it expects those costs to be so voters can make an informed choice.

“There can never be absolute certainty,” the paper said, “but Scottish voters are entitled to know the Scottish Government’s best estimate of what the set-up costs for an independent Scotland would be and how that estimate has been calculated”.

“The UKIP revolution has now come to Scotland. I’d like to thank Alex Salmond for his tremendous help in getting us elected.”

“UKIP’s a party which gets beamed into Scotland by the BBC.”

David Coburn,

Alex Salmond

UKIP MEP

First Minister

POLITICS Clegg vows to fight on after Euro calamity

Darling’s V&A funding fears ■ Better Together leader Alistair Darling has said independence threatens the success of projects like the much-vaunted V&A at Dundee.

Mr Darling said remaining part of the UK is vital to the success of the project and others like it.

He said creating “barriers” between Scotland and the UK could make it harder to generate the “thousands” of jobs the museum is expected to create.

The £45 million project is central to the multi-million pound regeneration of Dundee’s waterfront.

Mr Darling was speaking on a visit to Dundee ahead of an appearance at a Five Million Questions event organised by Dundee University.

He said Dundee has been transformed in recent years but there “is still more to be done”.

Mr Darling also said former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whom he served under as Chancellor of the Exchequer, is to take on a bigger role in the Better Together campaign.

Earlier in the week Mr Darling denied he pushed Treasury permanent secretary Sir Nicholas MacPherson to issue advice warning against a currency union with Scotland.

■ Nick Clegg has said he will not quit as leader of the Liberal Democrats following their humiliation in the European elections.

The Lib Dems are the most pro-Europe of the main parties and Mr Clegg took on UKIP leader Nigel Farage in a number of pre-election debates.

But the end result was a nightmare for the party. They lost 11 of their 12 MEPs, including their sole Scottish representative, George Lyon.

Mr Clegg has said he intends to stay on as leader and his predecessor Sir Menzies Campell (below) has offered his support.

The North East Fife MP said his party could not afford to spend time agonising over the defeat and trying to find a scapegoat to blame when the general election is just 10 months away.

Sir Menzies dismissed a letter signed by 200 party activists, including former MP Sandra Gidley, calling on Mr Clegg to resign. Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie also said Mr Clegg should be left to “finish the job”.

EU question unanswered

Gove unloved, claims wife

■ There are still a number of unanswered questions about how and when an independent Scotland could join the EU, a Scottish Parliament committee has said.

Holyrood’s cross-party European committee said the process of joining would be “complex” and the timescale to do so “challenging”.

But the report noted opinion from a number of witnesses who said they believed the SNP’s 18-month timetable for negotiating entry to the EU is achievable.

■ The wife of Scottish-born UK education secretary Michael Gove has said she considered moving her children to Italy because of the abuse they get in the playground over their father.

Columnist Sarah Vine told people at a charity lunch her children, who are nine and 11, now “understand that people hate him because people will say things to them in the playground”.

Gove is the first Conservative education secretary to send his children to a state school.

“There is no doubt that as part of the UK we have lost out on the very real benefits that an independent country could have secured.”

“We will inject a new dynamic into the referendum on Scottish independence.”

Johann Lamont,

John Swinney,

Nigel Farage,

Scottish Labour leader

Finance secretary

UKIP leader

“Scotland now has three nationalist MEPs.”

news l 7

indy BRIEFS 1. The creation of a new Scottish currency could lead to a run on Scottish banks as people may withdraw their money in case it is worth less than the pound, a report

by Deutsche Bank has warned.

2. The Scottish affairs committee at Westminster has said Scotland would join the EU – but lose most of the special arrangements the UK has.

3. First Minister Alex Salmond has said Scotland would become independent in “more promising circumstances” than any nation in history.

4. A study of bookmakers’ odds has revealed there is a seven in 10 chance Scots will vote against independence in September.

5. Singer Annie Lennox sparked uproar after posting a flag of a Union Jack online. She said she was not trying to influence the referendum debate.

31 May 2014 ❘ the stooshie

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SEVEN BY SEVEN

news l 9

Bottle or can – is Buckfast’s glass becoming halfempty?

SEVEN QUESTIONS YOU REALLY WANT TO ASK 1. What’s the latest stooshie with Buckie?

No stooshie here. It’s simply, as The Herald reported, that al fresco topers are being offered the beverage in cans for the first time.

The niche tipple’s manufacturer say they have heeded the Scottish Government’s call for more responsible production of alcohol and, accordingly, have decided to bring out Buckfast in a smaller unit.

2. Smaller! Does that mean you get less bang for your Buckfast?

Don’t be greedy now. It just means you have to buy three cans for every bottle. Whereas the traditional glass bottles beloved by tipplers of the so-called “Coatbridge table wine” contained 75cl of the swally, the cans hold 25cl.

3. How has this revolutionary idea gone down?

Dr Peter Rice, chairman of Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems, said: “The biggest upside is moving away from glass bottles towards cans.

The police view is there would be a lot less hassle if some products weren’t in glass bottles and there’s been academic research pointing to the environmental impact of glass.”

“Less hassle” means citizens beaning each other with the bottles. Dr Rice’s upside suggests a downside and, sure enough, he said the can’s £2.90 price tag was nowhere near the minimum unit price that health campaigners want.

4. I’m refined and have never had Buckie.

What’s in it anyway?

Like many sophisticated drinks, this fortified wine comes from a traditional French recipe. It’s red wine-based, contains 15% per cent alcohol and, according to independent research, the same amount of caffeine as six cups of coffee. If there’s a Moon in the vicinity, you could easily find yourself wired to it.

If you like a lot of syllables in your drink, there’s also sodium glycerophospate an

buckie IN NUMBERS

16,000

Number of cans produced in the initial batch.

£7

Approximate price of a bottle of Buckfast.

11.25 5,638

Units of alcohol in each bottle.

Number of crimes in which Buckfast was mentioned in Strathclyde in 2006-09.

22

Percentage of litter made up

by Buckfast in a study of one Scottish council estate.

0.5

Percentage of alcohol sales made up by Buckfast in Scotland.

37.5

Milligrams of caffeine per 100ml of Buckie.

emulsifier, dipotassium phosphate a protein stabiliser, and disodium phosphate a stabiliser and emulsifier. There’s also vanillin, which is a phenolic aldehyde, obviously.

5. All these stabilisers must help you to stay steady on your feet. Where is this upright sounding drink made?

Why, at Buckfast Abbey, of course. That’s down in deepest Devon. As well as praying and stuff, the Benedictine monks there have been making the “tonic” wine since the 1890s.

They lost their licence to sell wine in 1927, but use wine merchants to distribute their controversial restorative.

6. Any evidence that Buckie contributes to offending?

Some. As the Evening Times reported, research findings analysed by Dr Alasdair Forsyth, of the Centre for the Study of Violence at Glasgow Caledonian University, found that 43% of young offenders who imbibed alcohol before committing their offences named Buckfast as their aperitif.

The drink’s apologists would say it’s unfair to single out Buckfast, pointing out that older offenders probably drank something else.

Monks being monks are pretty sensitive about accusations that they’re fuelling anti-social behaviour. The drink’s association with Scotia’s neds, in particular, is a source of embarrassment to the men of God.

7. Back to the bottle. Can traditionalists still get the glass container?

Yup, the bottles will be sold alongside the cans.

While wine in cans has never proven popular with aficionados, the convenience and relative lightness of the cans may make Buckie devotees desert their beloved bottle for something they can crush with satiated satisfaction, before heading to the opera.

31 May 2014 ❘ the stooshie

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AROUND SCOTLAND

1 HIGHLANDS & ISLANDS Keeping the past buried

People on Skye are being asked to help protect the island from unscrupulous fossil hunters.

Known as “Dinosaur Isle” because of its many fossils, there are fears valuable specimens could be damaged by reckless fossil hunters.

Bid to rescue trees from WWII commandos

Forres-based community group Trees for Life hopes to raise £500,000 to save pines damaged by fire during commando training in the Second World War. The Forestry Commission is selling woodland at Glen Mallie and South Loch Arkaig in Lochaber.

It is thought to be the first time any such drive to restore a forest has been undertaken in Scotland.

There is a memorial (right) to the commandos who trained in the Lochaber area near Spean Bridge.

2 GLASGOW & WEST Car ban congestion claim

A plan to ban cars from parts of Glasgow’s George Square (below) could make congestion in Glasgow city centre worse, a motoring expert has claimed.

The bus gate at Nelson Mandela Place will prevent around 800 cars a day from entering the north side of the square.

But Neil Greig of the Institute of Advanced Motorists said the diverting cars away from George Square will lead to “chaos” in other parts of the city centre.

The council said they are encouraging people to use public transport although some motorists say it is buses that are actually causing congestion.

Wind farm approved

The Scottish Government has approved plans for a Lanarkshire windfarm that could generate enough power for 50,000 homes.

The Kype Muir windfarm will be sited three miles south of Strathaven in South Lanarkshire and will include 26 turbines.

Energy minister Fergus Ewing gave the green light to the project on the same day that Scottish Natural Heritage published new guidance on the location and design of windfarms.

Brendan Turvey, policy manager for SNH, said: “We want to see wind farms which are well designed in the right locations.”

1

5

Anti-rape rally

Hundreds of people are expected to take part in a night-time rally in the South Side of Glasgow.

The event will take place in June and has been organised in response to two serious sex attacks that took place in the South Side over the past month.

One occurred in Toryglen and the other in Govanhill.

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3 SOUTH SCOTLAND Nude art scares Stranraer An exhibition of nude art planned for Stranraer Museum has been cancelled as Dumfries and Galloway Council was “uncomfortable” with its content.

Twenty-four artists had donated work for the event but the local authority said while they would the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

have been happy with some nude content, they were concerned about an entire exhibition devoted to naked bodies.

Organiser Vivian Duff said the cancellation of the exhibition left her “upset”. She added the show would not have featured “in-yourface genitals”.

Mistaking the Borders for the Mediterranean An exotic bird was spotted in Innerleithen after it flew past its intended migration destination, experts have claimed.

The hoopoe was spotted in a garden and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said it had probably become confused over its destination because of a recent spate of warm weather.

Hoopoes spend winter in Africa before flying to southern parts of Europe for the summer.

news l 11

AROUND SCOTLAND 4 NORTH EAST, ORKNEY & SHETLAND

Orcadian feathers fry

Billion pound development planned

Aberdeen City Council planning officers have given their support to ambitious plans to build thousands of new homes in the city.

The Grandholme Trust say it will take 30 years to complete the project, which will include shops and community facilities in addition to the 4,700 homes planned for the Danestone area.

The company said the project will have a major impact on the Aberdeen economy.

It said building the homes will support nearly 600 construction jobs per year.

Developers also said projected annual household expenditure would be around £110 million, half of which will be spent directly in Aberdeen.

They said this could support a further 625 full-time equivalent jobs a year in the city.

Dundee dealer loses cash

5 TAYSIDE & CENTRAL Turing’s home recreated in degree show

4

Car owners in Orkney are being urged to check under the bonnets to ensure no birds have nested in engine components.

Three car fires on the islands have been blamed on nesting birds. One car was completely destroyed after a starling built its nest overnight.

Owner Kim Patching said the car would not start and then smoke and flames began to emerge from under the bonnet.

His groundbreaking work may have been crucial to victory over the Nazis in World War II. But Alan Turing was not feted as a hero. Tried and convicted of homosexuality in 1952, he died of cyanide poisoning two years later in what is believed to have been a suicide.

Now Turing’s memory has been honoured at Abertay University’s digital graduate show.

Game design and production management student Luke Powney has created a virtual copy of Turing’s home (left) which users can explore, learning not just about his research but also the pressures he faced as a gay man in 1950s Britain. Towney said: “There is still a great deal of homophobia around.”

Dundee drug dealer Ronald Wright has had £2,000 confiscated under Proceeds of Crime laws even though it had been left to him in his mother’s will.

The money was seized during a raid on his home by police in 2009. They also recovered heroin but he was not convicted of an offence.

However, he gave up his legal battle to reclaim the money after the Crown Office successfully argued he intended to use if for illegal purposes, rather than buying a car. The Crown’s Civil Recovery Unit can seize money they believe will be used for unlawful purposes.

6 EDINBURGH, FIFE & EAST 6

Drink and dive

A frogman was called out to an Edinburgh bar in a bid to stop it flooding.

The trained deep sea diver went underground to explore underwater streams that run through an old mineshaft below the Ormelie Tavern in Joppa Road.

The stream has been blamed for repeated floodings of the pub’s cellar and it is hoped the diver from Ross-shire company Caldive Ltd will be able to carry out drainage work to solve the problem once and for all.

Pole dancing teacher forces diet on Kirkcaldy ducks

A six foot four male pole dancing teacher is accosting strangers in a bid to stop people feeding ducks white bread in Kirkcaldy’s Beveridge Park.

Amby Stanyer Hunter (35) decided to become a self-styled “duck advocate for Fife” after buying a duck egg on internet auction site eBay. When it hatched, he kept the duck as a pet, naming it Cayuga, and began learning about how to take care of the animals.

He discovered that white bread contains no nutritional value for ducks while humans feeding the birds can make them forget the skills necessary to survive winter. Ducks in parks live for just two years, compared to the average of eight years a bird lives in the wild.

He said: “We’re on a one man/one duck mission to educate people.”

Edinburgh’s big pool winner

Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Swimming Pool has been named one of the world’s 10 best public swimming pools.

The Lonely Planet, which drew up the list, said the pool, built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games, is considered one of Scotland’s best examples of modern architecture. It will be used to host the diving competitions at this year’s Games, with Tom Daley (right) among those taking part in the competition.

31 May 2014 ❘ the stooshie

12 l news

AROUND BRITAIN

1 NORTHERN IRELAND

2 NORTH ENGLAND

Gaol for tourists and cons

Pupils find body

No free sunscreen

MOGOs take on MOBOs in Manchester

Prisoners are being sent to Belfast’s Crumlin Road Gaol (below) for the first time in 20 years.

Now a tourist attraction, one wing has been put back into use for prisoners nearing the end of their sentences.

Pupils from a Derry primary school found a corpse when on a field trip to the beach.

Primary seven pupils from Model Primary School found the body while beachcombing at Magilligan Point.

The five children alerted teachers who then called the police. A post-mortem will determine the cause of death.

The Court of Appeal has blocked a gardener’s bid to sue Middlesbrough Council for not providing her with sunscreen.

Tracey Earl was seeking £5,000 compensation after developing a noncancerous spot on her nose. Lord Justice Briggs said wearing sunscreen is the employee’s responsibility.

The MOBOs are one of the top music industry awards in the UK, recognising the best Music of Black Origin.

Now a rival ceremony, Music of Ginger Origin, is to take place in Manchester on National Redhead Day. Singer Ed Sheeran (right) is up for an award.

3 MIDLANDS & EAST Businesses offer refuge from bullies

1

Two Birmingham schoolboys have convinced businesses in the Lozells and Newtown areas of Birmingham to offer “safe havens” where they can escape from chasing bullies.

Perez Mead and Landry Viukullu-Luzingo convinced businesses to create safe havens, which will be advertised by badges on the front of properties.

London already has 600 such havens.

2

4 WALES

King to be reburied

Russians’ “death by misadventure” A jury at a Caernarfon inquest returned a verdict of misadventure on six Russian sailors who died when a cargo ship sank off the North Wales coast after their ship was hit by a wave in 2011.

Only two crew members survived the sinking of the MV Swanland cargo ship.

They were rescued by an RAF helicopter co-piloted by Price William.

The remains of Richard III, England’s last Plantagenet king, will be reburied in Leicester after his descendants lost a legal battle to have his skeleton moved to York.

His remains were discovered in a Leicester car park in 2012.

They will now be re-interred in the nearby cathedral in spring 2015.

The High Court said there was “no duty to consult” on his final resting place.

3 4

Welsh mountains become surfers’ paradise The world’s first-ever inland surf lake is to be created in north Wales. Cutting-edge technology will be used to create the giant wave lagoon, which will be the size of three football pitches.

It will create perfect waves that break in exactly the same spot. It is hoped this consistency could eventually help surfing become an Olympic sport.

5 SOUTH WEST ENGLAND Cheeki Rafiki search ends The search for the crew of the yacht Cheeki Rafiki has been called off.

It is now believed all four crew, including two men from Somerset, drowned after the vessel was found capsized.

Its lifeboat had not been launched. It is thought the yacht’s keel broke off, causing it to capsize. the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

5

6

6 LONDON & SOUTH EAST Paramedics doctor results

Rigby memorial refused

More than a third of all paramedics working in London may be investigated over claims they cheated in their final exams.

Over a four-year period, 850 paramedics are thought to have had access to their final exam paper before sitting the test.

Two hundred have since left the service but it means 650 of the capital’s 1,700 paramedics have been implicated.

Plans for a memorial to Fusilier Lee Rigby in the area of London where he was murdered have been rejected.

Greenwich and Woolwich MP Nick Raynsford said it would attract extremists to the area while Greenwich Borough Council said they would only consider an official request from the Army. More than 25,000 people signed an online petition demanding a memorial.

PEOPLE

news l 13

Drug mule moved ■ The family of a Scottish woman jailed for attempted drug smuggling in Peru has said they are alarmed at her transfer to a remote jail.

Melissa Reid and Michaella McCollum were caught attempting to smuggle £1.5 million of cocaine out of Peru.

They are currently bidding to serve their seven-year sentences in the UK but have now been transferred from a prison in the Peruvian capital of Lima to the remote Ancon 2, where drug use and prostitution are both said to be rife.

Melissa’s father Billy, from Lenzie, said the transfer is extremely “worrying” for the family.

Ancon 2 is three hours drive away from Lima and has around 3,000 inmates.

Cake confession ■ Underwear tycoon Michelle Mone admitted that she used to hide cakes under her bed as her weight soared.

She was inspired to lose weight by watching model Rachel Hunter in a skimpy outfit on a fashion shoot.

Half-Scottish Julianne’s Brave ambition Greenock-born mum left star with strong Scots connection

Wullie and Boab spend a day at the beach and get in to trouble with an off-duty PC Murdoch. When they save the day, and Murdoch’s blushes, they’re justly rewarded.

■ Hollywood superstar Julianne Moore has revealed that she is half Scottish and that she would love to star in a live-action remake of Pixar’s animated Scottish hit movie Brave.

In an interview in The Guardian to publicise her role in new David Cronenberg movie Maps to the Stars, Moore became emotional when she talked about her mother’s Scottish roots.

“My mom came to the US very young, and then she married very young. But she was never American. She was always Scottish and would make sure that I knew that I was too.”

Moore said that visiting her mother’s family in Greenock as a child has left her with a strong affinity to the country. “I do feel a connection and I certainly look Scottish. I’ve got the red hair and freckles.”

When it was pointed out she would a perfect fit for a Brave remake, she exclaimed: “I know! Why haven’t they called me?”

Broadchurch makes a comeback Tennant to reprise role as policeman as filming starts on second series of murder mystery hit ■ David Tennant joined the rest of the cast of ITV’s Broadchurch for a read-through of the script

for the new series.

The Bathgate-born star will reprise his role as Detective Inspector Alec Hardy in the second series of the murder mystery success.

Filming will begin later this month in Dorset and North Somerset, and creator Chris Chibnall has already asked local residents to avoid revealing possible spoilers online.

The first series was a huge success last year with nearly

nine million viewers watching the finale when the killer was unveiled.

The show recently picked up three Baftas, for best drama, best actress for Olivia Colman and best supporting actor for David Bradley.

Broadchurch is just the latest in a string of successes for Tennant, who is best known to viewers from a five-year stint as the tenth Dr Who. However, scorn was heaped on his attempt at an American accent in Broadchurch’s US remake Gracepoint, with some critics even saying that he should revert back to his original Scottish brogue.

Bad advice for Sean ■ Sean Connery was warned early in his career that he should lose his Scots accent if he wanted to be a star.

Director Alvin Rakoff gave the star the advice in the 1950s. “How wrong we all were,” he admitted.

Cycling challenge ■ Scottish adventurer Jamie Andrew is taking on a 56-mile cycling trek.

Mr Andrew had his hands and feet amputated after developing frostbite while stranded in a storm in the Alps in 1999. His climbing partner Jamie Fisher died.

31 May 2014 ❘ the stooshie

14 l news

BEST OF SCOTTISH COMMENT

Honour should not silence victims

Police Scotland in siege mode

Annie Brown

Graham Grant

Daily Record

■ Misguided notions of honour in Scotland’s Asian communities may be preventing the victims of sex crimes from coming forward, the Daily Record’s Annie Brown warned.

She cited the example of taxi driver Mohammed Ashraf who raped a 14-year-old girl and believed she would be “too ashamed of the violation” to report him to police.

Bravely, the girl did go to the police and Ashraf was found guilty of rape.

But Brown said many in the victim’s “close-knit community” blame her, saying she must have “corrupted” Ashraf.

His victim, now 15, wrote a letter urging other victims of sexual assault to come forward.

“Ashraf thought he had shamed her, but using only her eloquence, she has shamed him,” said Brown.

Brown said the problem is not just restricted to Asian communities as the “same fear protected predators like Max Clifford”. But Brown said people should not be afraid to speak out against those who believe the victims of rape are ever to blame, no matter what their ethnic background.

Scottish Daily Mail

Will Facebook end the Union?

Hamish Macdonell The Mail on Sunday

■ With nearly three-quarters of the adult population now on Facebook, Hamish Macdonell said the website may become key to victory in the independence referendum.

And Macdonell said if it the result does come down to social media then there is only one likely winner: Yes Scotland. He said the pro-independence campaign has recruited “13,000 ambassadors”, each of whom has to convince nine friends to vote Yes each month.

Macdonell said these ambassadors ask people to rate their attitude towards independence on a scale of one to 10, with one being totally opposed and 10

“absolutely devoted to the concept”. Once someone has said where they lie on that scale, the ambassador can then tailor their pitch specifically to them.

But he warned “underhand” tactics are being used as ambassadors make their conversations look “spontaneous” even though they have been planned.

He stressed there is “nothing illegal” about the tactic but said it showed how “Yes Scotland has out-thought and out-campaigned its Unionist rival”.

He said Better Together is handicapped because it “simply cannot run the same kind of campaign”.

Macdonell added that if the Facebook campaign can convince enough swithering voters to opt for independence “then it really could swing the referendum in favour of the nationalists”.

If that proves to be the case, he concluded, then “the first person Alex Salmond invites to Bute House” should be Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

HAUD YER WHEESHT! ■ Thieves stole an incredible 58,500 animals across the UK last year.

Everything from insects to llamas have been targeted over the past 12 months.

The animals included 30,000 bees which were stolen in Edinburgh last August.

The next most stolen creature were sheep (7,291) followed by fish (5,761) and caged birds (5,624).

Bee colonies fetch around £500 each on the black market and it is believed many are stolen to order as their honey is worth around the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

£4 a pound. Sheep are also stolen to order for the illegal market in meat.

Dogs may be popular pets but are less attractive to thieves. Last year 1,135 were stolen across the country.

A total of 453 pigs were also reported stolen.

Police also investigated the theft of a range of other, less common, animals.

These included 95 ferrets, 60 canaries, 59 lobster, 31 snakes, including two rainbow boa constrictors and a newt.

■ Merging Scotland’s eight police forces into one was simply “reform for reform’s sake,” said Graham Grant in the Scottish Daily Mail.

He said claims by the Association of Police Superintendents that officers are suffering “burn out” and that morale in the Force is plummeting show a “wrecking ball” has been taken to the service.

He said legitimate fears about a loss of accountability have since been proved right but the SNP pushed ahead with “an almost kamikaze disregard for the consequences”.

Grant said it now appears a “bunker mentality” is developing at the head of the Force and in justice secretary Kenny MacAskill’s office.

He said “the Nationalist nervous tic” of claiming every criticism is an attack has now been picked up Police Scotland chief constable Stephen House.

And he claimed Mr MacAskill’s argument that he could only become a more effective justice secretary if he had more powers “demonstrates the paucity of ideas at the heart of the SNP’s philosophy”.

16 l news Time for courage on immigration

Gillian Bowditch The Sunday Times

■ The European Elections may not have made much of an impression on The Sunday Times’ Gillian Bowditch, but she said it is time Scotland has an honest discussion on immigration.

She said although UKIP is not making the same headway into Scottish politics as it has south of the border, commonly-held assumptions about Scots’ attitudes towards immigration have been challenged by a new poll carried out for Dundee University’s Five Million Questions Project.

Bowditch said the poll found Scots “overwhelmingly” favour UKIP-like policies on immigration, cuts to overseas aid and a crackdown on benefits.

She said the 68% of Scots

BEST OF briTISH comment who want tighter immigration controls “may also give Alex Salmond pause for thought” as the SNP wants to make it easier for immigrants to come to Scotland, a policy “diametrically opposed” to that of the Westminster government.

How these policies could be implemented without “strong border controls is a moot point,” Bowditch said.

But, she said one thing demographics make clear is that “Scotland needs immigrants”.

She said even doubling net migration from its current level of around 25,000 a year will not be enough to offset the problems caused by Scotland’s ageing population.

She said the country requires “a modern, managed immigration system” that is “in tune with labour market needs”.

She added “politicians who will face up to the tough decisions” are also required if Scotland is to tackle the population crisis. She said “UKIP-style policies are not the answer” but no other party has had “the courage” to address the situation.

Gove gives chapter and verse

Lennon leaves a shamed Scotland

Michael Gove

Kevin McKenna

The Daily Telegraph

The Observer

■ Claims that American literary greats such as John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird have been banned from the GCSE English curriculum are simply untrue, Michael Gove told readers of The Daily Telegraph.

The Scottish-born Secretary of State for Education said newspapers had “breathlessly” reported the ban but the claim these books have been prohibited is “rooted in fiction”. In fact, Gove claimed, pupils are being asked to read a “broader” range of literature than they currently do.

He said children will have to read certain texts – a Shakespeare play, poetry from 1789 on, a 19th century novel and a British play or novel from after 1914 – but “beyond that” exam boards will be able to choose whatever texts they want.

He said this will give children experience of a wider range of literature than they currently get. He said in one year 190,000 of 280,000 candidates had only studied one novel, Of Mice and Men. Gove said he wants children to “empathise with Jane Eyre as well as Lennie”.

■ The resignation of Neil Lennon as Celtic manager left a bad taste in the mouth of The Observer’s Kevin McKenna.

He said Lennon’s background as a Catholic from Northern Ireland, his red hair and “belligerent onfield demeanour” was a “toxic cocktail” in Scotland that led to him becoming the victim of assaults while parcel bombs and bullets were also posted to him.

“Let none be in any doubt about this,” said McKenna, “Lennon was hated for his religion and for his country of origin too”.

According to McKenna, Lennon “was badly let down by every major organisation in Scotland that would normally have been expected to intervene”.

McKenna said the Scottish Government and the Scottish Football Association “chose to look away” at the abuse he suffered.

McKenna concluded Lennon received such a hostile response because he arrived in Scotland as old anti-Catholic prejudices were being swept away. Some, he said, could not cope with the pace of change.

HAUD YER WHEESHT! ■ All is fair in love and war, the old saying goes, but heavy artillery does not usually have a starring role in many weddings.

But Perthshire couple Adelle Spasic and Rod Sim brought out the big guns for their wedding or, to be more specific, a tank that had been used in the first Gulf War that had been painted white.

The couple own Tank Driving Scotland, a Blairgowrie-based business and decided the tank would create a unique talking point on their big day. the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

Adelle arrived for the ceremoney at Errol Park House in the tank.

After the ceremony its 16.5 tonne selfpropelled gun fired and blew out bubbles as the happy couple met their guests.

It is not the first time the tank has taken a starring role in the couple’s love life.

At Glamis Proms in 2012, both were standing on the tank when the orchestra stopped playing – at which point Rod dropped to one knee and popped the question.

18 l news

everybody’s talking about...

Plastic Fantastic Scotland to become first part of the UK to introduce plastic bank notes.

1. Why do we need plastic banknotes?

Banks claim that plastic notes are cleaner and more durable than the cotton paper notes currently in circulation.

The Bank of England also claims the notes are more environmentally friendly.

The notes have a life expectancy of six years – 2.5 times that of a regular note.

Sadly, that doesn’t mean your money goes further when it comes to spending it though.

The Bank of England website also states the notes “can be easily folded, to fit into wallets and purses.” What a relief.

The design will feature engineer Sir William Arrol, whose company designed and built the bridge. The note also celebrates its nomination as a possible UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The other big difference is how the notes will feel compared to paper.

New notes are slippy and can occasionally stick together, so it is best to be careful if you’re carrying a wad of cash around.

all English £5 and £10 paper notes will be withdrawn once the new currency is in circulation.

No decision has been made on larger denominations.

5. Those crazy Canadians. Who else uses plastic banknotes?

There are around 25 countries in the world that only have polymer banknotes.

Australia was the first to go all-plastic in 1996 and has been joined by a number of other countries including New Zealand, Mexico and Singapore.

6. Is there anything really special about these at all?

2. When are they being introduced?

The Bank of England revealed last year that it is to introduce a polymer £5 note featuring Charles Dickens in 2016 while £10 notes featuring Jane Austen will be introduced a year later. Both will still carry an image of the Queen (below left).

But The Clydesdale Bank has decided to beat them to it and introduce Scotland’s first plastic fiver next year.

3. What will it look like?

The new note will actually be marginally smaller than the £5 note we all know and love today.

The Herald said the notes are being issued to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the construction of the Forth Rail Bridge in March.

The banknotes will include the new Spark Orbital security feature for the first time on UK currency.

This uses special ink which changes colour on the note.

4. Are all banknotes going to be made of plastic soon?

The Clydesdale Bank is, The Scotsman said, issuing two million of the notes but said it has not made a decision on whether it will introduced plastic notes for other denominations.

The Bank of England is more keen.

Governor Mark Carney (below) introduced polymer notes to Canada while in charge of its central bank in 2011 and has said

7. Great. Will obnoxious bankers still be able to light cigars with them?

In theory. The notes may be more durable but are still liable to shrink and burn in temperatures of more than 120C. You can wash them, just don’t iron them.

8. And will London taxi drivers accept them?

Donald Rumsfeld would call that a known unknown.

We say: you’ll be lucky.

Header Banknote facts and figures

87%

of people backed the move to plastic notes in a Bank of England survey the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

£3.5bn

Approximate value of Scottish banknotes in circulation

news l 19

BOFFINS

Biggest beast ever discovered Titanosaur would have swatted T-rex ‘like a fly’

Big Belly bins ■ Budding recycling specialists from Montrose Academy in Angus have been recognised in a national competition for their seagull-proof ‘Big Belly’ bins, the Evening Telegraph reported.

The Go 4 Set team of second-year pupils won the Pupil Choice prize at the STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) event at Dumfries House, Ayrshire.

Their solar-powered bin would seal and compress its contents to increase its capacity seven-fold. The bin sends an email to its owner when it needs emptying.

Museum of Paleontology.

Dr Brusatte made headlines himself recently after his work identifying a long-snouted dinosaur nickamed “Pinnochio rex”.

But he described this latest find as “one of the most important dinosaur discoveries of the last 10 or 20 years”.

Around 150 bones from seven beasts have been unearthed at the site. Dr Brusatte said the titanosaur would have been twice the size of T-rex, though they lived in different parts of the world at different times.

■ A dinosaur discovered in Argentina was so mighty it could have swatted Tyrannosaurus rex “like a fly”, a Scottish scientist has said.

Weighing 77 tonnes and measuring 130ft, the sauropod titanosaur was the biggest beast known to have roamed the Earth, the Sunday Herald reported.

Paleontology expert Dr Steve Brusatte, from Edinburgh University, told the paper the bones were “just absolutely massive”.

The gigantic herbivore’s remains were excavated by a team from Argentina’s

How to see the seabed in 3D ■ A project is under way to create the first 3D map of the seabed along the west coast of Scotland, The Herald reported.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency is sending oceanographers and marine ecologists to carry out a four-week survey of the water’s condition.

The team will use underwater HD cameras and a scanner to create maps of the seabed’s various habitats. The aim is to improve scientific understanding of the coastal environment.

Work will begin in Loche Linne and Loch Tuath before moving on to Skye and the Western Isles.

Senior scientist David Ross said: “Using this data, we can better balance people’s desire to use Scotland’s coastal resources.”

Hospitals’ maggot bill ■ Scotland’s hospitals have spent more than £500,000 on maggots and other bugs in recent years.

Health bosses says medical maggots, which cost around 66p each, are used to heal wounds that are resistant to medicines.

Around 300 are used at a time to clean wounds.

They consume infected tissue but leave healthy tissue alone. Leeches have also been used by several health boards.

The number of people who back fracking for shale gas in the UK has reached its lowest level since Nottingham University began regular polling on the issue in 2012.

Protests are thought to have reduced support to just under

50%

Scientists seek cure for a killer disease ■ Fifty years after a can of contaminated corned beef in Aberdeen hospitalised more than 500 people, scientists in Scotland are seeking a cure for the potentially deadly disease it unleashed: typhoid.

Dr Stefania Spanò, from Yale in the US, is leading a research team at Aberdeen University which will investigate how the infection’s defences can be broken down. Drugs could then be developed to destroy

it, The Scotsman reported.

“To many, it may seem that typhoid is almost a historical disease,” Dr Spanò said. “But in developing countries where poor sanitation is a concern, it continues to kill hundreds of thousands of people each year.”

Though no one died in Aberdeen, The Press and Journal said the city had been isolated from the rest of Britain at the time.

31 May 2014 ❘ the stooshie

20 l

LETTERS TO THE EDITORS Science needs to stay in UK

best of the week

UKIP not so alien after all ■ In the light of the European election results, stark political realities face the Yes campaigners in the independence referendum campaign.

One is the pattern of byelection results since last October which show an almost two-to-one majority for the Unionist parties.

The second is the success of UKIP in gaining a seat in Scotland despite claims its outlook and approach are alien up here.

I suspect the success of Nigel Farage and his colleagues is not simply down to support for withdrawal from the EU or even stronger immigration controls.

UKIP energised its latent support in a way that took the normally competent SNP machine by surprise.

The governing party must be wondering how it failed to energise its own support and win over the waverers needed to deliver it a third seat in the European parliament.

■ Scotland is justifiably proud of its universities, medical schools and profile in healthrelated and biomedical reseach.

In 2013-14 the respected QS World Ranking system placed 18 UK universities in its top 100, three of them in Scotland.

If Scotland withdrew from the UK and created its own Scottish Research Council our reseach community would be denied its present ability to win proportionately more grant funding than the country contributes to a common research pool.

However, rather than “going it alone” the Scottish Government aspires to join with the remaining UK in creating a common research funding area.

Even if this could be negotiated, it is highly unlikely the remaining UK would tolerate a situation in which an independent “competitor” country won more money than it contributed to drive its research, develop capital projects and infrastructure, and train its research workforce.

We contend that Scotland’s research interests will be much better served by remaining within the common research area called the United Kingdom.

Prof. Dario Alessi, Prof. Jean Beggs, Prof. Colin Bird, Prof.

Sir Adrian Bird, Prof. John Coggins, Prof. Richard Cogdel,

Bob Taylor Glenrothes The Scotsman the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

Prof. Sir Philip Cohen, Prof.

James Garden, Prof. Neva Haites, Prof. Nicholas Hastie, Prof. Wilson Sibbett, Prof.

Karen Vousden, Prof. Roland Wolf and Sir David Carter, The Herald and others

Ancestor’s legacy ■ In my family there is a belief that our Scottish ancestors include William Paterson, leader of the Darien adventure, the ill-fated Scottish colonisation of what is now part of Panama.

Many died, including Paterson’s wife and children, but he went on the play a role in founding the Bank of England and in the Union of Scotland and England in 1707.

Like so many of Scottish descent my family now finds itself in England. If I am William’s descendent I feel proud at the part he played in bringing our countries together and would be most loth to see his efforts (and those of thousands of other Scots and English) torn asunder.

James Paterson, Walmer, Kent The Times

Gallipoli Scots ■ In honouring the memory of the Scots who in the 52nd Lowland Division fought in Gallipoli during the First World

War we should not forget the Royal Scots batallions which fought in the 29th Division, the Scots who served in the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy during the Gallipoli campaign and those other 214 men in the 7th Royal Scots who, en route to Gallipoli as reinforcements, were killed in the rail disaster near Gretna in May 1915.

Many of the troopships and hospital ships which served in the campaign were Clyde-built and Clyde-owned, with, for example, the Anchor Line’s RMS Caledonia being sunk by a German U-boat near Malta on December 4, 1916.

Dr Alexander S Waugh, Banchory The Herald

Putin blunder ■ Clarence House said it would not comment on Prince Charles’ private conversations, but comparing President Putin to Hitler while on duty is not a private matter.

We are used to the Prince sounding off about domestic issues but diplomatic issues are different. His mother has had to meet some loathesome people, but never has she said anything quite so foolish as her son.

Dr John Cameron St Andrews The Independent

that’s debatable ■ Is nothing sacred? I read with disbelief about the proposed plan for three 242ft turbines on land at Cornabo, Monymusk, which would blight views of Bennachie.

For centuries, Bennachie has been the subject of song, poetry and legend. Its familiar outline has graced thousands of calendars, postcards magazines and books.

Has this now to be spoiled?

I have watched with some dismay the advance of turbines in the Glens of Foudland and in other areas of Aberdeenshire, but I never dreamed that Bennachie would be targeted.

I can only hope that all of us who love the hill will make their views clearly known and that this proposed plan will not be passed.

■ Last Sunday I was engaged in a mammal survey at Glens of Foundland. Around lunchtime, I chose a rather unusual spot at which to dine – on the raised platform outside the access door of a wind turbine.

There was a stiff breeze and giant blades were swishing round overhead.

I confess that adrenalin flowed. I marvelled at the technology – power from the wind indeed. I saw plenty of birds in the adjoining woodland, scrub and fields. Buzzards were sailing about, apparently happy. Mammals did not appear to be affected.

I consider wind turbines to be both elegant and interesting and I believe that in an age of diminishing fossil fuel they are an essential part of Scotland’s future.

Kit Pawson, Hillburn, Oyne, The Press and Journal

Eric Jensen, Westhill, Aberdeenshire, The Press and Journal Letters have been edited

l 21

THE WEE PAPERS

A taste of...

Potholes danger ■ Potholes on the B842 make driving in the dark “a minefield”, according to East Kintyre Community Council’s convener.

Stuart Irvine said the roads were worse than in Third World countries, the Courier reported. Mr Irvine called on Scottish and Southern Energy and council road bosses to address the matter urgently.

Herd the news?

Sport Up despite defeat ■ Carradale won promotion to the West of Scotland Amateur Football League’s premier division, despite losing 4-2 to Giffnock.

The team started the crucial match unaware promotion was already secure after a rival team left the league. Manager Nonnie McAlister said: “I chose not to tell the players till after the game.”

Golfers undeterred ■ Difficult conditions did not stop great shots being played at the Ayrshire Coo Challenge, hosted by Machrihanish Dunes golf club.

Roddy McDonald won the scratch competition, Kenny Ralston took the handicap section, and Willie Armour received a bottle of Bond Reserve Longrow whisky for the only eagle of the day.

■ Gavin and Ina Semple of Kilkeddan came out top in the annual Kintyre Holstein cattle breeders competition.

Ten Holstein herds took part in this year’s contest, which was judged by Willie Neilson, of East Brackenridge Farm, Strathaven. Prizes for the event, sponsored

by Alta Semen, were awarded at the Ardsheil Hotel.

Good work praised ■ Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee has praised the multiagency response to last year’s severe weather emergency in Kintyre.

A report by the committee said Argyll and Bute Council, working in close co-operation with other agencies, had

responded “quickly and effectively” to the emergency, despite extremely difficult and challenging conditions.

Knife victim sues ■ A knife attack victim is to sue Argyll and Bute Council. Hamish Duncan, 18, was involved in an incident with a younger boy outside the gates of Campbeltown Grammar School, where he was a pupil, in March 2012.

Mr Duncan said he had struggled with flashbacks and posttraumatic stress disorder ever since.

The prawn men and their massive tail ■ Crowds gathered at Campbeltown New Quay to see the surprise catch brought ashore by prawn boat The Crest.

The crew got a surprise when they caught a three-ton minke whale off Peninver. The dead animal was found amidst creel ropes.

Skipper James McAllister said: “We had been out overnight and when we pulled up our ropes were stunned to suddenly see this massive tail.”

THE BIG STORY Landlord’s free flat offer ■ An exasperated landlord is offering to let a flat in Campbeltown for free. Mark Everett’s offer was prompted by frustration at Argyll and Bute Council’s demand for double council tax.

Mr Everett told the Courier he’d struggled to let the part-furnished, two-bedroom flat since September 2012. But the council warned it would double his tax to £2,000, if the flat remained unoccupied this September.

He tried dropping the rent from £230 a month to £100 but, like many landlords in the town, struggled to find tenants.

“I have told the council I am trying hard to rent the place, but there seems to be no understanding or room for manoeuvre,” he said.

Earlier this year, the council doubled the council tax on unoccupied properties in a bid to reduce their number. A council spokesman said the authority could offer advice, and highlighted the possibility of discounts and relief.

EVENING ALL Edinburgh Evening News

Evening Express

■ Traffic police with speed ■ An apprentice guns are to start patrolling residential streets to enforce 20mph limits. Until now the lower limits have been controlled by speed bumps and traffic calming measures.

Police were originally unwilling to devote resources to enforcement but have struck a deal with city chiefs.

electrician who made racial comments to two Polish men and headbutted one of them has been fined £1,700.

The two men were sitting at a bus stop in Union Street, Aberdeen, in the early hours of the morning when Ben Durno, 21, confronted them and committed the assault.

Evening Times

Greenock Telegraph

Evening Telegraph

■ Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall

■ A mysterious sculpture

■ A Dundee councillor

has been transformed into a hub for the Commonwealth Games and will be the uniform and accreditation centre between now and July.

Glasgow 2014 chief executive David Grevemberg said the workers would deliver “an unforgettable Games this summer”.

has appeared from nowhere in Port Glasgow.

The three-part metal work outside former shipyard grounds pays homage to war painter Sir Stanley Spencer.

Spencer spent time at Lithgow’s yards in 1940, depicting life there for his ‘Shipbuilding on the Clyde’ series.

has called for extra measures to combat the “growing problem” of discarded drugs paraphernalia. Councillor Ian Borthwick spoke out after a 10-year-old girl was pricked by a used syringe while playing with friends.

Mr Borthwick said he understood the “anxiety” the girl’s family had faced.

31 May 2014 ❘ the stooshie

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VIEW POINTS: THE BEST OF THE REST

NEWS BLOGS Fantasy of a left-wing Scotland

By Alex Massie ❘ Spectator blogs A new survey by Dundee University’s Five Million Questions project has revealed SNP supporters are closer to the Conservatives on many issues than they are Labour. This, said Alex Massie, shows the idea that Scotland is more left-leaning than the rest of the UK is simply wrong. While many Scots “identify” as being on the left he said when it comes to “individual policies” they are not wildly different from “the UK average.” Massie added: “Nice, kind, progressive Scotland is a myth as cherished as it is, well, mythical.”

■ Residents and visitors to St Andrews have

been left bemused by these double yellow lines painted around at The Pends.

■ Paolo Nutini rocks the crowd at Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Glasgow. The Paisley singer delighted the partisan crowd.

www.blogs.spectator.co.uk

Londoners have same concerns as Scots

By Chris Bambery ❘ Scottish Review The idea that the English would be angry if Scotland left the Union does not ring true, said London-based Scot Chris Bambery.

He said not much thought is given to the referendum but that people do wonder why things like free university tuition are not available in England. He added the “love-in” between Westminster and neo-liberalism has fuelled the drive for Scottish independence and scarred London. He said “alienation” from the “political and economic elite” is as evident in London as it is Scotland.

■ New UKIP MEP David Coburn at the European election declaration with Labour MEPs Catherine Stihler and David Martin.

www.scottishreview.net

Borderlands can lead the way

By Keith Shaw ❘ The Conversation Regional assemblies may not be on the horizon for England but the referendum has encouraged five councils on either side of the border to work closer together. Backed by the Scottish Government, the partnership will proceed regardless of September’s result, said Shaw, a professor of politics at Northumbria University. He added: “We can be northern lights in the face of the dominance of the dark star of London.” www.theconversation.com

UKIP’s status outstrips popularity

By James Maxwell ❘ The Staggers Even UKIP managing to win a Scottish MEP, does not signify the party is becoming more popular, said James Maxwell on The New Statesman’s blog. He said English nationalism puts Scots off, and their influence is greater than their popularity. www.newstatesman.com/the-staggers the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

■ People dressed as zombies for the 2.8 Hours Later cross-city urban chase game which will be held in Edinburgh this weekend.

■ First Minister Alex Salmond heads the ball during a Street Soccer photocall at Fernhill Community Centre in Rutherglen.

NEWS TWEETS #GSoA Oh no! This Glasgow School Of Art fire is devastating.

Terrible news: one of our greatest buildings

Never mind BGT/ XFactor/nitwitBBCetc.

The current fire at Glasgow School Of Art is a PROPER disaster for UK culture.

Lily Allen @lilyallen

Paul Goldberger @paulgoldberger

Danny Kelly @Jdannykellywords

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VIEW POINTS: THE BEST OF THE REST good week Great sports Andy Murray, Sir Chris Hoy and Tom Daley are supporting a partnership between the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and UNICEF. A special range of Games merchandise is available to buy, with at least 50p from each purchase going to UNICEF.

Far Eastern promise A major exhibition in China that tells the story of how Edinburgh and Nanjing – the former Chinese capital – have developed over the centuries has welcomed its millionth visitor in less than six months.

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

GOSSIP OF THE WEEK

bad week

New Game for Scots actor

Can’t see wood for trees Scotland’s timber industry has warned not enough trees are being planted to meet expected demand in 50 to 100 years time.

Industry body Confor said trees for commercial use could take up to 40 years to grow but planting has fallen since 1990.

Catch of the day Fishermen were shocked to find they had snared a minke whale in their nets.

It is thought that the 26-foot long, three tonne animal was already dead when it was caught just outside Campbeltown Loch and brought ashore.

Sir Ian “disturbed” by prospect of Yes vote X-Men star Sir Ian McKellen has expressed concerns about a Yes vote in the independence referendum, said Metro’s Seamus Duff.

The 74-year-old, appearing in X-Men: Days of Future Past, told the paper: ‘I would be very disturbed of losing all those Labour seats in Parliament in Westminster.

Actor Daniel Portman “swapped Game of Thrones for a game of bingo” for a recent charity event, reported the Daily Record.

The Scot, who plays squire Podrick Payne in the hit TV series, called the numbers at Coopers in Glasgow’s West End during a fund-raising bingo night for Macmillan Cancer Support.

He also sold selfies, popcorn and pecks on the cheek to swell the charity’s coffers.

Macbeth looking good on the silver screen Audiences at the Cannes Film Festival were said to be raving about a forthcoming movie version of Macbeth after being treated to a sneak preview.

The film, due for release next

year, stars Michael Fassbender as the medieval Scottish laird and Oscar-winning Marion Cotillard as conniving Lady Macbeth.

A two-minute trailer and a scene showing a blackclad Fassbender on a blowy Scottish Highland moor suggested director Justin Kurzel has given Shakespeare’s tragedy a Gothic twist.

Susan’s changed her tune Scots singer Susan Boyle has been named a Highland Games chieftain ahead of the West Lothian Highland Games this weekend.

And she was so delighted with her new role that a new outfit was in order, reported Scotland Now. Her nephew designed the Boyle family tartan, while a Livingston store designed her dress.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art is currently on fire and burning out of control...I am heartbroken.

Absolutely tragic to see the Glasgow School of Art on fire.

An irreplaceable, historic building

Broadcaster Muriel Gray former student and current chairwoman of the school arrived and burst into tears when she saw the building in flames

Nightmare this fire at Glasgow School of Art. One of the loveliest buildings in the world.

This can’t happen.

We can’t lose Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art. It’s unthinkable.

Nigel Walley @nwalley

Stephanie McDermid @sjmcdermid

Graham Steel @McDawg

John Niven @NivenJ1

Hugh Pearman @hughpearman 31 May 2014 ❘ the stooshie

24 l

Stooshie of the week

aye or ay ❘ eye ❘ 1. means yes.

Usage: “Aye, I’ll be there.”

■ When someone at the BBC decided to edit the word “girl” from a clip on a Commonwealth Games documentary, they probably did not expect anyone to notice, never mind provoking such fury among the “political correctness gone mad” brigade.

For those unaware of the stramash, adventurer Mark Beaumont was thrown to the floor by female judo champion Cynthia Rahming. After picking himself up and dusting himself down, Beaumont remarked: “I’m not sure I can live that down – being beaten by a 19-year-old girl”.

That’s what happened when the documentary went out in April. When the programme was repeated last week, the word “girl” had been excised, much to the bemusement of Beaumont himself.

Critics have been quick to label the BBC as both “silly” and “sanctimonious” for the decision.

Beaumont had just been grappling with a judo champion. The intention of his comment was humorous reflecting the ridiculousness of the situation.

Except it isn’t ridiculous at all. Most people understand that to reach the level in any sport that Rahming has in judo requires thousands of hours of

training. The lazy stereotype that women are too weak to perform certain sports is just the kind of unthinking sexism that deserves to be left on the cutting room floor.

Beaumont is obviously no sexist and meant no harm with his comment but it is not “sanctimonious” of the BBC to decide to edit the segment before it was re-broadcast.

It is not the first time complaints have been made about over-zealous editors at the corporation but context is everything.

Cutting a few seconds from classic sitcoms like Porridge or Fawlty Towers because of racist or sexist lines is not ruining these shows. It is an acknowledgement that there is a danger that the toleration of such prejudices will encourage people to believe it is somehow acceptable to hold those opinions.

It also does not mean some subjects are off the table. Viewers can still see Basil Fawlty struggling not to mention the war in The Germans because the point of that particular episode is to explore notions of nationality and prejudice. What viewers won’t see is Major Gowen referring to blacks in an offhand and derogatory manner. And that’s good.

Is “girl” really a four-letter word?

Was the BBC right to censor Mark Beaumont referring to “being beaten by a girl” on a Commonwealth Games documentary because it may be considered sexist?

AS ITHERS SEE US!

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

To a Louse ❘ Robert Burns home of the chieftan of Clan A report on the Maclean. upcoming referendum “We didn’t know that Duart led Harvey Blumenthal of TulsaWorld.com to recall a trip Castle was not open to the public until May. to Scotland with his wife and “We walked around, taking friends. in the views, when a little After taking a ferry from red Subaru rapidly drove up, Oban to Mull, they drove to came to an abrupt stop, and Duart Castle on the island’s out stepped Lady Maclean. east coast, the ancestral the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

She was returning from London, driving alone.

“As soon as she pulled up, a valet came out of the castle to carry in her suitcases.

“She was slim, her gait and movements were brisk and lively, and the cadence and rhythm of her speech would best be described as feisty.

“While the valet collected her luggage from the car, Lady Maclean stopped to talk to us for a couple of minutes, introducing herself and apologising that the castle was closed to visitors until May. “Lady Maclean was very cordial, and just meeting her added some special delight and local colour to our visit.

“Once upon a time they watched from Duart Castle for long ships filled with rampaging Vikings.

“A millennium later, a valet now watches for a Subaru bringing a slight woman carrying suitcases and groceries.”

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Stooshie of the week

naw

❘ naw ❘

1. means no or not.

Usage: “Naw, I can’t make it to the game.”

Diario de Sevilla, based in the Spanish region of Andalusia, claimed that Chancellor’s George Osborne’s refusal to countenance an independent Scotland using the pound could have repercussions for the nationalist movement in Catalonia.

“Catalonia, like Scotland, will have to find its own currency,” the paper stated. Catalonian nationalists want to continue using the euro, but the prounionist paper poured scorn on the idea “An independent Catalonia would leave the EU and the Eurozone and, therefore,

would not be able to use the common currency as its national money,” it reported.

David Cameron struggled to get his pro-Union message over to Scots on his recent trip north of the border, said Peter Geoghegan of the Los Angeles Daily News.

“With polls suggesting support for leaving the UK is slowly growing many are asking why the prime minister appears to be doing the minimum to save a threecentury-old union,” he wrote, adding that the Prime Minister is seen by many Scots

■ So there we have it. The BBC, the nation’s principal broacaster, once admired and feted around the world for its gravitas and impartiality, has finally taken leave of its senses.

In a Commonwealth Games documentary, cyclist Mark Beaumont was grappled to the floor by judo champion Cynthia Rahming and said: “I’m not sure I can live that down – being beaten by a 19-year-old girl.”

But poor Mark was left bemused when, in a fit of overthe-top political correctness, editors deleted the word “girl” to prevent BBC phone lines being besieged by irate feminists.

Of course, there could be occasions when the use of the word “girl” could be very sexist indeed, but this clearly wasn’t one of them and one wonders how anybody could rise to the position of editor while displaying such a lack of basic common sense.

Cynthia Rahming was not in the least offended by Beaumont’s remarks and even feminist author Kathy Lette blasted the Beeb. “If the athlete didn’t find it upsetting, why should the BBC mount their politically correct horse and gallop off into the sanctimonious sunset?”

Why indeed?

However, the sad fact is that this latest gaffe should not have comes as a suprise because in recent years this once great corporation has developed a track record for spouting PC drivel.

Last year the BBC was described a “Stalinist” for avoiding the use of footage showing Harold Wilson’s trademark pipe in a documentary about the former Labour leader.

Will Winston Churchill’s cigar be next to end up on the cutting room floor?

The Beeb also edited some words out of the classic “Don’t mention the war” episode of Fawlty Towers, fearing they might give offence to Germans.

The irony of this would not have been lost on Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs, victim of a tasteless, upsetting and puerile prank call by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand that was deemed fit to be heard by Radio 2 listeners.

Former presenters such as Michael Buerk have railed against the BBC’s prevailing culture of political correctness.

Director General Tony Hall needs to stamp this out before the organisation becomes a laughing stock and get back to what the Beeb was once famous for – making world class programmes.

as aloof and remote from Scottish concerns.

Cameron also struggles with the fact that the Conservatives are deemed “irrelevant in the devolved parliament here, which is dominated by the Scottish National Party.”

He believes the PM has been hampered by the inability of the pro-Union parties to develop a coherent strategy on further powers for Scotland in the event of a No vote.

“The Prime Minister has also been put in a difficult position by the way the referendum campaign is shaping up.

“While he’s refused to become seriously involved

– maintaining the decision is for the Scottish people to make – and has rejected offers to participate in a televised debate with Salmond, a “Yes” vote would seriously damage his credibility.”

31 May 2014 ❘ the stooshie

26 l

REVIEW & Preview

THEATRE

Happyness VARIOUS VENUES, INVERNESS Festival ended ■ While the comedy world tends to focus on the Edinburgh Fringe and the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, Inverness has been building its reputation over the last three years with Happyness. The weekend-long festival is a mix of big names and local events and The

Woman In Mind DUNDEE REP Until June 7 ■ Alan Ayckbourn’s mid-80s comic drama about one woman’s mental breakdown is given a fresh treatment in this presentation from Dundee Rep Ensemble and Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Susan appears to live in an idyllic world, with a loyal brother, talented daughter and vicar husband but underneath the privileged calm, there is much despair and pain.

Reviewing in The Scotsman, Joyce McMillan wrote that Woman In Mind is “a true British masterpiece and at the play’s climactic moments, Ayckbourn’s language soars into a strange, fractured poetry that sears the mind with a terrible sense of anger, of sorrow and of loss.”

Writing for The Guardian, Edinburgh-based critic Mark Fisher was full of praise for the central performances. “In the lead role, Meg Fraser switches gracefully between deadpan put-down, breezy charm and emotional terror. It’s a superb performance, given excellent support from Neil McKinven, bringing a Chekhovian level of ineptness to the doctor.”

And at The Herald, Neil Cooper decided that “Marilyn Imrie’s lush-looking revival for Dundee Rep’s Ensemble company and Birmingham Rep reveals Ayckbourn as a far darker chronicler of the very English garden he occupies than he is often given credit for.”

Pests TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH Run ended ■ This touring Royal Court production from Vivienne Franzmann is her third staged work and shows her as a real talent to watch. Co-produced by Clean Break, a company which works with women prisoners,

EXHIBITIONS Generation SXSW 25 MACLAURIN ART GALLERY, AYR Until July 13 ■ The Generation juggernaut continues its trip outside the big cities with exhibitions in the likes of Ayr’s Maclaurin Gallery showing work from acclaimed Scottish artists Graham Fagen, Christine the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

Scotsman’s Jay Richardson was in town to check out the form.

At the Eden Court Theatre, 1998 Perrier Award winner Tommy Tiernan proved that the years haven’t blunted his edge as he unleashed his passionate and poetic comedy onto the crowd. Richardson wrote: “A yarn-spinning force of nature, Tiernan is the closest thing stand-up has to magical realism, forever seeking the wild Celtic fire and howling gypsy lunacy lurking behind the eyes of civilisation.”

On a mixed bill at Hootananny, another Irish comic, Aisling Bea, proved that her star continues in the ascendant. Richardson noted that Bea’s set “was carried by her breezy, take-me-as-I-am personality, as she unveiled a great visual table tennis gag and belatedly acknowledged her sartorial eccentricity.” it features the pained existence of sisters Pink and Rolly: one is pregnant and just out of jail, the other is living off drug deals and prostitution. Inside a chaotic flat full of burst mattresses, the pair try to comfort each other and keep the madness of the outside world from their door.

In The Scotsman, Joyce McMillan believed that “Franzmann’s 95-minute play is brilliantly sustained, intense, troubling, sometimes beautiful and it features two magnificent performances, from Sinead Matthews and Ellie Kendrick”.

Over at The Herald, Neil Cooper concluded that “Pink and Rollo have been swamped by the detritus of the real world and damaged by the institutions that failed them in this sad, angry and devastatingly beautiful piece of work”.

Borland and Dalziel + Scullion.

The Scotsman’s Moira Jeffrey noted that Dalziel + Scullion’s Water Falls Down (left) “casually brings together snow falling on a tree bough, water pouring across a boulder and extraordinary footage of sea baptisms of adult men in rural Aberdeenshire. It gains power from its sheer understatedness.”

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REVIEW & Preview FILM

X-Men: Days Of Future Past (12A) Starring: James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Hugh Jackman ■ Critical opinion seems to suggest that Bryan Singer’s directorial return to the X-Men fold – which sees Wolverine stuck in the past – is less than a triumphant one.

Plot gaps and implausible character alterations abound.

In The Herald, Alison Rowat decried the flaws: “With nowhere else to go the picture settles into a riot of metal bashing, sound and fury signifying that all grip has been lost.”

Alistair Harkness in The Scotsman reckoned we shouldn’t be too harsh on the film for following the genre’s internal logic: “Maybe it’s just doing what comic books have always done: make up the rules as they go along”, while over at Scotland on Sunday, Siobhan Synnot wondered if the “parable of self-acceptance” theme of the series could be given a rest next time around: “Is it possible that the X-Men could move on to other ideas”, she asked, rather than plucking obsessively on this one string?”

Average rating 6/10

Postman Pat: The Movie (U)

Fading Gigolo (15) Starring: John Turturro, Woody Allen, Sharon Stone ■ John Turturro directs and stars in this amiable comedy about a secondhand book shop owner (Woody Allen) who manages to co-opt his down-at-heel florist buddy into entering the world’s oldest profession. Sharon Stone, Sofia Vergara and Vanessa Paradis play some of the characters who are somehow enticed into spending money on this ‘fading gigolo’ with some unexpected complications just around the corner.

After a gloriously quirky acting career (mainly in classic Coen brothers movies), Turturro hasn’t quite hit the same heights behind the camera (Illuminata, Romance And Cigarettes) and this one doesn’t look like altering that trend. Alison Rowat in The Herald is won over despite her initial concerns: “Male fantasy taken to ludicrous extremes? You bet, but Turturro and Allen are a watchable duo and a tender story eventually emerges.”

In The List, Eddie Harrison believed that “Turturro clearly wants his film to be adored, but it doesn’t offer enough laughs or heart to be more than a passing diversion”, while Scotland on Sunday’s Siobhan Synnot was more scathing in her conclusions: “Instead of a rather sweet film about loneliness and unexpected connections, we get swingers night at a Woody Allen fan convention.”

Voices: Stephen Mangan, David Tennant, Rupert Grint ■ When it was announced that Greendale’s mild-mannered hero would be given the big screen treatment, the big question on everyone’s lips was whether the film would deliver the goods. Yes, if there’s one movie that allows reviewers

Average rating 6/10

Nathan Coley: The Lamp Of Sacrifice GALLERY OF MODERN ART, GLASGOW Until March 1 ■ As his contribution to Generation, Coley is restaging his work of miniature models of religious buildings in Edinburgh which he gathers together like a

to unleash an array of puns, it’s this one: you wouldn’t find them being quite so flippantly jocular when discussing the next Ken Loach.

The Herald’s Alison Rowat believed the film is spot on for all the family as: “the postie with the mostie lands a movie of his own in this sweet and nicely silly animation”.

In Scotland on Sunday, Siobhan Synnot spotted the odd moment for adults to enjoy: “Mild entertainment purely for children, apart from Pat’s bedtime reading of The Postman Always Rings Twice.”

Matthew Turner in The List wasn’t quite so indulgent though: “The idyllic image of the Royal Mail is likely to provoke snorts of bitter irony.”

Average rating 6/10 village (right). As Coley told The List’s Neil Cooper of the piece first exhibited ten years ago, “it’s always nice meeting an old friend you haven’t spoken to for many years”.

Fife In The Frame ST ANDREWS MUSEUM Until August 24 ■ The East Neuk of Fife is the inspiration for works from

the likes of the Glasgow Boys and the Scottish Colourists.

As Sarah Urwin Jones in The Sunday Herald commented, “there’s something about the stunning sea views, the sand dunes, the pretty churches and diminutive fishing villages that makes the place an alluring proposition for anyone with half a painterly eye”.

31 May 2014 ❘ the stooshie

28 l THIS WEEK

SCOTS on the box

REVIEW & preview

Worth catching…

A great American author sits down for a chat while two British scribes discuss the downsides of writing. Meanwhile, Scotland gets into shape ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

TV: Imagine – Philip Roth Unleashed

BBC2 shown on Tuesday May 20 and available on BBC iPlayer ■ As Alan Yentob admits in this Imagine, he has been trying to get iconic American author Philip Roth in front of a camera for 20 years. Now 81, Roth is adamant that he has written his last book and is set to retire from official public life, so perhaps he felt he had less to lose by granting this access. And the pair seemed to be having plenty of fun, with the presenter ribbing the author about those preoccupations with sex and dirty words in his breakthrough work, Portnoy’s Complaint.

While many of the wider critical base seemed to think there was a little bit too much Yentob and not enough Roth in this two-part documentary, The Herald’s Julie McDowall concentrated on the author’s legacy. “We may flinch when reading the more graphic parts of his work but he remains one of the world’s most revered writers.”

On The Road 2014 BBC One Scotland Mondays from June 2, 7.30pm ■ On The Road 2014 is not an updated working of Jack Kerouac’s beat poet travelogue in which Sal and Dean negotiate speed cameras and rummage around looking for Clarence’s number when they spot leaves on the M8. Instead, it’s a series presented by our Fred (Mr MacAulay to you) and Martel Maxwell as they help us celebrate events in Scotland ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

Across the six parts, guests will include actor David Hayman and weather presenter Carol Kirkwood, with reporters Cat Cubie and Ally McCrae travelling the length and breadth of the country looking at everything from comedy to music, theatre, food and art. In the opener, Fred hangs out at Gleneagles with golf legend Sandy Lyle to look at the preparations going into this year’s Ryder Cup while in Auchterhouse he shares the joy of clay pigeon shooting with Irish comic Ed Byrne. Plus, there’s footage from the bicycle festival TweedLove in the Borders and from Thurso where a Turner Prize winning artist’s controversial work shows up.

RADIO: Burrell’s Bequest

Bryan Burnett GET IT ON

Radio 4 Monday June 2, 4pm ■ William Burrell’s famous art collection in Glasgow’s Pollok Park is at the centre of a controversy: should it be allowed to tour against the wishes stipulated in his bequest? Alvin Hall investigates the issue and profiles this shipping magnate who made a huge cultural impact in Glasgow but remains a mysterious figure.

RADIO: One To One Radio 4 Tuesday June 3, 9.30m ■ Journalist and author Rachel Johnson talks to AL Kennedy about the struggles of writing fiction. The pair discuss distraction techniques, setting rules on how many words you write before checking the internet, and the benefits of having the ‘perfect chair’ to do your writing.

the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

BBC Scotland’s request show picked some songs which asked questions

Peter Sarstedt

Where Do You Go To My Lovely?

The Pixies

Where Is My Mind?

The Who

Who Are You?

Deacon Blue

When Will You Make My Telephone Ring?

Al Green

How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?

The Jacksons

Can You Feel It?

Duran Duran

Is There Something I Should Know?

Men At Work

Who Can It Be Now?

■ Get It On ❘ Weekdays at 6.10pm

Louise White morning call The following questions were asked on BBC Scotland’s weekday Morning Call programme ■ What is stopping you from ■ Does your local hospital being a foster parent? serve award-winning food?

■ If you heard bullying ■ Why are people in Scotland language would you voting for UKIP? challenge it?

■ Do online security scares ■ How prepared are you to send you back to the high administer first aid? street?

■ Morning call ❘ Weekdays at 8.50am

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REVIEW & preview

The best of this week’s books

SCOTTISH BESTSELLERS

A slice of Tartan Noir tops the Stooshie reading pile plus the true tales of a busy working mum, a notorious whistleblower and a fearsome celebrity interviewer.

HARD BACK 1. Fighting Spirit

RECOMMENDED

by Fernando Ricksen with Vincent De Vries

The Dead Beat

2. Where Memories Go

by Doug Johnstone

by Sally Magnusson

■ Edinburgh-based scribe Doug Johnstone’s latest release is The Dead Beat, a capital-set affair featuring Martha, the intern at a local newspaper whose own problems simply magnify when she appears to hear a suicide taking place.

At the Scots Whay Hae! website, Alistair Braidwood was fulsome in his praise: “If you want some pulp fiction which asks difficult questions and gives no easy answers, then The Dead Beat is for you. If there is a more exciting writer around today, they’ve passed me by.”

For the Daily Record, Shari Low wrote “if Tartan Noir was a family with an irreverent rebel child, his name would be Doug Johnstone”. And Yasmin Sulaiman in The List insisted that “it’s the emphasis on great characters that makes the book such a memorable piece of noir”.

3. The Sex Lives Of Siamese Twins

by Irvine Welsh

4. Blue Thunder

by Jeff Holmes

5. Bannockburn

by Alistair Moffat

6. Edinburgh

by Jennifer Veitch and Ian Harrison

7. A Song For The Dying

by Stuart MacBride

8. The Legacy Of Elizabeth Pringle

by Kirsty Wark

A Curious Career

Overwhelmed

Eyrie

by Lynn Barber

by Brigid Schulte

by Tim Winton

■ Almost certainly the most fearsome and fearless celebrity interviewer in UK newspapers, Barber squeezes features on the likes of Rafael Nadal and Shane MacGowan into this memoirof-sorts. In The Scotsman, Peter Ross saw this book as offering value for a broad range of reader. “A Curious Career would be enjoyed by anyone who has a sense of humour and an interest in fame, but journalists and journalism students should find this book useful treasure.”

■ Subtitling her book “Work, Love, And Play When No One Has The Time”, Schulte is a working mother (she’s a journalist with the Washington Post and was on a team that won the Pulitzer) who decided she had to take stock of her insanely busy life when things truly came to a head. Thomas Quinn at The Big Issue in Scotland was happy to talk it up. “Overwhelmed is one of those books you could dismiss in five pages but actually there’s a lot here to think about.”

■ The twice Booker-nominated Australian author appears to hit his stride again with this tale of a man down on his luck and not especially bothered about finding his feet again. But a couple of chance encounters break that spell.

David Rosenthal in Scotland on Sunday wrote this: “Visceral, wry, emotionally complex, it’s a propulsive yarn that seamlessly connects the intense microcosm of its characters to something much bigger, like a meditation on the state of his nation.”

9. The Great Tapestry Of Scotland

by Alistair Moffat and Andrew Crummy

10. Bannockburn

by Angus Konstam

PAPER BACK 1. Extraordinary People

by Peter May

2. There Was A Wee Lassie Who Swallowed A Midgie

by Rebecca Colby and Kate McLelland

3. Hour Of Darkness

by Quintin Jardine

4. The Quarry

by Iain Banks

5. Saints Of The Shadow Bible

by Ian Rankin

6. Road To Referendum

LOOK OUT FOR...

by Ian Macwhirter

■ There may be calls for Edward Snowden to be given asylum in an independent Scotland but a graphic novel called Beyond seeks to show us the real man. Written

by Marvel Comics’ Valerie D’Orazio, the book is part of a series about “the stories they don’t want you to know”.

by Peter May

■ Dunbar will soon play host to a mix of singer-songwriters, poets and authors for its CoastWord festival. Running from June 20-22, it will feature the acclaimed likes of Bernard MacLaverty and Liz Lochhead, as well as a Japanese Tea Ceremony and a Teddy Bears’ Picnic Pizza Party.

7. The Blackhouse 8. The Bird That Did Not Sing

by Alex Gray

9. Gone Are The Leaves

by Anne Donovan

10. Scotland ‘74

by Richard Gordon ■ Lists from Waterstones 31 May 2014 ❘ the stooshie

30 l CHEF’S CORNER

NEIL FORBES Cafe St Honoré, Edinburgh

The chef director of Cafe St Honore has been celebrating “the king of vegetables, asparagus” in The Scotsman.

It is a great time of year, he tells us, to feel inspired to get cooking, with an abundance of green things piled on the shelves of our farm shops, delis and farmers’ market stalls.

He gets a thrill from seeing the first spears of asparagus pushing through the ground, especially as “just a couple of months ago we were stirring stews and making dough balls to plop into our hearty casseroles”.

Try to buy seasonal and local with this hugely versatile vegetable. It will taste better and the anticipation for the first crop makes cooking more exciting.

tastiest FOOD & Drink Four glasses too much for women ■ Scientists have warned that just one session of binge-drinking can cause significant health risks, especially for women.

Downing four glasses of wine over a short period of time can cause bugs to leak from the gut, increasing levels of toxins in the blood, reported several Scottish newspapers.

The Scottish Daily Mail wrote: “Binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks for men, or four or more drinks for women, in about two hours, depending on body weight”.

Rather than heavy alcohol consumption affecting the body over a long period of time, the study from the University of Massachusetts and published in the journal PLOS ONE showed one heavy session was enough to cause harm.

The Scottish Daily Express wrote: “The findings could have major implications for Britain where one in four adults is a binge drinker, more than any other country in Europe”.

Search for answers in the tea leaves ■ Food and drink scientists at Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University are analysing the contents of tea cups in a partnership with an artisan tea company.

The QMU scientists

have teamed up with eteaket, the loose leaf speciality tea company based in Edinburgh, to provide customers with more detailed nutritional information about caffeine and antioxidant levels in their cuppa.

Dr Mary Warnock, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology at QMU, said: “Tea contains numerous different natural chemicals which act as antioxidants, including vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and tannins. Antioxidants play a valuable role in maintaining good health”.

Hives apart ■ Honey from the bees at Hopetoun Estate near South Queensferry is on sale in the farm shop. Each jar varies in taste, wrote Caroline Lindsay in The Courier, as each hive has its own “scout” which chooses where the pollen will be collected and each hive can produce a different taste.

The honeybees help in the pollination of the arable crops, wild flowers and trees on the estate.

Doing it for herself ■ Scotland’s original female craft brewer is leading the Isle of Skye Brewing Company’s relaunch, wrote Scotland on Sunday.

Pam MacRuary and her team will be sticking to the recipes inside the Skye Read, Gold and Black, but will be using bolder, brighter packaging to try and spread the word.

WINES OF THE WEEK Worthy winners of IWC awards Chiaretto Monferrato 2013, M&S The Ned Pinot Grigio 2011, Oddbins The International Wine Challenge started out 30 years ago as a one-off event and is now an annual fixture involving judging of over 10,000 wines from which Tom Bruce-Gardyne in The Herald singled out the Chiaretto Monferrato 2013, a silver-medal winner from Piedmont, with fresh strawberry and papaya flavours.

The pinot grigio won an IWC trophy. With a creamy taste of peach and pears, it’s “more Alsace than Italy”.

IWC co-founder Charles Metcalfe said competitions were “a mechanism for the trade to sell bottles of good wine”. the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

RECIPE of the week

Vanilla Crème Brulée From Fred Berkmiller, Chef Proprietor, L’Escargot Bleu and L’Escargot Blanc, Edinburgh In my experience, desserts are quite often neglected or forgotten if too much work is involved at the last minute. A nice crème brulée can be made and cooked a good two days ahead and kept refrigerated.

Ingredients (serves four) ■ 125ml whipping cream ■ 125ml double cream or crème fraiche ■ 2 vanilla pods cut length ways ■ 6 egg yolks ■ 65g caster sugar ■ 4tsp of Demerara sugar Method 1. Combine the cream and bring to the boil.

2. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pods and add to the cream. Remove the pan from the heat and let it infuse for a few minutes.

3. Whisk the egg yolks with the caster sugar until thick and white.

4. Pour the cream into the egg mixture, continually whisking.

5. Put back on the heat and cook for two minutes at a very low heat, continually stirring with a spatula make sure it doesn’t boil. Set aside.

6. Put four crème brulée dishes or ramekins into a deep ovenproof dish.

Fill two thirds of the dish with hot water and place in a preheated oven at 100°C for 45 minutes or until set (don’t over cook or they will split.)

7. Take them out to cool then place in the fridge until needed.

8. Before serving, sprinkle with sugar and caramelise using a blowtorch or under a grill.

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THE BEST RESTAURANT REVIEWS Le Bistro Beaumartin Hope Street, Glasgow G2 2UQ www.lebistrobeaumartin.co.uk ■ This “lovely little city centre bistro” has been open for less than two years, but has quite rightly already established itself as one of the city centre’s most popular watering holes.

With an Edith Piaf soundtrack and a relaxed, informal atmosphere, self-confessed Francophile Richard Bath in Scotland on Sunday admitted the restaurant had a headstart, but he was impressed at the level of detail which was in evidence even from the breadbasket arriving.

Stating that “the breadbasket can be a window to, if not the chef’s soul, then at least his level of ambition” the bistro scored highly with its delivery from the Poilane bakery in Paris.

A main of beef bourgignon was “a sumptuous bowl of comfort food” with the chunks of beef so soft they fell apart under a fork. Rabbit in mustard sauce on tagliatelle was an “equally traditional countryman’s dish” and “proper peasant food”.

The cheeseboard was “spot on”. Overall, the unpretentious bistro provides strong, authentic French food.

Score: 8/10 | Scotland on Sunday

Asian Gourmet

Atholl Arms Hotel

Osteria del Tempo Perso

Ox and Finch

West Princes Street, Glasgow G4 9BS No website

Dunkeld PH8 0AQ www.athollarmshotel.com

Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh EH10 4DE www.osteriadeltempoperso.info

Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G3 7TF www.oxandfinch.com

This restaurant scored a perfect 10 for its food from Joanna Blythman in the Sunday Herald – after she had stopped eating Chinese food in Scotland because “it is generally poor quality and the opposite of genuine”.

At Asian Gourmet though, there was a “freshness, digestibility and trueness” about the food and “I’d lay a bet that our pork and Chinese leek dumplings had been made from scratch on the premises”.

There are some “safe” dishes at the back of the menu, but diners would be missing a trick in not trying the more adventurous offerings.

This hotel is part of the Slow Food initiative and hosts monthly dinners to ensure diners take the time to enjoy and savour the locally produced food.

While the food “didn’t blow us away”, The Courier applauded the restaurant’s efforts to get people talking about local produce. Lemon sole was perked up by lemon sautéed shrimps, while the medium-rare slow-braised shin of beef had full flavour but had been cooked “for a touch too long”.

A brownie was “a bit too dry” while the vanilla pannacotta was lost in the sharpness of the accompanying berry soup.

This authentic Mediterranean restaurant encourages diners to forget about time, with clocks on the walls all set to different times and a philosophy of “go with the flow”, wrote Gaby Soutar in The Scotsman.

Antipasti were “splendid”, including the huge portion of parmigiano di melanzane and the frittura di pesce mignon, whose flour-dusted meaty squid hoops “were the circumference of earrings that might belong to a gypsy with particularly sturdy lobes”.

Mains were “pedestrian”, but this may have been teething problems and bad choices from the extensive menu. Coffee was fantastic.

There were some teething problems here with the service, wrote Ron Mackenna in The Herald, but although “not all the dishes pay off”, there was enough to suggest this could be a future restaurant hit.

A sizeable hanger steak was perfection, with “caramelised charring, melting meat, proper seasoning and served with onion rings fried in some tasty batter”.

Beetroot and cumin pesto spread on toast was “delicious”.

Lovely mackerel should not have been paired with fatty chorizo, while the lamb meatballs lacked seasoning.

There was a great buzz though and a comfortable feel.

Score: 10/10 Sunday Herald

Score: 35/50 The Courier

Score: 14/20 The Scotsman

Score: 24/30 The Herald 31 May 2014 ❘ the stooshie

32 l

PROPERTY

INSIDE OUT – our Pick of the Scottish Market

Eden Hall, Kelso Guide Price: £1.1m Knight Frank ❘ www.KnightFrank.com n This imposing house stands on a sunny, south-facing hillside with breathtaking views of the Tweed Valley and the Cheviots.

Eden Hall is the home of internationally renowned classical dressage trainer Sylvia Loch and her family and benefits from

superb equestrian facilities, which include an Olympic-sized ménage, extensive grazing and 10 loose boxes.

The main accommodation includes seven bedrooms and three bathrooms as well as fantastic entertaining and reception spaces.

The ground floor benefits from a self-contained studio flat and the west wing provides yet more extensive accommodation with two good-sized bedrooms and further living space.

BIG BUDGET

Inverleith Gardens, Edinburgh Offers Over: £650,000

22b Clarence Street, Edinburgh Offers Over: £395,000

Knight Frank ❘ www.KnightFrank.com

Coulters ❘ www.coultersproperty.co.uk

n This is a particularly charming house in a fantastic location in Inverleith. It makes a wonderful family home due to the spacious and flexible living space with a large walled garden and a selection of fantastic schools nearby. the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

n A two bedroom basement flat in one of Stockbridge’s most popular streets. The flat, which has been refurbished to a very high standard, benefits from generous accommodation and storage and direct access to a communal garden.

l 33

PROPERTY HIDDEN GEMS IN ANGUS

Mansefield House Forfar Savills

Thorntons

Offers over: £430,000

This property was built as a replica of the late owner’s property in Switzerland, so is truly unique.

❘ www.savills.com

Offers over: £500,000

An extremely well presented house which retains many of the charming features of manses of its period.

71 Dalhousie Court Carnoustie

48 Annfield Drive Arbroath

McEwan Fraser

Thorntons

Offers over: £185,000 A third floor apartment boasting a superb balcony with views overlooking Carnoustie golf course.

❘ www.thorntons-property.co.uk

❘ www.mcewanfraserlegal.co.uk

❘ www.thorntons-property.co.uk

The Walled Garden Letham Grange

Fixed Price: £99,000 Early viewing is advised for this two bedroom semi-detached home, which has many excellent features.

CLIMBING THE LADDER

The Steading, Argyll and Bute Offers Over: £159,995

23 Methven Buildings, Perth Fixed Price: £70,000

McEwan Fraser ❘ www.mcewanfraserlegal.co.uk

Thorntons ❘ www.thorntons-property.co.uk

n This superb four bedroom semi-detached cottage is set in a rural location with views of Mull of Kintyre. It is in truly exceptional condition and has been maintained and upgraded to an exacting standard by its current owners.

n An immaculately presented, recently renovated second floor flat finished to the highest modern standards. The property offers new internal finishings throughout, ideal for a young couple or first time buyer.

31 May 2014 ❘ the stooshie

34 l

the best travel writing Rod Mills Scottish Daily Express

TRAVEL SCOTLAND

Blair Castle, Atholl Estate

■ Sitting just north of Pitlochry, Blair Castle and the sprawling Atholl Estate is famous for its deer, forests, farms, woodlands, fishing, hamlets and villages.

Rod Mills of the Scottish Daily Express and his family – with four children under 10 – stayed in a converted farmhouse on the estate with enough room for 10 and a separate cottage which sleeps two more. “It was comfortable and homely”.

The well-equipped accommodation afforded “stunning views down the glen from a sheltered bowl of a garden”, plus a millpond and a personal tennis court.

The family did not have to go far to find wildlife, as a herd of

deer was happily grazing in the meadow outside their window one evening as they finished dinner.

Tours of Blair Castle are free for lodge guests and the charming guide “pitched her spiel perfectly” keeping children and adults interested.

A trip to the nearby estate farm was also a hit with the young adventurers.

Staff on the estate were “friendly and knowledgeable” and there are a host of children’s activities throughout the year including pony trekking and tractor trailer tours. There are also 500 miles of mountain bike routes, walks and half-a-dozen Munros.

Retired gamekeeper Sandy Reid also runs popular dawn Land Rover safaris.

TRAVEL BRITAIN

TRAVEL EUROPE

TRAVEL THE WORLD

London’s East End

Losinj, Croatia

Singapore

■ An assault on the senses, the East End of London is a “brilliant base to spend a long weekend”, wrote Brian McSweeney in the Daily Record.

Brick Lane is an “edgy, arty and fantastically vibrant part of town” and there are plenty of good curry houses, but the best time to visit this area is on a Sunday when the market is on.

The nearby Whitechapel Gallery is “a welcoming haven”.

■ This island has been curiously overlooked in the annual stampede to Croatia every summer, wrote Rory Ross in the Scottish Daily Mail, but this may be because it has no international airport.

But the journey to this “gently undulating pine-forested beauty” of an island, is well worth it, offering “the classic Mediterranean idyll” including uncrowded beaches.

It specialises in restorative, fell-good therapeutic holidays.

■ “In Singapore, enjoying yourself is a national pastime” wrote Sam Wylie-Harris, who took full advantage of the island’s “irrepressible sense of fun”.

From the hottest new rooftop bar to the designer shops to Raffles for a Singapore Sling, there is plenty to keep tourists amused. Home to 5.1 million people and with a thriving economy, Singapore also boasts a host of architectural wonders and historical treasures.

Brian McSweeney Daily Record

TRAVEL NEWS

Rory Ross Scottish Daily Mail

Executive of Edinburgh Airport, said: “We’re pleased to welcome Edelweiss to Zurich direct from Edinburgh and celebrate the Scottish capital launch of their new service to A new non-stop flight service Zurich”. between Edinburgh and The flights will operate Zurich has been announced. twice a week throughout the “We are very excited to add summer season and The Edinburgh to our network”, Scotsman wrote: “In 2013, said Karl Kistler, Edelweiss Swiss tourists in Scotland Chief Executive Officer. spent £31 million and stayed Gordon Dewar, Chief

the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

Sam Wylie-Harris The Press and Journal

an average of almost six days, according to VisitScotland”.

Day trip costs double but it’s a rollercoaster ride Trips to theme parks, leisure centres and cinemas have risen by more than 50% since 2004, wrote Emily Davies in the Scottish Daily Mail.

However, a survey by Halifax showed that the cost

of home entertainment had fallen, with broadband internet fees dropping by 50%, and the cost of books falling by six per cent.

Football tickets saw the biggest rise, with the survey showing the cost of two adult Premier League tickets had more than doubled over 10 years.

THE BEST OF the great outdoors the garden experts Bringing balance back to the garden

Pot a tomato or two ■ It’s possible to grow your own vegetables without having a garden or greenhouse, according to the Daily Record.

It said a number of varieties of tomatoes can be in pots. It recommends filling “the biggest pot you can find” with growbag compost and placing the pot in a sunny, sheltered spot to encourage growth.

■ Maintaining the delicate balance between predators and pests in the garden “can be a sair fecht”, The Herald’s gardening guru Dave Allan warned.

Allan said that “plants and animals fight an endless battle for survival” in the wild but that mankind’s tinkering with plants in the garden has disrupted this natural equilibrium.

He said creating “artificial conditions” for plants has left many vulnerable to predators. He said gardeners must “protect crops” without these “natural defences”.

This could leaving dead slugs out for their “cannibalistic compatriots” or covering crops with fleece to prevent root flies laying eggs.

However, he said there is no need to worry about greenfly as their predators soon “build up large enough populations to control the pest”.

Turning Japanese ■ A flower discovered in Japan was John Stoa’s plant of the week in The Courier.

Azalea Hinodegiri come in a dizzying array of colours “from white to pink, mauves orange and scarlet”. He said they grow easily from cuttings taken in August, if kept moist.

OOT AND ABOOT! Cavalcade through glens ■ More than 450 hardy souls are expected to take part in this summer’s Angus Glens Walking Festival.

Now in its 12th year, The Courier’s Gayle Ritchie said the 26 walks that make up the festival “are sure to challenge and enthrall”.

Each walk, no matter how easy or how strenuous, is led by a guide who and offers a chance to see some stunning scenery but also Scottish wildlife up close.

The event takes place

from June 5-8 and it is advisable to book places on each walk as numbers are limited.

Campervan takeover ■ Volkswagen campervans have never really gone out of fashion but they are now more popular than ever, the Sunday Mail’s Fiona Russell reported.

She said they have overtaken camping and staycations as “the fastest growing trend for outdoors holidaymakers in Scotland.

She said although the retro Volkswagen campervans remain the most iconic – as well as most popular with surfers and other such would-be bohemian types – other makers such as Toyota, Mazda and Ford are also now getting in on the act.

Russell said the reason for campervans’ popularity is their versatility.

“The attractions are the freedom to travel and stay overnight in wild spots,” she said.

l 35

NATURE’S BEST ■ Leading conservation group the John Muir Trust has called for the reintroduction of wolves to Scotland.

The Sunday Times’ Mark Macaskill reported that members of the charity believe wolves could thrive in the Highlands and boost tourism.

Wolves disappeared from Scotland nearly 300 years ago after hunting and destruction of habitat drove them to extinction.

A wolf killed in Findhorn in 1743 is believed to have been among the last surviving in Scotland.

The JMT’s Mike Daniels argued that the absence of wolves has damaged Scotland’s ecosystem, and also believes that we have demonised the creature “beyond rational or logical argument”.

The JMT cited a recent study in Australia, the US and Europe which said the loss of top predators resulted in an impact on ecosystems comparable to climate change.

However, many landowners will be vigorously opposed to the JMT’s position, although it will be welcomed by others, such as Paul Lister, the MFI heir, who has asked for permission to release wolves on his Alladale Estate near Inverness.

Weather Sunniest – Benbecula 13.9 hrs

Warmest – Aberdeen 18C (64.4F)

Coldest – Cairngorm Mountains -2C (28.4F)

Wettest – Edinburgh 36.83mm

That was the weather that was (and what’s coming our way):

The weather was generally fine across the whole country last week, with highs of around 18C, and the good weather was predicted to last until the weekend.

Scotland could be heading for sizzling summer, according to a report in The Press and Journal.

Statistics from Weather Service International (WSI) suggested that the country would be “warmer than normal” in June, July and August, with similarly hot weather forecast over the rest of the UK. Warm air coming from central European countries like Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic is behind the predicted heatwave, with temperatures expected to rise as high as 32C. In a double piece of good fortune for sun-seekers, high altitude jet stream winds are forecast to miss the UK, which will result in much lower rainfall than normal in the months ahead.

31 May 2014 ❘ the stooshie

l 37

CONSUMER

Three of the best...BBQ gadgets

product test

Summer is almost upon us...honest. And as the nation dusts off their barbecues, why not accessorise your outdoor griller and show guests you’ve upped the ante this year?

Outdoo

r

patio chairs Carmen Chair £250.00 Oliver Bonas

Pop-up Wine Glass £5.95

Star Wars Lightsaber Tongs £19.99

Digital Talking Thermometer £48.84

Using your indoor glasses in the garden isn’t entirely advisable, paper cups are a no-no and sipping from the bottle is not a good look at all. So what do you do?

Well, help is now at hand.

These glasses are quirky conversation starters and save loads of space when it’s time to pack up your barbecue box.

The force is strong with these lightsaber-style cooking tongs, perfect for flipping your burgers.

When you whip off the transparent plastic red case, you’ll be treated to authentic lightsaber sounds which will take you to a galaxy far, far away.

A must for every wannabe Jedi chef.

What do you get the discerning barbecuer who has everything?

This thermometer that tells you when your meat is perfectly done.

Set the probe, select your desired temperature and then step away, as the wireless unit will alert you visually and audibly on your handheld unit up to 30 metres away.

www.red5.co.uk

www.thefowndry.com

www.amazon.co.uk

Achieve a more gentle, decorative effect with a pretty bowl-shaped Carmen Chair (above), covered in a green/blue polypropylene yarn. It’s another gem from Oliver Bonas’s furniture range.

Go Modern Armchair £860.00 Go Modern

Go Modern’s contemporary collections feature designer ranges from Europe. Its Spanish Icpalli synthetic range is a winner, with a green and blue or red and brown colourway.

Resol Red Bob Sofa £600.00 John Lewis

Just as desirable is the Resol range of furniture at John Lewis, which packs a mighty colour punch.

DRIVE TIME

BMW 2 Series Price from £24,265

Porsche Panamera Hybrid Price from £88,967

Mini Paceman Price from £20,000

Alisdair Suttie ❘ The Sunday Post

Jack McKeown ❘ The Courier

Jonathan Crouch ❘ The Press and Journal

BMW have introduced a new name with the 2 Series, but its ancestry can be traced directly back to the ‘02 models of the 1960s and ‘70s.

A two-door coupe with a distinct boot and bags of character, the new model is based on the current 1 Series hatchback, though with even more driver enjoyment.

More sympathetic steering makes it feel easier to handle on bendy roads and its suspension gives it a truly sporting feel.

Pick of the bunch, if running costs are not a worry, is the 220d.

The BMW 2 Series more than lives up to its illustrious ancestry.

Porche have achieved the seemingly impossible with a car that roars from 0-62 in 5.5 seconds and will reach nearly 170mph – yet it does 91mpg and emits just 71g/km of CO2.

Their new hybrid’s 3.0 litre, 410bhp V6 petrol engine is supplemented by a 94bhp electric motor, with a range of 11 to 22 miles before using the petrol engine.

It will reach 84mph on electric power alone – although the battery won’t last long at that speed.

However, it falls down slightly on handling with the car’s extra weight meaning that it lacks agility.

Those looking from something sporty from the new Mini may be slightly disappointed with this high-riding, chunky car.

Standard kit across the range includes alloy wheels, power windows front and rear, power mirrors, a chrome exhaust, DAB radio and Bluetooth.

Efficiency has been improved by a host of measures, which have resulted in very good fuel economy and emissions.

Mini calls this a “sports activity vehicle” but it is really a crossover with a bit of attitude, a larger Mini that can let its hair down a bit, and it will suit those who want a sports Mini with extra space and style.

31 May 2014 ❘ the stooshie

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BUSINESS & FINANCE Hired, Fired & RETIRED

Rusty Nails to fetch £100m as Rat Pack’s tipple goes on sale Whisky liqueur Drambuie is on the market, as the family firm behind Bonnie Prince Charlie’s elixir and Frank, Dean and Sammy’s favourite cocktail decides to sell up ■ Analysts reckon there could be something of a clamour to snap up the famous label over the coming months.

The MacKinnon family have owned the company which produces the blend of whisky, honey, herbs and spices for 100 years, having bought the recipe from the family of John Ross, a former proprietor of the Isle of Skye’s Broadford Hotel.

He had started serving the drink to customers in 1873 – but the secret behind the blend is rumoured to have been handed to (an unrelated) Captain John MacKinnon by The Young Pretender as he fled Scotland following his defeat at Culloden in 1745.

It became popular in the US during prohibition, and was later mixed with Scotch whisky to create the Rusty Nail cocktail beloved by Sinatra and his pals.

COMMENTATORS SAY

Just 10% of Scotland’s population account for

The body’s membership director said there was no surprise that houses prices in the north east are growing faster than anywhere outside London.

He noted a recent Halifax survey had shown the UK’s top five coastal towns for property value growth were all within Aberdeenshire.

But the area needs homes “all workers can afford” to ensure more growth, he added.

26%

of the nation’s gross domestic product, Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce’s Liam Smyth wrote in The Herald.

Scotsman consumer affairs correspondent Jane Bradley reported how experts believe there could be a good market for the brand.

She quoted whisky expert Alan Gray of Sutherland’s – who noted that many big drinks firms do not have a lot of liqueurs already on their books – and noted that external management brought in three years ago had begun to repair an image which had begun to appear somewhat staid.

Elsewhere in the paper, business editor Terry Murden said the buyer would “almost certainly” be foreign-owned, and that Drambuie might command a premium price to match its luxury status.

the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

He noted that the liqueur is made in Glasgow by Morrison Bowmore, which is in turn owned by Japanese giant Suntory – a link “that must put it in pole position”.

Financial Times consumer industries editor Scheherazade Daneshkhu said the brand’s owner could hope to capitalise on a “thirst for heritage brands from Asian companies” as well as the booming cocktail market.

She named Pernod Ricard and Diageo as drinks groups on the acquisition trail – and also highlighted the recent £430m purchase of Whyte & Mackay by Phillipines-based brandy group Emperador.

Commentators reckon Drambuie would fetch in the region of £100m.

But The Grocer joined Murden in tipping Lucozade and Ribena owner Suntory as the most likely suitor.

A high level of interest is expected, the trade magazine said, with Gruppo Campari also mooted. Shore Capital analyst Phil Carroll told the magazine assets like Drambuie are “few and far between”.

■ Edinburgh-based pensions and investments firm Standard Life took its time to replace former finance chief Jackie Hunt, but has snared Lloyds of London man Luke Savage (below) after a year-long hunt.

The appointment, which comes following a “global search”, attracts a £600,000 basic salary which can rise to £2.25m with bonus and incentive payments.

The Scotsman’s George Kerevan said the wait was worth it, with Savage “an industry heavyweight if ever there was one”.

■ Former Aggreko boss Rupert Soames has only been in his new job at troubled outsourcing giant Serco a matter of days, but there’s already talk he’s looking back to his time with the Glasgowbased generator supplier.

Reports suggest Soames wants help from former wingman Angus Cockburn, and is to offer his former colleague a boardroom role.

■ AG Barr chairman Ronnie Hanna will retire from the firm at the end of the year. Brewing industry veteran John Nicolson is to take over his seat.

BUSINESS & finance WEEK IN NUMBERS

£5,000,000

The sum to be spent making four whisky distilleries greener, through investment in biomass boilers prompted by the Green Investment Bank.

A similar scheme has already seen Tomatin distillery cut emissions by around 80%.

27,602

The number of new companies registered in Scotland during the last financial year, according to data from Companies House.

The figure marked an 8.4% increase on the previous 12 months, The Scotsman said.

£13.1bn

The total economic boost expected to be delivered by staycationers from the rest of the UK by 2017.

A report by Barclays expects a 26% hike in spending by the stay-at-home tourists.

130

Floating away?

New listings to dry up ■ Seems like you can hardly move without a company joining the stock market these days. It’s reckoned investors have pumped about £4.4bn into shares in 30 firms in the first few months of 2014.

But the pattern looks set to come to an end. In Scotland on Sunday, an essay from Martin Flanagan explained how

Footfall, vacancy rates and sales were all up across Scotland’s shops during April – with increases in all three during the same month for the first time in two years.

But the Sunday Herald reported how Scotland’s

1.1%

sales rise was just a third of the UK rate.

■ Bosses at Lloyds will be hoping a slowdown in interest in shares doesn’t affect them after announcing plans to start selling stock in subsidiary TSB. The Scotsman reported that the Edinburghbased group would initially sell a 25% stake in the savings bank founded by a Dumfriesshire minister in 1810.

It is being forced to part with the newlyrestored brand as a requirement of the state aid recieved during the financial crisis.

Investors, including the public, will receive one free share for every 20 as long as they hold on to their interest for at least a year.

BBC business editor Kamal Ahmed said a free TSB would need to show customers it offers somthing different. But he also warned of a contradiction with the postcrash desire for “boring ‘vanilla’ banks which don’t do anything too racy”.

COMMENTATORS SAY

6 months

2

The number of Glasgow 2014 contracts handed to businesses in the north east, according to The Press and Journal. A total of 432 have been awarded so far.

interest in over-priced listings looks to have peaked.

Newly-floated firms are trading below their initial offer price, he said, while markets are now more realistic about pricing after a flurry in which the ask became too aggressive.

The Herald noted how Fat Face had pulled its planned listing in a “saturated” market.

Banking on success at TSB

The number of jobs which could be lost at Lanarkshire sausage skin manufacturer Devro.

The firm wants to streamline operations and has opened a consultation process with staff.

The period of time US drugs giant Pfizer, which is led by Scots-born Ian Read, must wait before it can revisit a bid to take over UK rival AstraZeneca.

The group finally called off its £69bn chase earlier this week, after failing to win the backing of the Astra board.

l 39

The battle of the bailouts ■ Meanwhile, it’s been revealed that Lloyds Banking Group is to sue fellow bailout recipient RBS for £420m over a “misleading” £12bn rights issue.

Nine of the bank’s subsidiaries have joined an action brought by the RBS Customer Action Group, amid claims the RBS board misled investors in early 2008. Shares bought for £2 in June 2008 were worth just 11p seven months later.

RBS rejected the allegations.

Breaking the story in The Herald, Ian Fraser said the “unprecedented move” marked the “first Americanstyle class action to hit the English courts”.

The Scotsman’s Martin Flanagan followed up the tale, and said the taxpayer-ontaxpayer dimension certainly “adds spice”. Either way, the public purse is set to both win and lose. And he noted that Scottish Widows was just the latest to the party: hundreds of institutional investors, thousands of private shareholders and a string of blue-chips have also hired lawyers ahead of the fight.

But Herald cartoonist Steven Camley was clear about who would be victorious and who would end up losing: “lawyers and Joe Public.”

talking heads “We’ve got to realise that business is like sport – it’s a global race... and it’s one where Scotalnd really has got a chance to be like Allan Wells.”

Boss of Skye-based eHealth and IT firm Sitekit Campbell Grant told both The Courier and last week’s BioDundee conference the nation “can move fast” in stratified medicine with the right cooperation between the academic and commercial spheres.

“An investment in FirstGroup is still not for the faint-hearted...”

The Scotsman’s Dominic Jeff quoted Investec analyst John Lawson as First suspended its dividend for a further year.

The Aberdeen transport firm – in the midst of a huge turnaround plan – also lost out in a bid to run a major rail franchise in the south east of England, but Mr Lawson said the group’s low share price could be a buying opportunity.

“Glasgow is not the centre of the universe for energy, and we have to ask why this has happened. I see no compelling reason.”

Colin Welsh, of financial advice firm Simmons and Company International, shows his frustration in The Press & Journal as it is confirmed that the UK’s largest renewable conference is to move from Aberdeen to Glasgow.

31 May 2014 ❘ the stooshie

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SPORT

Low expectations and lack of coach could work in Murray’s favour in Paris ■ Andy Murray launched his bid to win the French Open still without a coach after the recent departure of Ivan Lendl.

The Scot won two majors under the guidance of the taciturn Czech, but since his Wimbledon triumph last June, he has slipped down the rankings to number eight in the world.

Much of that slide has been down to the effects of back surgery he underwent at the end of last year.

However, Murray believes that his critics have not given him enough credit for the quality of tennis he has played since the op, and he showed signs of coming back to his best in the recent Italian Open where he was narrowly defeated by Rafael Nadal.

In Paris Murray won in four sets against Kazakhstan’s Andrey Gulabev in the first

round, and his path to a possible semi-final against Nadal was eased when prospective quarter-final opponent and Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka lost in the first round.

However, in the Daily Record three-times French Open winner Mats Wilander said the lack of a coach and low expectations could work in Murray’s favour.

The Swede said: “Maybe there is less pressure – and with less pressure he has a chance of doing really well.”

And in The Guardian, Murray’s former coach Mark Petchey said Murray could prosper without a coach, in the short term at least.

“I think his self-motivation is enough on its own. There are not too many people on this planet who know more about tennis than Andy does.”

Monty breaks major duck in Michigan

OTHER NEWS

■ Colin Montgomerie swept to his first senior major title by holding off Tom Watson to win the Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores In Michigan.

Monty had started the final round with a onestroke advantage but a final round 65 saw him stroll to victory by four shots, finishing on 13 under par.

It was Montgomerie’s first major title of any description, after finishing runner-up five times on the regular tour, and his first victory on US soil.

An elated Montgomerie said: “It’s been a long time.

It’s a very special moment.

“We’ve come close on a number of occasions and it’s great to finally break that duck.”

Jamieson backed for record

■ Catriona Matthew was just edged out by America’s Jessica Korda in the Airbus LPGA Classic at Mobile, Alabama.

The Scot ended up in a tie for third place after finishing on 270, two shots behind the winner.

Swimming legend Adrian Moorhouse is backing Scotland’s Michael Jamieson to smash the world record at this summer’s Commonwealth Games.

Moorhouse, who won Olympic gold in the 200 metres breaststroke in Seoul in 2008, believes the Scot, who competes in the same event, will strike gold and set a new world’s best in Glasgow.

He said: “Michael will go for the world record in Glasgow.

Why not? If he’s fit why shouldn’t he?”

Scots World Cup bound Scotland will have a team in the World Cup after all... well, in the five-a-side version anyway.

The Scottish Sun reported that cancer survivor Davie Craig and his mates saw off 500 other teams to represent Scotland at the event in Dubai.

Craig, who has been given the all-clear after a battle with testicular cancer, said: “Now I’ve got a World Cup to loook forward to, unlike Gordon Strachan’s Scotland team!”

Purvis strikes bronze Commonwealth Games gymnastics hope Dan Purvis added individual bronze to team silver at the European Championships in Sofia.

Purvis scored 15.400 in the floor routine to take joint third place with Israel’s Alaxander Shatilov.

Purvis and fellow Scot Daniel Keatings had earlier helped GB to team silver.

HAUD YER WHEESHT! ■ Football managers spend much of the summer compiling lists of potential transfer targets.

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes has been given some help in the task by a nine-yearold fan, reported the Scotland Now website.

Fanatical Dons supporter Boyd Gibson sent McInnes a list of transfer suggestions that include some of the biggest names in world football.

His wish list of targets includes superstars Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale,

Mario Balatelli, Samuel Eto’o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic plus, bizarrely, Kilmarnock striker Kris Boyd, who is doubtless flattered to be mentioned in such exalted company.

Aberdeen, who are looking to build on this season’s League Cup success and third place Premier League finish, have politely acknowledged Boyd’s suggestions.

However, it remains to be seen whether or not the Reds will be able to attract Messi and Co to the Granite City.

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SPORT Scotland match fix probe

Glasgow ready for challenge

Townsend plots Dublin final victory Jonny Gray, Mark Bennett and Gordon Reid, have played a major part in the nine-game winning streak that took them into Saturday’s final.

Perhaps Townsend’s boldest move has been the regular selection of youngster Finn Russell in the stand-off berth, ahead of established internationals Ruaridh Jackson and Duncan Weir.

Most observers expect Russell, who has been selected for Scotland’s summer tour, to start again in Saturday’s showdown.

However, lying in wait will

be a fired-up Leinster side, playing at home, and with the added motivation of wanting to give legendary centre Brian O’Driscoll the perfect sendoff in his last match before retirement.

Winning in Dublin will be a tall order for Glasgow, but openside flanker Chris Fusaro insists they have nothing to be afraid of.

“We know it’s going to be a monumental challenge,” he said. “But if we keep our discipline and get everything right in terms of performance we can definitely win.”

Scot is being groomed to take ■ Peter O’Reilly, writing in over down the line.”

The Sunday Times, said that He also pointed out that while Leinster must go into recent history indicates the final as narrow favourites, that Glagow have a fighting Glasgow’s nine-game winning chance to make history. run has given them huge “Glasgow always put up a momentum and confidence good fight against Leinster. going into the game.

“Remarkably, in the past And he believes that Gregor eight league games between Townsend’s development as a them there has never been coach has marked him down more than six points between as a possible to take over the the sides at the end.

Scotland side in future.

“Very little will change next “Townsend’s emergence looks just about the best thing weekend – Glasgow to lose, to happen to Scottish rugby in but narrowly.”

Iain Morrison in Scotland a long, long while,” he said. on Sunday said that keeping “While supporters are down the penalty count could understandably apprehensive be the key to a Glasgow win. about the appointment as “After looking through the national coach of Vern Cotter, stats from last season’s semisomeone with no first-hand final loss to Leinster, Gregor knowledge of the Scottish system, at least they know a Townsend announced that his the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

side had won avery aspect of the game bar two, the scoreboard and the penalty count.

“Glasgow’s discipline was good when it needed to be against Munster, they defended a one-point lead for 15 minutes, and it will need to be the same for 80 minutes in Saturday.”

And Morrison predicted that Glasgow fans would be celebrating in Dublin on Saturday night.

“I expect Glasgow to win a close encounter and so do plenty of other perfectly sane pundits.

“Leinster desperately want to win, Glasgow need to win and that, in what is sure to be a tight match, may mark the difference.”

■ Glasgow Warriors head to Dublin for this weekend’s RaboDirect Pro12 final aiming to put a gloss on what has been a massively disappointing season for Scottish rugby.

Glasgow edged out a powerful Muster side 16-15 at Scotstoun to make their first major final, and continue the steady progress they have made under head coach Gregor Townsend.

The former British Lions stand-off has developed a strong squad with an emphasis on home-grown Scottish talent. Young players such as

COMMENTATORS SAY

■ Scotland’s friendly against Nigeria at Fulham’s Craven Cottage ground was at the centre of a match fixing probe.

The game was one of five international matches to be investigated as police feared they could have been targeted by Asian betting syndicates.

No Scotland players were believed to be under suspicion and British bookmakers said they had seen no evidence of unsual betting patterns surrounding the match.

SFA chief executive Stewart Regan (below) said: “We’ve been liaising with the authorities.

“We’re preparing for the game as normal”

Quick FIRE ■ Rangers face a fresh crisis after it emerged they may not have raised enough cash from season tickets to pay off loans.

Sunday Mail

■ Japan won the final place in Scotland’s group at the Rugby World Cup after becoming Asian champions.

The Scotsman

■ Scottish badminton stars won two titles at the Spanish Open. Kirsty Gilmour won the singles and Imogen Bankier and Robert Blair the mixed doubles.

The Herald

SPORT

good week

QUOTES

Stephen Gallacher

“I spoke about what it meant to them, their families. You have to have the desire, the fight and the hunger.”

The Scot finished fifth in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth to stay well in the running for a place in the European team at the Ryder Cup in September.

He also hit back at claims by former Ryder Cup captain Tony Jacklin that he is not mentally tough enough to compete against the USA.

Lynsey Sharp

The European 800 metres champion produced an impressive performance to win the Flanders Cup in Belgium and achieve the Commonwealth Games qualifying mark.

The Edinburgh runner, who has recovered from a back injury, won in a time of 2min 02.42sec, eight 100ths of a second inside the Team Scotland qualifying time.

BAD week

David Moyes

Things just seemed to go from bad to worse for the ex-Manchester United manager when he was investigated by police following reports of a scuffle in a Lancashire bar.

Officers were called to the Emporium bar in Clitheroe following reports a 23-year-old man had been assaulted.

No-one was arrested.

Steve Evans Rotherhan boss on inspiring his team to play-off victory

■ Derby County striker Johnny Russell is brought down by QPR’s Gary O’Neil in the Championship Play Off Final. QPR won 1-0.

Fury as Hibs go down ■ Hibs fans protested outside Easter Road after their team slumped to defeat against Hamilton Accies to consign the club to the Scottish Championship next season.

Hibs had held a 2-0 lead after the first leg of their play-off at New Douglas Park, but the team froze in front of a home crowd of nearly 19,000 and goals from Jason Scotland and Tony Andreu forced extra

time, before Hamilton went on to win 4-3 on penalties.

Manager Terry Butcher vowed to continue in his job, despite presiding over a disastrous run of form of just two wins in 21 games.

Describing the club’s relegation from the Scottish premiership as “my darkest day in football”, Butcher said: “It’s the worst ever. I’ve been relegated before as a boss and player, it’s horrible.”

The club’s relegation sparked a mass clear-out of players, with former captains James McPake and Kevin Thomson among the 14 released.

Next season the club will join a highly competitive Championship, which will include Rangers as well as their fierce city rivals, Hearts.

“The challenge is to get out there and win a fifth gold medal.”

Sir Gordon Tietjens All Blacks Sevens coach targets gold in Glasgow

“Louis Van Gaal is world class, but I don’t see him transforming Manchester United into title contenders.”

Alan Brazil Scot says United fans may have to be patient

“You have to decide where you’re going with your career and how badly you want it.”

Kelly Brown

The Scotland flanker and captain was part of the Saracens team soundly beaten 23-6 by Johnny Wilkinson’s Toulon side in the last ever Heineken Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

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■ Kenya’s David Toniok raced to victory in the Edinburgh Marathon, coming home in 2 hours 15 minutes and 33 seconds.

Gordon Strachan Scotland boss on the future for the successful Under-17 team.

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SPORT

OFF

Lennon quits after turbulent reign ■ Celtic manager Neil Lennon dropped a bombshell when he announced that he was resigning as manager.

After four controversy-packed years as manager and eight as a player, it was widely reported that his decision to leave was sparked by concerns that cuts in the playing budget would leave the club struggling to compete in next season’s Champions League.

However, there was also speculation that the off-field stresses he has faced played a major role in his decision.

During his time at Celtic as a

player and manager Lennon, a Roman Catholic, was subjected to a succession of physical and verbal assaults, many of which bore the hallmark of sectarianism.

In January 2011 he was sent a bullet in the post and four months later, after a confrontation with Rangers manager Ally McCoist, parcel bombs addressed to Lennon was intercepted.

Two men were jailed for five years each for their part in the bomb plot.

Hearts fan John Wilson was jailed for eight months

for breach of the peace after an assault on Lennon at Tynecastle in May 2011.

Among the names touted as Lennon’s replacement were Davie Moyes, Roy Keane, former Celtic striker Henrik Larsson, ex-Cardiff boss Malky Mackay, former Bolton manager Owen Coyle and Spaniard Oscar Garcia, who recently quit Brighton.

Larsson, who currently coaches Swedish side Falkenbergs soon ruled himself out of the running, although he said he would love to manage the club one day.

COMMENTATORS SAY Loch and somehow lose the ■ Bill Leckie, writing in The League.”

Sun, said that the pressures Hugh MacDonald of The that came with being Celtic Herald highlighted the manager were bound to take contrast between Lennon’s their toll. public and private personas.

“All I can imagine Neil “The taxi driver, the mate Lennon’s feeling is relief. That in the pub or the guy who a 10-ton weight has been buttonholes one at a wedding lifted from his shoulders. That, reception insist he is snippy, as hard as it was to quit as even belligerent. He is all Celtic boss, he’s just been of that, particularly when handed his life back.” provoked.

And he suggested that “But Lennon, as a player concerns over the playing and then as Celtic manager, budget were just the straw was articulate, precise and that broke the camel’s back. enlightening in interviews.”

“There was a calculation to And he said Scotland as a be made. Is all the crap that nation had much to ponder goes with such a brilliant job over Lennon’s treatment. worth it if the moneymen fail to deliver?

“He was punched by “Can I really be bothered attackers, sent death threats taking all the grief if the end and even targeted by a game’s little more than making moron on the Tynecastle sure we don’t do a Devon touchline. His home life was the stooshie ❘ www.thestooshie.co.uk

THE BALL

■ St Johnstone fan Stuart Cosgrove revelled in the club’s Cup Final triumph, while he and Tam Cowan were joined by Saints legend Roddy Grant and former Celtic striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.

■ Subjects discussed included fans’ Cup Final memories and Neil Lennon’s decision to quit.

■ They also tried to name the 10 living Scotland managers. The list is Tommy Docherty, Alex Ferguson, Andy Roxburgh, Craig Brown, Bertie Vogts, Walter Smith, Alex McLeish, Craig Burley, Craig Levein and Gordon Strachan.

Sir Alex’s plonk fetches a cool £2.3 million compromised by security, his professional life spent in the public shadow of a huge bodyguard.”

Keith Jackson in The Daily Record believed it was the right time for Lennon to move.

“With possible openings at Southampton and West Brom, the time seems right for him to move on.

“His decision also frees up Celtic and Lawell. It allows the CEO to freshen up the menu at a time when the club was beginning to feel stale.

“The joy in winning league titles has diminished since Rangers self harmed so spectacularly midway through Lennon’s first season. The championship is now seen as a minimum requirement rather than a worthy achievement.”

■ Manchester United’s former manager Sir Alex Ferguson had plenty of reason to raise a glass, after part of his vintage wine collection was sold at auction for £2.3 million.

Scotland Now website reported that the auction, in Hong Kong, included six-litre methuselah of Domaine de la RomaneeConti 1997 which sold for £94,815.

Other big draws included six bottles of RomaneeConti Grand Cru 1999, which were sold with a signed Man United shirt from their victorious 1999 Champions League final.

Two more sales will take place in London next month.

SPORT

good week

QUOTES

Alex Neil

“I’m really proud of myself. I just continued the form I showed at Wentworth.”

The Hamilton Accies player manager guided his side into the Scottish Premiership against all the odds with a dramatic penalty shoot out win over Hibs at Easter Road.

The success comes just a year after Neil was appointed on a full-time basis.

Chris Doak Greenock golfer after he qualified for US Open

Kylie Walker

The 27-year-old Glaswegian sank a 20-foot putt at the second extra play-off hole for her first Ladies European Tour win at the Deloitte Ladies Open in Amsterdam.

■ Dundee United’s John Souttar (left) celebrates after giving Scotland the lead against England in an Under 19 Elite Group game at Burton on Trent. England went on to win 2-1.

HEADLINES

Sean Lamont

The Scotland winger signed a new two-year deal with Glasgow Warriors at the age of 33.

“I’m now one of the oldest players at the club, but I feel good and I want to continue to play at the highest level for as long as possible,” he said.

World Cup woes on film

BAD week David Goodwillie

The Scotland and former Dundee United striker is looking for a new club after being deemed surplus to requirements by Blackburn Rovers manager Gary Bowyer.

Goodwillie had loan spells last season at Dundee United and Blackpool.

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■ One of Scotland’s biggest World Cup humiliations is being turned into a feature film - in Costa Rica.

Under Andy Roxburgh (above), Scotland lost 1-0 to the Costa Rican minnows in the opening game of the 1990 Finals in Italy, before beating Sweden and losing narrowly to Brazil.

David Leask in The Herald reported that the Costa Rican team have always been treated like heroes in the native country, and their exploits will now be immortalised in Italia 90: The Movie.

FOOTBALL: Chelsea starlet Islam Feruz appeared to have turned his back on Scotland.

It was understood that Somalia-born teenager, who was brought up in Glasgow, no longer wished to be selected by Scotland, who he has represented from Under-17 to Under 21 level.

SHINTY: Glenurquhart and Lovat will contest the MacTavish Cup Final on June 15. It is the first time the two local rivals will have faced each other in a major final.

Glenurquhart produced a major shock by beating defending champions Newtonmore 2-1, while Lovat progressed after beating Kilmallie by the same score.

RugBY: While Jonny Gray stars for Glasgow in this weekend’s RaboDirect Pro12 final, his brother Richie will play for Castres in the French Top 14 Grand Final in Toulon.

“I’m gutted. I loved playing for this club. But I’m more disappointed I never got the chance to help the club stay in this division.”

James McPake Former Hibs captain after being released in the wake of relegation

“Maybe I should have been tougher. Maybe I wasn’t cut out to be an international manager.”

George Burley The former Scotland boss is honest about his shortcomings

“I was so shocked when I found out the news. I never thought that he would leave.”

EfE AMBROSE The Celtic stopper is stunned by the sudden departure of manager Neil Lennon

Kathryn Christie

Scotland’s hope for the 100 and 200 metres at the Commonwealth Games was hampered by unfavourable winds at a meeting at Vila Real de Santo Antonia in Portugal and failed to achieve the Games qualifying times.

■ Former Scotland international Graham Alexander is jubilant after his Fleetwood Town side beat Burton 1-0 in the League Two Play Off Final.

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COMMENT

FRED SAID Comedian, broadcaster and presenter

FRED MACAULAY

Will the real MacAulay please stand up?

Another night another hotel room.

But only if Fred can get past the receptionist

■ With online sites like Tripadvisor it’s easy to pass comment on poor restaurant or hotel service. I’ve never made a posting to any of those accounts. You could argue that’s laziness on my part, but I’d counter that argument by saying that it’s not my position to rob others of the chance to experience such poor quality hospitality.

But you’re right, it’s laziness.

I had a terrible hotel stay in one of our own country’s hotels this weekend. It boasted four stars, two of which I suggested to the duty manager, they had presumably borrowed from the neighbouring hotel.

My worst ever check-in experience was in a Jersey hotel where the German chap on reception (he had a name

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

badge with his country of birth) asked me how I spelt my surname, keyed it into his computer and curtly said that there was no reservation in that name. So, when I suggested to him that he double check the spelling, as I handed over my credit card (so he could see it spelt correctly) he said “Ah, you said M E C... and here” he continued, “on the card, it is saying M A C”.

I tried to argue that I might have known how to spell my surname, but he was having none of that. So I told him that, in my considered opinion, this was one of the worst check-in experience ever. I’ll never forget how he took the wind out of my sails when he retorted with... “Why, Thank you very much!”

Hello, [insert your name here], Fred is writing this column just for you...

■ Glasgow had a “Big Weekend” thanks to Radio 1 and a number of superstar-popstarsuperstarpopbands. One Direction, Coldplay, Katy Perry and the like (that’s Ms Perry down there).

Bands LOVE playing in Scotland because Scottish audiences are the best. And Sheffield.

I once saw a band in Sheffield and they told the audience that they were the best. Oh, and I once saw Bruce Springsteen in Newcastle and Geordies are the best audiences, according to him. Hang on, I see a pattern developing.

It was suggested the Glasgow event should be annual. I hate to be a cynic, but I don’t think it’ll happen. Sorry kids, but the logistics of getting these bands and artistes all back together are just too difficult.

Besides, I heard that in one Glasgow hotel someone was greeted with “Good afternoon Mr Direction, I’m afraid your room’s not quite ready”.

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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