The Queen has approved a peerage for the former Commons Speaker. Despite leaving the House under a cloud the monarch approved a motion presented by Commons Leader Harriet Harman praising Martin's "distinguished ability and dignity in the chair of t
his House".
BAD WEEK
Cliff RichardNot only does the Wimbledon roof put paid to Sir Cliff Richard's singalongs, but the 68-year-old singer has been ordered to knock down the £30,000 conservatory at his home in Virginia Water, Surrey, after his council decided it was too big and had been built without permission on a Green Belt site.
RIP
MOLLIE SUGDEN
July 21, 1922 -July 1, 2009Renowned for her portrayal of comedy battleaxes with a very British penchant for the word Pussy, Mollie Sugden was an integral part of the living rooms of Britain in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
Born in Keighley, West Yorkshire, her best-known characters were the overbearing Mrs Slocombe in Are You Being Served? and the fearsome Mrs Hutchinson in The Liver Birds.
Sugden, who lived in Surrey, was married to fellow actor William Moore, who died nine years ago.
WHAT THE PAPERS SAID
…about the absence of almost 50 MSPs from the Scottish Parliament when the Queen attended a 10th anniversary celebration of devolutionDAILY MAIL As the Queen addressed a half-empty chamber, with officials occupying absent MSPs' seats in an attempt to take the bare look off the place, Holyrood displayed all the half-baked failure to rise to an occasion with which we are familiar.
THE SCOTSMANThis was an occasion to celebrate the tenth anniversary of devolution and the re-establishment of a Scottish parliament. Non-attendance thus implies not only a disrespect to the Queen, but to the institution for which many Scots had argued long and hard. And if the MSPs opt not to respect their own parliament, how do they regard the respect of others, on which Scotland's parliament ultimately rests?
DAILY RECORDMany were sunning themselves on holiday. Astonishingly, they claimed the parliament had failed to give them enough notice. Not enough notice of a 10th anniversary celebration? It's hard to think of a more feeble excuse.
One wonders what Her Majesty thought as she praised MSPs' "commitment to serving the people of Scotland" in a gracious speech.
BEST OF THE BLOGSI'd like to take a stroll into the maze of Schubert's life. What did the world look like from inside Franz? He suffered from depression. He couldn't hold down a job, he lived off handouts from friends. He needed money for food, which meant that dubious characters could easily buy ringside seats at the arena of his genius.
Anthony Sayer, Scottish Symphony Orchestra, http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcsso/2009/06/let_me_be.shtml
It must be a particular headache for local parties used to routinely returning incumbent Labour MPs, especially in the case of Glasgow North East, where Labour has faced no notable opposition apart from the SNP since 1997. The headache might well become a migraine when the party studies its – already parlous – finances and finds that funds earmarked to fight nationally important marginals, have to be diverted to shore up its core vote in previously safe seats.
Chris Mackie, The Steamie, http://www.scotsman.com/CustomPages/CustomPage.aspx?PageID>75668
I'm working on a brand new Dizzee Rascal track which I think will be amazing. Chrome is back to sing the hook. It's a good song for the summer. We're off on tour and I have an attention-seeking bus. If you see it why not say hello.
Calvin Harris, http://blogs.myspace.com/calvinharristv
ON THE WEBRemember the craze for Magic Eye pictures in the 1990s where you stared at a bunch of squiggles and eventually an image would appear? Here's an even more eye-popping selection of 21st century optical illusions. http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/
Here's the moment where South African rugby star was deemed to have "eye gouged" British and Irish player Luke Fitzgerald. Rough-and-tumble or despicable and dangerous cheating? You decide. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v>-NYONDg4J_E
Check out American pop princess Lady Gaga stealing the show at Glastonbury with a typically flamboyant performance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v>-m0D1JWhKjE&feature>topvideos
Stand up for yourself, teach a knife-wielding criminal a lesson and the tabloids will rally behind you.
The Daily Mirror took a new take on OAP – dubbing ex-boxing champ Frank Corti, 71, an "Old Age Pugilist" after he tackled on intruder in his home.
The Mirror gushed: "As he tried to stab him in the stomach, the pensioner sidestepped, delivered a right hook to his mouth followed by a jab to his left eye." The devastating blows floored him "like a sack of spuds". Gregory McCalium, 24, was last week sentenced at Oxford Crown Court to four-and-half years in prison for aggravated burglary.
