Drumlanrig

Published on 06/05/2012 00:00

Snippets from the past seven days in the political sphere

Red-faced cabbie hails Labour’s clean sweep

Friday may have been Johann Lamont’s best day yet as Scottish Labour leader, but she still has visibility problems. A Glasgwegian taxi driver reveals how Lamont took his cab recently. As she settled down in the back seat, he innocently enquired as to where she was going. “Is it cleaning you do?” he asked. He reveals how she then patiently explained that she was going to a Labour party meeting. The driver does admit now to feeling a tad embarrassed.

Independent thinking from inside the box

How best to sell independence? Attending a service in memory of the late SNP activist Stephen Maxwell, Independent MSP Margo MacDonald offered up her solution to Alex Salmond last week.

In most cities across Scotland, she noted, old blue police boxes lay vacant. Why not, she suggested, use them as information points for people wanting to know more about how an independent Scotland would operate?

Salmond took away the advice but it is not yet known whether he will take up the plan. But like the tardis itself, wouldn’t the message of an independent Scotland, small on the outside, but big on the inside, be a good one to project?

Time with the kids? Taxi for Mr Fraser

Strange to hear an MSP expressing a desire to spend less time with his family. But that seemed to be the case for Murdo Fraser, who was not enamoured by his post-council election weekend job as a kiddies’ taxi driver.

Yesterday the former Tory leadership contender tweeted: “After the last umpteen weekends campaigning, I find myself today having to drive small children to birthday parties. No by-election coming?”

Cameron quite taken with Kitchin’s kilt

As befits a member of Clan Cameron, it is perhaps unsurprising that the Prime Minister has taken a bit of a fancy to Highland dress.

When David Cameron hosted a Downing Street event to mark a Visit Britain initiative celebrating Great British Food, the Michelin-starred chef Tom Kitchin travelled from Edinburgh to attend.

Compared with other gourmet chefs there, such as Michel Roux jr, Gordon Ramsay and Raymond Blanc, Kitchin cut quite a dash.

Afterwards, Kitchin said: “It was quite an honour to be invited to Number 10 and especially to have a moment to speak to the Prime Minister. He commented that he liked my kilt and said he hopes to visit the restaurant some day. We’ll see if he finds his way to Leith...”