Drumlanrig: SpAds down tools for Pringle’s big day

Published on 01/07/2012 00:00

CONGRATULATIONS to Alex Salmond’s chief spin doctor Kevin Pringle (below) who got hitched in Glasgow yesterday.

The big day for the man known as the second most powerful in the Scottish Government was so well attended by the Nationalist fraternity that journalists were warned the night before that there would be total radio silence from the SNP’s team of special advisers (SpAds), whose job it is to firefight during the day as Sunday papers attempt to do their worst. An entire day without their BlackBerries? We wonder how on earth they coped.

Hassan’s independence dream goes off the rails

Pro-independence writer Gerry Hassan got more than he wished for when he went to London last week to argue the case for Scotland and England going their separate ways, at a debate organised by the Spectator.

After stating his case for the break, he got on the train back to Glasgow, only to find that the link between England and Scotland had, in fact, already broken, thanks to the torrential rains which had brought the line to a standstill. It is not known if God is pro- or anti-independence, or whether He just saw this as a chance to have a massive laugh at Hassan’s expense.

Civic Scotland not on board with Salmond

If Alex Salmond is relying on civic Scotland to come up with a convincing argument for a second question in the independence referendum, he’d better think again. Martin Sime (below) of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations chaired a session at the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations conference.

Under discussion was the constitution, something that Sime is hugely interested in as a leading figure in the Future of Scotland campaign. It doesn’t look too promising for Salmond on this contentious issue. When delegates were asked at the beginning of the session if there should be two questions, 62 per cent said, “no”. By the end of the session, those against had risen to 65 per cent.

No Rubik’s cubes but a few rounds perhaps?

Last week MSPs headed off to their constituencies for two whole months of glorious holiday. The excitement of the end of term was tangible in the parliament. MSPs may have shied away from bringing in their Rubik’s cubes, Top Trumps cards and Plasticine to keep themselves busy on the last day of term. There was, however, an enormous session in the parliamentary bar.