Drumlanrig

Reality check for tweeter Joan McAlpine

SNP MSP Joan McAlpine is an inveterate tweeter, but the former journalist should pay a bit more attention to the accuracy of her outbursts in cyberspace.

The tragic death of the courageous Sunday Times war correspondent Marie Colvin in Syria last week prompted the following tweet from McAlpine: “Very sad to hear of death of former Sunday Times colleague Marie Helvin in Syria. A talented and courageous journalist.”

A bit of fact-checking wouldn’t have gone amiss – Marie Helvin, of course, is a famous supermodel.

Keep an eye on Fraser Nelson at Policy Fight Club

THERE are those who hope that the independence referendum debate will be a mature, open-minded reflection on the nation’s future direction. Then there are those who want it to become a bar-room punch-up. This could be the end result of a debate hosted by the normally cerebral Policy Exchange next month on the question of whether Scotland should become independent.

Pitching former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Spectator editor Fraser Nelson against Pete Wishart for the SNP, the event has been entitled “Policy Fight Club”. Wishart and Rifkind are far too gentlemanly to allow the debate to descend to fisticuffs. Nelson, we cannot vouch for.

Julia Gillard’s loss could be the Union’s gain

AUSTRALIA is currently home to the most vicious battle in global politics, as former PM Kevin Rudd prepares to take on his successor Julia Gillard tomorrow in a leadership ballot. The compelling psycho-drama is consuming the country and is also keeping busy Ms Gillard’s director of communications, Edinburgh’s very own John McTernan, a former columnist with both The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday. Known by his moniker “The McTernminator”, the former Number Ten policy guru now faces his toughest test yet. Should Gillard be pole-axed, however, might Australia’s loss be Blighty’s gain? There is little doubt that if McTernan was forced home, the pro-Union campaign would be waiting for him.

Mystic Alan Clements to figure at publishing conference

KIRSTY Wark’s hubby and STV bigwig Alan Clements could forge himself a new career as a Mystic Meg. His 2008 novel Rogue Nation is set in 2014 and features an independence referendum with the Tories in power at Westminster and the SNP at Holyrood.

He aims to point this out in a speech at tomorrow’s Publishing Scotland conference, telling delegates he is available to advise on Lotto numbers.