Talk of the Town

TRAMS boss Richard Jeffrey has earned a reputation for straight talking and he was at his most direct when addressing some of his project's biggest critics – local business people at a CBI dinner in the Macdonald Holyrood hotel on Wednesday night.

He accepted there was unhappiness about the cost of the works and the disruption they are causing, but he offered a robust defence of his team and told those present that the pain would be worth it when the trams started delivering customers to their door.

"So, in the words of a famous quiz master," concluded Jeffrey, "I have started so I'll finish."

To which, host Linda Urquhart, CBI Scotland chairman, responded archly: "Thanks, Richard . . . we'd just like you to finish a bit sooner."

Night proves to be a game of two halves for Hibs fans

THERE'S nothing like great planning, and the roadworks which shut a lane on the eastward M8 near Harthill on Wednesday night were nothing like great planning.

They appeared just in time to catch the thousands of Hibs fans heading home after their match at Celtic Park. Still, the glow of a last-minute winner and a 2-1 away victory, was enough to keep the Hibbies singing despite the tailbacks.

Stick to the day job, Iain

AFTER debating the future of Scotland's newspaper industry for most of the morning in the Scottish Parliament, Liberal Democrat Iain Smith thought he would deliver a scoop of his own to fellow MSPs.

During questions yesterday, he invited education minister Michael Russell to join him in congratulating Andy Murray, " who has just got into the final of the Australian Open".

But Mr Smith's up-to-the-minute news service earned him a rebuke from presiding officer Alex Fergusson who suggested he should turn off his Blackberry while he was in the chamber.

Resolve to have a good time

NEW Year resolutions are notoriously difficult to stick to, and for many people it's a minor miracle if they make it to the end of January without reverting to their old ways. For those who survived through a cold, depressing January with their resolutions intact there is now a new temptation being placed in their path with plans for the UK's biggest "break your resolutions party".

The event, being staged at locations across the UK including in the Capital, has been organised by website City Socialising, which has 60,000 members.

Around 100 people are expected to turn out to the "break your resolutions" party in Edinburgh, which will take place at Mezz bar, in the Old Town, on Saturday, from 8:30pm.