Talk of the Town: Scruffy attitude a stain on city's reputation

LOOKING your best for a job interview would seem to be a basic requirement, but in Edinburgh that doesn't seem to be the case.

New research has found that only one in five Edinburgh residents would cancel a job interview because of a stain on their clothes.

Ariel with Actilift commissioned the stain and shame investigation, not as a marketing device you understand, but as "a neuroscience study into the emotional responses to stains and how this affects peoples' everyday lives".

It found that 26 per cent of people in Edinburgh believed having a stain on their clothes was as stressful as losing a wallet, while 18 per cent said they would ditch a job interview rather than turn up with a stain.

The research also found that 37 per cent of people said the worst time to get a stain was on a first date.

Swinney drives home his opposition to the trams

FINANCE secretary John Swinney never misses a chance to remind the world that he opposed Edinburgh's trouble-hit 545 million tram scheme.

The latest opportunity came yesterday as the Scottish Parliament debated a motion on greener buses.

When it was Mr Swinney's turn to speak, he picked up on references by SNP Lothians MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville to the tram project and asked: "How many more low-energy buses could have been purchased for 545m? One heck of a lot."

Fraser hopes to stick at cycle

HE'S built up a successful company by persuading people to ditch sugary spreads for a healthier alternative.

But SuperJam founder Fraser Doherty admits that he does not always practice the healthy lifestyle he preaches. The 20-year-old from Davidson's Mains avoided PE at school, preferring to cook with his gran.

Now he's decided to turn this around by training for a 400-mile cycle ride to London, raising cash for his charity which runs tea parties for older people.

Fraser said: "It is going to be a real challenge. The more money that gets pledged, the more heartbreaking it would be to quit."

Name dropping

WHAT links the Scottish Government's modern apprenticeship scheme to East Lothian Labour MP Anne Moffat, who faces possible deselection tonight?

Not a lot, you might think. But that did not stop Alex Salmond working a reference to the MP into his answer to a question about apprenticeships.

He was keen to exploit the embarrassment of Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray, who is MSP for East Lothian but has tried to stay out of the row over Ms Moffat's candidacy.

Mr Salmond had visited Tranent the previous day and told MSPs he had met an apprentice from the town – "which makes him a constituent of Anne Moffat, if I can mention that name in Iain Gray's presence."