Talk of the Town: Take That! MP gets found out on taste

Perhaps for most . . . but for new East Lothian MP Fiona O'Donnell it could be an occasion to forget after her mobile phone went off as she waited in turn to take the oath.

And to up the heat on the red-faced politician, it was a pop ringtone – Take That hit Patience – which shattered the austere ambience at Westminster.

Labour's Ms O'Donnell, 50, reportedly confessed to being "mortified" by the gaffe and has even vowed to ditch the ringtone after discovering Take That lead singer Gary Barlow voted Tory at the recent election.

Still, the East Lothian electorate are a forgiving bunch. The new Labour MP increased her party's majority in the seat.

But in a nod to her pop favourites, this certainly wasn't Fiona's "Greatest Day" in national politics.

It's certainly been a model performance in festival . .

THE Leith Festival has become a stalwart on the Capital's events calendar, offering theatre, comedy, music, film and sport.

And council leader Jenny Dawe has been happy to put politics aside and congratulate Labour councillor Gordon Munro on efforts as its chair.

However, as copies of this year's programme, which runs from 11-20 June, were distributed to councillors, she couldn't resist a dig. She thanked Cllr Munro for posing as the model on the cover.

Whistle unhappy player

CURRIE rugby player Richard Snedden proved to be "whistle unhappy" when his club took on a touring Japanese A team at Malleny Park last week. Snedden required treatment when his face accidentally collided with referee Peter Allan's whistle as the official prepared to bring an arm upwards to signal an infringement!

Smoke, but certainly no fire

PRODUCERS of Arbroath's favourite delicacy must have had their hearts in their mouths when they read recent food safety guidelines from the Food Standards Agency.

The warning was about smokies, and was contained in Health Protection Scotland's latest weekly update. It stated that production of smokies was illegal under European law, and that while a change was being sought, it was still unlawful to prepare them.

Fortunately for fishermen and chip shop owners alike, the document was referring to the "smokies" popular among some ethnic minorities – smoked sheep meat with the skin still on, and not the dearly loved "Arbroath smokies".