Editor of The Scotsman, Scotland's National Newspaper. Trustee of the Palace for Life Foundation. Ex BBC, WSJ & Guardian. I don't engage with anonymous accounts
Good morning Scotland. Here's your Saturday Scotsman. We lead on the only story in town: the deliberate deletion of Covid era WhatsApp messages by the Scottish Government, from the top on down. It's an astonishing tale that is emerging.
Scotsman reporters, along with the rest of the written media, aren't invited to the SNP's election launch today.
I suppose when you expect to walk the forthcoming elections this is something you think you can do. But it's not a great look.
Morning Scotland - a terrific edition of
@TheScotsman
today, if I say so myself - Outlander star
@SamHeughan
talks to us exclusively about finding inspiration on the West Highland Way. Then there's rugby, great reading from our columnists, arts, books and lots, lots more. Enjoy!
Today's Scotsman leader:
"In the darkest hours our nation has faced in a generation, they were serving themselves, and they did so with a nod, a wink, and zipped-mouth emojis."
All at The Scotsman are immensely sad at the passing, yesterday, of our friend and colleague Stephen Wilkie. A brilliant pro, he was also an immensely caring, compassionate figure, full of knowledge and advice. We will miss him hugely. All our thoughts are with his wife Irina.
Day one at
@TheScotsman
. Might be starting virtually rather than in the newsroom, alas, but still have my new mug and sharpened pencil (recycled newspaper, of course) for the home office. Great to get started.
Today, The Scotsman reported on the online hate directed towards Humza Yousaf. On cue, in response, the same bile was directed at
@TheScotsman
and our reporter
@MartynMcL
.
For the record, here's where we stand - The Scotsman's leader comment, also from today.
The claim about a ‘missed target’ is downright inaccurate - no vaccination targets have been missed. All adults have been offered first dose appointments - and 91% of over 40s have had both doses. But vaccination is voluntary, so we continue work to push uptake even higher.
When I became the new editor of The Scotsman, the number one request in my mentions was the return of the paper's Gaelic column. As Brian notes, we were delighted to have Murray MacLeod of the
@Sygazette
bring it back today.
We sent the drone out over this vast pile of rotting, fly-tipped rubbish under the M8. The footage is grimly fascinating. Worth a look at full screen: among the toilets, fridges, old art and asbestos, watch out for novelties including... a cassette tape.
Tartan - What a show at
@VADundee
. I'll leave the expert reviews to my brilliant
@TheScotsman
colleagues but Tartan was, to my eyes, an exhibition that'll be remembered long beyond its run here in Dundee, and far beyond this fine city.
New appointments from
@JPIMediaLtd
in Edinburgh: I'm delighted to say Catherine Salmond (
@SalmondSalmond
) is the new Scotland on Sunday Editor. Euan McGrory (
@EuanMc
) returns to edit the Edinburgh News. And Alan Young (
@alanyoung3000
) becomes Deputy Editor of The Scotsman.
I'm glad The Scotsman was able to beat off absurd complaints from Donald Trump's golf resort company after we reported - accurately - on food hygiene standards at one of its venues.
Donald Trump's golf resort in Aberdeenshire has lost a complaint to the UK's biggest press regulator against The Scotsman over two articles about its food hygiene standards.
On World Press Freedom day, enjoy a read about The Scotsman's wee victory over the absurd complaints of Trump International after we reported - accurately - on food hygiene issues at one of The Donald's Scottish resorts.
It soon won't officially *be* a Tory Christmas party unless Pippa Crerar has full details + pictures.
Today's featured lockdown host: the (now former) chair of the London Assembly police and crime committee. You couldn't make it up, etc etc.
EXCLUSIVE: Extraordinary image of raucous Christmas party thrown by Tory aides at party HQ during coronavirus restrictions last year.
Party hats, drinks, an entire buffet - while we were all banned from meeting just one other person socially indoors.
The Scotsman brings beauty and optimism to the breakfast table this morning - what a photograph from PA's
@belperbarlow
. Looking forward to joining the team next week.
But first, a haircut.
"The River Dee raged and the Scots Pines hung heavy as the death of The Queen, who passed away peacefully at the home that she loved, was announced."
@alicampsie75
reports for
@TheScotsman
from Balmoral tonight.
Off to Glasgow for tonight's Scottish Press Awards.
The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday team netted an amazing 18 nominations this year. Even if we don't win a sausage, I'm very proud of the standards they've set.
We've only just begun. And tonight we'll have a great time.
We're proud to unveil a new today, intended to be easier on the eye, faster to load, and the perfect canvas for our award-winning quality journalism. It's built from our readers' feedback, and we'd always welcome more.
More to follow, too ;-)
My new
@TheScotsman
colleagues have produced a brilliant print package today, with everything you need to know (and plenty you'll want to know) this weekend. I hope you'll give it a go.
Immensely proud of The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday team netting 16 nominations at the Scottish Press Awards this year.
These are popular, rigorously-judged awards... just to make the final six is great work.
Congrats - and good luck - to everyone. 🥂
Good morning Scotland - here's your Saturday Scotsman. Our exclusive poll is the top story today - lots more inside, from thought-provoking opinion to previews of the weekend's sporting action. And an excellent 50% off subscription offer! Enjoy your weekend :)
Your Saturday Scotsman on newsstands across the country today - packed with good journalism and even some cheer, as we look forward to the reopening on Monday, and restrictions hopefully lifting quickly in the weeks ahead.
For what it's worth: got my second jab today and was very grateful. It's a medical, scientific and logistical wonder.
So I can't fathom, not for the life of me, why anyone able to be vaccinated wouldn't just get on with it. (1/2)
We are very much at the "it all appears to be going fine" stage of the
@TheScotsman
redesign, to debut on newsstands tomorrow.
Experience tells us this will change, before the night is out.
One rainstorm, one absurdly-delayed football match, one win, a hastily-renegotiated printing press slot (thanks, DC Thomson!) and the skills of The Scotsman team to get coverage of last night's events on the front and back pages of Scotland's National Newspaper.
Thanks, all.
Good morning, Scotland. Hope you're not too bleary-eyed after the big game. Today's Saturday Scotsman is just the pick-me-up you need, along with a strong coffee: a beautiful magazine, pithy comment, and a big picture of Billy Gilmour. You're welcome.
Good morning, Scotland - here's the Saturday Scotsman. Packed full of news, wit, insight - and an actual sit-down restaurant review. Heady days. Hope you'll be able to join us today.
From
@TheScotsman
letters page today, further strong evidence my Scottish fast food restaurant concept would be an all-conquering, global success.
#youwantstovieswiththat
📣 Good morning Scotland! We've got a brilliant Saturday paper today, and you are *all* invited. A thrilling day in football previewed, pithy comment, a cracking magazine, and even a coupon so you can get tomorrow's Scotland on Sunday for just £1. A bargain, all round. Enjoy!
Congratulations to the brilliant
@TheScotsman
team for nominations across a mighty 13 categories in this year's Scottish Press Awards. It's great recognition for a year in which we reinvented the title across web, app and print. Good luck, all!
I'd normally Tweet page one, but today's
@TheScotsman
sees the launch of our beautiful Scotsman Homes section, and we're very proud of it. 32 pages of amazing property - including a castle for sale! - and features, including a profile of North Berwick with a stunning aerial pic.
And here it is. Your first look at the new-look Scotsman, with lots of new features and some familiar old favourites. We hope you enjoy it (in all good newsagents, from the wee hours., etc etc..)
You expect (and get) this level of doublethink from the anonymous cybernats, but here we have an SNP councillor claiming that what was set out in the UK Covid Inquiry yesterday simply wasn't.
It's grim.
This pathetic desperation from a once great newspaper is pitiful.
The only way this is a story is if the Scottish Government followed the lead of the failed Tory Westminster government and governed by private messaging rather than official channels.
They didn’t so it isn’t.
📢Journalism jobs alert!
The Scotsman is investing in the quality journalism that has defined it for more than 200 years. We're looking for a Rural Affairs Correspondent, Education Correspondent, an Engagement Editor and Search and Trends writer. Links in the 🧵
So much to love in these images from Morocco: proper joy and pride in progress, not just winning, and not an Infantino or - God help us - Salt Bae in sight.
Well, that was fun. Last night’s
@ScotPressAwards
was a great celebration of Scottish journalism, and I was very proud of
@TheScotsman
and
@scotonsunday
winning 18 shortlistings across all the categories.
I was delighted we won a few, too…
Some words that will appear in tomorrow's refreshed, redesigned, reinvigorated newspaper - relaunched tomorrow.
Please do back us. By doing so, you are playing your part in preserving & enhancing something very special, and increasingly rare. Yorkshire is lucky to have its Post.
Good morning, Scotland. It's one of those days when there's nothing quite like a printed paper. And there's nothing quite like The Scotsman on the stands today: brilliant reporting, analysis and commentary from our unrivalled team.
Good morning, Scotland. In today's special 96-page edition of The Scotsman, we capture the nation's farewell to the Queen as her cortège travelled south through the country.
New on HTFP today: This elegant front page by
@TheScotsman
has been selected by HoldtheFrontPage readers as their favourite tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Full story here:
BTW… has clocks at the top of its homepage, which are always hilarious. Clocks! On the internet!
I ran a clock on the internet once. At the BBC, on its Homepage.
It led to one of the most absurd regulatory disputes I’ve ever been involved with. A 🧵…
As FIFA is taken for a ride by Qatar's bevvy u-turn, I suppose this isn't the moment to point out that, just like in Qatar, you can't drink at Scottish football (except the posh bits). But you can have a pint at your seat watching rugby.
And don't get me started on the trains.
I've been immensely proud of our team's coverage of COP26. Some of the photography (featured below) has been a treat. I hope you'll be tempted to come join us.
Our
#COP26
offer ends today
Unlock unlimited access to quality journalism - with 70% fewer ads - from just £1.23 a week.
Use the code COP26 to save £26 on an annual subscription before the offer runs out
📢JOB ALERT!📢
We're recruiting two news desk editors for The Scotsman and Edinburgh Evening News. Big jobs, right at the heart of a cracking team.
#journojobs
News Editor
@edinburghpaper
Assistant News Editor
@TheScotsman
@IkaFerrerGotic
Complete bullshit. You're quoting letters to the editor, not the editorial line of The Scotsman, or even one of its columnists. I'm sure you get the difference, so why the propaganda?
@JPIMediaLtd
@SalmondSalmond
@EuanMc
@alanyoung3000
The new roles are part of JPIMedia's commitment to editors living and working in the communities they serve. They're a brilliant trio, and I can't wait to work with them: we have huge plans for all our titles, online and in print.
It's Edinburgh Festival time!
For a month,
@thescotsman
- Scotland's National Newspaper - becomes Scotland's Festival Newspaper, running more professional arts criticism in one month than (we think) anywhere else in the world.
Come join us :)
Delighted to be opening the 10th annual Scotsman Investment Conference this morning. So much to discuss, and a great cast list of expert speakers.
If you're here, do come say hello over coffee later!
#scotsmaninvestment24
In the Saturday
@TheScotsman
tomorrow, the brainchild of Roger and the product of some remarkable Ukrainian talent. It’s an amazing, moving read.
Spread the word.
Good morning, Scotland. Here's your Saturday Scotsman. Sombre news on the front, but a rich array of cheer inside - not least our brilliant Scottish Books 2021 supplement, inside the magazine. Plus all the usual stimulating discussion, weekend sport, food, drink and more. Enjoy!
Always a thrill to take the train north from Edinburgh... off to the launch of
#tartan
@VADundee
. Plenty of coverage in tomorrow's
@TheScotsman
, of course.
Good morning Scotland - here's your Saturday Scotsman. All the usual goodness for a perfect Scottish weekend plus - this week - an eight-page pullout of Ukrainian prose and poetry, with some of that country's finest telling us about their nation, and about war. An amazing read.
📢We're recruiting!📢
Delighted to announce more opportunities to join a brilliant news team here in beautiful Edinburgh, on
@TheScotsman
,
@edinburghpaper
and
@scotonsunday
.
First up, we're looking for a political reporter to join our team.
Good morning, Scotland. Here's your Saturday Scotsman - featuring a mouth-watering food and drink special in the mag, thought-provoking comment in the middle and... on page 20, a special offer on the chance to win your own motorhome. They're all the rage at the moment, I'm told.
Terrific use of the Scots word “skite” - a glancing blow - from
@MartynMcL
, who’s taking time away from
@TheScotsman
investigations to cover Trump playing golf on his course at Turnberry.
Back in the '90s I got my first job on its sister title, the Edinburgh Evening News, and wrote about the internet for The Scotsman for several happy years. It'll be an honour to return as editor to lead the titles into an exciting future, under new ownership. 2/3
Can’t wait to see what this series brings: I suspect we’ll discover a wealth of stories in and about modern, rural Scotland. Great idea from the brilliant - not to mention intrepid, given our weather -
@katharine_hay
🎉 We're excited to announce Rural Affairs Correspondent
@katharine_hay
will be walking around Scotland, reporting from the road.
"The beauty of going on foot is that you’re leaving room for discovery."
If you want to understand what in hell is going on in Scottish politics tonight, here's
@TheScotsman
political editor,
@alistairkgrant
to explain all.
He should sell the Netflix rights, now.
My COP26 bit this week: I had the chance to sit down with Mars' CEO and President, Grant F. Reid, back in his native Scotland, to talk about his company's big promises on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
(The editor does, indeed, agree with Brian Wilson on his praise for
@dunoongs
😊)
In praise of Dunoon Grammar School and democratic education – Brian Wilson
Our top story today - by some distance - is this by
@RosalindErskine
on Scotland's Deposit Return Scheme, the prospect of which is *already* seeing some drinks manufacturers stop selling to Scotland.
Good morning, Scotland. Here's your beautiful Scotsman on Saturday. The sun is shining, the Euros are finally here... I hope our package of insightful news and sport, pithy commentary and a lovely Saturday Magazine can help make your day.
Was delighted to open The Scotsman's first in-person event since 2019, focussed on green skills. You can watch the event as it continues, here:
#thescotsman
#scotsmangreenskills
#netzero
Trump at the NABJ is immediately asked about his racist comments and why Black voters should trust him. He replies, "First of all, I don't think I've very been asked a question in such a horrible manner."