Greenish blue
RANGERS FC obsessive and part-time Tory MSP Murdo Fraser was among the thousands of fans who travelled to Seville for this week’s Europa League final. But how did he get the time away from Holyrood? The answer is a cosy custom known as pairing, which matches an absent MSP from one party with one from another, so the voting arithmetic stays the same. And who was Murdo’s pair and saviour? Why, Celtic mad Nat MSP James Dornan. “I’m sure he was delighted,” chuckles Murdo. We’re sure he was. At the result.
Guitar zero
A RATHER less slick operation at Glasgow City Council Labour group, where new opposition leader George ‘Jorge’ Redmond missed his first official day on the job as he was stuck in Spain after the match. As he dialled in to Thursday’s full council, an airport tannoy noise burbled in the background. Not great, but the SNP reckon it’s just the start. Jorge has made former MSP Frank McAveety his business manager, despite his organisational skills being infamous at the City Chambers. Unspun’s mole recalls that when he was council leader, an easily-distracted Frank would get up during briefings from his officials and wander about strumming the guitar he kept in his office. What could possibly go wrong?
Them and US
SOME intriguing FoI releases about Angus Robertson’s recent trip to North America. The SNP Constitution Secretary and two officials cost us £12,823 for their Tartan Week jaunt, including £1,730 on “Private Car Hire”, which is usually code for a big motor and a chauffeur. The trio didn’t skimp on hotels either, staying at the Hilton Niagara Falls and five-star Fairmont in Toronto. Also kipped in was the Art Deco Evelyn Hotel in New York, which blends “timeless style and avant-garde glam”. The first thing a Google search shows is that it’s “Right by the Museum of Sex”. Surely a coincidence.
Tangled web
Can you be too honest in politics? Jackson Carlaw gave it a go at Tuesday’s finance committee, when he represented the SPCB, the cross-party group that oversees Holyrood. MSPs wanted to know how the SPCB managed to spend £3million on a new parly website widely considered worse than the old one. “I am probably one of those dinosaurs who is the last person that you would consult on any such matters,” he chirped. “I imagine that you can go to Currys PC World and buy a website for £5.99 and that that will probably suffice.” Ahem.
Jackson Dive
AS the session continued, and his answers failed to illuminate, the former Tory leader felt obliged to volunteer why he was there in the first place. “In this case, I know nothing about websites. Given the alacrity with which my SPCB colleagues agreed that I would represent them this morning, I take the view that there is no great depth of expertise among them - and naturally, therefore, in the corporate body - on the project.” Your money in their hands, folks.
Green Cross Mode
ALSO raising eyebrows with her turn of phrase was Green MSP Gillian Mackay. Plugging her plans for abortion clinic buffer zones on Thursday morning, she was miffed when the media also asked about ScotRail. “Do I have to?” she sighed to party spindoctor Kevin Hamilton while still on camera. After the moment went viral, he was still keeping the hacks at bay in the Holyrood bar that night. The Greens are currently trying to hire a second spindoctor. “Do they have to?” They definitely do.
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