I lean forward in my chair – 'have we got this to ourselves?'

My team is brilliant at saying these words to me, always with a glint in the news editor’s eye, and a shared sense of excitement as the details are pored over.

And so, this week, my editor’s picks draw on the stories that caused me to lean forward in my seat and ask, ‘have we got this to ourselves?’

First off, is the discovery that grassroots SNP members are placing pressure on First Minister Humza Yousaf to scrap tax breaks for private schools.

Our political correspondent Kathleen Nutt broke the story on Friday, explaining the resolution has been submitted to the party’s annual conference, to be held in Aberdeen in October, and that, coupled with a new levy, the money generated could be spent on closing the educational attainment gap across Scotland.

It is a controversial viewpoint and one I am keen to hear discussed, especially as Yousaf himself was privately educated. But will it be a vote winner among wealthy Scots? Business leaders? Those with the influence the SNP desperately needs to further its independence fight? There is no question there are problems in our education system. Is this a possible solution?

My second pick comes from education writer James McEnaney who broke the story that Glasgow City Council has scrapped an outreach lending library for schools in a plan to sell off the resources.

The School Library Outreach lent services to primary schools, including books and educational material, and offered pupils access to librarians. Material was delivered to schools and collected at the end of an agreed period. But now it has closed and schools will instead have an opportunity to buy the materials.

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Library bodies and educational groups have hit back at the move, with the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) ‘strongly condemning’ the closure. As part of our commitment to pushing for meaningful change and improvement in Scottish education, we will continue to put pressure on decision makers to justify such actions. In this case, the council said schools could swap the resources among themselves. We understand finances are tight, but library services should never be seen as an easy hit.

My third exclusive steps away from hard news, and indeed digital. On Monday, I was thrilled to be able to reveal another souvenir Banksy Herald as the artist said farewell to Glasgow on the closing day of his Cut & Run exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art.

My eyes lit up when I saw the work of our photographer Gordon Terris, who had been given exclusive out-of-hours access to the exhibition to produce photography the public had never been allowed to take. The result? Unseen images, beautifully contained in a one-off Herald which has attracted attention from across the world. Our head of production, Mike McKenzie, the brains behind the design work did us proud.

The edition, a book end to our exhibition opener earlier in the summer, shows The Herald at our very best: bold, confident and eager to be different. We have no interest in standing still.

Catherine Salmond
Editor