Good morning – here are the top 10 stories in Scotland this morning:
Patient’s Holyrood bid to end Scottish drug lottery (Herald)
Scottish Tory chief spin doctor Ramsay Jones suspended (BBC Scotland)
Salmond to meet bishop as bigotry Bill row escalates (Herald)
Plan for student lawyers to plug legal aid cash gap (Scotsman)
‘Labour connived to free Lockerbie bomber’ says William Hague (Scotsman)
Fox confirms commitment to new stealth fighter bomber (Press & Journal)
Ambulance crews will go to 999 calls in breaks – for £100 a time (Scotsman)
BBC Scotland staff fear news output will suffer as cuts loom (Herald)
Legendary folk guitarist Bert Jansch dies, aged 67 (Herald)
Scottish men suffered 10,000 domestic abuse incidents last year (STV News)
Scottish Parliament highlights:
- 12.00: FMQs will features questions on the budget settlement for local authorities, what changes the government plans to make to the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill, and the impact of projected costs for PFI projects of £1bn per annum
- 14.15: as part of themed questions to the Health Secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, Clare Adamson MSP will ask when the government will publish its plans for minimum alcohol pricing
- 16.00: the Justice Committee will publish its report on the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill at stage 2
For a full breakdown of parliamentary business, check out today’s official Business Bulletin
Paris Gourtsoyannis
Paris joined Holyrood in September 2011, and became education correspondent in May 2012. Born in Canada into a Greek family, and raised in Belgium, he came to Scotland in 2005 to study at the University of Edinburgh, where he was involved with award-winning student publication The Journal. Before working at Holyrood, Paris contributed to the Edinburgh Evening News, the Guardian and Guardian Local, and interned at think-tank Demos. His beat takes in all areas of Scotland's education and skills sector, including early years, adult learning, and employability...