Welcome to The Press and Journal’s morning politics briefing — everything you need to know about politics in your region and across the country, before you start your day.
Top Stories
- A senior Tory councillor who used an anonymous troll account to secretly coach members of the public to “tactically vote” for him in May’s Scottish Parliament election could face a police probe over his actions.
- People in the north-east of Scotland are the most worried about their future employment, according to a poll.
- Scotland’s Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said “nobody is blaming football fans” following another sharp rise in positive coronavirus cases being recorded.
- An online troll who sent abusive Facebook messages to a former north-east politician faces a further sentencing wait after claiming he needed to isolate.
- Aberdeen Central MSP Kevin Stewart said an extension to the EU settlement scheme should have been put in place “long ago”, after applicants flooded the UK Government’s website in “exceptionally high volumes”.
What’s on today?
- Westminster politicians respond to Labour’s victory in the Batley and Spen by-election contest.
- First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will hold a briefing on the latest developments in the pandemic.
- Boris Johnson is to welcome Angela Merkel to the UK for talks on Friday, with coronavirus travel restrictions expected to be high on the agenda.
In case you missed it
- Trans rights: How gender recognition reform became one of Scotland’s most heated debates.
- Finance Secretary Kate Forbes has warned the UK Government that many struggling Scottish businesses still need to be supported with “hard cash”.
- An adviser to Nicola Sturgeon has claimed the rise in Covid cases linked to Scots football fans at the Euros shows the country risks scoring an “own goal”.
- Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has announced the birth of his second child after an ambulance journey from Elgin to Aberdeen.