In your briefing today:

📣 Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced a new war on “the poisonous tide of disinformation, including from Russia” in a speech to the United Nations, as well as a push for global safety standards for artificial intelligence.

Burnham used his first international speech to warn Russia is using “every means at their disposal” to “spread lies and disinformation”, and said the UK would establish a new National Centre for Information Defence to detect and disrupt AI-enabled disinformation campaigns. (BBC)

📣 Holyrood has overwhelmingly backed a motion affirming that Scotland has a right to decide its constitutional future, with the SNP, Scottish Labour and the Scottish Greens ensuring an 84-18 win.

John Swinney had opened the debate by noting Andy Burnham’s comments, in the House of Commons, that there could be a second ballot on independence if Scots support one.

“For the first time since 2014 there is now an explicit acknowledgement from the UK prime minister that Scotland should have a referendum when it is likely that people would vote for it,” he said. (The National)

📣 Piers Morgan has reiterated his threat to sue Earl Spencer over his new Diana book, despite receiving an apology from the Earl for a factual error in the volume.

The broadcaster has told lawyers to demand it be withdrawn and pulped because of false suggestions Morgan was responsible for publishing controversial pictures of Diana working out in a gym. Morgan was working at the Sun when the images appeared in the Mirror in 1993. (Independent)

📣 The Scottish Government has admitted a legal blunder in its battle to keep evidence about Nicola Sturgeon’s “war” with Alex Salmond secret. Its lawyers have admitted that failing to mention a line of defence in its legal case until its latest appeal is “surprising and perhaps unfortunate”. (Times)

📣 Scotland has the highest death rate for children of any of the UK nations, a new report says. (Scotsman)

📣 The King hailed “all the engineering skills in this part of the world” as he opened the new Aberdeen HQ for GB Energy. (Press & Journal)

📣 Council leaders are “wary” of the radical plan to redraw Scotland’s council map, raising concerns about the money it will save, impact on rural communities and its aggressive timeline. (BBC)

📣 A plot targeting Manchester’s Jewish community has been disrupted, police have said, with two men arrested over a suspected plot. (BBC)

📣 The UK is to join a new EU ocean science scheme amid concerns about extreme weather caused by El Nino (Sky News has the exclusive)

📣 A pet food brand says there is “no evidence” a recipe change caused severe eye issues in pets, after it recalled all its meals and ordered an expert review. (STV)

📣 Could the fabled Queen Nefertiti’s tomb lie, still hidden, behind or below the tomb of Tutankhamun? A geophysical survey suggests there’s more to be discovered in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings - and researchers are seeking permission to find out for sure. (Times)

⚽️ Scotland’s footballers are enjoying the sunshine in Spain as they work through a training camp at La Manga. There are a lot of new faces and new stories among the group, notes Tom English. (BBC)

⚽️ Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson has offered embattled manager Martin O’Neill his backing as the club issued annual results to shareholders, revealing a loss of £4.8 million for the year as revenue dropped by 22.7%. (Daily Record) (BBC)

🗣️ Scotland must “grow up” in its attitude towards the defence industry, say former SNP MP Stewart McDonald and former Scottish Government advisor Stuart Nicolson.

Scotland has “very real” potential to play a big role as the UK changes its “defence and security architecture,” they write. But there is a “fundamental disconnect between the status Scotland holds in security considerations, geographically and industrially, and the place it occupies in our national conversations.

“Much of Scotland's political establishment has for a long time […] eschewed serious engagement with the whole question of defence and security,” they write.

The new Scottish Parliament, with its high percentage of “freshmen” MSPs, offers a chance for a change of approach: the pair propose the new Scottish Security Dialogue forum, delivered in partnership with the Scottish Council on Global Affairs, “can facilitate the grown-up, cross-party conversations the country badly needs, and to which every part of Scottish life has something to contribute.” (Scotsman)

🗣️ Kenny Farquharson says he is “encouraged” by the SNP’s blueprint to reorganise Scotland’s local government. “This is not the action of an SNP government preparing for independence,” he writes. “If Scotland were on the brink of breaking up the UK, it would not be flinging itself into a daunting battle with some of the nation’s most entrenched vested interests.”

And Swinney does face some battles ahead, suggests Farquharson. Breaking up Scotland’s cities - Edinburgh, for instance, will see Leith get its own council - “will be hard for some people to swallow, to say the least”.

“Taken as a whole, the blueprint is a tough sell. The main obstacle to change is the trade union movement. Despite the first minister’s promise of no compulsory redundancies, union leaders suspect one of the key rationales for reorganisation is to cut employee headcount and save money. They may be on to something.” (The Times)

🗣️ Rebecca McQuillan sees new Scottish Labour leader Michael Marra attempting to reclaim Scottishness, and patriotism. Despite her own suspicion about patriotism in politics - it “gives me the ick”, she says - she sees what Marra is up to, and likes it.

“‘Patriotism’ here is being used to describe a ‘proud’ Scottish identity that’s distinct from nationalism, one that leverages good relations with Westminster in the service of Scotland,” she writes.

“The argument that you can love your country and back Labour instead of the SNP, that being a nationalist party doesn’t make the SNP particularly good at standing up for Scotland and Labour could do better, is one that could well find an audience.” (Herald)

🗣️ In a leader column, I suspect The Scotsman speaks for many Early Line readers among whom, I know, are many frequent flyers.

“It was an unfortunate coincidence that Edinburgh Airport announced plans for a £500 million investment to fund a ‘major terminal expansion’ just as a technical glitch at UK air traffic control caused the cancellation of flights across the country for the second time in two weeks,” it notes.

“However, regular passengers, made cynical by the sad reality of an airport that styles itself as the place ‘where Scotland meets the world’, may see it as an omen.

While the airport’s chief executive Gordon Dewar said the biggest investment in its history would ensure it “continues to deliver for passengers, airlines, communities and the Scottish economy”, the Scotsman says “it has not been ‘delivering’ for passengers.”

“This investment is fantastic news, but the money must now be used to ensure the passenger experience is dramatically improved – simply by getting the basics right.” (Scotsman)

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