THE BIG STORIES
Half of Scots back tuition charges | Carney calls trade war election in Canada | Reeves confirms big cuts

📣 Almost half of Scottish adults would support tuition fees being charged in Scotland for at least some students, based on the ability to pay, according to polling by Ipsos UK for The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland.

“Free” tuition in Scotland is seen by many in the sector as a contributing cause to its ongoing funding crisis because the Scottish Government keeps fees low. The Carnegie Trust’s Chief Executive, Hannah Garrow, says the polling shows “there is room for a more nuanced and open discussion on priorities for funding.” The Trust has published a wider report on public perceptions of HE funding in Scotland. (The Carnegie Trust | Read the full report) (Herald) (Times £)

• Alex Massie: SNP needs to accept “free” university tuition isn’t viable (Times £)

📣 New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has called a snap election for April 28th, in a campaign which will be dominated by issues unimaginable a few months ago: one in which he is explicitly calling to “fight the Americans” in a trade war that is being seen as a potential prelude to a wider fight for the country’s independence.

• “Rage is the new Canadian mood”, The Globe and Mail says. That anger could help Carney’s party: the opposition Conservatives are seen as soft on Trump. (Semafor)

• Carney: “We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes” (AP)

• 🎥 Elbows up: See Carney’s campaign video with Canadian comedian Mike Myers

📣 Rachel Reeves has confirmed a 15% cut to the Government’s running costs by the end of the decade, after several Sunday newspapers reported plans for big cuts to the Civil Service to be announced in Wednesday’s Spring Statement.

Unions have warned that at least 10,000 jobs are likely to go, with suggestions the targets could be achieved by cutting back office functions rather than front-line services “for the birds,” according to one official. (BBC)

Even more jobs may be in scope, however: The Times reports today that as many as 50,000 jobs could go, which would reduce the civil service to pre-pandemic levels. (The Times £)

IDEAS
Looking ahead to a big week for Rachel Reeves, the UK economy, and Labour’s electoral chances

🗣️ Rachel Reeves dilemma: break her tax promises, or cast Labour adrift from its principles, writes Heather Stewart in the Guardian. When she delivers the Spring Statement this week, she will squeeze spending to ensure the forecasts show her fiscal targets are being met five years from now. It’ll include welfare cuts, and have plenty of political and economic logic. “Nevertheless, viewed from a wider angle, the idea of responding to this profoundly uncertain moment for the world with nip-and-tuck spending cuts, looks at best like a holding position, and at worst like a pointlessly destructive act.” (Guardian)

🗣️ Labour’s tough welfare reforms are a gift to the SNP, through one lens, writes Chris Deerin in the New Statesman. But viewed through another, “John Swinney is presented with a political opportunity that is also a policy nightmare.”

It’s also a challenge for Scottish Labour, currently on track for a “disastrous result for Sarwar [which would] cost him his job”, writes Deerin. Sarwar needs to be bolder: he has “little to lose by leaning into all of this”.

“Sarwar is a slick, professional politician who talks and acts like one – he is pulling the usual levers and tweaking the normal wires. But this is an era in which growing numbers of voters are looking to frank talkers and non-traditional characters such as Nigel Farage and Donald Trump. […] And yet Scotland’s political mainstream shows every sign of continuing to mollycoddle, to bottle-feed, insisting that things can continue much as they were before. This is not just wrong. It is daft and, in its way, unacceptably cynical.” (New Statesman £)

🗣️ Kamal Ahmed urges Reeves to “shock the left” and “welcome back austerity”. “The Left’s great political trick of the 2010s was defining ‘austerity’ as a social ill, rather than an efficiency drive that released economic growth and re-invigorated global investor confidence,” he writes. “

“It is time for a reset, what might be called the New Austerity. The state can indeed be a facilitator, but it does not have the skill or breadth to beat the market signals of price and demand.” (Telegraph £)

🔎 Paid subscribers got a special email yesterday with full analysis of Rachel Reeves’ dillemas and policy options. I’ll send another special to paid subscribers on Wednesday evening, at 6pm, with analysis of and opinion on Rachel Reeves’ announcements, which will offer more detail than I’m able to squeeze in here. If you’re interested, upgrade to monthly or annual membership now! You’ll also be helping keep The Early Line going, six days a week.

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 Why are so many MSPs standing down ahead of next year’s elections? For some “it is simply a matter of age and length of service,” writes Rachel Amery. Others have had scandal accelerate their downfall. There are “two ex-leaders languishing on the backbenches” for whom it’s no surprise they want to move on. And others might not fancy their chances of winning next time. (The Scotsman)

• Stephen Daisley: we need more troublemakers like Fergus Ewing in the Scottish Parliament (Daily Mail)

📣 Crowds gathered to watch the demolition of the Wyndford towers in Glasgow yesterday. The three tower blocks were blown up ahead of a £100 million regeneration programme which will see 386 new affordable homes community facilities built on the site. (Glasgow Times) (🎥 See the demolition on X)

📣 A Scottish tourist was left with “horrific burns” after a gas explosion demolished a guest house in Rome yesterday. (Daily Mail)

AROUND THE UK & WORLD

📣 Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff has described Keir Starmer’s plan for peacekeeping foces in Ukraine as a “posture and a pose”. He also accused the prime minister of adopting the "simplistic" notion that leaders "have all got to be like Winston Churchill". (Sky News)

📣 An Israeli airstrike on a hospital in Gaza killed five people, including a Hamas political leader, according to Palestinian medics and Hamas. (Reuters)

📣 Tens of thousands of people in Turkey have taken to the streets to protest after the main rival to President Erdogan was arrested and charged with corruption. He had been due to be elected his party’s presidential nominee yesterday. (BBC)

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS

💰 Heathrow airport may conclude its communications plan needs as much work as its power supply after a difficult weekend.

First, Chief Executive Thomas Woldbye told the BBC he was “proud” of the airport’s response and suggested that delays, once the airport had reopened, were the airlines’ problem. Then it emerged he’d gone to bed as the crisis unfolded, leaving his deputy to make the decision to close the airport.

Now National Grid says there was power available to keep the airport open through Friday’s shutdown, which could cost the economy £100 million. Moral of the story? Your post-incident communications matter as much as those during the crisis…

💰Trump’s coming wave of tariffs, expected for an April 2 “Liberation Day” announcement, may be reduced and more targeted than previously expected, according to aides and allies. US stock futures have risen on the news, as traders hope for a less significant shock to global trade.

• Bloomberg has a useful interactive tariff tracker: here’s a gift link 🎁

SPORT

⚽️ Scotland’s Nations League campaign ended in disappointment as we lost 3-0 to Greece and were relegated to League B of the competition. The Nations League status is less important than the performance, which was dire, and what it might mean for our World Cup qualification chances given we have to overcome Greece in the autumn in that more important competition.

For the visitors, 17-year-old Konstantinos Karetsas was outstanding, scoring a lovely second for Greece. The only positive from the evening might be that we witnessed the continued flowering of this generational talent at Hampden.

• “That they had been downed by a very special talent was no consolation,” writes Alan Pattullo. (Scotsman)

• “We let ourselves down” on “an embarrassing night”, said John McGinn. (BBC)