TODAY’S WEATHER

☀️Another lovely day for Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, with Glasgow winning (by a distance) on temperature in Scotland, topping out at 22 degrees. London will hit 25 degrees. (Here’s the UK forecast).

THE BIG STORIES
Poll suggests Scots support assisted death | Starmer’s strong language on migration | Eurovision

📣 More than three-quarters of Scots support assisted dying, according to a YouGov poll published today. Only 12% of Scots oppose the assisted dying bill, which will be voted on today at Holyrood. (Daily Mail)

It will be a free vote - MSPs will vote with their conscience, rather than party whip - with the outcome thought to be in the balance. The vote is expected to take place around 7pm.

First Minister John Swinney and his deputy, Kate Forbes, have both said they will vote against. Backers of the bill, being introduced by Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur, will include Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton and Scottish Green co-leaders Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvey. According to the Herald’s headcount, 50 MSPs have declared for, and 30 against, so far. (BBC) (The Herald)

⬇️ Below: read three voices for, three voices against, assisted dying.

📣 Keir Starmer unveiled plans to curb migration yesterday in a speech which was noteworthy for its strong language: he warned of the UK becoming “an island of strangers”, said he would “close the book on a squalid chapter for our politics, our economy, and our country.” (Read the full text) (BBC)

Some have likened that language it to Enoch Powell’s “rivers of blood” which referenced a white population that would find itself “strangers in their own country”. But Starmer later insisted to the Guardian that migrants must “learn the language and integrate” when they come to the UK. (Guardian)

• Chris Mason: Starmer’s robust language nods to immigration failures (BBC)

• Polly Toynbee: “This immigration reform should be an opening for new honesty about trade-offs and choices. Treat voters seriously.” (Guardian)

• Allison Pearson: “Starmer’s tough policy on migration is the biggest con since Meg Ryan simulated an orgasm in a diner” (Telegraph)

📣 The Eurovision song contest starts today in Basel, Switzerland, with glitz, glamour, high camp and protests over Israel’s involvement. (Independent)

• The UK is not expected to do well, at least by the bookies (The Sun)

But, frankly, you tell me… how interested are you? I’ll calibrate coverage here accordingly…

IDEAS
Assisted death in Scotland: three voices for, three voices against

🗣️ For:

• Liam McArthur, Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for Orkney: “On Tuesday, my Assisted Dying Bill will be voted on in the Scottish Parliament. I’m asking my fellow MSPs to look not just at the politics, but to listen to those that this bill is meant to serve: terminally ill Scots facing the end of their lives with far too little choice and control.

  “Assisted dying isn’t a radical idea. It’s supported by decades of evidence and practice from around the world. Places like New Zealand and Australia have shown that it’s possible to offer this choice safely, with robust safeguards in place along the same lines I am proposing. In Scotland, we can learn from that experience and, where necessary, tweak it to suit our needs.” (Scotsman)

• Dutch Photographer Martin Roemers, who photographed his parents immediately after their deaths: “They had a good life and a very happy marriage, but the last years were difficult. They were both sick and exhausted. Both had heart failure, my mother had a lot of pain. Both were in a really bad shape. They still lived in their own house but life was getting harder and harder, even with help. They did not want to go to a nursing home and neither wanted to live without the other – they wanted to step out of life together. They were afraid one would die naturally and the other would be left behind. They were very close, and did everything together, really everything – so it made sense they would leave this life together.” (Guardian)

• Ruth Davidson, former Scottish Conservative leader: “I remember voting on a similar bill, introduced by the indomitable Margo MacDonald almost ten years ago. I had lost sleep during the run-up to the vote wrestling with issues of conscience and faith. I spoke to doctors, terminally-ill patients, supporters and those fearful of what such a change could herald. In the end, I took a coward’s way out and, because of the poor drafting of the legislation, voted it down on reasons of practicality, rather than allow Holyrood’s committee system to whip it into better shape. That decision has haunted me now for a decade. It is, without doubt, my biggest regret in politics.” (The Times £)

🗣️ Against:

• Professor June Andrews OBE, an expert in caring for older people: “The truth is, everyone in Scotland already has a legal right to refuse treatment and be made comfortable at the end. You can appoint someone you trust to advocate this for you, even if you lose consciousness. It’s legal already and it happens, every day, in good care settings across the country.” (The Scotsman)

• Iain MacWhirter, columnist for The Times: “I used to support voluntary euthanasia. That was until I witnessed my mother’s passing and began to understand the moral pressure that just living places on old people. I am absolutely certain that many will feel obliged to do the ‘decent’ thing when the option is put to them — possibly by a caring ‘death doula’.

  “Old people feel bad enough already about the burden they are placing on the next generation. They’re accused of squatting in big homes, living it up on their triple-locked pensions and ‘bed blocking’ hospital wards. You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to imagine a dystopia in which assisted dying turns into the final solution to the social care crisis. (The Times £)

• Stephen Daisley, columnist for the Daily Mail: “To be on the brink of green-lighting such a momentous change in the law with so many questions still unanswered is profoundly troubling. This Bill was introduced over a year ago. If no answers could be found in that time, when can we expect to get them?

  “Holyrood has form for rushing through bad legislation that ends up in costly court battles. Do MSPs really want to take the chance that the Assisted Dying Bill is the Gender Recognition Act with a higher body count?” (Daily Mail)

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 Teachers are demanding clarity on how schools should deal with single-sex spaces in the wake of the UK Supreme Court’s ruling on the definition of a woman. (BBC)

📣 A carnival in Edinburgh has shut down after a waltzer car broke off one of its rides and crashed. Video shows children riding in the car as it breaks loose. (STV)

📣 Scottish poet Len Pennie, who rose to fame during th has won a British Book Award for her book, Poyums. (The Scotsman)

AROUND THE UK

📣 Counter-terrorism police are investigating fires at two properties in North London linked to Keir Starmer. (BBC)

📣 Sky News investigates a brazen new trend: drug dealers advertising their wares with colourful stickers on lamp posts, featuring QR codes that allow you to place an order online for home delivery. (Sky News)

AROUND THE WORLD

🌎 Donald Trump is preparing for his first trip of this presidency to the Middle East but plans to miss one country out - Israel. That decision is raising big questions about how allied the two countries now are. (🎁WSJ - free to read)

• He heads to the Middle East seeking business deals, not diplomacy (🎁New York Times - free to read)

• He might pop in to the mooted Zelenskyy-Putin peace talks (Sky News)

🌎 The US President, meanwhile, is trying to defuse criticism of his plan to take a jumbo jet as a gift from Qatar. “Critics of the plan worry that the move threatens to turn a global symbol of American power into an airborne collection of ethical, legal, security and counterintelligence concerns,” notes AP. (AP)

🌎 P Diddy, the fallen hip hop mogul, faces life in prison if convicted of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation for prostitution. He appeared in court yesterday, grey and bearded after seven months in prison awaiting trial. (Sky News)

SPORT

⚽️ Ancelotti for Rangers makes for an intriguing headline, but it turns out we’re talking about Junior rather than Senior. Spanish media is reporting Davide Ancelotti, currently an assistant to his dad Carlo at Real Madrid, will head to Glasgow for his first managerial job. (Daily Record)

The 35-year-old previously worked with his father at PSG, Napoli, Everton and Bayern Munich: the obvious question will be if he’s capable of cutting it on his own. The Sun has some interesting quotes that suggest yes, he does. (Sun)

⚽️ Hearts have made a formal approach to Kilmarnock for permission to speak to their manager, Derek McInnes. (The Scotsman)