THE BIG STORIES
Swinney: back my budget and beat the populists

📣 First Minister John Swinney gets Scottish politics back up and running today, delivering a speech in Edinburgh that will call on opposition parties to back his government’s budget - or risk “feeding the forces of anti-politics and populism”. He’s expected to say voters will struggle to understand if plans are blocked “to prove some nebulous – and ultimately highly damaging - political point”. (The Herald) (The Scotsman)

📣 Prime Minister Keir Starmer looks to get his show back on the road after a peculiar, chaotic weekend of politics in which he and his government has been viciously, and wildly, trolled by Elon Musk (more on that below). Writing in The Times, the PM offers up his New Year resolution: not to let the NHS die. He promises to tackle waiting lists with 17 new and expanded surgical hubs across England by June. Meanwhile, the world’s richest man and big Tommy Robinson fan has, this morning, reiterated his call for Starmer to be jailed. (Starmer in the Times) (BBC)

📣 The Golden Globes were handed out while you were sleeping… The Brutalist won best drama, Netflix’s Emilia Pérez won best musical and - local interest claxon - Scottish black comedy Baby Reindeer won best limited television series. (Guardian)

WEEKEND REVIEW
Life comes at you fast, Nigel

🗣️ Hmm. Maybe not so fast. Less than 24 hours ago, would-be PM Nigel Farage was having a good New Year. But how quickly things can change.

Sunday lunchtime, and Farage appeared to be strolling it like a political midfield maestro: a master of using space - or Yuletide dead air - to build Reform momentum. Over the festive fortnight he’d grabbed all the attention: a £100m flirt with Elon Musk, a Boxing Day spat with Kemi Badenoch (which she should have dodged) over who had the most members, and a claim of tens of thousands of new party members, delivered at a well-timed Reform conference last Saturday.

Given the prime spot on Laura Kuenssberg’s Sunday show, he ambled his way into the row over Musk’s inflammatory Tweets about UK child abuse scandals. Farage distanced himself from Musk’s wild remarks but refused to condemn him, calling the Tesla boss a “hero” and “cool” and saying he’d attract young supporters to Reform.

But if, last Christmas, Farage gave Musk his heart, Musk threw it away the very next same day. Only hours later, Musk suddenly messaged: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”

“Oh, this is a surprise!” Farage fired back, within the hour. He hinted Musk had taken offence at warnings against backing far-right activist Tommy Robinson. But Musk’s very public brush-off had already hurtled across the social media world.

Loyally (and rapidly) Patrick O’Flynn of The Telegraph downplayed the fallout, citing Farage’s Trump links and Reform’s growing membership base. And it is worth saying Musk polls very, very poorly with the British public—especially younger voters. This might not be an enormous loss in the real world.

But this public humiliation is one Farage’s opponents won’t let him forget, and also manages to damage Musk. A muted Downing Street and misfiring Kemi Badenoch must be quietly pleased and - if they are wise - aware of how lucky they are.

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 As Scotland heads back to work after the holidays the weather has taken a turn for the worse, and travel conditions are difficult. There’s been heavy overnight snow in many areas - live Scottish road information is here, while news of ScotRail’s service is here. And don’t think you can escape if you’re walking anywhere… The Met Office is even warning you to take care when you step out the house because pavements are treacherously icy. (STV)

📣 An earthquake hit the West of Scotland last night: a quake of 2.9 magnitude rattled Oban and surrounding areas. (Scottish Sun)

📣 Sports coaches can set a better example with drink and help cut teenage alcohol abuse, as happened in Iceland, a charity - Winning Scotland - has claimed. (The Times)

AROUND THE UK

📣 The chair of a national inquiry into child sexual abuse has called for reforms set out in her 2022 report to be implemented. (BBC)

📣 Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has defended shadow justice minister Robert Jenrick after he described Britons of Pakistani origin as “people from alien cultures.” (Guardian)

📣 London is Europe’s most congested city, beating even Paris. But - in one league table nobody wants to lead - Istanbul, New York and Chicago are all worse. (Inrix) (Independent)

AROUND THE WORLD

🌎 Canadian PM Justin Trudeau is likely to resign soon - maybe today - after nine years in office. Liberal politicians have been urging Trudeau to quit, as their party lags badly in polls ahead of elections later in the year. (Reuters)

🌎 The US is facing “the heaviest snowfall in a decade”, with vast parts of Kansas, Nebraska and Indiana being blanketed by “at least” 20cm of snow. (AP)

🌎 Four years ago today we watched open-mouthed as rioters, goaded into action by President Donald Trump, clambered the steps of the US Capitol and ransacked the building. The New York Times looks at how President-elect Trump and his allies have attempted to reinvent that day as “a day of love”. (New York Times)

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS

💰 UK City Minister Tulip Saddiq is under pressure to resign after becoming embroiled in a scandal surrounding an ousted Bangladesh government. (FT)

💰 Labour’s “red lines” on reintegration with the EU will hold the Scottish economy back in 2025, writes Ian McConnell. Instead of trying to “eke out growth against the odds in miserable economic conditions”, free trade and frictionless movement would offer “such a boost to sentiment”. He sees little prospect, however, and offers a welter of underwhelming statistics and projections to back the gloomy outlook. (The Herald)

💰 Tax fears are damaging business confidence, the British Chambers of Commerce have warned. It’s all more fallout from Rachel Reeves’ budget in November. (BBC)

SPORT

⚽️ Armchair fans - and that is who we cater for here - enjoyed an absurdly entertaining afternoon of football yesterday. In Scotland, Rangers could only draw 3-3 away at Hibs despite leading, twice. It was great viewing for neutrals, and Hibs fans, but Rangers manager Philippe Clement… not so much. In the Record, Keith Jackson got philosophical, noting the fine line between delight and despair and how Rangers are determined to push the boundaries of both. Celtic, thus, extended their lead at the top of the Premiership after they beat St. Mirren 3-0. Then, in England, Liverpool and Manchester United drew 2-2 in a game for which many had foreseen six goals… just all for Liverpool. It was a performance that left Ruben Amorin, new-ish United manager, “mad and upset”. (Daily Mail)

🏉 A big change in the shape of Scottish elite youth rugby starts to take shape today as schools and clubs flag their interest in a new national top flight. Fans of other sports may be surprised to learn from The Offside Line’s coverage just how fragmented things are now, and how competitive such a youth conference might be: Scotland’s elite (mainly private) schools have facilities and training regimes better than many clubs. (The Offside Line)